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10/16/2018 12:00 AMThe Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) has for a second time continued the public hearing on a proposal to allow a farm in a residential zone on a 3.5 acre-plot on River Road. The proposal submitted by Jeffrey and Patricia Cashman returns for more public input on Monday, Nov. 5.
The Cashmans are asking the PZC to grant several waivers and excusals in considering the application, primarily releasing the requirement for plans for things like lighting, buildings, and landscaping that aren’t applicable in a project with no new lighting, landscaping, or buildings.
Jeffrey Cashman is an alternate on the PZC, and has recused himself while the application is before the PZC.
Opponents of the application argue that a farm on River Road will lower the values of their homes and their quality of life. Additionally, some neighbors feel that added truck traffic along the narrow road would make dangerous driving conditions.
At the PZC’s second public hearing on Oct. 1, attorney Edward Cassella, who represents the Cashmans, presented the PZC with updated soil erosion and site plans, which the PZC had requested at its initial September PZC hearing.
A significant portion of the October public hearing was spent debating how the zoning regulations define the word “enclosure.” Cassella argued that an enclosure includes “buildings or structures that could enclose an animal,” but said a fence is not an enclosure and a fence under six feet is not regulated under the zoning regulations.
Attorney Tim Shields, who represents the Cashmans’ neighbor Veronica Lopez, argued that since there was no definition of the word “enclosure” in the zoning regulations, the dictionary definition of the word enclosure “can include a fence or a wall.”
The commission unanimously voted to “consider a fence to be an enclosure for the purposes of Zoning Regulation 28.1.4.H.” according to the minutes of the meetings.
The enclosure definition was important because there are regulations about how close an enclosure can be to an abutting property. The fence on the Cashman property ran up to the property line, allowing animals to be close to the abutting property. Since the PZC ruled that a fence is an enclosure, the enclosure must be set back from the property line.
Cashman also provided photos and video that showed the uses of the farm throughout the years, after some speakers questioned how long the farm had been active at the last public hearing.
Cassella asked that the public hearing be continued to November so that questions about stormwater runoff and the site plan can be answered.
The hearing will be continued to Monday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Green Room.