Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text
ZB04-26-18
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^ down of (Canton, massar4usrtts N ' ' ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MEMORIAL HALL 801 WASHINGTON STREET CANTON, MA 02021 TEL: (781) 575-6589 FAX: (781) 575-6574 Minutes of the meeting of April 26, 2018 PRESENT: Paul B. Carroll, Chairman Gregory L. Pando, Vice Chairman Gary E. Vinciguerra John R. McCourt Charles J. Armando Also Present: Tamra Stock, Recording Secretary Meeting Held in the Salah Hearing Room, 2nd floor, 801 Washington Street, Canton, MA Acting Chairman Pando opened the meeting at 7:00 pm and reads the agenda. Ponkapon Civic Association — 17 Greenbrair Road — 16 -18 -ENCU -Mod SPA -SP -V Chairman Pando opens the hearing and explains this is a continuation. He states both sides have made good presentations and he continued the last hearing because he wanted to go out to the site to look at some of the concerns the neighbors had. Mr. Vinciguerra states he has no more comments but is interested in the number of days the alcohol is going to be served. Mr. Paul Carroll states the Board did receive and email from Mr. Larry Ransford. Although not all of the information was new it was still enlightening. Mr. Carroll mentions Mr. Ransford is the neighbor most impacted. Chairman Pando states there are abutters affected by the Civic so his comments are understandable. He is aware there have been problems in the past but is satisfied that most of them have been rectified. Chairman Pando recommends to the other Board members that the Board reserves the right to amend modify or revoke the decision should there be issues. It could be done at an informal meeting. Chairman Pando states based on the information we have and the request from the Ponkapoag Civic to consume alcohol outdoors under the canopy, the pool deck, and areas specified he would like to recommend the Board limits it to four days a week. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He will ask Mr. Edward Walsh in the middle of the summer to report back to the Board so if it needs to be modified or if the Board needs to take further action we can do it at that time. Mr. Carroll states he hopes the Board has made an impression on the leadership of the Civic and they don't need to be reminded this is in a dense neighborhood. The dumpsters should be properly placed. They shouldn't be banged around at 4 in the morning. Chairman Pando states he would like the Civic to consider as a group the security lighting. He understands security lighting is needed. In the future he would like them to look at some nice LED lighting. He would also like them to consider the rubbish collection. Explore recycling. Have members take their own trash. He would like to see if there is a way to reduce the dumpster to two 30 gallon trash barrels maybe there is a more sensitive way. This will not be a part of the decision but he would like them to look into it. Chairman Pando thinks by issuing Special Permit for their request to consume alcohol outside for four days is reasonable and the Board will be flexible if you have a rainy day and need to move things around you can. He would like to try this and
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Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes of April 26, 2018 Page 2 of 14 then get a report back from the Building Commissioner and Zoning Enforcement Officer and after that we will retain the right to amend modify and revoke. Mr. Carroll suggests we set this a review period or a probationary period. The powers to be at the Civic need to be sensitive to the neighbors. We should set this up for review in August or September. Mr. Carroll states this is still one of the best spots in Canton but we are keeping a close eye on this. Ms. Joan Dowd of 18 Pinedale Lane states she wasn't able to attend the first meeting but she did watch to see what was going on. She remembers the Board mentioning the possibility of three days for the license. Four days wasn't even mentioned so why now are you going with four days? She also asks if they have to go before the ABCC before they can get a license. Chairman Pando states they have a seven day liquor license from the Board of Selectmen. We are just expanding it to different areas on the property. Ms. Dowd states this is horrible for the neighbors. You are picking the four days where the neighbors are most likely having people visiting them at their homes. To have the drinking outside is horrible and she states within a year from now this will be out of control. She states she has lived there since 1962. She knows the history. She states she has been there through the bad days. She does commend them over the past couple of years they have helped and made things better but it is also their civic duty. She doesn't believe this will be smooth sailing. Chairman Pando explains this is the first opportunity to create some sort of control over the Civic and the Board has the right to amend modify or revoke. This is strong language so if it gets out of hand the Board will revoke the permit. Mr. Vinciguerra explains we will also get the update from the Building Commissioner to see how things are going. Ms. Katie Siegal, Board member for the Ponkapoag Civic states she has been on the Board since January. She understands there has been a lot of talk going back and forth and she doesn't think asking for four days is too much. She explains they are only open from 4PM- 8PM. When her husband comes home from work he likes to come down and relax with the kids. They need to get the small children home to bed. It isn't like they are there all hours of the night. Ms. Siegal states she lives in the area and her neighbors are louder than the Civic gets at times. Ms. Young states surprisingly the weekends are very quiet. Mr. John Davis states he thinks this is all being mischaracterized. On an average night they only take in about fifty dollars. This is a mellow low key environment. The Civic is just asking to be able to consume outside not sell outside. Mr. Davis explains they have a seven day license right now and they usually open the bar on Wednesday and Thursday depending on attendance. The issue last year was when they had bad weather and the Civic didn't open but they had already paid for the license. It got costly. Chairman Pando states this is a close neighborhood and this Board will be keeping a close eye on things. Mr. Davis mentions the neighbors are referencing issues from three plus summers ago and those kinds of things don't happen anymore. He states they have never had an alcohol issue at the Civic. The neighbors are painting a very bad picture.