Wendell to vote on 'hilltop view shed' Wednesday

[ Originally published on: Monday, June 01, 2009 ]

WENDELL -- A law that would restrict building on hilltops, rules for adult entertainment businesses and a resolution aimed at asserting the importance of keeping local control of schools in the face of regionalization are among the issues to be tackled at Wednesday's annual town meeting.

The meeting is at 7:15 p.m. in Town Hall. Voters will be asked to approve a $1,781,000 budget, a $10,450 or 0.5 percent decrease from the current year's $1,791,450 budget.

A law proposed by the Planning Board would prohibit new buildings from being taller than any hilltop on that property.

''The hilltop view shed is one of the most valuable parts of our hilltowns,'' said Planning Board Chairwoman Dede Cabral.

Voters will also be asked to set up regulations for adult entertainment businesses.

The Planning Board doesn't know of any plans for such a business in town, but it needs to prepare in case such a business comes to town, Cabral said.

''It's a suggested protective action for towns. It's not about encouraging or discouraging. It's about structuring it.''

Under the proposed regulations, adopted from a template from the state attorney general's office, adult entertainment facilities would not be allowed within 500 feet of the property line of a residence, school, church, park or recreation area, day care, nursing home, hospital or bar.

Adult entertainment facilities also must be at least 1,000 feet from any other adult entertainment facility, 500 feet from the town line and at least from 50 feet from the road and 50 feet from other property line.

Schools

Although Union 28 doesn't have fiscal problems and has innovative programs, the state still doesn't seem to understand that the district is operating efficiently and it wants the district to change, Joan Wickman, superintendent of the Union 28 School District, told voters in Erving at its town meeting in May. ''The bull's-eye is already on us,'' she said.

Each town in the Union 28 school district is being asked to pass a resolution aimed at asserting the importance of maintaining local control over schools.

Voters in Leverett approved the resolution but Erving rejected it. Shutesbury and New Salem have yet to take up the issue.

Here are the other items voters will be asked to approve:

u A right-to-farm bylaw, which is designed to protect farmers from complaints about smells from farming and tractors on the road by having the community make a statement that it supports farming in the town. Fourteen Franklin County towns have such a bylaw.

u Allowing town boards to hire private consultants to help review large, complex projects. Under the proposed law, the applicant would pay the fees for those consultants.

u Changing the large development site review process from a special permit process to a site plan review process. The change is designed to thwart legal challenges to Planning Board decisions, but would still allow the board to set conditions on the development, Cabral said.

u Changing which boards review special permits for several uses: having the Zoning Board of Appeals instead of the Planning Board approve requests for triplexes and guest cabins and having the Planning Board instead of the Zoning Board of Appeals rule on requests for wireless towers

u clarify the zoning laws so that wireless devices, including those installed in existing structures, can't be installed closer than 650 feet to a dwelling. Existing laws say new towers can't be built closer than 1,000 feet to a dwelling.

u $110,000 for a new dump and sanding truck for the Highway Department

u $65,789 for a loan payment for town buildings project.

u $60,000 for a used backhoe for the Highway Department.

u $33,375 for the loan payment on a fire truck.

u $20,000 for the town's capital stabilization fund.

u $19,275 for the loan payment for the purchase of 9 Morse Village Road, the site of the new town office building.

u $15,528 for the loan payment for the purchase of the Fiske Road property.

u $14,169 for construction expenses for Ralph C. Mahar Regional School.

u $15,000 for the town's pension reserve fund.

u $12,500 into the town's reserve fund.

u $11,000 for independent audit expenses

u $10,000 for the town's unemployment compensation fund.

u $6,000 for the town's insurance reserve fund.

u $6,000 for tax title expenses

u $500 for the mediation account

u $500 for a new part-time coordinator of buildings and grounds who would be knowledgeable about town buildings and able to help deal with emergencies when the part-time town administrator is not in the office.

You can reach Arn Albertini at: aalberti@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 264

 

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