by Evelyn Smith
It is impossible not to comment on the misrepresentations set forth in this CCA propaganda.
The Zoning Board of Review is not a body to be packed with either environmentalists or expansionists. It is a local court, dependent upon the impartial deliberations of fellow citizens to decide land use issues that are not literally spelled out in the zoning ordinance, and to hear owners’ (and abutting property owners’) appeals of decisions made by the zoning official or the planning commission.
The Zoning Board can issue a Special Use Permit when the zoning ordinance allows a certain use only under special circumstances, and the property owner/applicant can show that those circumstances exist.
The Zoning Board can approve a variance if the literal interpretation of the zoning ordinance will produce an undue hardship, and the specific rights of the abutting property owners will not be adversely affected.
The Zoning Board can overrule a decision of the Zoning Official or Planning Commission if the decision is inconsistent with the provisions of the ordinances of the Town, or if the decision does not take into consideration pertinent facts and circumstances.
Zoning Board members are not expected or permitted to make decisions based on what they would prefer to do in the property owner’s place, but rather on what the law, as it is written, requires or permits the property owner to do.
As a property owner, or as the owner of abutting property, you should expect nothing less.
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