On the advice of Town Counsel Mark Lanza, the Planning Board decided at its Sept. 14 meeting to approve Robert Hirsch’s updated site plan for his property at 285 Ayer Road, with the condition that all other compliance issues be rectified. The change to the plan requested by Hirsch was the relocation of a sign, which was necessary for his compliance with a condition of the liquor license granted to him by the Board of Selectmen in May. According to Land Use Administrator Liz Allard, there was no deadline given for the compliance ordered by the board. “That’s up to the zoning officer,” she said.
The discussion about the site plan was continued from the previous Planning Board meeting, when a dispute erupted between board member Kara Minar and Chairman Joe Sudol. Minar had argued against granting Hirsch permission to move the sign, contending that because the property was out of compliance with standards originally set forth in the site plan, the board should not consider his most recent request.
Lanza, who was present at the Sept. 14 meeting, offered the opinion, “The Planning Board is not an enforcement board. A request for a site plan approval cannot be denied based on other noncompliance issues. The board has to address the issue before them.” He went on to say, “The Planning Board can include a condition that all other aspects need to be in compliance by a certain date. But, you can not deny site plan approval because of other violations.”
The noncompliance issues should be dealt with by the zoning enforcement officer, he said.
