The chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment resigned this month, saying the Select Board had “advanced a private interest” in its vote to move a zoning issue to a Special Town Meeting.
“I think the Board of Selectmen did everything appropriate procedurally, but in doing so they advanced private interests and selectively treated a citizen differently,” said former ZBA chair Bill Rendle in an interview Monday. “I felt this had a taint and I felt compelled to resign.”
Rendle, as well as member and Clerk Pat Letourneau, resigned shortly after the town voted to allow outdoor entertainment in the summertime months if a business is granted a special exception. Granting special exceptions is among the duties of the ZBA.
While the change allows any business or resident in the GRAF district to apply for a special exception to hold up to three outdoor entertainment events between Memorial Day and Columbus Day weekends, the amendment came about in an attempt by the owners of Marty’s Driving Range to re-start a series of summer outdoor concerts held until the town issued a cease and desist order last summer.
Select Board Chair Louise Lavoie defended the Select Board’s decision to forward the article to a Special Town Meeting, saying that the board had followed all of the laws pertaining to calling, noticing and hearing the amendment.
While Rendle argued that the amendment should have been heard and voted on at Town Meeting, by statute, said Lavoie, people can hear and comment on zoning amendments at a Planning Board hearing – which was held properly for the special amendment.
“There was ample time given at the public hearing for Mason residents to voice their opinion, and after that, the Chair opened it up to non-residents and even went back around to see if there was anyone in Mason who wanted to speak that hadn’t originally signed up, and at that time there were additional comments from residents. Everyone was given an opportunity to weigh in,” said Lavoie.
The Select Board agreed to hold a Special Town Meeting to vote solely on that issue to avoid the possibility of legal action after there was some confusion surrounding the initial article proposed by petition by Marty’s Driving Range that would have been – had everything gone smoothly – on the regular voting ballot in March.
The article never got the chance to be voted on back then, because the owners of Marty’s, Martin and Nicole Ruggiero, submitted the article within the timeframe for petition articles to appear on the regular warrant, but not in time to be considered as a zoning amendment, which it correctly should have been.
The Ruggieros alleged that the mistake was due to incorrect information they received from the town offices.
The town ultimately agreed to hold a Special Town Meeting to allow the town to vote on an article with much of the same language as the Ruggieros originally proposed, with the exception that the original article would have have allowed outdoor entertainment by right, and the new article requires a special exception.
While the town ultimately approved the article in a 240-165 ballot vote earlier this month, Rendle felt the Select Board had overstepped its bounds, morally if not legally.
“The application was filed late,” said Rendle. “My understanding is that if you’re late, you’re late. You take your lumps and you go home and treat your lumps.”
ZBA members are appointed by the Select Board as a group.
Ashley Saari can be reached at asaari@ledgertranscript.com