Legal review is ongoing in Temple for the 16,080-square-foot building Ben’s Maple Products LLC proposed for the corner of Route 101 and Webster Highway. Proponents of the project introduced what they believed were legal precedents for the project, which requires both a variance and a special exception from the Temple Zoning Board of Adjustment, at a hearing on Jan. 19. 42 people attended the virtual meeting.
At the crux of the request for a variance is an unusual situation: Applicant Ben Fisk obtained written permission from the former residents of an adjacent house, as was required since the proposed building is sited within 500 feet of that residence. However, homeownership has since passed to the mortgage finance goliath Freddie Mac, and the applicant’s months of requests for permission from the company have gone unanswered, according to representatives at last Tuesday’s meeting. The applicant’s lawyer, Tom Hanna, described the proposed tree buffer screening the building from the house’s view, and reminded the Board that all truck activity goes on at the opposite end of the building from the house. A variance would allow the project to proceed without a signature from that property owner.
Neighbor Steve Andersen spoke in favor of the ZBA granting the variance, noting the already less-than-rural feel of Webster Highway residences. “There isn’t a person on Webster … that can’t hear the Jake Brakes on a truck,” he said. “These are really unusual circumstances,” he said.
The building also needs a special exception since it would be a commercial establishment in the town’s rural agricultural district.
ZBA members scheduled a meeting with legal counsel for Jan. 25, and the hearing is continued for Feb. 2. Public comment is still being accepted. The ZBA accepted the resignation of member Honey Hastings, filed Jan. 5, at the end of their meeting.