Town of Panton
Planning Commission/Zoning Board of Adjustment
Minutes of February 3, 2005

Planning Members Present:		Guests:
L. Giovanella	M. Hermann	R. Burt
S. Hofmann	R. Klein
R. Moulton	D. Raphael
A. Tisbert

Zoning Administrator: E. Hanson

Call to Order: The Planning Commission meeting was called to order in the Panton Town offices at 7:09 p.m., by Chair D. Raphael. A quorum was established. D. Raphael stated that because a Hearing has been warned and there is a draft of the Town Plan, changes cannot be made until after the Hearing. He further added that if there are substantial changes a second Hearing may be necessary. The process would then start over with the Selectboard reviewing the changes.

Approval of Minutes: S. Hofmann commented that the name of the guest in the January 13, 2005 minutes is Bourgenios. S. Hofmann asked for clarification of names in the last paragraph as follows; E. Hanson called former Z.A. D. Dows who had the missing information. D. Dows left a full box of files at the Town Clerk’s office a few days later. change he Motion by S. Hofmann to change approve minutes as amended, seconded by A. Tisbert. So voted.

Old Business:
Z.A. E. Hanson advised the Board that he sent warning letters to Laura Lee Bushey and the DeGraaf’s with a response date of January 15, 2005. If no response is received by this date, a Notice of Violation will be issued. He added that DeGraaf’s have tidied up so he will not issue a Notice of Violation but will continue to watch the situation. E. Hanson said that the Bushey letter was sent to her attorney Peter Langrock. He received a call from Langrock’s paralegal stating that Mr. Langrock is currently out of town and would need time to look at the letter when he returns. E. Hanson said he agreed to hold off on the letter until January 31, 2005 to make a decision, however, if he doesn’t receive a timely response from Mr. Langrock, he will issue a Notice of Violation. Vice Chair Hofmann asked about the Vorsteveld violation and E. Hanson responded that it has been forwarded to the Selectboard and is now in their hands with a recommendation of litigation. S. Hofmann advised that the Vorsteveld’s heifer barn burn today and asked if they could rebuild in light of the violations. Chair Raphael responded that they could be granted the authority to rebuild by the Agricultural Department and that they would need to notify the town that they would be rebuilding in a footprint that violates the setback regulations. Then the Town can provide any comments or concerns to the Agriculture Department, at which point they can listen to the concerns or not. R. Moulton said that he believes the Vorsteveld’s will be repairing and not rebuilding as the barn is still standing.

Vice Chair Hofmann asked Chair Raphael if the year end Planning/Zoning Report is reviewed by the Board prior to being included in the Town Report. Chair Raphael said that usually he reads it to the Board but because the report was late he didn’t get the chance. He added that it’s the same as in other years. Vice Chair Hofmann responded that everyone should get a chance to have an input.

Z. A. Hanson advised the Board that Luanne Urfer has provided changes in the planned subdivision and that he has spoken with Wilson Korth, who represents Ms. Urfer, and he is moving forward with the State waste water permit which they need to obtain, or some kind of certification for the existing system that is on the property. He is also moving on drafting language for the deeded easement on the neighboring property. The subdivision meets minimum road frontage, minimum acreage requirement and if Mr. Korth gets the language underway for the new warranty deed and get the permits underway Z.A. Hanson will refer the subdivision case to the Planning Commission. These have to be in place before the Planning Commission signs off on the Mylar print.

Chair Raphael said that at the last meeting there was a note that the Hartenstein’s had been in and wanted to know where things stand. Z.A. Hanson said that he is in the process of going through the files that D. Dows brought in where most of the information was found. He added that he has Mr. Hartenstein’s phone number and if he continues to call that he should call him. Discussion ensued on lot sizes and Z. A. Hanson said that the Hartenstein’s are not even abutters of the Bogan property and that the screening is being put on a lot other than the one that they did the improvement. Chair Raphael said this can’t be correct but E. Hanson said this is according to the survey which was originally recorded in Ferrisburgh. E. Hanson said that he didn’t want to speak to this matter any further and said that it would be better discussed without a full quorum present. L. Giovanella asked E. Hanson if he had the minutes that pertain to this issue and he responded that S. Torrey had provided copies of minutes.

New Business:

R. Burt advised that there is a Panton Web site available and that minutes will be available on the site. At the present it contains text only. Documents such as the Zoning Regulations, Town Officers, etc. can be added to the site. Discussion of adding the Town Plan was discussed and Chair Raphael said that he will convert the file and send to all Planning members. He will also forward to R. Burt to be included in the Web site. It was mentioned that there isn’t the best communication between the Planning Commission and the Selectboard and having the minutes available on the Web site may alleviate this problem. The Board expressed their appreciation to R. Burt for his work.

Vice Chair Hofmann reminded Chair Raphael that there are reappointments that need to be forwarded to the Selectboard. Motion by M. Hermann to forward the names of David Raphael, Stephen Hofmann and Robert Moulton for reappointment to the Planning Commission/Zoning Board of Adjustment. R. Klein seconded the motion. So voted. Clerk Giovanella will forward these names to the Selectboard.

Sewer Ordinance:

Z. A. Hanson stated that he updated the draft and changed the dates; no changes except for certain citations which are now reflected correctly. He stated that the ordinance is very similar to Salisbury’s which was passed by the State. It was mentioned that Z. A. E. Hanson will do the permitting versus the Health Officer, and this is currently happening now. If the Selectboard were to adopt this ordinance they would designate E. Hanson as their agent. Motion by R. Moulton to recommend to the Selectboard the adoption of the Sewage Ordinance Plan as well as designating Z. A. E. Hanson as sewage control officer to administer the plan. Vice Chair Hofmann seconded the motion. So voted.

The proposed zoning fee structure was reviewed and it was discussed that the Zoning Administrator’s salary should be covered by the fees collected. Motion by R. Moulton to recommend to the Selectboard to adopt the fee structure as prepared by Z. A. Administrator E. Hanson, Vice Chair S. Hofmann seconded the motion. So voted.

Town Plan Review:

The Town Plan was reviewed by the Board members. R. Moulton advised the Board that he and Selectboard member A. Sullivan are very dissatisfied with the survey as presented in the Town Plan as she believes the data is flawed. There ensued discussion on what the proper response rate should be. R. Moulton stated that the data is based on a less than 1 in 7 response rate to the questionnaire. M. Hermann replied that this was an excellent response rate for any kind of survey and to which R. Moulton replied that it was for a response rate but not to generate significant data from it. Chair Raphael responded that they are not making conclusions with the data and R. Moulton said that it becomes deceptive when reported this way as it appears that it’s the feeling of the majority in Town. M. Hermann said that the Planning Commission is being asked to censor information that the Town collected. Chair Raphael said that he is willing to speak to the Selectboard regarding this. R. Moulton restated that this is still not a significant sample of the Town. L. Giovanella expressed concern that the people in Town may wonder what happened to the survey. Further discussion ensued and it was decided to qualify the survey by stating that it is not meant to be used as a statistical tool.

The Planning Commission continued their review of the Town Plan correction grammatical errors, etc.

Adjournment:

Motion by M. Hermann to hold an additional meeting on February 23, 2005 and to adjourn at 9:15 p.m. S. Hofmann seconded the motion. So voted and motion carried.

Respectfully submitted, Susan Torrey Scribe

Next Meeting February 23, 2005