Town of Panton
Development  Review Board  (DRB)
Minutes of December 1, 2005 (UNAPPROVED)

DRB Members Present:	Guest:
K. Bingham	Gregory O'Bryan
M. Hermann	Debra O'Bryan
D. Marshall
R. Moulton
A. Tisbert
E. Hanson, Zoning Administrator

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order in the Panton Town office at 7:08 by acting chair K. Bingham.  A quorum was established.

Minutes:  Motioned by R. Moulton seconded by A. Tisbert to approve the minutes of November 3, 2005 as written.  So voted unanimously.  All voted.

Continuation of the warned hearing of the O’Bryan Property:   K. Bingham explained this was a continuation from the meeting of 11-3-2005 when the O’Bryan’s had come before the board for a subdivision.  At that time the O’Bryan’s did not have a Mylar for the subdivision.  G. O’Bryan presented the Mylar to the board for review.  R. Moulton made the motion to accept the Subdivision as presented. Seconded by A. Tisbert.  So voted unanimously.  All voted.

DRB Members Arriving after vote:           
L.  Giovanella
R.  Klein

Election of new chairperson:  M. Hermann requested that the board defer electing a new chairperson tonight as it was sudden news to the board that Chair S. Hofmann had resigned and no one has had a chance to speak with him.  M. Hermann proposed that K. Bingham continue as acting Chair and when new members are appointed it can be discussed then.  D. Marshall asked for clarification of the DRB.  E. Hanson explained that the board now is a DRB but also separately a Planning Commission.  E. Hanson explained that the Zoning Board was abolished but not the Planning Commission.  The DRB was established as an eight member board and the Planning Commission is a nine member board, which leaves the DRB short one member and the Planning Commission two members.  K. Bingham said that she could continue as acting Chair until new members were appointed.  M. Hermann made the motion to defer the election of a new chair until new members could be appointed to the board.  Seconded by L. Giovanella.  So voted unanimously.  All voted.

Zoning Administrator’s Report:  E. Hanson spoke about some of the problems that should be looked at when writing new regulations for the town.  One item of concern for him is the conditional use regulations.  He asked that the board review and change these regulations when considering new regulations.  E. Hanson went on to say there are  conditional uses that should be considered in areas where they would fit very well and also could be beneficial to the town but right now they are prohibited.  Discussion continued as to conditional use and affordable housing needed in Panton.

GUEST ARRIVED:  7:35 P.M.
Robert and Joan DeGraaf
Tom and Shelly Eriksen
K. Bingham recognized the guest and asked them to sign in.  E. Hanson explained that the Eriksen’s would like to purchase B.J. Farm Supply from the DeGraaf’s and use it for a boat sales store.  E. Hanson went on to say that the property is located in a R5 District and never been zoned commercial use.  B. DeGraaf said that when they originally applied for a permit to build the store he had been told it was zoned light industrial/agriculture.  E. Hanson said agriculture sales and service was always an allowed use there.  E. Hanson went on to say that under current regulations it was neither a by-right nor a conditional use for a boat show room.  E. Hanson tried to clarify for the DeGraaf’s that he was not sure how their original permit was granted as he was not zoning administrator at the time.  E. Hanson explained the steps involved in changing zoning to allow a boat sales where B.J. Farm Supply is located right now.  Discussion continued about how to change conditional use in the town.  E. Hanson said right now it is a nonconforming use and now the Eriksen’s are proposing to convert it to another nonconforming use which the DRB does not have the authority to approve.  D. Marshall suggested going back and looking at what was presented at the time the permit was granted to the DeGraaf’s for a store.  E. Hanson stated he had gone back and looked and it does not make sense to him.  K. Bingham asked for a time out in the conversation which had become out of hand concerning conditional use.  R. Moulton agreed with K. Bingham and stated he felt the board should decide at their next meeting to come up with new wording for conditional use or vote it down and leave the statute as is.  The DeGraaf’s were giving a time frame of about six months for all steps to be followed if changes were to happen.

Discussion started concerning Whispering Pines. M. Hermann explained legal terms in detail concerning the deed of Whispering Pines.  M. Hermann said as counsel here he knew the legal issues involved with a lot of the matters concerning Whispering Pines.  D. Marshall corrected M. Hermann that Mr. Carroll was town counsel not him. E. Hanson advised many errors have been made by the zoning administrator with help along the way from other board members mainly the zoning board.  Thirteen permits have been issued to the Rule’s all of which were not legal.  E. Hanson stated he is now trying to recover the original septic review from the state and also trying to recover the Act 250 review from the state because he wants to see what actually existed at that time compared to now.  He also wants to do an actual review on the property.  Discussion continued as to how to handle this situation.  E. Hanson advised he would be drawing up a summary and he would like to have the Selectboard included for the discussion.  L. Giovanella stated she felt the Selectboard should be at this meeting as they have as much responsibility as the rest.   R. Moulton pointed out that the current Selectboard had nothing to do with the situation that has been created at Whispering Pines.  L. Giovanella said she realized that but felt like they should still be present.  Discussion started as to who was responsible and who sat on the zoning board while mistakes were being made.  M. Hermann suggested moving on as best we can with the whole situation. 

New Business:  R. Moulton reminded the board someone needs to assist the Town Clerk and Selectboard with a budget for the DRB/Planning Board for the coming year.  Budget meetings for the Selectboard will be starting soon.  Suggestions were as followed:  $2000.00 for legal fees, $2000.00 Education & Training fees.  R. Moulton said he could try to meet with S. Torrey to try and come up with some figures for a budget if members would like him to.  All agreed this was a good plan.

The next meeting will be January 5, 2006

Motion to adjourn at 8:57 P.M.  by R. Moulton seconded by R. Klein