HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-07-23 TOWN OF GROTON
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
Public Hearing , July 23 , 1985
Violation Town of Groton Land Use andDevelopment Code and Licensing and
Regulation of Junkyard Ordinance by ALLEN RAWSON and RICHARD REIMER .
Violation of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code and N . Y . S .
Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code : BRIAN LUCEY .
BOARD ( *present ) OTHERS PRESENT
J . Bell , Chairman Terry Ofner
M . Decker* Duane Randall'
L . Raymond* Richard Reimer
D . Ofner* Tina Reimer
N . Smith* Don Vanatta
Brian Lucey
John Hanford
L . RAYMOND , Acting Chairman , opened the Public Hearing at 8 : 00 me
by reading the Public Notice attached .
Violation of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code , Section 312
and Licensing and Regulation of Junkyard Ordinance by RICHARD REIMER , 850 Cobb
St . , Groton , New York .
WOODS What I found were unused vehcles and inoperable vehicles on the
property , in particular a Pontiac in the front of the .house ; in
addition there are other unused : materials along side of house
causing blocking the view from the intersection and also unused
material laying around the garage and back yard .
RAYMONDs , You have contacted these people '' concerning this ?
,WOOD :-. I have had two telephone conversations with! Mrs . Reimer indicating
these were not unused and abandoned materials .
RAYMONDs We are listening to the evidence from everyone concerned who
has an interest in this . Any decision we make will be made at
another meeting . Does anyone here wish to comment who are
interested in or affiliated with RICHARD REIMER?
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING -3- July 23 , 1985
RAYMONDt In explanation the Town has a Junkyard Ordinance in the Town
Laws which indicates if you have !'more than two/Elf8eRsed vehicles
on your property you are in violation of the law unless you
obtain a junkyard license .
RANDALLo I understand what the law is ; what is considered a vehicle , car or
u
truck? I suggest that whoever - is, making the complaint investigate
it more thoroughly .
R . REIMERs I was in- touch with.- Gary Wood when sent the first letter . I told
him every vehicle was licensed except the Pontiac . I have been
through a cancer operation , and because of finances that is the
only vehicle without a license , iI don ' t understand the complaint
of a junkyard ; there is not an unlicensed vehicle there except
for the Pontiac .
WOOD : May I refer to the section of law which sayw ' where two or more
unregistered vehicles in condition for use on public highway
whether for personal use or resell , for reclaiming for raw
material , such materials should include any area are classified
for dumping . An accumulation of 'dumping or storage of used
materials of whatever consistency ' . It is not limited to motor
vehicles . You are 'right , the Pontiac is the only vehicle there
unlicensed .
R . REIMER : That ' s right , the only unlicensed vehicle . My daughter ' s vehicle ,
my sone has a vehicle , I have two vehicles . My boy has a motor
vehicle . Everything has a license .
RANDALL : The interesting thing I see , when you read the letter Mr . Wood .
sent Mr . Reimer , a Town Board member lives four houses away and
has four unlicensed vehicles on his property . It seems particular
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING -5- July 23 , 1985
OFNER : The outdoor storage is for articles you uselin your business ?
R . REIMER : I don ' t have enough room to do it . elsewheres . For the last ten
years I have supplied the Town and County and others . I ' m in
plumbing and heating . I have a ';, ?50 gallon drum for . . . . . . .
I have a 50 gallon drum that needs to be cleaned out and that goes
back to theowner . I have no 'storage . It ' s ` all for heating or
if a farmer needs a piece of welding , he tells me what it is
IP
and I make it . Mr . Randall had to have a saw made , I fabricated
it there . All this stuff is for that . I got a plow for the truck
my son has a plow for his truck .; I only have a certain amount
of space .
DECKER : I have to be honest , but every time I come up to that corner
heading south you dan ' t see anything . In the 12 years there has
only been one accident , we ' re fortunate in that . What you have
I know you use . :' ' . It is the sametype of accumulation we have
on the farm , but we have more room . Dick has no place to put
anything . We have to come to some workable ' situation . That
junk is his stock , it ' s in and out .
T . REIMER What I have heard the last ten minutes is not so much the junk
but the view from the road . I find from coming the other
direction it is just as hazardous to see around the trees .
Is everyone on a corner suppose ',to - cut the trees obstructing
a view?
DECKER : That is a good point , the view coming from the south you can ' t
see because of Mr . Terwilliger ' s, trees .
RANDALL : That ' s true .
zoning board of appeals public hearing - 7- July 23 , 1985
R . REIMER : I would have more room if I could get around back . I have a
tractor and one bucket out front . I have another bucket on
the tractor . There is not enough room to put everything .
RAYMOND : Without a request through the Town Board to " County road super-
intendent to get something done .
R . REIMER : They wasted money on the crossroad and made` a dangerouse inter-
section . Toward the church the County laid patch and let ' it go .
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I have a lot of metal there , there is a lot '' of steel , . different
types of stell . Some of it weighs a ton a piece . In my barn
you would not believe the amount of stuff in there .
DECKER : I feel there is the difference here . Things don ' t stay . The
stuff moves ; it is not a continual buildup . ,
RAYMOND : Is there any opportunity at all ".for expansion across the road ;
could a neighbor rent you a piece of land?
R . REIMERs There was a place owned by G . Pierson , but . . . now in a home and
can ' t or won ' t sell it and now the barn is falling down . There
Is stuff in there from old furnaces and different parts ; I wish
I could put it under cover because I do lose a lot . I have piping
for heating and after a time I lose it . A piece of the building
fell out and Ihave not been able to fix it . I now have a horse
trailer sitting there . I do various things. I do plumbing ,
heating , electrical work , welding , fabricating .
RANDALL : i I think you should clarify what "the trailer , is doing there .
R . REIMER : I ' m redoing it . The man can ' t afford a new;; one . I had to cut
the doors off and fabricate newl'metal .
i, u .;'.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 9- July 23 , 1985
OFNERs Mr . Reimer , it appears at least one vehicle :. is not registered
and it is posing a hazard as far, as seeing on the corner is
concerned .
R . REIMERs No , it is in front of the house isupposedly anything there on
north side of house , the road is on the southside of the house
the only reason that vehicle is ;;there is I can ' t afford to drive
two vehicles now . You live on $ 1004150 a month you can ' t
afford 2 vehicles .
RAYMONDs Does anyone also want to make any comments ? ; If not , we will
close this portion of the Public Hearing and move on to the next .
Violation of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code , Section 312
and Licensing and Regulation of Junkyard Ordinance by ALLEN RAWSON , 179 Hinman Rd . ,
Groton , New York .
RAYMONDs This case involves large vehicle's and other junk , Was this
person given previous notices to clean up ?
WOODS I sent notices and hand delivered notice that if action was not
taken then it would be set up before the Board .
RAYMONDs The notice gives December 28 , 1984 to remove by that date .
DECKERt Since that time have you noticed any changes taking place?
WOOD : Not that I could notice . The last time I talked to Mrs . Rawson
she said she and her daughter were working at trying to clean
it up . There are several vehicles and two buildings .
DECKERS He owns on both sides of the road?
WOOD : Yes . I have not met Mr . Rawson but I think:'At is not that easy
of a job .
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ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 11 - July 23 , 1985
changes made . One thing I stopped doing , after the first round ,
I don ' t take pictures any more . I really did not try to inventory .
When it comes down to it , it is far better for you to see it
yourselves . I have not tried to . be sure if things were moved .
DECKER : From December 28 was there any communication made until a few
weeks ago ? We have. nothing here showing that there was .
WOOD : No , there was not until it came time to serve this notice .
RAYMOND : You did talk to them when you gave them the November notice ?
What was said then?
WOOD : I don ' t remember .
RAYMOND : Was that agreeable with them? They thought they could do something
about it ?
WOOD : Yes , it seemed they could work it out .
DECKER : It ' s a lot of time since December 28 , some people don ' t move
unless they are being prodded .
RAYMOND : The main thing in my mind is the indication they intend to do
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something .
OFNER : Somehow we are going to have to ' set a deadline , that is enforcible .
They indicated they would like to clean up ?
WOOD : I think ' like ' perhaps is a poor word . They were willing .
OFNER : They did not say they would not ?
RAYMOND : I think I would like more information about what they consider
some stuff in relation to some business .
DECKER : If there is a Mr . Rawson , is it feasible the things could be
moved?
RAYMOND : Was anybody there able to do that type of work? If they were
able was the stuff unable to be moved without heavy equipment ?
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING 4 3 - July 23 , 1985
concerned with public buildings . The building code applies
to concerns of new homes .
LUCEY : I was charged in violation with Building Code . My complaint
is you should have spelled out what I am in violation of .
You can ' t say ' you are in violation of get down to specifics .
WOODi In the first place the NYS Fire Prevention and Building Code
is not something this Board has jurisdiction over . They have
jurisdiction for the Town of Groton Land Use Ordinance . In
the notice it states you violated Section 402 . 2 of that law
which says any new facility more than 100 square fee , a zoning
permit for construction is needed . That is the essence of the
charge .
LUCEYt It was a rebuilding of a structure that been there for over
30 years .
WOODi The structure as it stands today was not there before .
LUCEYs There was a building before the building was rebuilt because
the end of the barn was fallingioff .
WOODi You have the essence of the problem .
LUCEY : I wrote to FHA to be granted a housing loan from the Federal
government to help rebuild but they sent a farm loan man that
says ' we will loan you money at '15 per cent ' . I said not , I
will get it from Social Services . I live in the end of a
barn . I ' m not going to tear the structure down no matter how
you want to word it . Clarify what you want me to do . I changed
the roofline , I fixed it , I ' m 69 years old too old to go on '
the roof to shovel them . The building was rebuilt to put the
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING 4 5- July 23 , 1985
SMITH : Did you tear the old garage down?
LUCEYi I had to .
SMITHt It is a new structure ?
LUCEYt It is a rebuilt structure .
RAYMONDt It has the same floor space ?
OFNERi It is the same place it was before ?
LUCEYt Exactly ,
HANFORDs If you are going to reside a house , roof needs repair , you take
the wall down before you reside it . That is what he did . When
you are 69 years old need access to garage door . You don ' t need
to be shoveling to get to it . He changed the pitch of the roof
so the snow would go to the side of the barn . Brian does not
have to call an ambulance when there is six inches of snow
because he has to shovel out the garage door . The door is in
the same place , the walls came down and were replaced .
RAYMOND : The garage building , you used it right along before you rebuilt
it ?
LUCEYt I park my truck in it in the winter time . It is close to the
road , don ' t have to reshovel to get out onto the highway . There
was an extension beyond this building that was taken out . When
I put it up originally in 1960 I moved the door so it opend
out and the snow plow would push the snow against the door so
I could not get out . I put a new addition to get out to shovel
to clean in front of the garage to open the doors , k'
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OFNER = Have you seen the barn? It is about 8 to 10 feet from the
Paving of the road . It is an existing non-conforming use .
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 17- July 23 , 1985
from his observation the space that it occupies , the distance
from the road , is the same as the past 14 years that he has
been passing by there . There is some slight alteration to the
walls angle to the building . The original foundation is the
same ; the walls are outside from the original walls .
LUCEY : There is no foundation underneath . It was built originally
by 44694446606 . 6609 The house which was built in 1797 that was
sold in 1801 to Sam Quinton . What was left from the house , they
built the barn . I used it as a cow barn ; now I live in it .
I have to live someplace . They built it on the top of the ground .
OFNER : There is no normal footers or foundation?
LUCEYe No . Part of it was felled big trees and laid planks on it .
OFNER : You got new material , followed the same line , then whatever was
left over used for the building?
LUCEY : Used what was left . What else I needed I got from piles of
scrap in my backyard . I try to have everything under cover .
To me everything should be neat and tidy . I did put a new roof
because the old roof I could not salvage . I wanted to change
the line so I did not have to shovel it . I don ' t know why but
it ' s right there at the barn and , house next door that the snow
dumps . I have to go up on the roof and get the ice and snow
offs
RAYMOND : The central question here , what ,4e are concerned with seems to
be whether you had to have a permit in order to make allterations
or rebuild on the main site .
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 19 July 23 , 1985
OFNER : Evidently , part of the replacement is the same kind
of building as before in the same place .
RAYMOND : If it is/Aeon- conforming use and rebuilt from the ground
up , the Town Law can deny use . .
WOOD : There is no way I can issue a building permit ; it does
not meet the State Law ,
DECKER : If he applies for one and he is turned down he cam come
before us to apply for a variance .
WOOD : You can ' t variance the State Law ,
OFNER0 It is a matter of how you looked at what was done to
the building .
DECKER : We had a non- conforming building as long as it stood
there but now he has done some maintenance on it . . . . . . .
WOOD : That could be a way out and call it ' maintenance ' .
OFNER : I ' m convinced it is not anymore non- conforming than
before . It is easily the same . It has not been expandad
to a non- conforming area .
WOOD : I ' ll go along with that .
DECKER : It has not changed the looksp they have improved them
if anything . The use has not changed . It sounds to me
to be a safer , better constructed unit .
OFBiER0 On the other hand , he has be go through the same pro -
cedure for a building permit .
SMITH : Does Mr . Lucey have to make application for a building
permit , be ' refused , then come to us7
XONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 21 - July 23 , 1985
wrong . What he did was what the Town hired him to do .
I think we understand pretty well what you ' situation
is . We require another meeting to make a decision on
what we are going to do . The public is invited to
the meeting . You can talk tonight but you can ' t talk
at the meeting then .
LUCEY : I ' m not going to tear the building dow , no matter what
you sayo . The building is there for a purpose , to
house the truck in the wintertime . The building was
falling down .
wP
L . RAYMOND closed the Hearing at fs30 p . m . The meeting on the
decision on the above items will be Wednesday , August 21 , 1985 .
'
I , MARGARET A . PALMER , DO CERTIFY that at the Public
Hearings for the Zoning Board of Appeals concerning , RICHARD REIMER ,
ALAN RaWSON and BRIAN LUCEY , at the Town ,. Hall , Town of Groton on
Tuesday , Jjtly 23 , 19859 did take the minutes of said hearing and
the foregoing is a true andexact copy , to the best of my ability .
- f
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The Town Boa 181T rd � ' ` " " * ` � � Town of Groton
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101 "Conger Boulevard
Groton, N . Y . 13073
LEGAL NOTICE
MWN OF GROTON
rlkwllCs 18 hE �• i G14M , that a public hearing will be held by the
Board cf Appeals of the Town of Groton at the Town Hal 1 101 Conger
Boulevard , Groton , New York , on the 23rd day !' of July , 1985 , at 8 :00 P . M .
A fact finding hearing will be held upon written complaints of Gary '+food ,
Code Enforcement Officer of the Town of Groton , charging the following-
vio ?ati ins : _
1) Violation of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code , . - --
Section 312 , and Licensing and Regulation of Junkyard Ordinance -
- - by the following landowners by harbouring inoperable vehicles -and other junk by : — - -
Allen Rawson , 1?9 Hinman Road , Groton , N . Y.
Richard . Reimer, 850 Cobb Street , Groton , . N!, Y.
2) Violation of the Town of Groton Land , Use. d: Development Code ,
Section 402 . 2 , by =dertaking constrLction without ' a zoning
permit ; and N . Y . S . Chiform Fire Prevention and Building Code
by constricting without inspections for Code Compliance and
occupying the structure with ' a Certificate of Occupancy by :
Brian Lucey , 481 Lafayette Road , Groton , N . Y.
ALI, persons interested will be heard . Communi cations in writing
in relation thereto may be filed with the Board before or at this
hearing .
Janet Bell , Chaiz aan.
Zoning Board of Appeals -
Dated .* July 16 , 1985
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING — 20 — July 23 , 198c
WOOD : In this case I filed the complaint against him , that is
why it came to you this time ,
OFNER : Some way or another we recognize some review is required
above your level . ( zoning ,Officer )
LUCEY : When I originally constructed the building there was no
highway there . In my abstract the County or Town have
never taken steps - to it .
OFNER : By law , in the job he has , Mr '. Wood , if he sees something
that appears to him inrmncompliance ,rwith the Ordinance ,
he has to go throught certain procedures . One procedure
is to notify you that you need a permit to do that kind
of work . He can ' t do anymore or less .= than that . He
comes to `; us and says " Mr . Lucey didlnot respond , you
figure it out "- We are not saying he is wrong , he has
to do this . He is not mad , at you personally = but we
have to come to some reasonable solution . We have to
decide if we thing you created a hazard to traffic that
was not there before , we have to do one kind ' of thing .
If you had something that did not flit the standards '
hefore you repaired it or still does, not after you
repair it , we may say you did not do anything any worse
than -before but also Mr . Wood did what he had to do
for his job . Some people might do something more drastiu
and he world , have to see that they conform to the standarc
We will have to come to some kind of reccomendation
but I don ! t want you to think Mr . Wood did anything .
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING . - 18- July 23 , 1985
LUCEY : I figured ' I did not need it ; maybe you figure I do .
RAYMOND : It is not what we figure , it is what the law says .
HANFORD : If you are going to reside a house and one wall needs to be
replaced you need a permit for that ? Gary said he did not
believe so . Tihat is the difference if. you ,do all the walls at
once or one at a time . If you make the thing strictly sounder ,
why are we bothering the man?
RAYMOND : To clarify the Code : no facility in any district may
be moved', rebuilt , removed °, or enlarged without a zoning
permit issued by the Zoning Officer . Ther is no Zoning
permit required for normal ', maintenance and repairs .
That is the law we have to go by .
LUCEY : This was maintenance and repair .
RAYMOND : The most recent rebuilding ' was last ',year ; that is the
one we are concerned about . It is our problem how this
is to be , applied .
HANFORD * He rebuilt the garage which was 25 years old so it
would be „ safer ,
RAYMOND : The original . building date means nothing . Would it be
possible , we are talking about after the fact , if Gary
looked at the structure and see if ' t would meet the
zoning requirements ?
WOOD : I can tell you it won ' t from what he said . It does not:
a foundation under it and it does not have the required
set back.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 16 - July 23 , 1985
LUCEY : I figured since it was a rebuilt '� structurs why do I need a
I could put
building permit . Under the law/a,
new roof without a building
permit . I know because years ago I built a shanty on the north
end of the building .
DECKER : . Structurally , he did not change the building .
as
OFNER : Gary , I am not familiar with the Code as I should be . Where is
the line on renovating or reconstructing a building that is the
same building and usage . Where does the line come when you have
to have a Building Permit and not have one ? ' Is a Building Permit
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only for new structures ?
WOOD : Absolutelynot . The law here says any construction of any
facility .
OFNER : What degree have to get Building Permit ifI'' replace a back wall
of a house , if it rots away? Back wall and roof?
WOOD : When you tear it down ' and rebuild , the rebuilding has to conform
to the Code .
HANFORD : What is it you want him to do ?
RAYMOND : That is what we are trying to figure out .
WOOD : To do what -he did he should have ',? had a Building Permit , a Zoning
Permit and 'a Variance from the ZBA .
OFNER : What do we do when we have something that is after the fact ?
RAYMOND : The structure now.. • there meets the Building Code ?
TOM I have no idea. I have never been in its but it does not meet
the Land Use Ordinance .
OFNER : It was a non-conforming structure . I viewed it and talked with
a neighbor who has no communication with Mr Lucey and he said .
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ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 14- July 23 , 1985
end of the barn back on , The original structure is from 1904 .*
The other structure there was falling down , ',' I had it propped
upo
the same
RAYMOND : I am trying to understand ; the nsw structure was built in/place
where the old structure was and the same size ?
i
LUCEY : Right .
SMITH : The roofline was changed?
LUCEY : The walls were changed to be stronger to hold up the old barn .
It was built stronger using much' of the same material and
accumulation from stuff around the place toimake it stronger so
I would not have props against i+. to hold the other building up .
It sounds complicated . The garage was there , but it had props
against it ` to hold it up . The base is not . attached to the
other building . The end of the 'original building fell off .
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RAYMOND : This the garage ?
OFNER : The barn wall fell off . I know ,;where the garage is , that is
still in the same place .
LUCEY : Right , only the roofline is changed .
OFNER : The end of , the barn fell off and you rebuilt it up and attached
it to the garage .
LUCEY : I had to take the garage down to nail the end of the barn back
on , then the garage was built in the same place only changed
the roofline to a steeper pitch ; hoping the;; snow would slide
off but It did not . But the garage is still where it was .
OFNER : You have no brand new. buildings?
LUCEY : No , the only thing that is new is the roof .
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 12 - July 23 , 1985
WOODt Most of it can ' t be moved without a truck . ; vI fully expected
them here tonight .
RAYMONDt I thing we will move futher into this%. about capability to
clarify the situation .
Violation of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code , Section
402 . 2 , by undertaking construction without a zoning permit ; and N . Y . S . Uniform
Fire Prevention and Building Code by constructing withoutlinspections for Code
Compliance and occupying the structure with a Certificate , of Occupancy by
BRIAN LUCEY , 481 Lafayette Road , Groton , New York .
WOODt For anyone here who is interested , we at the Town level , have
not much to say about the NYS Fire and Building Code . As of
January , 1984 the State Legislature passed , a socalled Uniform
IL
Fire Prevention and Building Code through out the State of
New York . It contains several sections in - general , sections
which cover fire prevention kinds of things pertains to all
who build ` a house , obtain a mobile home or " manufactured home ,
and a building ' code for new construction . When the State
Legislature enacted this law they made the primeresponsibility
for enforcing it at the local level . If the locality did not
want to enforce it , the County mould enforce it and if they
opted out of enforcing it , it reverted back to the State .
This Town '' chose to take it on and asked me . to become the
enforcement officer . It is a code that sets certain safety
standards for different kinds of occupencies . It is primarily
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ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING - 10 - July 23 , 1985
DECKER : I went by it to look and it looks like a building has either
fallen down or whether it was caused by a fire .
WOOD : It looks like it is not all there ; neither one .
OFNER : The trucks around there , did they explain whether they were used
on the property?
WOOD : There are 3 on the houseside of the street ; the one on the barn
side is inoperable , unused . On the other side one is used , one
As for sale and a third is hanging out . On , way or another there
are 2 or more vehicles at least that are unused .
OFNER : They indicated that they eould be able to do something about it ?
Either use them or get rid of them?
WOOD : The one is for sale .
OFNER : Do they operate a business that ' needs the outdoor storage area?
WOOD : I was not told any such thing . Mr . Reimer did not indicate to me
there was a business there either . It has an appearance of
two buildings that have fallen in upon themselves .
OFNER : They did not explain , other than the fact that one vehicle was
for sale , they did not explain the reason for the material ?
WOOD : The explanation was , "yes , my daughter and I are trying to take
the stuff to the dump ' .
OFNER : Did you get the feeling that if some reasonable timetable was
set they would get the place cleaned up?
WOOD : Yes , probably .
DECKER : It has been about two weeks since you talked with her . From
the deadline of December 28 what has happened?
WOOD : The time has just slipped away ; there has been no perceptible
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ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING -8- July 23 , 1985
RAYMOND : That is part of your repair business ?
R . REIMERs That ' s part of it ; I do it on the farm a lot ; people bring
stuff there to be fixed plus everything else .
RAYMONDs That is your full time business ? ,
R . REIMERs Since I been laid off . . . . . . . . I put in for jobs but at 51 years
old they have a pleasant way of saying you ' re under or over
qualified . I have been trying to make ends meet . It was always
a parttime business for over 30 years .
RAYMOND : It is an established business venture .
HANFORD : I don ' t know anybody over here I would just like to say that I
would not like anyone calling my wife and talking about a problem
and not consulting me and then being hauled before the Board of
Appeals .
WOOD : Mrs . Reimer called me .
HANFORD : I don ' t think I would like some one dealing with my wife . I ' m
Just stating an opinion .
R . REIMERs That was alright , I had her call him . I work 16 hours a day ,
7 days a week . So she ' s in the house and she can take and call
just as good as I can . It makes no difference if she called or
I called .
RAYMOND : I do want to clarify that the Notice goes to the property owner ;
it goes to someone whoes name is on -the property . .
R . REIMERs The only gripe I have is having my name in the paper for something
ahould � not• , have been . The vehicles may look like junk but are
rumble and licensed .
s'
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ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING _ (_
July 23 , 1985
T . REIMERi I find myself coming further from the south than from the north
into the intersection .
OFNERi In response to the question of trees , within the Town Ordinance
there is a reference to plantings that obstruct corner vision .
I don ' t know if they ask people to cut the trees down but it
is in the Ordinance and it refers to trees and plantings not
have branches below a certain level .
R . REIMERt The view from the other way there is a hill there : part of the
road is very hard to see from that side sometimes .
RANDALLt If when you come from the north or go north on Cobb St . there
is a trucker in the neighborhood and when his truck is . parked
on his property you can forget the view , you can ' t see . Back
to Dick ' s situation I think if there was someplace to put that
stuff he would , but there is not . He has a creek through his
back yard that the County won ' t do anything about .
DECKERS Is there any feasibility of that thing going .underground so
YOU could overpass that ?
R . REIMER : You could , the culvert is under the road but the County says
it is in the works to change but won ' t change it .
DECKERS That would give gi you much more property to work with?
R . RIEM I You realize how many times I carted stone , put in there and
it all washed out . The last time I put stones there I was
having radiation treatments and the flood in the fall washed
1
it out . I have not had, it rebuilt again .
DECKERr I wonder , in light of this situation , if we had any wayto apply PP Y
pressure on the County to work on it ? It ' s the only feasible
f
thing .
f
5
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ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC. HEARING -4- July 23 , 1985
individuals are being singled out for whatever reason . I
don ' t understand , I guess . There has been a concern about being
able to see at the corner . A time or two I had to sneak out
into intersection to see , I agree ; but I can remember only one
accident there since 1960 . I can assure you his place looked
worse ten years ago than now .
WOOD : Let me clear another item . It is not unused vehicles that is
really the question , it ' s the . general accumulation of. things .
labeled as junk under this Ordinance .
R . REIMER : My boy has two snomobiles . Must be a law agiinst snomobiles .
There are two boats ; must be a law against boats . I ' m in business
everything there comes and goes . I have a PUMP . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I have others that need to be rebuilt .
WOOD : You are addressing this to the wrong person . I made the accusation .
Speak to the Board . I am explaining what I was hired to do .
R . REIMER : If you would stop and find out it would be another story ; but
you would not stop and find out .
RAYMOND : We are here to listen to all sides of this thing . We appreciate
the information you are providing . We will take this into
consideration when making our decision .
R . REIMER : I have no accumulated junk like he says .
OFNER : I passed by since I sit on the Board and listen to . facts and I did
see various kinds of items . I did not know why they were there .
Can you tell me the purpose of the variety of materials ?
RANDALL : He just says it comes and goes .
OFNER : It is. an outdoor storage for articles you use in your business ?
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING -2 - July 23 , 1985
DECKER : Are there any written communications on this case ?
WOOD : A long time ago I used to send informational memoes . I don ' t find
them in the folder so I can ' t comply with that questions . There
were memoes and phone calss back : and forth and I responded and
asked them to take care of it .
OFNER : Did you advise the them about the Junkyard Regulations ? Did you
inform them that they could declare it a junkyard and apply for
a permit or clean it up?
WOOD : I did not advise them of the possiblity of applying for a Junkyard
permit .
RAYMOND : Any evidence you know of that this family is in a position . to do
this , is there sickness in the family?
WOOD : That has never come up in the conversations . It is not a case of
' we can ' t do it ' ; it ' s a contention ' I ' m wrong ' .
. LUCEY : Does this ordinance apply to farmyards : with all types of vehicles
in their yards ?
DECKER : If they are peices that are not or cannot be used , they are junk
and should be out of sight .
WOOD : ; Yes , it does apply to farms .
RAYMOND : Yes , it does but does not make a difference in this instance .
WOOD : Only to the extent that those things obstructing visibility are
of more urgency . As far as the law as written , it applies to j
1
all of those things .
. RANDALL : I am a neighbor , I g , got a letter . I would like to know what the
question is ? I heard the accusations and I don ' t happen to
agree with them nor do any others or they would be here .