This bylaw change was overdue. I criticized the Planning Board here on the Blog for not proposing the bylaw change earlier.

What is this bylaw change all about?

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a “Smart Growth/Smart Energy Toolkit” for officials and interested individuals on their www.mass.gov website, explaining the advantages of such a bylaw; click here, to get an idea what it is all about.
There is one thing that bothers me about this proposed bylaw change, and I will not support the bylaw in its current form.
Do you like it? Do you know why I don’t like it?
Lets have a discussion and I encourage everybody to come to the public hearing on this bylaw change which is slated for next Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at 19:00 hours at the town hall in the community room.

Here is the text of the proposed “Accessory Dwelling” bylaw:

1.0 Purpose and Intent:

The intent of permitting accessory dwelling units is to:

Provide homeowners with a means of obtaining rental income, companionship, security, and services, thereby enabling them to stay more comfortably in homes and neighborhoods they might otherwise be forced to leave;
Add moderately priced rental units to the housing stock to meet the needs of smaller households and make housing units available to moderate income households who might otherwise have difficulty finding housing;
Develop housing units in single-family neighborhoods that are appropriate for households at a variety of stages in their life cycle;
Provide housing units for persons with disabilities;
Protect stability, property values, and the residential character of a neighborhood.
Legalize conversions to encourage compliance with state building code.

2.0 Accessory Dwelling Standards

The Planning Board as the Special Permit Granting Authority (SPGA) may issue a Special Permit authorizing the installation and use of an accessory dwelling unit: within an existing or new owner-occupied single-family dwelling; in an attached structure to an existing single family home; or detached structure on a single-family home lot only when the following conditions are met:

The unit will be a complete, separate housekeeping unit containing both kitchen and bath.
Only one accessory dwelling unit may be created within a single-family house or house lot.
The accessory apartment unit will abide by the same minimum dimensional standards as the principal dwelling as specified in the Holland Zoning Bylaw, Table 2, Table of Dimensional Requirements. The accessory apartment shall be included in the calculation of maximum total lot coverage.
The owner(s) of the residence in which the accessory dwelling unit is created must continue to occupy at least one of the dwelling units as their primary residence.
Any new separate outside entrance serving an accessory dwelling unit shall be located on the side or in the rear of the building.
The size of the accessory dwelling unit shall be greater than 250 square feet but may be no more than fifty percent (50%) of the gross floor area of the principal residence or eight hundred (800) square feet, whichever is less. This applies to accessory apartments created within an existing home, as an attached structure to an existing home, or as a detached structure.
Once an accessory dwelling unit has been added to a single-family residence or lot, the accessory dwelling unit shall never be enlarged beyond the eight hundred (800) square feet allowed by this bylaw/ordinance.
An accessory dwelling unit may not be occupied by more than three (3) people nor have more than one bedroom.
The accessory dwelling unit shall be designed so that the appearance of the building remains that of a single-family dwelling. To the extent practicable:

All stairways to the apartment should be enclosed within the exterior walls of the dwelling. Otherwise, they must not be apparent from the street.
Any new entrance shall be located on the side or in the rear of the dwelling.

The accessory apartment must use the same driveway as the main dwelling unit;

Where necessary to provide safe access and egress for disabled persons, the requirements of this paragraph may be waived by the Planning Board.

The construction of any accessory dwelling unit must be in conformance with the State Building Code, Title V of the State Sanitary Code and other local bylaws/ordinances and regulations.
Off-street parking spaces must be available for use by the owner-occupant(s) and tenants. All vehicles must be parked off the street.

3.0 Application Procedure

The procedure for the submission and approval of a Special Permit for an Accessory Apartment in Owner-Occupied, Single-Family Dwelling shall be the same as prescribed in the (Special Permit Section of the Zoning Bylaw) except it shall include a notarized letter of application from the Holland Town Clerk stating that the owner will occupy one of the dwelling units on the premises. A non-refundable fee, the amount of which is outlined in Planning Board procedures shall be included with the application for an accessory apartment to cover the cost of processing the application. The applicant shall also be responsible for the cost of legal notices. As part of the public hearing process, parties of interest, as defined in M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Sec. 1 1 must be notified.
Upon receiving a special permit, the owner(s) must file on subject property a Declaration of Covenants at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds. The zoning approval and the notarized letters required in 04.1 must be recorded in the Hampden County Registry of Deeds or Land Court, as appropriate, in the chain of title to the property, with documentation of the recording provided to the Building Official, prior to issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the accessory dwelling unit by the Building Official.
When a structure that has received a permit for an accessory dwelling unit is sold, the new owner(s), if they wish to continue to exercise the Permit, must, within sixty (60) days of the sale, submit a notarized letter to the Building Official stating that they will occupy one of the dwelling units on the premises as their primary residence.
In order to encourage the development of housing units for disabled and handicapped individuals and persons with limited mobility, the Planning Board may allow reasonable deviation from the stated conditions where necessary to install features that facilitate access and mobility for disabled persons.
Prior to issuance of a special permit, a floor plan must be submitted showing the proposed interior and exterior changes to the building as part of the application.

4.0 Administration and Enforcement

It shall be the duty of the Building Inspector to administer and enforce the provisions of this Bylaw.
No building shall be constructed or changed in use or configuration until the Building Official has issued a permit. No permit shall be issued until a sewage disposal works permit, when applicable, has first been obtained from the Board of Health and the proposed building and location thereof conform with the town's laws and bylaws. Any new building or structure shall conform to all adopted state and town laws, bylaws, codes and regulations. No building shall be occupied until a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued by the Building Official where required.
The Building Official shall refuse to issue any permit, which would result in a violation of any provision of this chapter or in a violation of the conditions or terms of any special permit or variance granted by the Board of Appeals or its agent.
The Building Official shall issue a cease and desist order on any work in progress or on the use of any premises, either of which are in violation of the provisions of this chapter.
Construction or use according to a building permit or special permit shall conform to any subsequent amendment of this chapter unless the construction or use is begun within a period of not more than six months after the issuance of a permit granted before the effective date of the amendment. To qualify for this exemption, construction must be completed in a continuous and expeditious manner.
The Planning Board may, after making findings of fact that support the decision, approve modifications to the dimensional standards of this bylaw, section 02.0, that will not exceed those standards by more than 10 percent.

5.0 Accessory Apartments in Existence Before the Adoption of An Accessory Apartment Bylaw

To ensure that accessory apartments or conversions in existence before the adoption of this Accessory Apartment Bylaw arc in compliance with the State Building Code Regulations, the Planning Board may authorize, under a special permit and in conjunction with the Building Official, use known as an Accessory Apartment in an Owner-Occupied, Single-Family Dwelling.
The applicant must follow the same procedure described in this Section including the submission of a notarized letter by the Holland Town Clerk declaring owner occupancy and a Declaration of Covenants.

Definitions.

Accessory Dwelling Unit: Accessory dwelling units are secondary housing units within, attached to or on the property of an existing single family home.
Structure, Attached: A building having any portion of one or more walls in common or within ten feet of an adjacent building.
Structure, Detached: A building having ten feet or more of open space on all sides.
Dwelling, Single-Family: A building designed or used exclusively as a residence and including only one dwelling unit.
Dwelling Unit: A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation. This definition does not include a trailer, however mounted.
Primary Structure: A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located. For residentially zoned lots, such a building would be a dwelling.

Remove the following definitions:

Dwelling, one family
Dwelling

Also add to the Holland Use Table:

Accessory Dwelling R=SP, AR=SP, G=SP, RB=SP,SC=SP, C=N

There will be other bylaw changes on the warrant for the special town meeting which will take place on April 19, 2011; one to regulate Bed & Breakfast establishments, and also the required changes to comply with the requirements of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources for “Green Community” status. Once Holland is a “Green Community” the town is eligible for state grants under this program.
I wrote about the programm under the heading “Stretch Code” in the piece, Selectboard Meeting of February 15, 2011.

Please participate on the public hearing next Tuesday, this is important.

March 18, 2011, Peter Frei

Here is the unedited audio recording about the public hearing of Tuesday night, March 22, 2011. The recording is covering the first public hearing, the public hearing about the four proposed amendments to the Zoning Bylaw. The second public hearing about the Stretch code is not part of the recording:

The status bar shows on the lower right time-played/total-time.
In my report, I refer to time played as shown in the status bar. You can drag the indicator to any position to replay, or to jump back or forward to any sequence. Just watch the display of "time played."

PLEASE NOTE! Every term or word typed in bold/italic on this blog is A LINK! Please click on these links to view the documents, websites, and other information these links are linked to.

To view the proposed Accessory Dwelling Bylaw, you just need to scroll up!

Here is what you will hear:

After a short introduction, Lynn Arnold, chairwoman of the Planning Board of Holland, (PBH), informed the attendees that there are different versions of the proposed bylaws in circulations and attendees should make sure that they had the latest version, copies of which were ready as handouts, at 1:00.
I had made some notes on my copy I brought with me, and it was impossible to discern whether I had the latest version or not.
Lynn, why don’t you write on top the version, starting with version “1.0”, and then increase the number each time you release a newer version?
Another question to Lynn; word-processing programs allow pages to be numbered, this is most helpful and does not cost anything extra.. If one deals with unnumbered sheets it is difficult to keep them in order. Why not number the pages? Could you please do that in the future? At 2:50 Lynn stated: “As most of you probably know there’s a group of volunteers here in town that have been working extremely hard on obtaining the “Green Community” status for Holland.”
As I pointed out in the report about the selectboard meeting of February 15, 2011, under the subtitle Stretch Code., their effort is at least one year late..
Lynn admitted this fact at 07:08 and at 7:33. Lynn informed the attendees that solar power generation installations and research or manufacturing facilities for green energy are only allowed to be built “as of right” in the Commercial District, at 4:43.
The entire commercial district is owned by Anthony J Grossi and his business partner Michael J Bergeron, the two owners of New England Land and Lumber. Grossi is known to be a close friend of Selectman James Wettlaufer.
The 73.8 acre parcel was rezoned from special conservancy to commercial/business during the special town meeting that was held on July 28, 2005. According to Wettlaufer, the rezoning was going to bring the town needed tax revenue paid for by Flying J Inc., who was going to build a truck stop. Fortunately this never happened.

I much rather see a solar panel power plant built on the site than a truck stop, and I hope that this is what will happen on the 73.8 acre lot.

To build the same facilities in the business and rural business district a special permit is required, at 6:24.

These two amendments in connection with solar power generation and clean energy research and manufacturing facilities are mandated in order to be able to qualify for grant money available to �Green Communities.�
At 07:08, Lynn talks about the missed opportunity of last year, when the town was unable to apply for grant money because PBH and the Board of Selectmen had missed the opportunity to bring our town in compliance with the requirements. Lynn stated that the smallest grant that was given last year was $125,000 [...].
At 7:33, Lynn, “we are to late, that’s what this is all about..”

Lynn Arnold:
Just so that everybody knows, this is a public hearing. There are extensive minutes taken, those minutes will be published and I’m assuming that’s where everybody will get their information as suppose to tape recording or anything, that’s illegal without a permission, just that you know that.
Peter Frei:
That’s not correct!
Lynn Arnold:
Are you tape recording us?
Peter Frei:
Yes I do..
Lynn Arnold:
I’d like to ask you not to do that..
Peter Frei:
I refuse, its open meeting law,
Lynn Arnold:
Ok..
Peter Frei:
I have all the right to record this meeting..
Lynn Arnold:
Ok, ok, no problem..

While in other communities, like Wales for instance, important public hearings are videotaped and then transmitted for an entire week around the clock over one of the Cable TV “PEG” channels to inform the community of Wales, here in Holland a constant effort is made to keep the community uninformed.
I reported about Wales’ “PEG” channels in the piece, Worth’s Upside Down Show and the PEG channels in Wales.

Lynn Arnold, by law, is mandated to KNOW, yes that is correct, she is mandated by law to know that everybody has the right to record any public open meeting or public hearings, by audio or video, as long as with, “such recording there is no active interference with the conduct of the meeting.” See G.L. chapter 39, section 23B, subsection (10,) par. 5.

The very next paragraph, par. 6, provides that every elected or appointed official, and Lynn Arnold is one of them, shall be furnished and shall sign a copy of the open meeting law; here is the text of par. 6:

Upon qualification for office following an appointment or election to a governmental body, as defined in this section, the member shall be furnished by the city or town clerk with a copy of this section. Each such member shall sign a written acknowledgment that he has been provided with such a copy.

This attempt to prevent me from recording the meeting is just another attempt — and they add up — to be able to act with impunity and free of public scrutiny; thereby promoting a closed government for a few, instead off a government by the people for the people.

At 17:11, Lynn is pondering about the Grossi-Bergeron 73.8 acre parcel, and how well it would be suited to be used for a large scale solar power plant. I full heartedly agree!
When asked if the PBH has an application for a solar power plant, Lynn stated that the PBH has not received an application yet.

At 20:23, Lynn is introducing the third out of the four proposed bylaw amendments.
This bylaw is of little interest to the average resident, I see nothing in the proposed bylaw that is questionable. HISTORY:
At 30:10, Lynn explained that Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) approached PBH and suggested to adopt an Accessory Dwelling Bylaw to increase the percentage of affordable housing units. Holland has at this time 3.1% but 10% is the recommended portion of affordable housing according to the Commonwealth.

The PVPC, according to a publication on their website, called, “2010 PVPC Major Accomplishments,” (page 10), began providing affordable housing technical assistance to Pioneer Valley communities under a grant from the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). PVPC assisted five projects in 2010 by attending public hearings to answer technical questions and developing outreach materials to educate the public and address their concerns raised at these hearings and meetings.

One of these projects was the planned, and by the voters rejected, low-income senior housing project. The Holland Blog informed the readers of the Holland Blog about the $5.28 million project in the piece, Community uproar about the proposed low—income senior housing project.
Thereafter, PVPC approached the PBH to assist with the proposed accessory dwelling bylaw implementation to increase the percentage of affordable housing units.

The proposed Accessory Dwelling Bylaw surprisingly does not mention in any way “Affordable Housing.” Holland could modify its proposed Accessory Dwelling bylaw to allow affordable Accessory Dwellings — that is, Chapter 40B-eligible units — as of right while non-restricted Accessory Dwellings would be allowed by special permit. Many smal communities throughout Massachusetts do have such a provision in their Accessory Apartment/Dwelling Bylaw.

The Commonwealth’s “Model Bylaw for Accessory Dwelling Units,” (page 3) recommends for units within a home, “use as of right,” even without the 40B restriction.

The proposed bylaw in its current form gives the Holland Planning Board TOTAL CONTROL and does so AGAINST the Commonwealth’s recommendation!!

The proposed bylaw will require a special permit to build any accessory dwelling and the Planning Board can reject applications on a whim.

With the known history of power usurpation leading to repeated costly lawsuits this is a dangerous proposition! (The Planning Board is sued by Trenton Carlson as plaintiff right now, and I have little confidence in Lynn Arnold’s ability to do the right thing as the chair person to prevent future lawsuits).

The community is better of without an Accessory Dwelling Bylaw at all; once in place, James Wettlaufer’s “in-law” apartment, built without a building permit, will be legalized and nobody can defend their illegal apartment any longer with, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander..”

At 34:20, Lynn, “Also, we hope to legalize conversions to encourage compliance with state building code because we know that there are some of these that were not approved .. (illegible).”

YES, James Wettlaufer enjoys already an in-law apartment according to his friends; the in-law apartment is even listed on the Public Record Card of his property on 101 Vinton Road as pictured below: Wettlaufer's PRC lists under MIXED USE, Code 1012, “SF w/in law, ” which means, “Single Family with in-law apartment.”
Wettlaufer built the “in-law” apartment for his mother in-law, Susan M. Fraser, who died October 20, 2005. She was 94 years old.
The Holland Zoning Bylaw never allowed the construction of in-law apartments since its inception. Wettlaufer built it without a legal permit.
To see a PDF file of Wettlaufer’s entire PRC, click here!

Lynn: This is going to be by special permit only, at 35:00. Lynn is reiterating the need for everybody else, even after the Accessory Dwellings would become legal, to have to go through the special permitting procedure and take a chance..
Is James Wettlaufer, elected chairman of the Board of Selectmen, just smarter then the rest of us??? Or is the word CORRUPT more fitting??

The proposed bylaw would allow three persons to live in an apartment with no more than one single bedroom, at 37:32.
The state “Model Bylaw for Accessory Dwelling Units,” recommends two bedrooms and no more than three persons.
Besides the fact that it is difficult for three persons to live in an apartment with only one bedroom, it also complicates title 5 issues. Flow rates of septic systems are calculated according to bedrooms, and not occupants.

At 41:33, I ask the question why the PBH did not follow the Commonwealth’s recommendation to grant an application for an Accessory Dwelling within the primary dwelling “as of right.”

Lynn, nor any other PBH members or attendees were able to come up with a plausible reason for the need to require a special permit.

At 43:50, Lynn acknowledges that Wettlaufer’s in-law apartment is illegal.

At 46:14, Lynn showed a map with communities which had already amended their zoning bylaw and are located in the area served by the PVPC.
The map showed predominantly communities that require a special permit. As I checked the MODEL ACCESSORY APARTMENT BYLAW, prepared by the PVPC, I noticed that their model required a special permit and did not follow the Commonwealth’s recommendation. This, of course, explains why communities shown on the PVPC map predominantly require a special permit as these communities were assisted by PVPC advisors who followed their own model bylaw.

At 48:08, someone questioned the 250 sqf minimum requirement, informing the PBH members that there is a movement to build tiny houses.
The building inspector, Jack Keough, made the point that the minimum size would be dictated by requirements of the building code and that much smaller footprints ’ smaller than the 250sqf ’ would not be possible because of it. He then suggested to take the minimum requirement of 250 sqf out. at 58:51.

The members of the PBH then agreed to take the minimum requirements of 250 sqf out, at 1:00:00.

The question whether the adoption of this Accessory Dwelling Bylaw will affect the property taxes is anybody’s guess. At the time when the cost per pupil is around $10,000 a year, property taxes can only increase. Accessory Dwellings will not add much value to a particular house. If one of the three persons occupying such an Accessory Dwelling is a child attending a public school, the cost to the community will be far greater then the increase in the property taxes paid.

The proposed Accessory Dwelling Bylaw, in its current form, is a bad idea!

March 24, 2011, Peter Frei

Voters of Holland, HOW DO YOU FIND THEM?
Don't miss the ANNUAL TOWN MEETING tonight, Tuesday May 25, at 7:00 p.m. sharp!
Record Keeping at the Planning Board.
Planning Board of Holland denied resident right to divide his property.
Soon it will be crunch time in my case against the Planning Board.

Proposed Zoning Bylaw Changes.

Accessory Dwelling Bylaw

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Public Hearing of March 22, 2011, on the proposed amendment of the Zoning Bylaw, and the proposed amendment to the General Bylaws to adopt the “Stretch Code.”

Lynn Arnold’s introduction of the proposed zoning bylaw amendment to qualify for “Green Community” status.

Effort is late, $125,000 of easy Grant Money for the town lost..

”As of Right” Construction of Facilities to Generate, Fabricate, and Research “Green Energy” will only be allowed in the Commercial District.

Lynn Arnold claimed that recording a public hearing is “illegal,” at 8:07.

Proposed Bed & Breakfast Bylaw amendment.

Proposed Accessory Dwelling Bylaw amendment.

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