At their Aug. 5 meeting, Vassalboro Planning Board members approved one permit application. They referred three other projects to Codes Officer Eric Currie.
The permit is for Keith and Lise Marlowe, to replace their house at 148 Park Lane, on Three Mile Pond. They and their representatives, Vassalboro builder David Tyrol and Bath architect Tobias Gabranski, explained that after they received a permit from the board in May to enlarge the house, they found its construction “substandard” in so many respects they decided they should replace it.
The house is non-conforming under town and state ordinances, in that it is only 20 feet from the high-water mark; to be conforming, a building must be at least 100 feet away. Board members debated whether the house could, and therefore should, be moved farther from the lake, and were satisfied that it could not.
After discussing some of the details of the proposed construction, they unanimously approved a permit.
A second issue on Three Mile Pond was presented by John Northrop, who asked for approval for a deck on the front – lake – side of his house. Like the Marlowes’, his house is less than 100 feet from the high-water mark, banning expansion toward the water.
Northrop explained that when he got a permit to rebuild the house two years ago, he moved it back from the water. He thought he could later add to the front. Now that he has difficulty walking, the deck would be useful.
After consulting town ordinances, board members suggested he might be able to get a variance from shoreland requirements from the Vassalboro Board of Appeals, on the ground that the lack of a deck is a hardship. Currie said if Northrop applies to him for a permit, he will deny it, making an appeal possible.
Also attending the Aug. 5 meeting were Carleton and Diane Mason, who live on Maple Street, in North Vassalboro, near the former Carl B. Lord school that now houses Knowles Mechanical. The Masons asked planning board members to deal with two problems: vehicles connected with the business parked too close to their lawn, and an uncovered dumpster from which trash blows onto their neighbors’ property.
Mason suggested the board require a fence between his property and Knowles’ property, and a wall around the dumpster. He has no problems with the business owners, he emphasized, beyond the two issues.
Board members asked Currie to speak with the business owners. In addition to discussing relations with neighbors, board chairman Virginia Brackett suggested he find out how much the business has expanded since it was initially approved.
The fourth Aug. 5 topic was another North Vassalboro business, the Rage Room that Monica Stanton, from Augusta, has been running in an 8-by-40-foot storage container behind the former North Vassalboro school building on Main Street.
Currie estimated the business has been operating for six months or so, without a town permit. He has sent Stanton a cease-and-desist order; he believes it has not been obeyed.
The Rage Room was on the Aug. 5 agenda. Currie said Stanton did not come to the meeting because she had not sent out the required certified letters to abutters in time to receive the return receipts.
Board members doubt that a storage container is a legal home for a business. They listed questions they have about Stanton’s application, so Currie can relay them to her and she can come to the next meeting with answers.
The next regular Vassalboro Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 2.
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by Mary Grow
