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Planning Board supports hiring part-time zoning enforcement officer

Date: 3/16/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- As the town of East Longmeadow continues to expand, both residentially and commercially, more and more needs to be enforced by Dan Hellyer, Building Inspector and Zoning Enforcement Officer.

The Planning Board wants to make Hellyer's job easier -- and more efficient -- by having the town hire a part-time zoning officer. The Planning Board met with the Board of Selectmen on March 5 to discuss this proposition, which will be going to Annual Town Meeting.

"There's a lot more support for zoning enforcement than I thought there was," Planning Board chair Tom Morrissette told Reminder Publications. "It's a big undertaking."

Various zoning violations have been brought up to the Planning Board, Morrissette said, but the board can do nothing about them -- they need to be directed to the Zoning Enforcement Officer.

"There are tons of signage issues," he said, "and issues with home based trades. We're expecting more enforcement on those when all the permitting is done."

The signs that are causing problems can be anything from signs on buildings that were not permitted by the Planning Board to tripod signs sitting on sidewalks in front of places of business. Morrissette noted that it is the Zoning Enforcement Officer's job to check on these things.

"We're trying to make sure our town looks good," Morrissette said. "We just want these things taken care of. A part-time officer would deal with a lot of the things out there."

The chair of the Planning Board noted that an alternative to hiring a part-time enforcement officer would involve putting the Building Inspector's position under the auspices of the Planning Board.

"Right now, if we see something, we notify the Board of Selectmen and they tell him [Hellyer]," Morrissette explained. "Putting building, planning and zoning all in one department makes sense."