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| By Courtney Llewellyn Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW The Planning Board met with the East Longmeadow Small Business Association (ELSBA) for the third time last week as the two groups try to hammer out a bylaw concerning home based business trades before the Annual Town Meeting in May. With petitioned articles due by Jan. 15 and board endorsed articles due by Feb. 22, the deadline for a new bylaw is quickly approaching. The goal of the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, was to have "80 percent of the language done," according to ELSBA spokesperson John Maybury, president of Maybury Associates Inc. In previous meetings, the two groups had agreed on what the definition of a home business trade was, what the difference between trailers and accessories was and the criteria for a special permit for the home businesses. Some of the concessions ELSBA made in previous meetings, according to Maybury, were agreeing to the special permit process, limited business owners to 10 units (either trucks with 184-inch wheel bases or trailers no longer than 18 feet in length), allowing no signs whatsoever in front of the homes hosting businesses, with no tractor trailers or box trucks allowed. There would also be no street parking for employees or business vehicles and there must be no change to the street appearance of a home hosting a business. Maybury displayed a PowerPoint presentation with the goals of clarifying accessory use of residential property that would encourage the most appropriate use of land and promote the health, safety, convenience, morals and welfare of its inhabitants. The presentation laid out how many square feet of property could ideally be used for business purposes on various sized lots. With a 10,000 square foot lot, 1,785 square feet could be used for parking two units, as long as the area was screened. At 20,000 square feet, 5,300 square feet could be used for four units. At 30,000 square feet, 7,100 square feet may be used for six units. At 40,000 square feet, 7,745 square feet could be used for eight units and at the far end of the scale, properties 60,000 square feet in size and larger could host 10 units on 19,715 square feet. Maybury said the 10 units could be made up of any combination: five trucks and five trailers, eight trucks and two trailers, three trucks and seven trailers, etc. "It's typically working out there are more trailers than trucks with these businesses," Maybury told the board. The presentation also demonstrated the allowed sizes of storage sheds for each lot size and mapped out what 10 percent of each lot would like for storage purposes. The special permits awarded by the Planning Board would take into account odd lot shapes and sites plans would show how the units would be parked. Marilyn Richards, chair of the Planning Board, said she was concerned about people moving into East Longmeadow simply to set up home based business trades. "I don't want a business on every lot," she said, "but I can't put a limit on the number of permits. We need something suitable for the town without opening Pandora's Box." Planning Board member Donald Anderson added, "We don't want to create the most permissive bylaw in the Commonwealth." Maybury replied that for the past 30 or 40 years there has been nothing to prevent out of town business owners from moving into town and that he wasn't sure why it would be an issue now. Board member Tom Morrissette said the goal of creating a new bylaw was to help the people who are already living and working in town. The newest board member, Peter Punderson, agreed. "You're not responsible for those coming in," Punderson said. "We have to take care of the people who are here." "There are around 300 home businesses within 4,700 residences in East Longmeadow," Morrissette continued. "We need to help the town grow but we also need people who bought residential lots to stay in residential zones." After the first of two brief recesses, Richards stated the two groups had agreed on a lot of issues but "the big sticking point" for her was the number of allowed vehicles. Morrissette added that 10 percent of a lot being used for storage seemed excessive and suggested the percentage be lowered to six or seven percent. ELSBA agreed to the six percent allowance and Maybury announced association members in attendance had also agreed there would be no more than five trucks on even the largest properties. Morrissette said he found that number of vehicles to be better. Discussion between the Planning Board and ELSBA concerning these issues was heated and intense but not deadly serious the groups managed to laugh with each other at certain points. One issue that was no laughing matter was the deadline for articles for the Annual Town Meeting. Maybury asked if the board could have all the legal language of what they'd discussed so far ready by the Planning Board's meeting on Jan. 8. Richards said having it by then would be "tight," but she and Planning, Zoning and Conservation Director Robyn MacDonald could have it done by then. If both groups consent with the language presented at that meeting, the article will most likely be submitted by the Planning Board on Feb. 22. If approved at the Annual Town Meeting, existing non-conforming home based business trades would have until Dec. 31, 2008, to obtain a special permit from the board. Those who do not apply for a permit will be operating their businesses "at their own peril," according to Richards. "Sandro [Meccia, of Mec's Landscaping] said it very clearly at the beginning," Richards stated. "This is a start." Both groups agreed that discussion of future businesses could be tabled until another time. ELSBA will be meeting with the Planning Board on Jan. 8 at 5 p.m. to review the language for the small business bylaw. |