Dispute continues over corner lots in Longmeadow
Date: 11/19/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comLONGMEADOW — Weeks after a contentious Special Town Meeting, officials are working out the details of a plan to determine what should be done regarding the issue of corner lots.
Planning Board Chair Walter Gunn told
Reminder Publications that he, Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Chair David Lavenburg and Acting Town Manager Barry Del Castilho have been formulating a plan for soliciting information and public comment on the issue as they attempt to determine what the best course of action would be.
Currently, under Longmeadow zoning bylaws, the rear yard on a corner lot is not the area located behind the house. The bylaw states that a rear yard is the open area extending from the back of the dwelling to the rear lot line. Rear lot lines are defined in the bylaws as the line that runs parallel to the street. In the case of corner lots, the owner must determine which line would be considered the rear lot line.
The potential impacts to residents on corner lots could include an inability to build a pool or other accessory structure based on its location as well as the kind of fencing a resident could erect, depending on how the property is laid out. Those in non-compliance, some unknowingly, could be subject to fines or other action against them.
Gunn said that he saw three major issues relating to the bylaws.
"There are three problem areas that I can see," he said. "The first is the rights of those on corner lots as they relate to side yards and back yards. The second is fencing. The third is the question as to whether or not the ZBA can do anything to offer those with corner lots some relief."
At the Special Town Meeting, resident Dennis Gordan pushed for his citizen's petition article, which he believed would change what constitutes a rear yard as well as setbacks.
Gunn argued against the article, stating that it would not fix the problem and that town meeting was not the proper forum to discuss these kinds of changes.
While the article ultimately failed, Gunn said that it did its job in bringing the problem to the public's attention.
"That town meeting sent a message," he said. "Now we have to work on coming up with a real solution."
Gunn said that no date for a forum has been set, but it is the goal of the Planning Board, ZBA and Del Castilho to set one up in the near future.
"We need a lot of input, so I'm really hoping to see a lot of attendance," he said, adding that Del Castilho has offered to send a mailer informing people of the date. He also said he would like to see the use of the Blackboard Connect to inform residents of the meeting.
Gunn added that a format for the forum has not been decided upon, but stated his opinion that small focus groups may be the way to go.
"A Planning Board meeting is not the proper forum, nor is anything where people just stand up and speak into a microphone," he said. "People need to sit down at a table so we can get real input and see what people's grievances are."
The forum, he added, would simply be the first step in the process.
"Once we understand what the people are looking for, the next step is to have the lawyers take a look at the bylaw and see what we can do to accommodate," he said. "The goal is to have something ready by the spring town meeting."
