The Fall River Zoning Board of Appeals convened on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at 6 p.m. The meeting, held remotely via Zoom, was chaired by David Assad. The board addressed two petitions and conducted its annual election of officers. The first petition, from Stanley Street Treatment and Resources Inc. (dba STAR Care), was an appeal of a zoning enforcement officer's denial for a permit to operate a 30-bed drug and alcohol facility at 75 Weaver Street. Attorney Richard E. Burke Jr., representing STAR Care, requested to submit new evidence from the new CEO, Sherry Ellis, arguing the use was educational. Chairman Assad questioned the board's ability to accept new evidence in an appeal of a denial, suggesting it was limited to the original record. After discussion, the board unanimously voted 5-0 to refer the procedural question of accepting new evidence to the corporation council and continued the petition to the next meeting. The second petition, from Anthony Saws for 247 Tuttle Street, sought a variance to demolish an existing structure and construct a new single-family home, waiving certain A2 district requirements. Alex Gordadetsky, representing Mr. Saws, explained that the lot was a pre-existing non-conforming lot of approximately 6,379-6,400 square feet, less than the 10,000 square feet required in an A2 district. The proposed home would meet front and back yard setbacks (30 feet) but would require a waiver for side yard setbacks (10 feet proposed vs. 20 feet required). With no opposition, the board unanimously voted 5-0 to grant the petition. In the election of officers, David Assad was re-elected Chairman, Joe Pereira was elected Vice Chairman, and John Frank was elected Clerk, all by unanimous votes. The minutes from the December 16th and January 20th, 2022 meetings were also unanimously approved.
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thank you good evening i'm david assad the chairman of the zoning board of appeals for the city of fall river it's 6 p.m on thursday february 17 2022.
0:16we are meeting remotely via zoom pursuant to massachusetts general law chapter 38 section 20 sub section f i hereby notify all persons in attendance that this meeting is being recorded with both video and audio devices for government tv alex mello is recording both the video and audio version if anyone desires to make an audio video or combination recording thereof please notify me now and i shall make a public
0:46announcement of your intention so if anyone out there is doing that i don't know whether miss good is doing it or the gentleman from wsar is but they may be making uh audio versions uh our recording secretary this evening is christine alex present this evening our permanent members john frank jim calkins dan dupia joe pereira miss young is not here this evening christine have all petitions to be
1:14considered been properly advertised and all interested parties notified in accordance with the rules and regulations of the zoning board of appeals and massachusetts general law chapter 48 is amended yes sir i declare the february 17 2022 regularly scheduled meeting of the zoning board of appeals of the city of fall river open for such business as shall regularly come before it i remind all persons presenting before
1:41the board including the petitioners abutters anyone in support or anyone opposed to the petition that your presentation should be limited to three minutes questions and responses must be directed through the chairman the board's rules and regulations direct the board to specifically look for information which supports the petitioner's claim as such the petitioner should identify
2:03and factually support the basis for the petition i hereby advise the petitioners and all interested persons that this board is the zoning board of appeals this board's authority exists pursuant to chapter 48 and is limited in scope and deals with the use of land as regulated by chapter 86 of the ordinances of the city of fall river additional permits licenses reviews and or approvals may be required for the
2:33specific development and or use which is the subject of the petition before the zoning board this evening the clerks in the building planning engineering and licensing departments are competent in the discharge of their duties as clerks they are however not lawyers and are not competent to give legal advice the action taken by this board has a real and lasting effect upon the title to your real estate
2:57i urge all petitioners to seek competent legal counsel before filing your petition and after a decision of the board has been made for example there is a city ordinance 2015-11 section 10-1 requiring site plan reviews a copy of the ordinance is available at the city clerk's office or from the planning department i remind everyone that the building inspector is the zoning enforcement
3:24authority and you are here this evening because the building inspector has determined that your proposed action is contrary to the city of fall river's zoning ordinances the city charter section 9-18 mandates that all multiple member bodies develop and adopt rules or policies for public comment we have adopted such a policy which in short provides for citizen input on zoning board specific matters at the end of
3:51this meeting i disclose that an official copy of the floor of a zoning ordinance is available at the city clerk's office one cannot rely on the online zoning ordinance i also disclosed that a new recodified edition approved by the planning board and city council in accordance with massachusetts general law chapter 48 section 5 now with this red grapefruit cover is the official copy
4:17is there any questions before we start hearing none uh agenda item number one stanley street treatment and resources inc dba star care of attorney richard e burke jr 75 weaver street lot t 3 double 0 10. it's an appeal of an action of the zoning enforcement officer denying a permit to operate an institutional group high dash one table of uses section 86-36 a 30-bed drug and alcohol facility on the second
4:55floor of 75 weaver street in a cmd commercial mill district section 86-201 attorney brooke i know you're there some day you are thank you mr chairman thank you my name is richard burke i'm with the firm of bora guard burke and franco in new bedford and i'm representing estar this evening um on the zoom uh with me is esthar's new newly appointed ceo sherry ellis with your permission mr chairman um ms
5:29ellis has indicated that as the new ceo she would like an opportunity if you would permit to submit her own written statement of reasons explaining why esthar's use is educational in nature we understand she would like to do that in writing with her own statement as the new ceo if you would permit that we would ask for an opportunity to submit that and ask for a continuance of the meeting tonight in order to submit
6:02that before the next meeting so let me procedurally let me ask this question i don't think in fact i'm certain that i can't accept new evidence i don't think the board can't accept new evidence if it's evidentiary from what the building inspector had at the time of making his decision i think what we're limited to is what was presented and what he denied whether or not a decision on your part
6:31or your client's part to resubmit something for the building inspector to consider and take it out of the board with agreement that you can come back if he denies it again that may be but i don't think that the board can now accept something new because the what was denied was limited on what was given to him to review it's not a variance it's not it's uh it is just the
6:59appeal of the denial by the building inspector that's my view of it and i think that if that's something you'd want to do is submit something new to the building inspector then i think we can allow you to talk to the building inspector we can table this matter uh to another date because he may change his mind because he'll have new evidence attorneys i'll defer to you on the procedural matter but i'm not looking i
7:30want to give you as much latitude as i can to present what you need but i think to take that in now would be a problem for the board i guess i would ask mr chairman i have a different view of chapter 48 section 15.
7:45i i believe that it is a de novo hearing and that the board uh can accept any new new information i understand that you have a different view i would ask if you would consider seeking the advice of the corporation council's office on that so that in the event that it is possible to submit new information so that this board can consider all information that that anyone would submit at this hearing
8:13that we have an opportunity to do that and i understand that that would require a continuance as well so um i'm only one member of the board i so let me just section 15 of 48 fourth paragraph the concurring vote of all members of the board of appeals consisting of three book members and a concurring vote of four members of a board consisting of five members shall be necessary to reverse an order or
8:40decision of the administrative official under this chapter or to affect any variance in the application of any ordinance or bylaw i guess we do disagree on what it says but i think that limits what's before the board that he's made his decision i i got it i don't i will ask the board members if they want to afford you that opportunity to get a opinion from a corporation council but my feeling is
9:08i think we're limited to what the record is uh so let me see so if you'd like to make an oral motion to the board to consider uh sending it up for corporation council's review of your specific request i don't have a problem uh preventing that that would be my my request mr chairman and then if if corporation council does advise that you can consider new information one way or the other we would submit it
9:35by the next meeting and also i suppose it would give estar an opportunity if corporation council says no new information is possible then i guess the only other option to submit new information would be as you suggested to uh perhaps withdraw this and and go back to the building inspector i i don't think i want to do that tonight without first hearing if you would permit from corporation council
10:01see what the boy said so can you make him so attorney burke's request is we send it up to corporation council for a determination whether or not we can take new evidence uh or new new evidence this evening based on the building inspector's denial it wouldn't be this evening but for the next meeting no no but i understand not this meeting but to have this board determine whether or not to allow your
10:29motion to say no let's go forward with it uh yes i i'm asking that the board uh refer the question to corporation council as to whether additional information that wasn't before the building inspector can be considered by your board in which case we would submit that by the next meeting and we would ask for a continuance and of course we would agree to any extension that the board
10:54needs hopefully not by 4 o'clock of the next meeting but i hope not okay so members of the board that's um attorney burke's request do we have a motion to allow him to do that mr chairman i move that we grant permission to uh extend this or continuous meeting until uh our next regularly scheduled meeting but the request is to send and refer the issue to yes okay so that's jim clark's motion do we
11:31have a second on that motion second who is that john frank john frank any discussion on the motion hearing none jim carkins yes john frank yes dan duper yes joe pereira yes him and assad yes so attorney burke we will continue this to the next meeting the extension i guess i would need in writing we should have it in writing that you were sent to that we will send it up to corporation
12:03council for an answer and we'll see you at the next meeting thank you mr chairman well i should probably not speak to you directly but miss if miss ellis would uh whatever she wants to submit she can certainly submit that and maybe have a discussion with you about talking to the building inspector with any new information she may want to give them yes thank you mr chairman thank you mr brooke good night yourself yes
12:29thank you christine what do you got as a point of clarification would that need to be re-advertised given the information we get the answer from uh corporation council yes or no and then we'll go forward next meeting unless something happens within the next 30 days okay thank you thank you thank you thank you okay uh agenda item number is there anything else on number one that anyone wants to
13:01talk about i think we're done with that let's go to agenda item number two anthony saws 247 tuttle street lot b 14 uh 30 variance requests to demolish the existing structure and construct a new single family home waiving all requirements in the a2 district um i think i see i see mr saws and i see alex gordadetsky i don't know whether or not alex is doing the presentation or mr sawz is doing it himself
13:37alex you're on mute i can't hear you i would believe alex is going to be doing it i would hope so yes i am no no alex alex you're too far away i can't hear you come closer i'm trying is it better now you're still muffled no i can't hear you can you hear me now yes all right i'll try i'll speak as loud as i can ladies and gentlemen i am representing
14:19mr anthony source and uh the subject of this representation is the application to uh for 247 tackle street to demolish existing structures on a lot and construct a new structure use if you want i can share a screen that shows uh proposed structure currency structure is located approximately five feet away from the front property line and to the south about three to four feet from the
14:48property line uh for your consideration is pre-existing non-conforming lot of record the load area is approximately 6400 square feet report structure will be uh 30 feet away from the street at least which will meet the requirements in a2 district and building kangaroo will be 30 front 30 back which meets the requirements of the a2 district and 10 foot on the sides versus 20 foot side yards again uh proposed uh
15:21lot is 64 existing lot of 6 400 square feet approximately and minimum not area in a a two is ten thousand square feet that's pretty much all what i have to say and and let me get to your consideration all the structures now that exist on the premises will be demolished they will be raised nothing will stay no new foundation and the building will be as shown on the plan within that building envelope with
15:52the two off street parking places go at it okay thank you members of the board any questions no dad yeah what's up what's the square footage on that lot again did he say 6400 yeah alex would confirm that at 6 400 please well it's subject to the accurate length surveys i basically give it 6 379 square feet and the actually surveyed it made a little bit more of it
16:28because that's why i rounded it up to 6 400 thank you okay uh let me see joe pereira any questions no pointing like you're in front of me no no dan okay so that's the petition um it seems relatively straightforward can we get them i don't know of any conditions uh that really need to be put on there you should consider but motion to grant motion to deny there any um is there any opposition is
17:04there anyone here in favor thank you for reminding me is there anyone here in favor of this petition is there anyone here opposed to this petition hearing none can i get a motion to grant or a motion to deny motion to grant move back that was john frank dan danzu i'm going to separate you so that was the game do i have a second second second any discussion of emotion i got
17:31it i got it okay no he's up here on me okay uh hearing none dan duper yes don frank yes jim calkins yes bill pereira yes chairman assad yes that petition is granted good luck to you mr sawz thank you alex thank you very much agenda number three 2022 zoning board of appeals election of offices we should have done this uh at the first meeting but we didn't it wasn't on the agenda
18:03so according to our rules and regulations we need to elect a chairman a vice chairman and a clerk so and only permanent members can uh be appointed and vote so we'll start with do we have somebody to be chairman mr chairman i nominate the current chairman as chairman okay any discussion on that motion all those in favor aye dan dupat jim clawkins yes don frank yes joe pereira yes okay so david assad
18:43is elected for 2022 chairman of the zoning board of appeals sorry about that there's only a few months left vice chairman do we have nomination for vice chairman mr chairman i nominate joe for her second that's that's a cop-out jim clarkens okay whoa whoa hold on you may say no but anyway uh vice chairman joe pereira any discussion on the motion hearing none jim calkins yes john frank yes dan dupia yes
19:22chairman aside yes joe pereira do you accept yes congratulations pelicans i thought you wanted this i want you all i don't want anybody to move how about clerk the order of succession who's going to be the clerk jim crawkins john frank i'll i'll dance i'll take uh if no one nominates i'll i'll volunteer to be nominated
19:59john frank john frank so you're nominated by dan duped we have a second our second seconds any discussion on the motion hearing none dan duper yes tim calkins yes joe pereira oh yes chairman assad yes john frank do you accept yes okay so we have our offices for 2022.
20:23uh thank you very much all for stepping up and willing to serve we went through number four second beard third beard if i grow and you know the drones will be around the office now you cannot go to court with a beard okay citizen input i see the reverend jim hornsby still out there and i think maybe he wants to address the border maybe just wants to say hello good evening reverend hornsby
20:53you're on mute we can't hear you you're muted oh i can't hear you uh-oh oh wait trick photography oh wait wait wait listen i have vertigo oh we lost them oh wait a minute no there he is no he's there i i need to ask him for help where is he who i see edda villa but i don't know whether he wants to address the board reverend hornsby are you still out there maybe he doesn't
21:34well if he chimes back in we'll talk to him i know ed ed didn't raise his hand and i'm pretty sure he doesn't want to tell the board anything oh wait a minute he's unmuted that's unmuted the reverend is not there's there we go there we go i simply was here to speak on the preview on the issue of the um reserve my comment although i believe you have it in writing thank you very
22:08much it's a pleasure to listen to your meeting reverend hornsby we we i have a question can we get wait a minute wait a minute reverend hornsby john frank has a question can we get a special dispensation for next meeting because it's on st patrick's day absolutely my grandfather from county court my grandfather from county court says that it's just fine that's going to be a fun meeting okay and thank you very much
22:41thank you thank you uh that's kira citizen import christine i think the minutes for december 16th in the january 20th 2022 meetings have been done that is correct they were sent out for everyone that's good so can i get a motion to waive the reading of the minutes and approval as read so john frank says yes second by joe pereira any discussion on the minutes hearing none dan dupia yes jim calkins
23:11yes don frank yes joe pereira yeah yes that takes care of that is there any other business christine that we need to deal before we say good evening no sir motion motion to adjourn second second dan du pair any discussion on the motion dan duper yes yes jim carkins yes joe pereira yes john frank yeah yes good night everyone for attending thank you very much christine thank you good night
23:39reverend hornsby and thank you next meeting thanks alex have a good night