BETHEL – Three municipal boards met Monday night to discuss rules and procedures following a letter that questioned a recent appeals board decision.

Selectmen, the Board of Appeals and Planning Board discussed the June 24 Board of Appeals decision to grant a variance for an internally-illuminated sign for a Route 2 eatery. The Planning Board had denied it.

However, the meeting quickly became an issue of determining the appeals board’s purpose.

Appeals board Chairman Harry Faulkner objected to Selectmen Chairman Harry Dresser Jr.’s take on the Board of Appeals ruling on Bethel’s Best sign application.

Faulkner said his board didn’t give rubber stamp approvals to projects which have been denied by planners.

Dresser, however, reiterated that the appellate body is charged with deciding if town ordinances have been correctly applied in Planning Board rulings.

“These boards consist of good people trying to do good work,” Dresser said. “Our response, as selectmen, is to articulate the rules.”

Faulkner asked if his board should follow an ordinance to the letter if it believed that the ordinance was flawed regarding safety or financial issues.

Dresser argued that it wasn’t procedure for the appellate body to determine those issues to reach a decision. Selectman Reggie Brown concurred.

“The appeals board has to follow the letter of the ordinance,” he said. “I don’t think you should be granting variances. You want to make sure that the Planning Board is doing its job. You’re the judge and jury and you need to stand up for what the voters of Bethel did when they passed the ordinances.”

Faulkner argued that the decision to grant variances should lie with the Board of Appeals, not planners.

“If all we are are potted plants, what the heck do you need us for?” he asked.

Selectmen Al Barth, Don Bennett, Brown and Jack Cross all said they thought the appellate body made the wrong decision in overturning the Planning Board’s denial.

Planning Board Chairman Al Cressy said the Board of Appeals’ decision seemed to be based primarily on the appellate body’s dissatisfaction with the sign ordinance.

Dresser summed up the meeting, noting that it was a good start to resolving conflicts between planners and the Board of Appeals.

Other steps include scheduling workshops on municipal matters where each of the three boards could be present and tasking selectmen with drafting a set of rules for the appellate body to follow. Dresser also said the town’s sign ordinance should again be reviewed and problem areas worked out.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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