WILTON – The Planning Board voted 4-3 Thursday to approve a five-lot subdivision off Village View Street after months of revisions to the application.
Irving Faunce, who voted against granting the permit, moved “that we reject it because it is not in conformance with the ordinance” requiring subdivisions to have a single entry road.
But Bob Berry of Main-Land Development Consultants, who represented lot owner Adam Mack, said the layout of the lots and their proximity to Wilson Stream makes building a single entrance for the subdivision a near impossibility.
The board voted Dec. 1 to waive the portion of the ordinance requiring the single entrance, and at the same meeting Berry presented a revised plan to the board, in which the five originally proposed driveways were cut down to three, two of which will serve two lots each.
Faunce claimed Thursday that the vote to waive the rule never actually took place, citing a section of the board’s minutes in which it appears a formal vote did not happen.
Planning Board Chairman Keith Swett said, “It was my understanding that we granted a waiver.” He explained that a motion was made to grant the waiver on the condition that “the plan with the proposed shared driveways was accepted.” Therefore, he insisted, the vote accepting the driveway change also granted the waiver.
A few residents attended the meeting. Kathleen Masterson, the only abutter of the proposed subdivision, spoke against the board’s decision.
“The subdivision, as proposed, does not meet the requirements of the town of Wilton subdivision ordinance which we adopted in 2003 at town meeting and voted on,” she said. “And as you can see, the board is divided.”
She added that as the subdivision’s only abutter she worries her property values will go down. “My economic hardship is I will be forced to buy a house lot in order to protect the value of my real estate,” she said.
The Planning Board also voted to approve permit applications for five new businesses to move into the Nichols/Bass Business and Technology Center at 128 Weld Road. The businesses include women’s fitness club Curves, The Shoe Shop Caf, Maine Water and Beverage Co., The Birch Tree Group furniture refinishing company, and Maine Screen Printing.
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