first was on a Wednesday. Gotcha. We ended up on slid vacation. April. Yeah. Right. Um Okay. With that, um it's 7:10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23rd, and I will call the zoning board of appeals
meeting to order. Um I have with me in the room Rob Scott, Diane Linquist, Shaun Z, and myself, Sarah Melish. And on Zoom, we have Georgia Pentast. Um, this meeting is being
recorded. The only application on the agenda tonight is for 19th Point Road. I move to open the public hearing for the application of 19 SPR nominee trust
Meredith Pasquat Pas Pasquezy sorry for a special permit under sections 4.2 2 and 12.5 of the zoning bylaw and or other relief as may be necessary to construct a pickle ball sports court at 19 Smith's Point Road, assessor's map
number 20, lot number 16 in District E filed with a town clerk on March 24th, 2025. Do I have a second to open the public hearing? Second. Rob seconds. Take a vote. Rob, yes. Diane, yes. John,
yes. Georgia, yes. And Sarah, yes. Um, okay. You're here to present the application for us. Yeah. Okay. State your name and Good evening, Jake Hark Associated
Representative permit for the construction of the sports court. Um, so the board should have some familiarity with the site. We were here two months ago. It's our sculpture permit. Uh, back again from the sports board. So, just as a quick recap on the site, there was a
existing main house over here, cottage over here, and a carriage house over here. All the buildings have been demolished. The cottage over here has been rebuilt in place. The main house is different than before and is under
construction. and then a carriage house. Uh the existing one was just demoed and getting ready for new construction. So the blue line represents the property line and the green line down here is sports court over by Smith Point load which is down in this
area. Uh the sports court meets all dimensional regulations. Uh there's no lighting um associated with the sports court itself here. Um a full landscape design has been done for the entire site including this
area. Um so there's proposed vegetation as well as existing vegetation. Um so for those of you that were on the sitewalk, you saw that the area is very well screened from the street and from budding yards from the existing vegetation. that's pretty
tallies. Um, so that provides visual screening as well as a little bit of uh sound protection from the bottom of the yards. Uh, there is no uh no significant topographic changes involved with this sports court. It's a pretty level area.
There is a retaining wall around the court itself. Uh, more for aesthetics. It's basically a seat wall, a short fence on top of it. I believe that the fence and wall together equal 36 in in
height. Um so the this project has been approved by the conservation commission for all the work within the buffer zone. We're well inside of it now. Uh it's also been approved by the planning board for topographic changes. During our sidewalk, we did mention the hours of operations. We
discussed it with the owner believe is on tonight. Um Meredith was okay with a 8 am start for um the court and where there is no lighting associated with the court. Um it won't be played after dark and that will kind of go throughout the
year. Um and with that I can answer any questions anyone may have. Diane, do you have any questions? No. Rob, no questions. No, I'm good. I mean, I'll say that when we were on the site visit, you could not
see the house next door because of the vegetation. You could not see the street because of the vegetation. So, I remember that site. I remember that we were out there with the pool. It was great big tall trees. Um, Georgia, do you have any questions?
I do not. Is there any member of the public on Zoom who would like to speak? If so, raise your hand and zoom. Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing and we'll enter into deliberations. Okay. I move to close the public hearing and have the board enter
into deliberations with respect to the application. Do I have a second? Second. Rob seconds. Vote. Rob. Yes. Diane, yes. Sean, yes. Sarah votes yes. Georgia, yes. Okay. So, obviously there's some concern
with a pickle ball court. Um it when we were there it did seem like it's relatively isolated. We have not received any concerns expressed from any
residents. Um, and it seems reasonable to me to restrict the hours of operation between 8:00 a.m. which is the start of our um our bylaw
um and let it run to sun to sunset. That makes sense. and that it will vary. Um, and to have a condition that it will not be illuminated. And based on where it was, it wasn't like it was off a patio with illumination. It
was completely separate by itself in front of the house. Um, so what are the thoughts? I know we've had struggles with pickle ball courts. Definitely had struggles with pickle ball courts. It looks like there isn't a concern from
from the neighbor, but did did the neighbor happen to come out and support the project? Um, no neighbors have um complained. No one's also supported it. Okay. I think the contractor indicated that the butter at 17 was fine with it,
whatever that means. Can Can they show me that in writing? No. Okay. Um, I guess the homeowner's on. Meredith, have you had any contact from any of your neighbors regarding the pickle ball court? Um, no. Hi, this is
Meredith. Um, no, but our neighbors have been incredibly um supportive and cooperative. They're just so thankful that this property is being renovated and taken care of now because it was um in quite a state of disrepair. So,
they've been very supportive. Okay. Thank you. Um, and we're happy to abide by those hours of operation. That seems very reasonable to us. Great. We uh purposely didn't light it because
we thought that might be an issue. Yeah, we've had we we had an another application for a pickle ball court and that application had to be withdrawn because there were so many complaints from neighbors, but it was in a more congested area. We also have town pickle
ball courts that have created quite an issue um with the sound factor. Um, yeah. I mean, fortunately with the location of this one, my neighbors on either side are quite far from where the
court is. Okay. I will add in there are many houses with tennis courts in the neighborhood. There's one almost directly across the street. You know, those could be used for pickle ball as well. So, it's not like it's anything entirely new to the neighborhood. Well,
we did approve one on Smith's Point, right? 39. Did I make that up? 39 Smith's point. I didn't work on that one. Might not have been Smith's going
Can I add one point? Yes, Georgia. I I just wanted to say knowing that there is no lighting, it obviously seems like it's not going to happen late into the night. I know the Manchester public pickle ball court has a time um like a
deadline, a start time and an end time and it seems like this house is going to follow that kind of that same protocol by sundown. And if they do play during the day, I I feel like that's where people are most out and about or doing their own thing or making their own
noise. Um so that was just my opinion. Okay. Yeah. I mean, people just don't realize how much noise actually comes from the town when it's pretty loud. I mean, if the we don't have any, you know, the neighbors aren't opposed
to it. See, the problem then, I mean, they've got a landscape plan and we can have a condition But there's landscaping to provide sound mitigation and privacy. Um and
presumably if people complain then the owner would add more landscape. Yeah. They have to Yeah. So are you okay with that? Yeah. I mean it's best Yeah. I
mean, I think people need to do what they would like with their yards. Well, and I think that it's good that it's away from the ocean. So, you're not hearing it over the water because if it was on the ocean side, whole bunches of blers would it
would the sound would carry over the water to many more properties that you know on the point. Um, I mean, there is a fair amount of vegetation around the area. So I think with the conditions you set it
should be fine. No lighting and Yeah. Stop at dusk. You okay? Yeah. Yeah. I'm okay with that. Okay. I'll make a motion. I move to approve the application of 19 SPR nominee trust Meredith
Pasqueezy for a special permit under sections 4.2 2 and 12.5 of zoning bylaw and other relief as may be necessary to construct a 33 foot by 63 foot pickle
ball sports court surrounded by an 18inch high seat wall and 18 in high fence at 19 point road assessor's map number 20 lot number 16 in district E
filed with a town clerk on March 24th 2025 based on a finding the construction of the pickle ball sports court is in harmony with the purpose and intent of the bylaw will not be substantially more detrimental or injurious to the
neighborhood in which it is located and the requirements and conditions under 12.5.2 two of the zoning bylaw for the grant of a special permit have been met based on the following conditions.
The pickle ball sports court is located as depicted on sports court plot plan C2 prepared by
Hancock Associates dated 032125. The pickle ball sports court, heatwall, fence, and terrace are constructed substantially in accordance with the pickle ball court
planed by horuchi seline landscape architects dated 03.2. 20.25. Landscaping to provide sound mitigation and privacy for the road and
residents at 17 Smith Point Road shall be maintained substantially in accordance with a pickle ball court plan prepared by Horuchi Solen Landscape Architects dated 03.20.05. The pickle ball sports co court court
shall not be illuminated. The hours of operation shall be restricted to the hours between 8 a.m. and sunset. Do I have a second? Second. Diane second. Any discussion? You good with
those conditions? I'm good with it. Any other conditions? Yeah. Are you okay with it, Georgia? Yep. Okay. Take a vote. Georgia, yes. Rob,
yes. Diane, yes. John, yes. Sarah votes, yes. I can write it. Who would like to review it? I'll review it. George, you'll review it. Okay. We joked all over that one.
Hey, if you really want it, I'm happy to give it. No, it there was dead silence in the room, Georgia. Uh, okay. You're all set. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Meredith. Thank you so much.
Um, um, we move on to administrative matters. We have sets of minutes from January and February that Gail made changes based on our
request. Um, so are we prepared to vote on the minutes? I am. I guess. Okay. January. I make a motion to approve the minutes from January 22nd, 2025. Do I
have a second? Second. Rob seconds. Vote. Georgia. Yes. Rob, yes. Sean, yes. Sarah. Yes. And Diane. And Diane.
Yeah. Um, I make a motion to approve the minutes from February 26, 2025. Sean was not at this meeting. Yeah. Um, do I have a second? Second. Diane second. Take a vote. Georgia, yes. Rob,
yes. Diane, yes. And Sarah will Yesess. Um, I do not believe people receive the minutes from March. It was kind of a snafu on it. Um, so we'll have to approve those next meeting.
Okay. Yeah, she did have a moment. I was going to say, yeah, I did see him. They were in her email that she sent out. Who? Uh, Shannon. Yeah, he mean he? Oh, so you did see them? Yeah.
Did other people look at them? I think they came through, but I wasn't at the meeting. So, okay. I saw them, but I was not present at that meeting. So, we don't Oh, minutes of March.
I don't No, we didn't see those yet. They just came re They might have come the end of last week or something when she sent Yeah, when he sent the packet out. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. We'll hold those. We don't have a We don't have a majority to Okay. to approve them if Rob hasn't seen them.
So, we'll hold the March till next month. Um status of decisions. I believe the only outstanding decision is the one from March which is the 26 Proctor which is one I'm writing. Is anyone is anyone
aware of anything they owe? Nothing. Okay. Um applications for next meeting. We have one school unit which is the corner
of school and union. Um that's an Analamia building that has been recently 13 apartments and he's rehabbing it. Um he's it's a non-conforming. He's requested a change
of use to put back into the first floor the retail that was there originally. Um I'm thinking we don't need to do a site visit for that. Do you agree? Yeah. Yeah. I don't see a reason for it. He's
not changing the look of the building. Yeah. We don't need to do it. I don't I think we all drive by there pretty much every day. Okay. I agree. The other the other is 153 School Street, which is the Essex County
Club. Um because they're a non-conforming use. when they did the county club, there was a special permit. So, every time they make any change, they have to they have to come before us. Um, I think for that one, we do need a site visit. Um,
they're making an addition to the building. They're doing something with the paddle courts. Um, so we'll do that site visit. Is is five o'clock in the Monday before the meeting still a good time or is there a better time?
No, that's fine. Right. Okay. Okay. It's not a holiday. It's not a holiday. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Maybe it is. It is a holiday. Wait, wait, wait, wait. The 19th. No. Okay. So, our meeting in May is the 28th, which is the Wednesday
after Memorial Day. So, the Monday is a holiday. Oh, and I won't be here. Yeah, that 28th. Okay. Um, yeah, that's gonna be a tough one. So, when would we like to do the site visit? We can really do it any time.
We don't want to do it Memorial Day weekend. No. Do we want to do it the Wednesday before the 21st? Or the t or the 20th? What works best for people? I mean, I'm open the 20th and the 21st
right now. Yeah, I am too. Uh, no, not 21st. Okay. So, let's do May 20th. Tuesday, May 20th for the site visit. Okay. Glad you said something because I had looked at that, but it didn't pass
my mind. Um, anything else people have in their minds? We have a new member um who was appointed last night by the select board. So, we're up to full strength again, which helps a little. We're getting to the season
where it's hard because people do things. Finally, this winter is coming to an end. I know. Um with that, I'll take a motion to adjourn. I second.
All in favor? Georgia. Hi Rob. Yes Diane. Yes Sean Sarah. Yes. Thank you very much.