beagenda

MINUTES

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WATERTOWN ZON= ING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC HEARING

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WEDNESDA= Y, JANUARY 24, 2007 - 7:30 P.M.

WATERTOW= N HIGH SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY CENTER

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APPLICATION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLET= TA

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PRESENT:        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;       Bruno Disisto, Secretary

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;          John Griffith, Vice Ch= airman

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;          Roger Mitchell

  &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;       Enrico Sarandrea, Chai= rman

ABSENT:            =             &nb= sp;            =       Phil Roger

ALTERNATES PRESENT:<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'>        &= nbsp;     Gary Swingle

   &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Cynthia Tun

ALTERNATES ABSENT:            &= nbsp;   None

OTHERS PRESENT:      = ;            &n= bsp;     Moosa Rafey, Assistant Zoning Enforcement Officer

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1.         = Call Meeting To Order

            Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, Called the Public Hearing to Order at 8:05 p.m.

2.     &nb= sp;   Roll Call

            Mr. Disisto, Secretary, executed the Roll Call.

            Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, asked Mr. Swingle to sit in for Mr. Roger, in his abse= nce.

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Mr. Mitchell, Acting Secretary, read aloud the Legal Notice for the Record as follows:

"Legal Notice

The Zoning Board of Ap= peals of the Town of Watertown will hold a Public Hearing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at t= he Watertown High School Technology Center, 324 French Street, Watertow= n, CT to hear and act upon t= he following application:

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 2

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Application #843 of Gi= useppe Polletta of 262 Tucker Avenue Extension, Oakville, CT requesting two varian= ces of Sections 6.7.1 and 71.6.6 of the Watertown Zoning Regulations concerning= the expansion of a non-conforming building and non-conforming use to permit the construction of a 2,566 square foot addition to an existing non-conforming industrial building located at 36 Zoar Avenue, Oakville, CT in an R-G Gener= al Residential Zoning District.

At this Hearing intere= sted persons and written communications will be hard. A copy of the application is on fi= le in the Planning and Zoning Office, 51 Depot Street, Suite 502, Watertown, CT.

Da= ted in Watertown, CT this 11th day of January, 2007.

Da= ted in Watertown, CT this 18th day of January, 2007.

Rick Sarandrea, Chairm= an

Zoning Board of Appeals"

&nb= sp;

3.         Hearing of Cases=

        &= nbsp;   C.        Application #843 of Giuseppe Polletta for two variances of Sections 6.7.1 and 71.6.6 of= the Watertown Zoning Regulations to permit the expansion of an existing non-conforming structure and use located at 36 Zoar Avenue, Oakville, CT.

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        &= nbsp;   The Public Hearing must be Closed by February 28, 20= 06 unless applicant grants an extension of time.

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<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Joe Polletta, 262 Tucker Avenue Extension, Oakville= , CT <= st1:PostalCode w:st=3D"on">06779

Mr. Polletta: What I'm proposing to = do is put an addition to an existing building that I owned since 1970. I would just like to go over some = of the items on this application for the new members who are not familiar with this site. I bought the property i= n 1970 and it was zoned IG-80, and after I bought the property, actually there was= no parking lot, there was a flat roof, and Planning and Zoning urged me to purchase additional land to make the IG-80 more conforming to the regulations. So at that point= in time I did that and I put a small addition the first time, but when I purch= ased that land, that land also had like a small structure building which I took = down to make the property more valuable. Then in 1993 Planning and Zoning changed the zone from IG-80 to residential, so basically I know that this Board acts on hardships so to the best of my knowledge, and I believe that this is really a hardship because = the Town of Watertown changed the zone on me, and when I purchased the addition= al land my intention was that I could put additions to he building in case I n= eed it and that's the reason why I'm here today. I would like to read, I have a let= ter that I prepared and I would like it to be part of tonight's meeting and I w= ould like to read it to you.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 3

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"Chairman and Members of the Board:

In addition to my verbal testimony I would like to formally address the issue = of hardship as related to Application #843.&n= bsp; In 1970 I purchased the property in question. It was zoned IG-80. Approximately a year and a half af= ter I purchased the property, I filed a site plan with the Planning and Zoning and received approval to enlarge the existing building and landscape the property. As part of the site= plan we prepared a parking area, it was paved, striped, according to Planning and Zoning Regulations. I have be= en operating my business out of this building since that time. In 1987 I purchased additional land suggested by Planning and Zoning and during that time I bought the property= and combined to my property to the existing land. In doing so I was able to bring the total square feet of this site to 79,161 square feet, almost exactly to the conforming 80,000 square feet needed for the IG-80 zone. A more important point is that this investment was made so at some time in the future I would be able to remove= the metal building and add the lost use of the existing masonry building. The result was= planned for improved safety, a more attractive site, and enhance the physical use of the property. This all= came to a halt when Planning and Zoning Commission revamped the zoning regulatio= ns in 1993 and changed my property from IG-80 to RG, made my property a non-conforming parcel, this automatically means that I could not utilize the investment that I made without coming before the Zoning Board of Appeals to appeal the relief of hardship. What I'm asking for will have been permitted in an IG-80. The two big additions to the exist= ing masonry building will follow the existing roof line, the building line, so = the changes will be the same from the present structure."

I would like this letter to be made part of the record.

Mr. Disisto: Since they changed the regulations= , did you do any additions to the building?

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Mr. Polletta: Yea, the reason why I = had an addition done is because when I purchased the property, it was IG-80, so when I bought more land the intent to buy this land was so I could put an addition to the building, so if this Board basically votes on hardship, I m= ean that's the hardship. The ques= tion is do I have a hardship, yes or no? The hardship is yes because the Town of Watertown changed the zone on me.<= /o:p>

Mr. Sarandrea: We approved this once = before too because of the same reason. They made him purchase this property and I think this part here would probably be the last addition he'd be able to do, he's gone as far as he co= uld go.

Mr. Polletta: <= /b> Exactly. It meets all the Town requirements= , I have enough parking spaces, and sometimes the business grows a little bit so you need more room.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 4

Mr. Sarandrea: Any other questions? Does anyone from the public wish to speak for or against this application?

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Stan Rukowski, 19 Zoar Avenue, Oakville, CT 067795<= o:p>

Mr. Rukowski: After second expansion building was again divided. <= span class=3DGramE>(Inaudible) businesses for expanding. I've had nightmares, I still have,= they come in night and day, wood shop (inaudible) for (inaudible) contraction, <= span class=3DGramE>they come in 9:00, they (inaudible) it's impossible to live. I'm against this applic= ation. I've all hearings from Planning and Zoning meetings. After the fi= rst expansion he's supposed to remove the trailer. Not enough, they still stayed and = they also was built like 3 years ago wood shop for Al= pha Concrete. The business was divided, the busi= ness is so crowded, business is working outside. I videotaped, I did what I can, I = did nothing, a lawyer is like $15,000. This time I'm going (inaudible) be= cause my house value dropped totally. Now this time expansion. I look at the home (inaudible) nob= ody gets (inaudible). In general residential area, the houses are so close, (inaudible) there's no room, the vacuum, large vacuum, vacuum houses, (inaudible) also Mark worked in for me= chanicals so they're working as independent, they come in 12:00 at the signals, they bring in carts from road to fix for Mark.&= nbsp; There are no signs (inaudible).&nbs= p; Now with the Planning and Zoning regulations where Mr. Polletta supp= osed to get his shop, from street side or from back where it's quiet. He goes from back. The other, I don't know what is there, they come in limousines 1:00, 2:00 to clean up.= In Summer time they don't want to = close the doors because inside there is no a/c, it's too hot. How I can live? Please check across, (inaudible) m= easure how many decibels I have. We = are asking already how many years, wasn't like that why (inaudible) they work until 5:= 00, nobody was working weekends, not 12:00 is normal. (Inaudible) car mechanics he'll be working. = They washing cars outside. = From (inaudible) from Sealy site, how the mess is. They still have no room, they parking across (inaudible) Street, they are parking cars sometimes across my home, I live (inaudible) in Winter time it is very hard to get (inaudible).

I am strongly against that. (Inaudible) if you no understand me then = please tell me. I am very shocked and surprised that again we have an application about expansion. After the last expansion we spent = too much time to look for rent, but we received nothing. Lawyer is like $15,000, I still ha= ve the paper, a lot of money. This i= s a GR zone, shop is located very close to the resident= ial building. Should our house af= ter the last expansion went to hell and still we have to (inaudible) very often. Mr. Polletta needs it = for his own business, of the second expansion.= We have (inaudible). <= span class=3DGramE>Now how many businesses moving in and what type? Quality (inaudible) moves in, Mark becomes independent, I don’t know what shop because there are no sign= s, they work even (inaudible) but last portion, from my side, from Zoar Avenue= , they work day and night. (Inaudibl= e) 12:00 (inaudible) they fix the boat, everything they're fixing, lawn mowers, Mark what (inaudible) friend bring and he's testing 10:00 because he wanted= to finish, 11:00.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 5

How can we open windows in our house? The new addition was again divided and transferred every space from a business has no room inside, so they're performing the jobs outside. They do not close the doors in the= Summer time. It's just too much to talk. We have a proposition, = buy our house and we will move with pleasure and make very heavy industrial are= a in downtown (inaudible) because of post office (inaudible). We cannot let the values of house = drop to zero, then we'll need to go to court and see = if the lawyers will take all of our money. It's okay. What's the expansion, we have no choice but to (inaudible). Even now sometimes it's very hard.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Too many night= s and days to live under these conditions.&nbs= p; What about Planning and Zoning's rules and regulations? From which side of street is locat= ed (inaudible) from old back building. Where= is (inaudible) street. Signs what type of business? (Inaudible.) some business working 3 shift in the R zone.&nb= sp; Thank you so much. I h= ave much more copies, I have videos, because I did n= ot sleep night by night, night by night, I'm in depression (inaudible). (Tape #1, Side A ended - may have missed some).

&nb= sp;

Ms. Tun: How long have you been living in yo= ur home, sir?

Mr. Rukowski: <= /b> 1997.

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Helena Rukowski, 19 Zoar Avenue, Oakville, CT&nbs= p; 06779

Ms. Rukowski: I'm across from Mr. Polletta's building. I'm not = a very good speaker, maybe I can read better.&nbs= p; Me and my husband were living at 19 Zoar Avenue, Oakville across from the industrial building at 36 Zoar Avenue. We have sense of wrong. Why does Town taking its time into consideration Mr. Polletta application for expanding non-conforming building for non-conforming use regardless of our (inaudible) rights residents who l= ive in our proper general residential zone.&nb= sp; In 1993 the Town had changed the zone from industrial to residential. After that, in 1= 994, the Town granted Mr. Polletta a permit for expansion. Next one Mr. Polletta had gotten in 1998, and now he's going to get (inaudible).

I have a question, what for do we have Planning and Zoning rules and regulati= ons if it's not to clarify those regulations.&= nbsp; According to them the Town should protect and consider the value of = land and buildings. Why is the Town making industrial zoned area in general residential without obeying the rul= es and regulations? Now value of= our house has dropped down. Our l= iving conditions have deteriorated. Why do we deserve that? We live i= n our proper residential zone, we are paying taxes, we are well maintaining our property and we are affected the most, because our house is located very cl= ose, just across the street, maybe 75 feet, not 150 as was stated before.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 6

When we moved in in 1997 our street was nice and quiet. Now we have a huge industrial buil= ding with too many businesses for disturbing our life. For many years we have had quality= (inaudible) with heavy equipment. When th= ey moved out, another loud business, (inaudible) has bothered us for years. They are vacuuming their cars, mak= ing noise, when they moved out, another business, limousine cleaning moved in.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> They vacuum those limousines any t= ime, even at 2:00 a.m. waking us up. One time I called the Police because I couldn't sleep from the noise. We have a sense of wrong. Why is the Town not interested? What kind of business is moving in= to the building? Every morning aroun= d 6:00 a.m. Alpha Construction is loading their stuff on the trucks, it sounds like shootings. Maybe they need restrictions for their activity times.&nbs= p; Last time in 1997 Mr. Polletta was asking the Town about expanding the building, about the (inaudible) burglary. $3,300 of material he was forced t= o keep outside was stolen, he could not keep it inside. I am asking how much square feet does Mr. Polletta need for his business? How many square feet is the building? Is it still not enough? How many new business= es do we have left? How many others are still in operation? Does Plan= ning and Zoning plan to decrease or increase non-conformity? Why haven't we been notified about= the expansion of the building at 36 Zoar Avenue. In 199= 7 we have lived in our house for 6 months. We appreciate your attention into this matter and look forward to hearing back from you and that a solution in the near future. Thank you.

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Tracey Wolff, 19 Henry Street, Oakville, CT&nbs= p; 06779

Ms. Wolff: My property abuts Mr. Polletta's property in the back, and also on the side, he owns the house ne= xt to mine. I just bought the ho= use on March 3, 2006. When I bought = it I did know that he owned it. My= big problem is there is a buffer up on 126 Riverside Street, but Mr. Polletta never put a buffer or a screen up on his property so when I go out onto my back deck, I= see the eyesore that's his building, and if he wants to expand this building to another 2,566 square feet, that's just going to be another eyesore for me to look at, not to mention the traffic that's going to be on Henry Street. I don't personally know that if a throughway from the back of the business down Henry Street, but I get oil trucks, Alpha Construction trucks, as she said it is 6:00 a.m., and in the Summer sometimes even earlier. I have a 10 year old son. I mov= ed here from Waterbury to get out of the City to get to a more country, it's supposedly a dead end street and in my opinion I see the oil trucks, and I see people coming from, working in this industrial section and they come up and down my street. I thought that they were supposed = to come from Zoar Avenue, up that way, but they do have access from our street. I spoke to my neighbors and they h= ad said at one point it was blocked off. It is no longer that way, it is now a thr= uway, so those are my concerns. Bei= ng a mother of a 10 year old, my neighbor has a 7 year old, and it is a big problem to = us with traffic and noise and everything else.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 7

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Rebecca Rollo, 15 Henry Street, Oakville, CT&nbs= p; 06779

Ms. Rollo: My concern again is the expansion and the eyesore and what's going to be done with it. I live next door to Tracey, the same thing with me, I can look in my back yard and I can see the obstruction. My concern is my property values, = and what is he going to do to obstruct it so it's not an obsolescence for us to see if people are coming up our road and look= ing at this big building that's sticking out.&= nbsp; Also I thought it was known that the trucks were supposed to be going out of Zoar Avenue, there is not supposed to be any traffic going through Riverside. There has been traffic constantly,= 5:00 a.m. with Alpha trucks, I've seen a printing shop go through there, Classic Oil, as far as today, they have left the building at 5:00, they showed up again at 6:30. The neighborhood, when I was there, there was only 1 child. Now the neighborhood has 3 houses,= we all have children in our neighborhood.&nbs= p; Trucks go in and out. = I do not allow my child to go out on the road and I tell him to watch, the truck= s go fast, in and out, they don't look, so this puts an eyesore for us. What am I going to do with my chil= d? And I thought they weren't allowed = to use that as an access road, and they do, and there's= quite a few companies, I don't know what's up there. I drove up there the other day to look. It is filthy, there is = stuff all over the place, there are trucks that are pa= rked there that aren't even being used. And my concern as a homeowner is the protection of my child and my property values.

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Janine Russolillo, 112 Riverside Street, Oakville, CT 06779=

Ms. Russolillo: I really have the same concerns as my neighbors with the eyesore.= When we were there years ago, we've been there for almost like 30 ye= ars, the Sealy trucks would go up the street, but then for a long time that was gated, like a chain link fence and it was closed, and you couldn't get up through there.

Ms. Sarandrea: Where's this, Henry Street?

Ms. Russolillo: Yea, when you go up to Henry, where Mr. Polletta is over to the left, that was all fenced off I believe at one time, and now it's open and like they said, it's a real eyes= ore, it's a pig sty up there, there's junk all over the place, and it's just disgusting. That's my concern= .

Mr. Sarandrea: Moosa, that Henry Street, is that a regular through street?

Mr. Rafey: That's a question for = Mr. Polletta.

Mr. Sarandrea: Anyone else wish to sp= eak for or against this application? Okay Joe, got some questions.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 8

Mr. Polletta: I think I was a pretty good neighbor, I don't think I have a mess, however, there is some, the IG-= 80 is construction and in construction you have trucks, planks, I mean that's = what the IG-80 is. If you look in = the IG-80, all this is a permitted use. Now as far as having junks all over the place, I mean it's a construction yard, only on the south side of the building close to Sealy Mattress where Alpha Concrete has its forms. The only thing I can say is my par= king lot and my building, I just cleaned it.&nb= sp; The parking lot is clean and it's striped. Every truck at the front of my bui= lding is used, but if the car dealer was over there 30 years ago, I cannot say to this guy you cannot park the cars there to repair them. Again, everybody is talking about = in 1990 something. I bought this property in 1971, so that means the IG-80 existed and whatever the IG-80 wi= ll allow, it will allow today. <= span class=3DGramE>So if before there was a car dealer there, it can be there. I forgot the gentleman's name, but= he said we used to have and he used to complain about a guy who was a landscap= er over there, so little by little I got rid of them and I put somebody else.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He's complaining about this guy. I can't please everybody.

But as far as it being a junk yard, the only thing I can say is some of these people work on cars, and if they have forms, I mean I had some of the stuff outside, and that's the reason why I try to bring it in. I have 2 trailers over there and w= e use those trailers when we go on site, sometimes they're parked over there for = 3, 4, 5 months, but until I have a job I cannot bring that trailer to somebody else's yard, so that's the reason the IG-80 exists. Now another thing is this gentleman again said there's cars on the street, on Zoar Avenue= . Those cars, they do not belong to = Dean's Auto Sales, and they're right at the end of the street. I don't know who they belong to, because I asked him one day and he told me they di= d not belong to him. Now he's got c= ars over there, he bought cars from Dean's Auto to the best of my knowledge, he called the cops, they came over there, they came and saw me, and said we ha= d a complaint but didn't find anything, so you could check, the cops don't have= any records of anything. So if so= mebody puts a vacuum on, if the guy from Alpha comes and puts the forms on the tru= ck, I go in at 5:30 every morning because I work out of there, when Alpha goes = over there, they start loading the trucks at 6:30 and the Town Regulations, corr= ect me if I'm wrong, he told me the regulations state he can start working at t= hat time, so that's the only thing I'm saying.

As far as the access to Henry= Street, it was always access to He= nry Street, it was never only on Zoar = Avenue. As a matter of fact I tried to dir= ect all the trailers going on Henry Street because before when Sealy was there = all the trailers came from there, so that is a large truck, we come that way. Again it's an IG-80. So basically that's what I have to say. If there is anything els= e, maybe I can . . . .

Mr. Rafey: There was a question a= bout the entrance from Henry St= reet. I thought you had one entrance fro= m Zoar Avenue= ?

Mr. Sarandrea: He answered that.=

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 9

Mr. Polletta: I have an entrance fro= m, when Planning and Zoning, when I bought that property the second piece of property they told me I had to have an exit in case of an emergency and an = entrance, so I have an entrance from Henry Street and I tried to direct the trucks on Henry Street and not in the residential area that is basically where these people live. But again I boug= ht this place in 1970, I mean I try to do the best I can, but it's an IG-80, a= nd whatever is allowed in an IG-80, I cannot say to these people that they can= not park the truck. I mean you ha= ve the regulations with you and you know what's allowed in IG-80.

Mr. Rafey: Just (inaudible) it was IG-80 but right now it is RG, it is a general residential, but this property was used as IG-80 before they changed the zone.

Mr. Swingle: But (inaudible) these people's houses though which (inaudible).

Mr. Sarandrea: See what the problem i= s, this is why we sit here, and these are problems that should have arose in the 70= 's when this thing was approved, and we have these problems all the time. See what happened here is Planning= and Zoning let this man, or I don't even know if it was him who built it, let t= hem build it, they had it as an IG-80 zone, next thing you know they change it = to a residential zone, not just him, but any property owner, it's a hardship for them also, as well as it is for you people. And see this is why we sit here no= w, and we've got to try and straighten this whole thing out, and it's kind of toug= h, I mean you've got a building there that's made out of brick, the parking lot = is there, he was there pretty much, you can almost say before maybe some of the houses. You also had Sealy Ma= ttress there, another big building, so it was mixed. And it makes it tough, it really m= akes it tough. I mean I don't know, maybe you can add more screening, I mean Planning and Zoning made him screen this whole property, from what I could see.

Mr. Polletta: I would like to know, = they said there are no trees next to, you own the house right next to the other house I have on Henry Stre= et.

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Tracey Wolff, 13 Henry Street, Oakville, CT&nbs= p; 06779

Ms. Wolff: I own the house on Henry Street.

Mr. Polletta: Yea, that's the one on= Henry Street that you just purchased. Now Plann= ing and Zoning made me screen the whole property with hemlocks from Zoar Avenue= all the way around, so now I don't know where you're saying it's not screened.=

Ms. Wolff: The property next to m= ine on Henry Street, there's property that we all see, the Riverside Street is screened with hemlocks, but behind t= he (inaudible) house there's just trees, bare trees= .

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 10<= o:p>

Mr. Polletta: If you go over there tomorrow . . . . I think if she goes there she'll see the hemlocks. They are there and they're on the plan. Can I see that plan tha= t you have over there? The plan tha= t you have that was approved by Planning and Zoning?&= nbsp; I would like to show it to them.&nb= sp; This was approved by the Planning and Zoning and we have a line of t= rees that goes from Zoar Avenue all the way to the corner of the property and th= en goes in back of all the houses over there and it turns behind, my barn is r= ight here, these trees are behind the barn, so if you go over there you'll see t= hese trees behind the barn.

Ms. Wolff: Yea, but when I go out onto my deck here . . . .

Mr. Polletta: This is my property ov= er here, you're over here.

Ms. Wolff: Yea, when I'm on my de= ck here what I see is this building.

Mr. Polletta: Well you're going to s= ee it because these trees they are only maybe 8 feet.

Ms. Wolff: No, I see directly.

Mr. Polletta: The question is this d= o I have trees here, and the answer is yes, and it's right on the site plan, so= if you can see between the trees to the building, I can't stop that. I mean you can see the building fr= om any place, but Planning and Zoning made me buffer that. And on the site plan it shows the = area where the topsoil, the sand and everything, it should be an area that's not asphalt, it's only gravel because it's a construction yard. I would urge that you go tomorrow = and look at these.

Ms. Wolff: I'll take pictures tom= orrow, cause (inaudible).

Mr. Polletta: Okay.

Mr. Swingle: Can you tell me where the Henry Street entrance is based on this map, and where these people live?

Mr. Polletta: I own this property ov= er here, Henry Street is over here, so I own this, so this co= mes right down, there's another exit over here, and Planning and Zoning . . . .=

Mr. Swingle: Wait, this is your property right h= ere?

Mr. Polletta: <= /b> Yes.

Mr. Swingle: And the exit runs through your prop= erty here, is that right?

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 11<= o:p>

Mr. Polletta: <= /b> Right, that's my property too. Henry Street is right here, but Planning and Zoning, if you come in over here, you sho= uld have another exit.

Mr. Swingle: No problem, I just didn't know whe= re it was.

Mr. Polletta: I just wanted to add that when the approval was given to me, the Planning and Zoning, they suggested because t= he Sealy building was over there and all these trailer trucks were going in and out, to use the same route, and that's what I did.

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Rebecca Rollo, 15 Henry Street, Oakville, CT&nbs= p; 06779

Ms. Rollo: = My question is I thought I read tha= t Zoar was supposed to be the in and out and then Henry Street was only supposed to b= e used for emergency. I don't know h= ow that is because the trucks go in and out of Henry Street all the time, and as I= say, we have children on the street, the trucks do not go slow, they just go in there, they come from around the road, you can hear them screech up the roa= d, and that's what I don't understand. I thought they were supposed to be on the other side of the road and= not on Henry. If it's an emergenc= y, I don’t understand how it can be an emergency when trucks are going in = and out, printing trucks, Alpha trucks, there was a big huge tractor trailer th= at was on the end and it took them hours, because i= t was stuck, before they would even remove it.&n= bsp; My question is they shouldn't have full access on Henry Street. How is it that they do now? And my concern is that we have children. If he's willing to = make sure of the obstruction, making sure that the property values (inaudible) w= hat about the children on the street. I don't want to go out there one day all of a sudden and see somebody get hit. That's my main concern. I thought it= was supposed to be the other side of the road which is Zoar. So that's my concern, and also pro= perty values. We all don't want to = lose our property values. I bought= my house 10 years ago. I did not= see traffic. I would say in the p= ast 4 years there has been major, major traffic on that road; prior to 4 years ago there was hardly any people going up and down that road. Thank you.

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Stan Rukowski, 19 Zoar Avenue, Oakville, CT&nbs= p; 06779

Mr. Rukowski: I live across from Mr.= Polletta's property. I don't know if he = was talking now about trees, straight all the way on Zoar Avenue. How many trees we have there 2 or 3? One will fall down, now wh= en the new (inaudible) they cut them specially cause we have much more noise you k= now (inaudible). It is on purpose= that they cut, you know. Every gra= ss, I have video, no lie, grass is bigger than me in some places. Ask other people, tall grass. Never (inaudib= le) across from my home when they're cutting grass, leave (inaudible). I cleaned it for a couple of years= , I cleaned up my other neighbor's grass, I cleaned = it all the way in the street when I'm cutting my grass.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 12<= o:p>

Mr. Polletta, garbage man, mile high before he comes by. Why doesn't he clean up? (Inaudible) trucks coming (inaudib= le) before (inaudible) maybe 15, some blankets of those trucks were (inaudible) with oil, everything, property will (inaudible) parking space like that. I'm sorry. Thank you.

&nb= sp;

Mr. Sarandrea: Anyone else have anyth= ing to say? Anybody have any questions? What about this (i= naudible)?

Mr. Rafey: That is something that= , if this Commission grants a variance for Mr. Polletta, he has to go to the Pla= nning and Zoning Commission for a site plan approval. Most of these issues that these neighbors raised can be discussed with the Planning and Zoning Commission.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Probably Mr. Polletta can put more= trees on that side of the property to provide more buffer, or you can discuss access way from Henry Street with the Planning and Zoning Commission= . For this Commission it's only that variance that if they want to grant or not, and I suggest Mr. Chairman to schedule a site walk before the next meeting and I sent a copy of this application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their review and they will review the application at their meeting on February 7th and they will = submit a report to you before your meeting on February 28th. If you want to continue the Public Hearing until next month and schedule a site walk you can go and see the location that these neighbors are concerned about. He can probably plant more trees or something to fix the problem.

&nb= sp;

Mr. Polletta: I'd just like to answer this gentleman, he said about trees on Zoar Avenue. There are no trees on Zoar Avenue, whatever exists, talking about the buffer that Planning and Zoning made me = put in, is on that plan, so you should look at the plan over there and see what they approved and that's what I put in.&nb= sp; On the front of Zoar Avenue I didn't put anything, because Planning,= now another thing I want to say, I have Titan Landscaping cut my grass and this gentleman is saying that I don't keep the grass, maybe sometimes when the g= uy (inaudible) a couple of times hew probably didn't cut the grass, however I think that y= ou should keep your dog in your house because your dog is going all over my property.

Mr. Sarandrea: No, sir.

MOTION: &= nbsp;     (Mr. Griffith, sec. Mr. Swingle) to Recess and Schedule a Site Walk for Applicat= ion #843 of Giuseppe Polletta for two variances of Sections 6.7.1 and 71.6.6 of= the Watertown Zoning Regulations to permit the expansion of an existing non-conforming structure and use located at 36 Zoar Avenue, Oakville, CT.

Discussion:       None<= o:p>

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOU= SLY

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #843 - GIUSEPPE POLLETTA

JANUARY = 24, 2007

Page 13<= o:p>

Public Hearing Closed at 8:43 p.m.

Respect= fully submitted,

&n= bsp;

&n= bsp;

&n= bsp;

Enrico Sarandrea, Chairman

Zoning = Board of Appeals

  &nbs= p;         _________________= _________________

  &nbs= p;         Lynn M. LaForme, Minutes Secretary