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November 7, 2018 Town of Ballston Zoning Board Meeting


Town of Ballston Zoning Board Meeting
Notes taken by a town resident on November 7, 2018

Public Hearing re: 283 Scotchbush Road SBL #237.-1-30.2
• Discussion: Mr. Towne lives at 281 Scotchbush and states that his property and the property next to his at 283 Scotchbush is zoned rural. The complaint is that the residents at 283 Scotchbush have been running a Lawncare business called Hometown Turf from that property since it was purchased in July 2018.
• There was discussion by Mr. Towne about how the sight of the large trucks is disturbing, and how there are 4 employees who arrive 5 days/week to get the trucks.
• Also discussed was that the town building inspector responded to this complaint and made the decision that Hometown Turf is not a commercial operation and is not a home office, so there was no violation as far as the building inspector was concerned
• Mr. Towne was represented by an attorney
• Discussion: the precedent for this is a case called People vs. Wagner, an almost identical case involving a landscaping company. It was deemed a commercial operation and that the defendant was guilty and fined $2500, work was prohibited, and the company was subject to periodic inspections.
• Mr. Towne said he is member of the town of Ballston Ethics Committee and that he is an attorney.
• Public comments occurred from 7:57pm – 8:23 pm
• Mr. Zepf lives at 283 Scotchbush and said: his lawn maintenance is about 90% of what his business does, the rest is mulching/installing bushes/weeding and he has no bulldozers. His trucks are 150 ft. from the road so they are not advertising, and that he changed the location of the trucks today because he doesn’t want ruts.
• General discussion: Hometown Turf advertises a business address at 283 Scotchbush and that is a violation. The vehicles are not a violation. The employees coming and going is commercial use. Virginia Newton at 289 Scotchbush stated she googled this business and it states the business is on Scotchbush Rd.
• The Zoning Board unanimously agreed that:
1. It is a commercial business
2. It is not a permitted use for a rural zone
3. The matter will be referred to the zoning officer.

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