ASHFIELD — After a deliberation session at Town Hall on Thursday night, the Zoning Board of Appeals proposed mediation between those involved with a junkyard at 995 West Road and the now two residents who have appealed the building commissioner’s ruling that the junkyard can continue to operate.
In lieu of making a decision on the appeal, the board asked both the appellants and the respondents to answer by the ZBA’s next meeting, set for Thursday, May 7, at 7 p.m.
Town Counsel Donna MacNicol told the ZBA that the involved parties could hire a mediator, but that it would be under the purview of the board. She said the discussion would be between the neighbors and the owners of 995 West Road, and that there would be no reason for the ZBA to participate in the mediation sessions.
MacNicol said that at any point, either party could come back to the ZBA and ask the board to render a decision.
“I don’t think you’d dictate the parameters of [an agreement],” MacNicol said. “They would bring any settlement back to you. … If they’re satisfied, you’re satisfied.”
Before mediation can occur, however, the lawyer for the appellants, John McLaughlin, needs to discuss the proposal with his clients. Before Thursday’s discussion began, McLaughlin told the ZBA that a direct abutter has signed onto the appeal that was originally filed by Randy Gobeil. According to property cards, Ticia Kane is listed as a co-owner on multiple properties on Town Farm Road, which is north of the property where the junkyard is located.
If McLaughlin’s clients agree to mediation, they would then need to bring the proposal to the respondents. If the respondents agree in turn, then mediation can occur.
MacNicol told the ZBA that McLaughlin let her know about this new appellant on Thursday afternoon and that she’s not “convinced there is any case law” regarding adding a new appellant at this stage of the process for matters that are decided at the town level. She said it “may be a matter at the discretion of the board.”
The property in question is owned by Jason Dickinson and Jason’s wife Sabra Billings, but the junkyard has been operated by Jason’s father, Brian Dickinson. McLaughlin has argued that Building Commissioner Jim Hawkins’ determination that the junkyard existed before the 1995 bylaw banning them was incorrect and it could not be “grandfathered in,” as Hawkins has stated, as it was operating illegally and shouldn’t be considered legal now. Some residents, on the other hand, have raised concerns about potential overreach.
Before the board ultimately reached its suggestion of mediation on Thursday, non-voting alternate member Manfred Gabriel said he thought it was interesting how “everyone agrees that it has gotten out of hand.”
Member Mollie Babize said the ZBA hasn’t “always had the capacity to take action,” and that she was unsure if the board could resolve an issue with “that kind of nuance.”
“Our responsibility is to step up … and to give both sides some validation,” she said.
Babize also questioned how important it was to define when something turns from a hobby into a business. She spoke about the lack of a special permit that McLaughlin referenced at the April 23 public hearing, an issue that she called “thorny.” Member Evan Barth said that if the ZBA does “say [the junkyard] was a business, the special permit does matter.”
Barth asked if the ZBA were to give an order that the property be cleaned up, “Can we set conditions on that order? Can we set a certain amount of time?” Barth ultimately said he wasn’t clear on what the board’s “final decision will look like.”
Chair Mary Fitz-Gibbon raised concerns over potentially overstepping the role the ZBA would play in this process. While it seemed that the board has been expected to approve or deny the appeal, she said she was “inclined to not stray beyond [zoning enforcement].”
Babize said the ZBA should “hold off on a decision” until the issue of mediation can be figured out. The involved parties have until the start of the May 7 meeting to let the board know of their decision.
