By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
A Middlebury homeowner spent more than $300 in postage to notify abutting property owners about a public hearing for a requested garage expansion only to have that hearing postponed by the Middlebury Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) at its April 1 meeting. The hearing was postponed because of an error in the legal notice announcing the public hearing.
The meeting was chaired by Commissioner Ken Long in the absence of Chairman David Alley. Zoning Enforcement Officer Curtis Bosco told commissioners he made a mistake in the legal notice of the public hearing on the application by Jason and Jennie Kastelein of 63 Atwood St., and the legal notice needed to be corrected and republished. The Kasteleins are seeking a sideline and coverage variance so they can enlarge a garage on their property.
Bosco said the legal notice incorrectly listed the address as 68 Atwood St. After calling the error minor and noting no letters in opposition or people in attendance, Bosco advised the board to publish a corrected notice and hold another public hearing to avoid the possibility of the board’s decision on the matter being contested down the road due to the error in the legal notice.
Jason Kastelein said he did not spot the error when he made copies and sent certified letters to neighboring properties. Bosco said it was unfortunate the neighboring property was Ridgewood because that meant Kastelein had to pay $3.22 in postage to send a letter to every owner in the 92-home community for a total cost of more than $300. Bosco said there was no money in the ZBA budget to compensate Kastelein for the cost of sending out corrected letters by certified mail, other than to supply him with preprinted labels, envelopes and copies of the notice. The commissioners discussed possible ways to avoid the mailing or compensate Mr. Kastelein for his expense, but could not find a way to do either.
In other matters, Bosco distributed copies of the draft Commercial Development Guide for member feedback.
The next ZBA meeting will be Wednesday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center.
