Variances ‘Approved’
Via DRB’s Inaction

Two variance requests presented to the Randolph Development Review Board (DRB) in July and pending since then have recently been "deemed approved," as the 45-day window to take action expired, according to Zoning Administrator Mardee Sanchez.

In late July, Rob Start of Vermont Wooden Box Co. requested a use variance to operate his business in an existing warehouse space on Prince Street. Start’s proposal appeared likely to become a casualty of Randolph’s out-of-date and often-amended zoning bylaws.

An extensive bylaws update that was turned down by voters in 1998 would have permitted Start’s business as "light manufacturing" in a "central business zone," Sanchez told The Herald in July.

However, Randolph’s older bylaws remain in effect, and they were amended just a few years ago to change Prince Street zoning from "industrial" to "commercial," thereby making the box company a "forbidden use."

The DRB cannot bend variance-granting rules, which are established by the state. However, should the board fail to act—by design or error—on a variance by the end of a 45-day deadline, the application is automatically approved, state law says.

DRB members on occasion have expressed frustration about the planning commission’s failure to produce another set of zoning bylaws since the 1998 vote, and this is not the first time they have "approved" an application by not taking action.

Rob Start said this week that, with his permit issued, he is reviewing a lease for the Prince Street property, owned by Sherman Allen Properties of Rutland.

In a similar "no action" action, Marguerite Dodge’s setback variance request, to build a garage and breezeway at her Highland Avenue residence, was recently approved.

Zoning Administrator Sanchez this week deferred to DRB Chair Joel Tillberg, when asked if the DRB’s inaction on the variances was deliberate.

Tillberg confessed that he also "would rather not comment," but went on to give a few clues.

"I am not sure why the DRB was unable to act in a timely manner, so that the applications were approved by our inaction," Tillberg said.

"Variances are hard to come by," he continued, "but our zoning regulations are kind of odd and archaic and some people request variances that make perfect sense.

"I guess," he concluded, "that it is unfortunate that we cannot always act in a timely matter."

By Sandy Cooch