Heated exchange about Shute Hill Road Land

A couple who want to develop their land on Shute Hill Road got into a heated exchange with town officials at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting at the Town Hall Wednesday night.

Stanley and Terry Griffin came to the board to complain about sections of the town’s Master Plan that defines their property as “premature for subdivision.” According to the couple, they have been trying to get town officials to explain why the designation was added to the last Master Plan and how their land became part of that labeled area.

Stanley Griffin told Selectboard Chairman Patsy Wells that he had filled out a "Right-to-Know" request to find the answers to those questions, but that so far he was not happy with the response from town officials. “I was hoping this was something you could nudge along (with the Planning Board,)” he told Wells.

Referring to the reply he received from the Planning Department, Griffin complained, “It’s not an answer… We asked them specifically who added the ‘premature for subdivision’ portion to the Master Plan and how it was documented and filed. That’s not what we received.”

Instead, the Griffin’s received minutes for a 1995 public hearing that accepted the Master Plan.

But Town Administrator Bruce Kneuer said the request he’d seen was not specific enough under the state’s "Right-to-Know" law because it did not ask for a specific document. “To find that out you’d have to go back through all the minutes of the Planning Board for 1993, ’94, and ‘95. The "Right-to-Know" law is specific that we’re (the town staff) are not obligated to do research. If you want to come in and look at those documents, we can make them available to you.”

The Griffins returned to the Master Plan and said that state law requires that the reasons behind adopting all portions of the plan must be explained clearly.

“No where in here does it speak about the idea of ‘premature for subdivision’,” Mr. Griffin said.

Terry Griffin said the state statutes indicated that if reasons for adopting a portion of the Master Plan were not clearly stated in the plan, the town could not enforce it.

Mrs. Griffin also complained that in the couple’s communications with the Planning Board the ‘premature for subdivision’ notion was referred to as a ‘zoning ordinance.’ “It’s not an ordinance,” she said, pointing out that the Master Plan was only meant to serve as a guide for the Planning Board. “There is no ordinance but that’s what they keep calling it.

“All we want to know is how and why,” Mrs. Griffin added. “There are homes being built across the street from us. There are two developments that have been built. Why are we being denied permission (to build) by the Planning Board?”

After some additional heated discussion, Kneuer suggested that the Griffin’s case be referred to the town’s counsel.

Chairman Wells noted that the selectmen do not have authority over the Planning Board and agreed to Kneuer’s suggestion.

As the discussion wrapped up, Wells said she would make a note to the Planning Board as it begins its work updating the Master Plan this year to have the area where the Griffins property is re-evaluated for its ‘premature for subdivision’ designation.

Mr. Griffin said he appreciated Kneuer’s position and would accept any direction the administrator could provide to his family.