Eye on Town Government

By Susan MacEachron

At its meeting on July 11, the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) continued deliberations on the application to modify the existing special permit for Consolini & Tonan Landscape (C&T). Under new business, P&Z reviewed a proposal to open a pop-up shop selling baked goods in the Arcanum building.

P&Z discussed the concerns raised by several neighbors about the proposed modification to the existing C&T special permit. C&T owners Mari Consolini and Marc Tonan have operated a landscape business from their property at 290 Bruey Road for many years. More recently, they purchased adjacent property at 15 Pine Ledge Way and want the flexibility to operate aspects of their business on that property.

At the P&Z public hearing on June 13, Tonan said they had no plans to expand the business beyond the existing 17 employees or construct any new facilities. Neighbors expressed concern about truck traffic on Pine Ledge Way and requested that P&Z limit the number of employees allowed under the special permit to protect the neighborhood from a future business expansion.  Once approved, a special permit applies to the property, and any future owner would be covered by its terms.

After a lengthy discussion, P&Z approved the modification to the special permit with the following conditions: the number of permitted employees is capped at 20; any retail sales must be from the Bruey Road property; no more than five commercial vehicles may be parked at the Pine Ledge Way property; no more than five employees may park their vehicles at the Pine Ledge property; and hours of operation are Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. P&Z approved a site plan presented by Dawn Muzzulin to sell cookies, cupcakes and other baked goods in the space previously occupied by the Healing Nest in the Arcanum building. Muzzulin said nothing will be prepared on site since there is no kitchen. Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael Halloran said the Norfolk fire marshal had reviewed the plans and advised that the fire code allows up to 15 people in the store at one time if no tables and chairs are attached to the floor. Dawnie’s Delights expects to open for business later in August.