Williamstown ZBA Clears Office Rental at Sand Springs PoolBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
01:50AM / Wednesday, December 31, 2014 | |
 ZBA Chairman Andrew Hoar said the board was concerned about the pool's location in a residential area. |
 Sand Springs has been allowed to rent out two offices people with pool-related activities. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals had no trouble deciding it wanted to accommodate a request from Sand Springs Pool.
But the body took the better part of an hour figuring out how to do so.
The non-profit recreational facility was before the ZBA on Dec. 18 to request permission to rent two small office spaces on the second floor of its facility.
The sticking point for the board was the location of the newly renovated pool, which is located in a general residence zone.
"In the past, this board has been cautious because it is in the general residence," ZBA Chairman Andrew Hoar said, referring to requests from similar properties.
"We've set up systems of review because what is a professional office because the big question. … One of the concerns we've had in the past is a doctor who has a high turnover and might be seeing someone every 20 minutes."
The spaces in question at Sand Springs are 9-by-9 and 10-by-13, and the operators of the facility foresee them being filled by occupants in businesses aligned with the mission of the pool, Sand Springs board member and interim executive director Jane Patton told the ZBA.
"There's a personal trainer who works people out in the facility," she said. "He's asked that we allow him to rent one of the small offices for his office so if he has an hour before a client he can sit in his office. It requires no renovations. It would have minimal to non-existent impact in terms of parking or traffic.
"We've had some other folks express interest in the other space ... all in the health and wellness field, low traffic, low impact."
Patton said Sand Springs Pool Inc. sees the rentals as a potential revenue stream to help keep the non-profit operational.
"As a not-for-profit with a short season, when the group bought the pool, the hope was we would find additional revenue streams year round using the facility in ways that make sense," Patton said.
The ZBA expressed sympathy for that goal and support for the request but deliberated at length about how to fit the new use into the town's current zoning guidelines.
The notion that the space could be rented to a "professional" generated some debate over the meaning of that term, with ZBA member Keith Davis arguing that it refers specifically to the professions noted in the bylaw.
"Most of the things they list in here, they're talking about a doctorate level education," Davis said.
The town's director of community development, who staffs the ZBA, offered a way out of the conundrum. Andrew Groff suggested the panel utilize a "physical and creative arts studio" provision added to the town's bylaws a couple of years ago to accommodate the request.
In the end, the board granted a special permit that relies on that language and allowed the pool to rent to the space to practitioners "consistent with Sand Springs' mission."
Patton was appreciative.
"I'd love for it to be people who understand all aspects of what we're trying to do with the pool — health and wellness, teaching young kids how to swim," she said. "And there's a community aspect to the pool that's one of the most undervalued aspects of the pool. It's a great place to go and be with the community."
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