Monica Stanton, operator of the Rage Room, in North Vassalboro, got instructions on filing a complete application for her business at the Oct. 7 Vassalboro Planning Board meeting.
Stanton has been running the Rage Room, where people come to express anger destructively but without harming others, since summer, without a town permit. Codes Officer Eric Currie had consulted the town attorney about enforcement action.
Board chairman Virgina Brackett explained to Stanton the steps she needs to take before the Nov. 4 board meeting, when her application will again be on the agenda.
First, Stanton needs to send notices to abutters in time to get back the “green cards” that confirm they have been received, so board members will know abutters are aware of the meeting at which the application is discussed.
Stanton said she did send notices, last week, but she did not have the required confirmation they’d been received. She and her companion, James Childs, said they will send them again.
The second requirement is a revised application expanding on the one Stanton previously filed, especially by adding a detailed site plan, drawn to scale. Brackett explained that the plan is a basis for written information about traffic patterns, parking, lighting, waste disposal, buffers, business hours and sundry other matters listed in town ordinances.
Purposes are to protect neighbors and the environment from any harmful effects the business might have, and to provide documentation for future town officials.
Stanton said the business, housed in a shipping container behind the former North Vassalboro school building, is open by appointment only, Wednesday through Sunday between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Stanton and Childs almost missed the chance to talk with the board. The meeting began a minute or so early, by the meeting room clock, and with only the Rage Room for business, had adjourned by the time the applicants came in five minutes after the starting time. Brackett promptly reconvened.
The next Vassalboro Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 4, in the town office meeting room. Vassalboro’s Nov. 4 voting, with local as well as state questions, will be at Vassalboro Community School.
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by Mary Grow
How is it that a business in Winslow is required to have a Vassalboro permit for its business. Thats not even legal.