The Planning Board voted unanimously last week to allow a dental business to operate in a new home at 48 Highland Ave. Board members also agreed to waive any public hearing, given that the impact on the neighborhood would be minimal and no major public issues were at stake.
Kamyar Yazdi originally applied to the town in 2021 to run his dental office from the home he was building and he was granted a “special business permit” by Joe Rousselle, code enforcement officer at the time. No documentation of the original review and permitting process could be found in the town files, according to Code Enforcement Officer Jenifer McCabe.
After consulting the town attorney, McCabe and Town Manager Tim Pellerin informed the Planning Board and Yazdi in a memo Oct. 11 that the special permit applied to the home office for dentistry, but not for seeing patients, and that they he would need to reapply for a major home occupation and undergo a minor site plan review by the board.
“The applicant wanted to do what’s right to open the business, which is to come here tonight and and go through the right process for a major home occupation,” McCabe said.
McCabe worked with the applicant and sent the application to the board for approval, noting that it was “reviewed for completeness, but the planning board must make the final determination that most of the submission requirements are not applicable,” as determined by McCabe.
Among the requirements that were not waived, no one can be employed in the business who doesn’t live on the premises, and the business must create no noise, hazards, excessive traffic, or outside storage on the site, and the applicant said none of this will occur. In addition, he said there would only be one sign, as is required by town ordinance.
Yazdi’s sister, Glarih Yazdi Morgan, attended the meeting as a representative of her brother, who was out of state. The family recently moved from Austin, Texas, where Yazdi also had a dental office.
The application shows a ”very small dentist office,” Zinser said. It will have three parking spaces for clients, said Yazdi Morgan in response to a question from board member Hershey Hirschkop.
Board member Bill Cole asked if any of the abutters needed to be informed or consulted about the plan.
Zinser replied it seemed the impact on the neighborhood would be slight and suggested that, given they saw no issues for the town or public, a public hearing which includes notifying abutters was not needed. The other members agreed and the application was approved unanimously.
