Hearing On Exercise Business Postponed

By Andrew Gorosko

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has postponed a public hearing on a Sandy Hook woman’s appeal of a town order to close her home-based exercise business.

The ZBA’s postponement of the hearing Wednesday night came at the request of Karen Finlayson of 15 Serenity Lane.

In a January 3 letter to the ZBA, attorney Christopher Leonard, representing Ms Finlayson, asked that the ZBA postpone the hearing until February in light of a parallel application that Ms Finlayson has pending before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

 In the P&Z application, Ms Finlayson seeks to have the P&Z expand the definition of “professional person” in the zoning regulations to include the occupation “certified personal fitness instructor with certification in weight training.” Through such an expansion of the definition, Ms Finlayson is seeking P&Z approval for her to legally operate a personal fitness and weight training business in her Serenity Lane home.

In the letter to the ZBA, Mr Leonard writes a decision on Ms Finlayson’s P&Z application is expected within the next month. If her P&Z application is approved, her ZBA appeal would then become a moot point, Mr Leonard adds. Postponing the ZBA public hearing on the appeal would save time for the parties involved in the case, he wrote.

ZBA members unanimously approved the request to postpone the public hearing. In her ZBA appeal, Ms Finlayson seeks to overturn Zoning Enforcement Officer Gary Frenette’s October 18 cease-and-desist order that calls for her to close her business. The business is still in operation.

The “professional person” definition in the zoning regulations currently includes occupations such as medical doctor, lawyer, architect, accountant, dentist, engineer, surveyor, chiropractor and psychologist, among others. Under certain conditions, the P&Z allows such professional people to have home-based businesses. Ms Finlayson’s P&Z application seeks to have her occupation sanctioned as one suitable for a home-based  business.

 At a December P&Z hearing on Ms Finlayson’s application, First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal questioned the wisdom of the P&Z expanding the definition of “professional person” to allow occupations such as Ms Finlayson’s to be the basis for home-based businesses. Such a move would set a bad precedent in terms of expanding the types of businesses which could be conducted in homes, according to Mr Rosenthal.

Ms Finlayson’s P&Z application drew support from her clients, but opposition from some neighbors and a local fitness club operator.