The Planning and Zoning Commission received an application from Edward Hinman, 39 Schoolhouse Road, Tuesday night seeking a special permit to operate a container tree nursery in a rural residential zone. The nursery would occupy only a small portion of his 65.5-acre tract.
The P&Z scheduled the application for a public hearing on Tuesday, July 8.
According to Zoning Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik, Hinman, a licensed arborist who operates Tamarack Tree Company, already harvests trees from other locations and uses some pre-existing barns on his property to cure the wood he cuts.
“He wants to expand into small container trees but doesn’t anticipate any other structures,” Sefcik said.
The commission was concerned that the property might be included on the Natural Diversity Database map, which indicates where there are species of concern. It appears that much of Schoolhouse Road is included on the map, but Sefcik noted that the generalized designation does not indicate precisely where a species might exist or what species is of concern.
Hinman said he would seek more information before the July 8 meeting.