Video summary
The Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals convened a remote meeting on Tuesday, August 11th, 2026, under the chairmanship of Christian Klein. The session was conducted virtually in accordance with state laws extending temporary provisions for open meetings until June 30th, 2027, allowing public bodies to hold deliberations via live alternative access methods such as Zoom and ACMI broadcasts. While most anticipated officials were present, including board members Roger Dupont, Patrick Hanlin, Venet Holly, Adam Leblanc, clerk Colleen Rston, and zoning assistant Nick Rosenberg who was absent due to illness, Town Council member Michael Cunningham had not yet joined despite multiple attempts by the staff to contact him. The meeting proceeded with administrative items first, where the board reviewed and approved the minutes from their previous session on July 28th without any objections or additional comments from members present.
Following the approval of the prior minutes through a unanimous roll call vote, the board addressed written decisions regarding specific zoning matters already under review. Specifically, they considered Docket 3910 concerning property at 44 DAO Avenue, which involved granting a special permit for a covered landing pursuant to sections 539D and 333 of the town's zoning bylaws. After distributing the prepared decision document to board members for final inspection that afternoon, no further questions or comments were raised regarding this specific case. Consequently, the board voted unanimously in favor of approving the written decision, thereby concluding all official business items on their current docket before shifting focus to potential future agenda additions dependent on external availability.
A significant portion of the latter part of the meeting was dedicated to discussing a planned training session intended for that evening regarding recent changes to Chapter 4A regulations effective at the beginning of July. The primary obstacle to this training was the continued absence of Town Council member Michael Cunningham, whose participation was desired but uncertain due to communication issues resulting in voicemail messages only. Board members debated whether to wait indefinitely or close the meeting early if he did not appear by a specific time; they ultimately decided to keep the Zoom link open and check back at 8:15 PM rather than adjourn immediately. The consensus was that while holding three cases alongside training might be challenging, it would be advisable to attempt scheduling both activities tonight if Council member Cunningham became available before the deadline for closing the session passed.
As no update on Mr. Cunningham's availability materialized by the agreed-upon check-in time and with no other new business proposed, Christian Klein moved to adjourn the public meeting portion of the gathering. The board voted unanimously to end the formal proceedings while leaving a window open in case Council member Cunningham could suddenly join later that evening for the training session alone. Before concluding, Chair Klein thanked all participants for their patience throughout the remote format and specifically acknowledged Colleen Rston's assistance in hosting the online event. He also informed attendees that the meeting recording would be transmitted to ACMI for on-demand viewing within a few days and invited any further comments or recommendations regarding future board actions via email at zba@town.arlington.ma.us before officially adjourning until potentially reconvening later if circumstances changed.
Read the full video transcript
[music]
It is 7:41
p.m. on Tuesday, August 11th, 2026.
Good evening. Uh my name is Christian
Klein. I am the chair of the Arlington
Zoning Board of Appeals and I'd like to
call this meeting of the board to order.
I would first like to confirm that all
members and anticipated officials are
present. Uh so from the zoning board of
appeals we have Roger Dupont
>> here
>> and Patrick Hanlin
>> here
>> and Venet
>> here
>> and Adam Leblanc
>> here.
>> Thank you to you all. I will note that
Nick Rosenberg is unable to join us this
evening. He's our assistant. Um, and
then from the town, we have Colleen
Rston, our clerk and zoning assistant
>> here. She good to have you with us. And,
uh, we're supposed to have Michael
Cunningham, uh, the town council, will
join us. He has not joined on yet, so
hopefully he will be able to join us um,
in a few minutes. So tonight's meeting
of the Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals
is being conducted remotely consistent
with the bill signed by Governor Healey
on March 28th, 2025, which extended
temporary provisions pertaining to the
open meeting law to June 30th, 2027. The
extension of these provisions allows
public bodies to hold their meetings
remotely by providing live adequate
alternative means of public access to
the deliberations. This meeting is being
recorded and will be broadcast hopefully
over ACMI. Members of the public who are
participating via Zoom and who wish to
offer public comment should be aware
that they will be asked to provide their
full name and address so that a complete
public record of this meeting can be
taken in accordance with state law. All
participants of this meeting are advised
that people may be listening to the
meeting without offering public comment
and those people are not required to
identify themselves. Any votes that are
taken this evening will be conducted by
roll call vote. All supporting materials
that have been provided to members of
this body are available on the town's
website unless otherwise noted. public
is encouraged to follow along using the
posted agenda. As chair, I reserve the
right to take items out of order in the
interest of promoting an orderly
meeting. Uh so we will move on to our
administrative items. Uh these items
relate to the operation of the board and
as such will generally be conducted
without input from the general public.
The board will not take up any new
business at on any prior hearings nor
will there be the introduction of any
new information on matters previously
brought before the board.
So with that, the first item um is the
approval of the minutes from July 28th.
Uh these are minutes that were prepared
by M. Rson, distributed to the board for
questions and comment and final version
posted back to the board. Are there any
additional questions or comments as they
relate uh to the minutes for July 28th?
Seeing none, I will move that the zoning
board of appeals for the town of
Arlington approve the minutes from the
July 28, 2026 meeting of the board.
>> Second.
>> Thank you, Mr. Hanland. For a second, uh
roll call vote of members present. Mr.
Dupont,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Hanlin,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Holly,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Leblanc,
>> yes.
>> And the chair votes yes. So that is
approved. That brings to the next item
which is the written decision in docket
3910 uh 44 DAO Avenue. Uh this is a
decision that was prepared by uh Mr.
Rosenberg distributed to the board for
questions or comments and a final
version posted back to the board this
afternoon. Are there any additional
questions or comments as they relate to
this matter which is uh ducket uh 3910
44
uh
DAO Avenue.
Seeing none, I will move that the zoning
board of appeals for the town of
Arlington approve the written decision
in docket 3910 44 DAO Avenue which
grants a special permit for covered
landing under sections 539D
and 333 in the zoning bylaws.
>> Second.
>> Thank you, Mr. Hanlin. So, roll call
vote of members. Um, Mr. Dupant.
>> Uh, Mr. Hanlin,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Holly,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Leblanc.
>> Yes.
>> And the chair votes yes. So that is
approved as well. Um
so that is the end of the
uh
official items on our docket this
evening. Um
so
uh with that um
uh have not heard back yet from Mr.
Cunningham and Miss Rosson indicates
that her attempts to call him have
landed her back in voicemail. Um
so we may not be able to do our training
that we'd hoped to do this evening. Um,
I will note that the next regular
meeting of the zoning board of appeals
will be Tuesday, August 25th, um, at
7:30 and um, there are three items on
the agenda for that evening. Um,
in addition possibly to having a
training with council. Um, just check my
messages one more time to make sure I
haven't missed something.
I've not heard anything back from
town council.
Um, so unfortunately I don't know if
he's going to be able to join us or not.
Um, so rather than make people wait
around in the hopes that he might join
us,
um,
we may just need to close the meeting.
Um unless anybody else has a
better idea.
>> Mr. Chairman, if we close the meeting
and the town council shows up.
>> Yep.
>> Can we re can we reinstate a meeting?
>> So it's not it's not a public meeting
because it's a training.
So I don't know how that
works. Um cuz originally the intent was
to uh adjourn the meeting to a training
which would be perfectly fine. Um
but if he becomes suddenly available you
know in like 15 20 minutes I don't know
if we can
uh
you know sort of wrangle everybody back
together or not if that would be
considered acceptable.
Well, if there's no if there's I mean,
if there's no notice requirement, then
legally we can get together again as
long as it's still training.
>> Yeah. If we maybe encourage one another
to
stay
to keep tabs and
maybe if we just said that that
check again, check on 9:15 at 9:15 to
see if at that point you have it. Not
9:15, 8:15. uh see if at that point
there's any change in the situation. If
there's not, then we just are going to
have to not do the training. And if
there is, we have a shot at doing it
tonight.
>> Think that gives us a I mean, having a
having the training on a night with
three cases is deal. So, if we could
possibly squeeze it in tonight, it might
be advisable.
>> Okay. Well, if I hear from Mike, um I
will go ahead and uh text everyone.
>> It sounds good. Um, and we'll
>> get a ding for that.
>> Back together. And the link I'm assuming
that we're using now should still work.
>> Um,
>> Colleen, is that true?
>> Yes.
>> Yeah.
>> I'll leave the meeting open even if
nobody's on it. So, if you pull if they
decide to, everybody can just pull back
into the waiting room and I I will uh
put them in.
>> Oh, I see. So, we don't have to stay on
the on ourselves. We can just log in.
>> It's up to you. You can or you can
leave, I think. Yeah.
>> Well,
>> yeah. Okay. Got it.
>> Okay.
>> Just going to agree that we'll check
back at 8:15 and if nothing's happened
by then, we're gonna pull the plug.
>> Yeah. And I'll I'll try to text ahead of
that if I hear back from from Mike.
>> Okay.
>> All right.
So, with that,
>> it's been great to see you all.
>> Yes. I will thank you all for your
participation in tonight's meeting of
the Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals. I
appreciate everyone's patience
throughout the meeting. I would
especially like to thank Colleague Rston
for her assistance in preparing for and
hosting our online meeting. Please note
the purpose of the board's recording of
the meeting is to ensure the creation of
an accurate record of its proceedings.
It's our understanding the recording uh
made by Miss Rston will be transmitted
to ACMI and hope will be available on
demand at acmi.tv within the coming
days. Um
and so the board will be adjourning at
this time and we'll be um possibly uh
reconvening uh this evening if town
council becomes available um to conduct
a training with the board uh to learn
about changes in chapter 4A that went
into effect at the beginning of July. Um
so if anybody has comments or
recommendations, please send them via
email to zba@town.arlington.mma.
us. That email address is also listed on
the zoning board of appeals website. And
to conclude tonight's meeting, I would
ask for a motion to adjurnn.
>> So moved, Mr. Chairman.
>> Thank you, Hanland. And thank you, Mr.
Dupont. Uh, so roll call vote of the
board to adjourn. Mr. Dupont,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Hanland,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Holly,
>> yes.
>> Got a little blank.
>> Yes.
>> And the chair votes yes. So the ZBA is
adjourned for the public meeting. and I
will let you know if uh we are able to
initiate the training uh later this
evening.
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