NORWAY — The Norway Planning Board has agreed that the applicant for a proposed wedding barn on Morse Road has done his “due diligence” in attempting to notify all abutters of his plan.

On a 4-0 vote, with member Michael Quinn abstaining, the board agreed at its Thursday, Feb. 11 meeting that the application was complete and set a public hearing for Thursday, Feb. 25, beginning at 7 p.m. in the meeting room at the town office.

Chairman Dennis Gray said the board may not make a final decision that night  but they wil at least start the discussion if there is time.

At the Jan. 14 planning board meeting, it was discovered that two abutting property owners had not been properly notified, in part, because of discrepancies in house numbers in town records. The board required the certified mail be sent again using the new addresses, but one property owner, Ed Gabrielson, apparently still did not receive his notice.

Gray said last week that three attempts had been made by Peter Ulrickson, who hopes to operate the business in a 19th century farmhouse at 107 Morse Road, to reach Gabrielson by registered mail and all have failed. The notification is part of the public hearing requirement.

Ulrickson filed a change-of-use application for the property last fall and although a public hearing was held in December, a second was promised when it was discovered that several abutters had not been properly notified.

The public hearing will provide time for abutters and others to air their concerns, which they say include traffic, noise, general safety and welfare and a decrease in neighboring property values.

Opponents to the wedding barn have presented the board with a petition signed by 81 residents in the North Norway area urging rejection of the application.

Norway has no zoning laws, and there are no guidelines on commercial business development in residential areas. The applicant has to meet certain conditions for the change-of-use request to be approved by the planning board.

Among the outstanding issues the board must determine is whether the wedding barn is a home occupation or a commercial venture. A home occupation is defined as an occupation or profession which is carried on in a dwelling unit and is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for residential purposes.

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