The board of trustees approved a special use permit that would allow the Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home to create an off-site employee parking lot on Grove Street.

The parking lot would be at 58 Grove, the former location of Paraco Gas. The property is L-shaped and the entrance and exit would be off Spring Street.

According to David Sanford, manager of Leatherstocking Corporation, there would be space for 11 cars. The only lighting would be on a small garage to be built on the lot. Because the majority of the employees work the day-shift, there is no need for additional lighting, he explained.

Last month the board held a public hearing on the special use permit application, but did not vote on it, in part, because of some unanswered questions about the proposal.

Monday night, Sanford addressed the board again and was able to provide them with more details.

Sanford said that according to the site plan for the property, the house would be demolished and become green space. The demolition of the house is contingent on the approval of a demolition permit by the planning board.

During his earlier presentation, Sanford said that the property will not be owned by the Thanksgiving Home, but by another Clark entity which he did not name. Monday night, however, he told the board it would be a Clark real estate holding company, Charisma Partners, that would hold title to the property.

He also addressed concerns about whether it would be tax-exempt by assuring the board it will remain on the tax rolls.

A one-and-a-half story garage will be built on the property and used primarily for storage. It will have no commercial use, he said.

"Our intention is to try to retain the character of the neighborhood," he said.

Before the board voted, mayor Carol Waller told the trustees she had spoken with a representative of Paraco Gas earlier in the day and was told that "they just want to sell the property and get out."

Waller said she received assurances they did not intend to erect two modular homes on the property as was originally believed.

She also said the person she spoke with expressed the belief that the house at 58 Grove Street needs to be demolished because the structure is permeated with the odor of an additive in the gas.

Waller said the board was faced with granting the special use permit for something they knew, or denying it not knowing the future of the property.

"We don't know what they'll put up," said trustee Madalyn Cimino, who lives in the neighborhood.

Trustee Stuart Taugher said he was concerned about the board's procedures and wondered if the public should be given another opportunity to comment on the plan.

Another trustee, Milo Stewart, said he was concerned about approving a parking lot in a residential area.

"I realize it is a residential area. I live in a residential area that has gone commercial," mayor Waller replied.

The board voted unanimously to approve the special use permit.