PB Minutes 7/23/15

Draft Copy PB Minutes 7/23/15

Meeting called to order at 7:04. Members present were Linda, Rich, Bill, Dave, and Barry.

The following are notes from Tom B in regard to the public hearing held on 7/7/15:

     I noted only a few changes based on the comments. Others probably caught more. 

1. Change Canned Hunt from P to N in the ARR  district  on page 22 
2. Despite my flippant reply to him, John Saeli’s  comment is serious. The definition of canned hunt should be explicitly exclude livestock slaughter.
3. We need to tighten up the definition of a significant change of use, to determine the threshold for a Site Plan Review of work at an existing commercial enterprise.  One threshold might be an expansion of use beyond what was approved in the prior site plan review.  Another threshold might be beginning a commercial use listed in the Use Table. Would that be any use in the table, or would it be only Special or Conditional uses?

       I don’t think we’ll deal with the enforcement section this time around. However, I spoke with Larry Colton after the meeting. He will come to our next VPB meeting. Larry wanted to avoid writing tickets if possible, and preferred an intermediate step of a fee to remove a stop-work order.  That would put more teeth into the stop work order. He agreed to ask some of his peers in neighboring towns how they dealt with contractors who repeatedly did work without permits. Our town attorney sounds amenable to providing advice on a useful escalation sequence. 

Larry Colton attended our meeting. Linda reviewed the issue involving Tim Crutchfield’s camper. At this time it appears they are still in violation of code. This may be an issue where Larry will need to follow the procedure outlined in the code to insure compliance.

Larry also raised the issue of contractors who repeatedly do work without proper permits. We stressed that obtaining such permits is the responsibility of the property owner even though a contractor may obtain them on the owner’s behalf. New construction or substantial remodeling requires a county building permit and a town zoning permit. We need to clarify in our code exactly who is responsible for obtaining the permit. We agreed that the enforcement section of the code needs to be reviewed.

Larry needs to follow through with the procedures outlined in the code where violations are found. If a summons is needed he has the authority to acquire one.

He also informed us that an antenna and small building were being constructed at the water tower in the depot. He found that this work does not require a special use permit.

He also made us aware that the cell tower constructed at the corner of 96 and 336 was moved 8’. Bill later informed us that the purpose for this was to better acquire a proper signal. It is alleged that the company should have sought new permits to perform this work.

Larry brought up an issue he has had to deal with concerning livestock or animals (birds) roaming outside of property lines. This is an issue the PB should discuss and possibly add to the code.

Since our CEO has some other areas of concern about the code it was suggested that he go through the code and present any issues he may have that need clarification. The PB will gladly consider these suggestions and make changes or additions that may be necessary.

Jeff Hogue emailed a question concerning subdivisions to Rich – is it required that every subdivision be presented to the PB for review? We are not sure what the code says at this time but agree that this should be part of the subdivision acceptance. This would simply require that anyone who desires to submit a subdivision for approval should first approach the PB with a general plan of intent. This would include property lines, etc.

Jeff will be contacted – a suggestion will be made that anyone who desires to subdivide property should first be directed to the PB and then complete the necessary procedures for approval.

Linda also raised a question about how often a property should be allowed to be subdivided. Currently, once a property is subdivided it cannot be done again. Is this reasonable, should we review the intent here?

We believe that there may be one or two cases in the town where subdivisions were approved but may not be code compliant. Linda will contact Harriet Haines (sp) for help in contacting the right people at the county level to find out the procedures for subdivision.

Our next meeting will be 8/25. However, if there are no people or immediate problems on the agenda we will not hold a meeting until September.

Meeting adjourned at  9:02, motion made by Bill, second by Rich.

PB Minutes 6/25/15

PB Minutes 6/25/15

Meeting called to order at 7:04. Members present were Rich, Linda, Hershey, and Barry.

Previous meeting minutes were read and approved. Motion made by Rich, second by Linda.

Linda read the announcement for Public Hearing on July 7, 7:00 pm at Varick Town Hall. She mentioned positive feedback from the TB concerning our work on Zoning for the depot and Subdivision Code.

Tim Critchfield and Kathy Swasey addressed the board concerning zoning issues in regard to permanent versus seasonal camper usage. We referred them to our code and instructed them about our role in creating code, the code officer enforcing the code, and the ZBA interpreting the code. They seemed satisfied with some minor recommendations. Any further concerns should be handled by the ZBA.

We are prepared to attend the public hearing on July 7 and answer any questions that may be brought up.

Meeting adjourned at 8:23, motion made by Rich, second by Hershey.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Somerville, secretary

PB Meeting 5/28/15

PB Meeting 5/28/15

Meeting called to order at 7:07. Members present – Tom, Linda, Bill, Dave, Barry, Rich.

Previous minutes from 5/11 reviewed and accepted – motion made by Tom, second by Bill.

We reviewed resolutions emailed by Barbara J for a public hearing to be used by the Town Board at their next meeting on June 2.

We set up a screen to review all our work on Subdivision regulations. We decided to delete all unnecessary comments such as grammatical errors, but keep all comments pertaining to changes or additions made in the actual code. These were placed in the margins for TB review.

It was suggested that we add a hyper-link for the fee schedule so the TB would be able to update or change fees in the future.

We also need to ask Barb to place Vehicle Sales back into the definitions section which was somehow deleted from the Zoning Code. This will be forwarded to Donna K. with finalized form of Subdivision Regulations to be presented to the TB.

Steps to be taken leading to public hearing and final approval by TB:

1. Barb sends Zoning Code changes to Linda in PDF form so that it cannot be modified.

2. Rich will format Subdivision Code Regulations to PDF and forward to Linda.

3. Tom made a motion for Linda to forward these documents to Donna K. for presentation and review by TB, Barry seconded, all in favor.

4. Tom and other members of the planning board will be present at the TB meeting on 6/2/15 to explain purpose of cluster development and subdivision regulations.

5. TB will call for a public hearing in July, hopefully make final decision at some point after that (July or August).

Meeting adjourned at 9:02, motion made by Dave, second by Tom.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Somerville, secretary

Special Meeting 5/11/15

Special PB Meeting – 5/11/15

Meeting called to order at 7:05. All members present except for Dave K.

Previous meeting minutes were approved – motion made by Tom, second by Rich.

The purpose of our meeting was to review progress on zoning and subdivision code with Barbara Johnston. Minor changes or additions were discussed and incorporated into proposed code as follows:

                Art. III, Section 8 of Subdivision Code – Section 281 changed to 278 and language changes in A, Request By Subdivider or Requirement by Planning Board.

                Cluster Subdivision – 313C changed “underlying” to “applicable.”

                We need to add definition of “Cluster Subdivision” to Zoning and Subdivision Codes.

                It was also suggested that we need to add a definition for “trash” in the Zoning Code.

                Art. IV, Sect. 8 (being added to Subdivision Code) F. 1. Removed “common” from open space and moved pedestrian access to H. 2.

               

Barb will finalize all additions to the Zoning Code as well as update depot changes, site plan review, etc. Rich will finalize changes to Subdivision Code including addition of Cluster Subdivision as section 8 of Art. IV.

Updated docs will be provided to planning board members in word format by May 21.  They will have new titles for clear identification.    

Linda noted the following responsibilities of the people named:

·         Linda will send a note to Donna re: time on the agenda on June 2, expected public hearing, etc.  

·         Thomas will convert docs to PDF for town board after approval from the planning board on 5/28. 

·         Barbara will draft resolutions for the town board.   

·         Town clerk will make hard copy of the finalized documents for the public, as needed.  Thomas will post on the website.

·         Linda will ask Donna to contact primary stakeholders other than the community members (Seneca White Deer, FLTG, Seneca Lake Pure Waters, Finger Lakes Railway, Hillside) to make them aware of the public hearing.   

·         Linda will confirm with Donna that she will do all legal notice actions for the public hearing. 

Expectations of public hearing:

·         Barbara will give overview of the changes and additions. 

·         Planning board will answer questions, as needed.

·          Don’t expect the town board to adopt changes that night. 

·         Public hearing can be closed at the end of the meeting.  

·         After the public hearing, any changes, and adoption of the new code, we will work on the small revisions that are required on an ongoing basis.  

Timeline for approval:

·         Final review at next PB meeting May 28.

·         Presentation to Town Board June 2.

·         Posting of Public Hearing within required time frame.

·         Filing with County Planning Board within required time frame.

·         Tentative Public Hearing at TB meeting on July 7.

Motion to adjourn made by Bill second by Hershey, approved at 8:53.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Somerville, secretary