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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-05-23D a n b y T o w n B o a r d /P l a n n i n g B o a r d /B Z A M i n u t e s o f J o i n t M e e t i n g M a y 2 3 , 2 0 1 3 Town Board: Supervisor: Ric Dietrich Councilpersons: Leslie Connors, Kathy Halton, Dan Klein Board of Zoning Appeals: Councilperson: Al Becker, Sarah Elbert, Joe Schwartz Planning Board: Councilperson: Joel Gagnon, Anne Klingensmith, Frank Kruppa, Ted Melchen, Steve Selin, Naomi Strichartz, Robert Roe Others Present: Town Clerk Pamela Goddard Code Officer Susan Beeners PB Secretary Jan Pfleiderer Planning Board Meeting - Regarding LL #2 of 2013 Action Item: Proposed Local Law- Making Various Amendments to Article V, "General Provi- sions" of the Town of Danby Zoning Ordinance - Consider Making Recommendation to Town Board. Bob Roe asked Sue Beeners if the current law lumps destroyed and abandoned buildings into one category. Sue said yes. Bob asked if it is possible to separate the destroyed and abandoned into differ- ent categories. Sue says this question is not clear to her. She clarified that the amendment was not properly passed when it was made (no roll call vote was recorded for Local Law 4 of 2000 (Unsafe Buildings Law)). The Planning Board could recommend to the Town Board that the amendment should be properly passed, and at some future point the law could be revised to address the issue that Roe raises. Gagnon noted that proposed Section 6 has “property” in it twice, and suggests that we remove “or property”. He also notes that “This Section 7” should be changed to “6” , and that we should change “does” to “do”. Roe read the resolution and a motion to pass the resolution with the above changes as follows: That the Planning Board recommends minor modifications to the proposed SECTION 6 as shown in the record of the Planning Board’s review of the draft local law, and subsequently recommends adoption of the said proposed local law. PLANNING BOARD RESOLUTION 18 - PROPOSED TOWN OF DANBY LOCAL LAW #2 OF 2013 - AMENDMENTS TO TOWN OF DANBY ZONING ORDINANCE - A LOCAL LAW MAKING VARIOUS AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE V, “GEN- ERAL PROVISIONS”, OF THE TOWN OF DANBY ZONING ORDINANCE - REPORT TO TOWN BOARD Whereas, the Planning Board of the Town of Danby has reviewed a proposed local law entitled “A Local Law Making Various Amendments to Article V, ‘General Provisions’ of the Town of Danby Zoning Ordinance; and Whereas, prospective adoption of said proposed local law by the Town Board would be a Type II action under SEQRA, needing no further environmental review; Now, Therefore, it is Resolved, that the Town of Danby Planning Board reports to the Town Board that it recommends minor modifications to the proposed SECTION 6 as shown in the record of the Planning Board’s review of the draft local law, and subsequently recommends the adoption of said proposed local law. Moved by Kruppa, Second by Gagnon. The motion passed. In Favor: Gagnon, Klingensmith, Kruppa, Melchen, Selin, Strichartz, Roe Town Board_Minutes_20130513 • Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Page 1 of 4 The Joint Town/Planning/BZA Board meeting was opened at 7:19 pm Members of the various boards made introductions to each other. Discussion - Comprehensive Plan Review Joel Gagnon - summarized his review of the Transportation and Population and Housing sec- tions. There are few changes which need to be made. He recommends adding information to the transportation section related to making Danby more bicycle friendly and the implications of higher energy costs. He is re-writing to the Population and Housing section to add information which was not included in the current Comprehensive Plan. There are new Planning Consideration sections, par- ticularly related to the town hamlet areas. Implications for federal restrictions on lead and asbestos in renovations of older buildings and infrastructure limitations related to public water are being added. Some of this information will come from the now completed aquifer study. Robert Roe - summarized his review of the Economics section. He notes a loss of businesses, other than home businesses. Roe recommends adding an objective of zoning changes to allow mixed use development. Naomi Strichartz - summarized her review of the Agriculture section. There is a trend of tradi- tional, large scale farms “going under” but a rise in alternative agriculture via small farms and Com- munity Supported Agriculture farms. She recommends a new objective of encouraging farmers/land owners to lease land to alternative uses such as CSA farms and grazing (horses, sheep, etc.). This would further the Comp. Plan objective or preserving open land. The next step for this section is to have a public hearing/meeting with area farmers. Anne Klingensmith - summarized her review of the Natural Resources section. The topography and water resources sections need to be totally re-written, in part to reflect the aquifer study. Klin- gensmith is considering adding a mention of “The Commons” concept: dark night, quiet nights, fresh air as common and valued resources which belong equally to all. These are of concern in relation to potential industrialization. Ted Melchen - summarized his review of the Historical and Cultural Resources section. There will not be any major changes to this section. The suggestion to collect oral histories from older resi- dents is still relevant and of interest. Frank Kruppa - summarized his review of the Community Resources section. He characterized this section as “pretty straight forward.” Some of the old sections, eg: related to uses of the old Danby school, are no longer relevant. Various statistics will be updated. Steve Selin - summarized his review of the Utilities and Communication sections. Information from the aquifer study and details about improvements to the West Danby Water District will be added. There may be changes to information about private sewage systems. There will also be addi- tions about planned build-out of rural high speed internet access and various solar installation possi- bilities for electric. Input from members of the Town Board and Board of Zoning Appeals. Halton offered to get TCAT statistics to Gagnon for the Transportation section. Klingensmith asked a question as to whether other sections should be added to the Comprehen- sive Plan? There was a discussion of where and how to add information about climate change. Mem- bers of the TB suggested integrating climate change in each section. There was a PB suggestion that a separate section, perhaps as a “preamble” to the Comprehensive Plan, be added to highlight the con- cerns and needs related to climate change. BZA member Joe Schwartz supports this idea, as climate change effects everything. Dietrich questions about the inclusion of new information about industrialization and references to the 2011 Road Use Law (RUL). Gagnon and Roe respond that this information was added in the 2011 Amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. Reference to the RUL is include in the sections on Transportation and Economics. Town Board_Minutes_20130513 • Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Page 2 of 4 Elbert asked a question about references to pipelines. Her particular concern was about people driving off-road vehicles on pipelines. She also reported that utilities advise municipalities to pass an ordinance related to the use of pipeline rights of way. Klingensmith asked whether it’s possible to find examples of such ordinances. Elbert offered to do research. There was a discussion about schools and the addition of the Waldorf school in Danby. Discus- sion of uses of the old Danby school. Schwartz reported about code changes which have taken place since the school closed, which prevent the building being used as a school at this time. Other discussion BZA member Schwartz raised a question about “owner occupied” zoning for duplexes with the idea to maintain the quality level of rural housing. It was his understanding that this had once been part of the Danby Zoning Ordinance and he urged that this provision be reinstated. Zoning Officer Beeners responded that, in her recollection, a requirement that duplexes be “owner occupied” was never in the ordinance. She recalled that it had been considered in 1993 or 1994 but never enacted. At that time it was discovered that this requirement was a problem for banks and resale of mortgages. There was further discussion about concerns over how to limit growth, particularly as the economy recovers and there are pressures for increased development from the local colleges. Klingensmith suggested that research be done into these types of zoning ordinances. Roe opened a discussion of his concern regarding an apparent increase in taxes on rural lands. He raised the question of whether the town could “take back” it’s ability to do its own tax assessment. This provoked a lively discussion with input from town board and BZA members. Gagnon added in- formation about state regulations regarding property assessment based on market values. Aquifer Protection Halton opened a discussion about climate change related to limited water resources in Danby. Her concern that the town may need to fundamentally revise its zoning laws as a response to limited water resources. There followed a discussion of the status of the draft Aquifer Protection Ordinance. Dietrich re- ported that the towns of Dryden, Caroline, and Ulysses have expressed interest in pooling resources for legislative efforts to aquifer protection. There is general agreement that towns are interested in doing similar protection. Klingensmith noted that Danby already has a draft local law. Halton thought that the current draft was “stalled” and needed further review. Members of the PB saw the current draft as a “base line” law which simply needed some adjustments to the language. The PB will do a thorough review of the current draft at its June meeting. There was a discussion of whether to apply the Aquifer Protection Ordinance to the entire town or to zones. Some on the PB held the view that aquifer protection, much like the ban on high impact in- dustrial uses, should apply everywhere in the town. TB members agreed that, if there is no need to define zones, this law could be 90% complete. There was a related discussion of concerns about arsenic levels in certain aquifers being above EPA recommendations in some areas of the town. Klein and others made reference to the Todd Miller USGS Aquifer Study report which included information about elevated levels of arsenic in confined aquifers and deep wells. The boards discussed how to inform residents of this concern and the avail- ability of low cost water testing for arsenic. An article will be drafted for the Danby Area News. Klingensmith reported on stream water testing through the Community Science Institute. Anne Stork and Anne Klingensmith have been trained by the CSI and have begun testing at one site on the Michigan Hollow Creek and two sites on the Danby Creek. So far, results are good, showing healthy water conditions. Other Correspondence/Short Reports Dietrich informed members of the Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals about on line training available through the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal. Danby now contracts with Town Board_Minutes_20130513 • Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Page 3 of 4 NYMIR for its insurance. This training resource is part of the package available to town boards and committees. Other Business PLANNING BOARD RESOLUTION 19 - APPROVE APRIL PLANNING BOARD MINUTES Resolved, that the Town of Danby Planning Board approves the minutes of April 25, 2013. Moved by Strichartz, Second by Kruppa. The motion passed. In Favor: Gagnon, Klingensmith, Kruppa, Melchen, Selin, Strichartz Abstain: Roe Planning Board Secretary Kruppa reported for the Planning Board Secretary candidate committee. Rebecca M. Brenner has withdrawn her interest as secretary. Gagnon suggested that Pfleiderer be appointed secretary, if she was still interested. PLANNING BOARD RESOLUTION 20 -APPOINT PLANNING BOARD SECRETARY Resolved, that the Town of Danby Planning Board appoints Jan Pfleiderer as Planning Board Secretary. Moved by Gagnon, Second by Strichartz. The motion passed. In Favor: Gagnon, Klingensmith, Kruppa, Melchen, Selin, Strichartz, Roe Adjournment The Meeting was adjourned at 9:02 pm. ____________________________________ Pamela Goddard, Town Clerk/BZA Secretary Town Board_Minutes_20130513 • Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Page 4 of 4