MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF
THE CORNWALL
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION HELD ON
JANUARY 10, 2006.
A Regular Meeting of the Cornwall Planning and Zoning Commission was held at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2006, in the Cornwall Town Hall. Present were: Anne Kosciusko, members Lynn Cheney, David Colbert, Patrick Hare, Chris Hopkins, Richard Lynn and alternate James LaPorta.
R E G U L A R M E E T I N G
The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 13, 2005 were approved as circulated.
It was unanimously voted to amend the agenda.
It was unanimously voted to add the designation of a member to the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency to the agenda.
APPLICATIONS FOR ZONING PERMITS
There were no new zoning applications this month
OLD BUSINESS
Preliminary Discussion William Paley, Poughkeepsie Road
Will Paley distributed schematic maps of his proposed subdivision plans. He is in the process of buying his partnerÕs share of the property. The map shows .346 acres allotted for a private street, leaving 5 acres for each lot and plenty of room for buildable areas. He is willing to pay a fee in lieu of open space and has had the property appraised. He will submit a new application to the Inland Wetlands Agency because the ownership and the plans are slightly different from the previous application. He will submit a new survey map, an engineerÕs report; a Special Permit application for a private street along with a formal subdivision application for next monthÕs meeting. The Land Use attorney has been paid. The pavement ends 20Õ shy of his property line. The Town maintains the paved portion of the road. Karl Nilsen stated that the right-of-way begins where the town road ends. Mr. Paley plans to extend and widen the road (at a different level) to private street standards for his two lots. The road past his lots would remain a right-of-way. The existing road is partially on Mr. PaleyÕs land and partially not. A maintenance agreement would be required between the property owners. Tom Byrne has told the Commission that Mr. Paley qualifies for a rear lot on a private street, but advised the Commission to change their private street regulations because abandoned and discontinued roads can not be limited to only four lots. Karl will draft a revised regulation for members to discuss. Karl stated that no one has been able to find out exactly how wide Poughkeepsie Road actually is. Members suggested that Mr. Paley contact the neighbor across Poughkeepsie Road about purchasing a small strip of land and widening the existing right-of-way to avoid constructing the private street at a different level than the existing road.
Planner Meetings
Rick stated that Emilie Pryor has submitted possible questions that could be asked of the planners. Members agreed that the questions should be about alternative approaches and new, creative ideas for Town Plans. Rick explained that some towns often retain the planner after the plan is complete to help change the regulations to reflect the plan. Rick reviewed the format of the meeting. Each hour session will include 20 minutes for the planners to speak, 20 minutes for questions from Commission members and 20 minutes for questions from the public. Annie will ask either K.C. Baird or Russ Sawicki to provide snacks and beverages for the break periods between speakers. It was agreed that $100 could be spent for refreshments. Rick will introduce each planner. After much discussion, members were assigned the following questions to ask the planners:
Rick--Do you recommend
doing a plan all at once or incrementally?
Pat--Are you willing to
work with other consultants that are brought in?
Ian--What was the most
controversial issue or biggest problem you've encountered in working on a town
plan. How was the situation resolved?
Jim--Question about what
direction a planner may want to take our town, not necessarily just facilitate.
David--How can you help
maximize involvement with people in the town?
Chris--what is your
definition of rural character?
Lynn--Do you see a way
to preserve farming itself, not just the land?
Emilie--What is the best
way to plan for affordable housing?
Articles will be in the newspapers, Annie will put up posters and it will be on the Cornwall website. The Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance should be invited to attend.
GIS Maps
Rick stated that Kirk Sinclair, from HVA would be happy to attend a meeting to discuss GIS mapping and a build-out analysis. Dave Colbert said that he reviewed the trails map and it is difficult to read and needs some work. Annie stated that the contours arenÕt on it, which makes it hard to read. Rick will ask Kirk if he is available to come to the February meeting or later in February. Some of the drafted maps will be posted at the forum on January 21st for the public to see.
Budget
Karl and Vera have reviewed the budget and see no need to make changes other than the addition of a line item for the Town Plan update. After much discussion about when a build-out analysis will be done, members decided to request $30,000 for the Town Plan update, change the name of the Consulting Fees line item to Consulting Fees and Mapping and increase that line item to $8,000.
Sign Enforcement
Karl has not had time to take the pictures, so this item was tabled.
Open Space Guidelines
It was unanimously voted to table this item until the February meeting.
Appointment of P&Z Representative to the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency
Jim LaPorta volunteered to fill the vacancy until the Board of Selectmen holds a town meeting to change the ordinance requiring this appointment. It was unanimously voted to designate Jim as the P&Z Representative to the Inland Wetlands Agency.
NEW BUSINESS
None
COMMUNICATIONS
None
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45pm.
Vera Dinneen, Land Use Clerk
NOTE – THESE MINUTES
ARE A DRAFT. THEY WILL BE NOTED AS
FINAL ONLY AFTER THEY ARE REVIEWED AND APPROVED AS DRAFTED OR AS MODIFIED AT A
SUBSEQUENT MEETING OF THE CORNWALL P&Z COMMISSION.