MINUTES OF A REGULAR
MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING OF THE CORNWALL PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION HELD
ON JULY 11, 2006.
A Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the Cornwall Planning and Zoning Commission was held at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, in the Cornwall Town Hall. Present were: members Lynn Cheney, David Colbert, Chris Hopkins (7:35), Anne Kosciusko, Richard Lynn and alternates, James LaPorta and Emilie Pryor. Also present were Land Use Administrator Karl Nilsen and Clerk Colin Gold. Emilie Pryor was designated to vote for Chris Hopkins.
PUBIC HEARING
Application for
Subdivision Approval Robert and
Barbara Whitford
College Street
Karl Nilsen distributed to Commission members his assessment of the subdivision. Bart Clark went over a summary of the project, highlighting that the subdivision was taking place in order for the Whitfords to give a lot to their daughter. Rick Lynn asked what the maximum slope of the drive was. Bart replied that it was no more than 4.5%. David Colbert asked Karl if there were any outstanding issues he had with the project, to which the reply was no. Rick made a motion to close the public hearing, and Chris Hopkins, who had since arrived, seconded. The public hearing was closed at 7:42 pm.
REGULAR MEETING
The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of June 13, 2006, and the Minutes of the Special Meeting of June 27, 2006 were approved as circulated.
APPLICATIONS FOR
ZONING PERMITS
The monthly report of zoning permit activity by staff was
briefly reviewed
OLD BUSINESS
Application for
Subdivision Approval Robert and
Barbara Whitford
College Street
Karl informed the Commission that when the application to build the house on the subdivided lot was received, then and only then would the house location, septic, erosion/sedimentation plan, etc. be set in stone. The plans, as they were shown, were for reference purposes only, in order to show that it was possible to put a house on the property. He said that Torrington Area Health was fine with the application; there were no slopes over 20%, and that there was adequate access to sun. Bart added that the southern exposure was open. David wanted to know where the open space decision was noted. Karl said that this was part of the conditions of the approval, as per Section 5.7 of the Guidelines. Annie asked if there were any other questions. As there were none, Chris made a motion to approve the subdivision application and Emilie Pryor seconded it. Annie asked Karl if there were consequences for subverting the open space set-aside requirement. Karl said that if this ever happened anywhere, it would appear on his inspection report and that appropriate actions would be undertaken. The motion carried unanimously.
The following shall be recorded in the official Minutes:
“Motion to approve
the application of Robert and Barbara Whitford, owners, for a 2 lot subdivision
in an R-3 and R-5 Zone on College Street as per the oral and written testimony
of the applicants and their representative and as per the Site Development Plan
submitted and Record Subdivision Map prepared for Robert G. Whitford and
Barbara E. Whitford, dated May 26, 2006 by Robert L. Hock., LLS #8499, and with
the following conditions:
The application for
the two lot subdivision with the conditions listed, in accordance with the site
plan provided, is approved according to the Town of Cornwall Subdivision
Regulations. The Commission has determined that the intent of the Cornwall
Subdivision Regulations has been met. As part of the approval, all maps are
made part of the application, including the Record Subdivision Map, the site
development maps and the supporting maps and they shall be filed in the Town
Clerk’s Office within the proper statutory times. All map filings are at the
expense of the applicant and all maps shall be filed in compliance with the
subdivision regulations for the Town of Cornwall as amended.”
Budget
Since the new fiscal year was recently opened, the Commission decided to deal with Budget issues at the next Regular Meeting, when perhaps there would be more to talk about.
NEW BUSINESS
Resubdivision Paul Linc., Cornell Jr., Trustee, Ballyhack Road
(James & Susan Vanicky, Applicants)
To divide 36.44 acres into two lots
Karl notified the Commission that the ZBA had issued a variance for slopes and wetlands on the property. Jim Vanicky summarized the project up until this point. Karl explained why the application was back before the Commission. Peter Ebersol, the Vanicky’s attorney arrived. The Commission voted to accept the application and set the Public Hearing for August 8, 2006. Peter informed the Commission that IW and ZBA approvals had been obtained. He further delineated a scheme for avoiding going back to IW and still missing some pines that the Vanicky’s had wanted to preserve. He also said that he would get a right-of-way from the Welleses for a tiny portion of their driveway. Rick asked if they had permission to walk the property. Jim Vanicky replied in the affirmative and told the Commission that there were cones set out in order to show where the lot was located. Karl asked that a new application be submitted, since the last one had been withdrawn. Mr. Goodrich, the owner, reaffirmed his resolution to preserve the land.
Application #0619 Griffith Energy, River Road South
(Lenard Engineering, Applicant)
To remove contaminated soil and replace existing loading rack
Karl informed the Commission of the pre-existing use of the property. He said that there were contaminated soils which had to be removed, and that the applicants needed a site plan approval from the Commission. Joe Devine, of Lenard, stressed to the Commission that this was a voluntary cleanup that would entail excavating about 5-7 feet, amounting to 4,300 yards of soil, of which 1,600 would be removed. He elaborated that clean fill would be brought in and that the new EPA standards for safety would be utilized in building the new loading rack. Rick and Jim asked about the layout of the project. They also asked Karl whether there were unresolved issues he had with the project. Karl replied that there were not. Emilie asked whether there would be any further contamination during the excavation. Mr. Devine explained that there would not. Chris made a motion to approve the site plan and Lynn Cheney seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
COMMUNICATIONS
Colin told the Commission that he would be leaving in the middle of August and that he, Annie and Gordon had met with his replacement, who would be coming in to learn the ropes for the next month. A motion to approve Tara O’Neill, Colin’s replacement, carried.
Karl informed the Commission that his office hours would now include Tuesday evenings, in addition to Friday afternoons.
David asked whether any action had been taken on the sign enforcement issue. Karl replied that since it was a new year, and funds were less limited, the process could be started on getting photos of offending signage.
Emilie asked the Commission about the survey that the Cornwall Conservation Trust was putting out, and whether responses should be returned to them or to P&Z. It was decided that CCT should be the recipient, but P&Z would like to hear the findings. She said that the survey would probably go out in August to members and it would be distributed to high pedestrian traffic locations around town, such as the Library, Town Hall, etc.
Jim told the Commission about his visit to the Cooks-Randall property, and finding that the driveway was significantly over grade. Karl said that a site plan had been requested of the applicants, but nothing had been received. He said that a Cease and Desist order had been issued and that now, the applicants must show IW how the illegal drive will be removed and the stream remediated. Another plan for driveway approval would be necessary.
There was a brief discussion about the implications of ZBA’s decisions.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50.
Colin
Gold, 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.