MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING OF THE CORNWALL                     PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION HELD ON OCTOBER 11, 2005.

 

A Regular Meeting of the Cornwall Planning and Zoning Commission was held at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, October 11, 2005, in the Cornwall Town Hall.   Present were: Chairman Richard Lynn, presiding; members David Colbert, Patrick Hare, Heidi Kearns (at 7:50), Anne Kosciusko and Doc Simont; alternates Ian Elwell, James LaPorta and Emilie Pryor. Jim LaPorta was designated to vote  for Heidi Kearns at the outset of the meeting.  The Meeting adjourned to the Public Hearing at 7:30pm and reconvened at 8:15pm.

 

PUBLIC HEARING

 

Subdivision                 NWI, LLC, Poughkeepsie Road

                                    To subdivide 10.354 acres into two lots

Arthur Howland presented the application. Karl Nilsen explained that the letter from Tom Byrne regarding access issues has not yet been received. Mr. Howland submitted a written request for a continuance of the Public Hearing. No one spoke against the application and the hearing on it was continued until November 15, 2005.  A tape recording was made and is a part of these Minutes.

 

Subdivision                 John & Edward Warner, Todd Hill Road & Sharon Goshen Tpke.

                                    (RMM Consulting, Applicant)

                                    To subdivide 32.472 acres into three lots

Attorney Tom McDermott presented the application. He submitted return receipts from notices sent to neighbors. Engineer Brian Neff explained the subdivision plans. Three lots are proposed from a 32.472 acre parcel, with three proposed house sites. Torrington Area Health has granted approval and the Wetlands Agency has reported that the subdivision plans show no negative impact on wetlands. All three driveways would be off Todd Hill Road. The proposed house sites are all at the south end of the property. There is a potential encroachment by an adjoining property owner onto Lot 2. A conservation easement of 3.2 acres is proposed along the western boundary. Attorney McDermott has contacted the Cornwall Conservation Trust, who declined the easement. The applicants are now proposing a declaration on the land records restricting the use of that property. Pat Hare stated that the proposed easement is of no viable use to the public if there would be no public access. Attorney McDermott stated that he hesitates to recommend to his client to allow public use for liability reasons. Karl stated that the wetlands are already protected and they are included in the proposed easement. Rick suggested a fee in lieu of open space and explained the procedure to Attorney McDermott. No payment would be required in the transfer from the Warners to RMM Consulting, only upon the sale of the approved lots. Attorney McDermott will speak to his clients prior to the November meeting. Pat suggested an alternate site for the easement could also be considered at the northeast corner of the property.  Attorney McDermott said that if that site were used, he would recommend that his clients deed it to the town. Karl told Brian Neff to be sure that the approval blocks are printed on the maps. Emilie Pryor clarified that the houses shown on the plans are for feasibility only. Maureen Prentice stated that the houses are too tight together. She lives downhill from the proposed subdivision and is concerned about her water supply and about the wildlife being disturbed. Asmund Boyum, another neighbor, stated that he would like an opportunity to look at the plans further. The applicants gave permission to Commission members to walk the property. The hearing was continued until the November 15, 2005 meeting. A tape recording was made and is a part of these Minutes.

 

 

 

 

R E G U L A R     M E E T I N G

 

The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of September 13, 2005 were approved with the following correction: the planning consultantŐs name is Dick Harrall, not Chorrall.

 

APPLICATIONS FOR ZONING PERMITS

 

The monthly report of zoning permit activity by staff was briefly reviewed

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

Subdivision                 NWI, LLC, Poughkeepsie Road

                                    To subdivide 10.354 acres into two lots

 

The public hearing was continued until the November 15th meeting.

 

 

Subdivision                 John & Edward Warner, Todd Hill Road & Sharon Goshen Tpke.

                                    (RMM Consulting, Applicant)

                                    To subdivide 32.472 acres into three lots

 

The public hearing was continued until the November 15th meeting.

 

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

            None              

 

COMMUNICATIONS

 

Planner Meetings

 

Rick has spoken with Gordon Ridgway who advised that the Commission should consider a competitive proposal process for consultant assistance with the town plan. Rick proposed three Friday evenings to accommodate weekenders. The Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and the public will be invited to attend. Members all agreed that it would be easier to speak to all three planners and compare their presentations on a Saturday. Karl suggested meeting with each planner for one hour. Rick said that the meetings would need to be structured carefully, allowing time for the presentation, Commission questions and questions from the public. The purpose of the meeting is to help formulate a request for proposal and to get preliminary thoughts on alternate approaches, new ideas, budgeting and whether to work on the plan incrementally or all at once. The meetings are not job interviews. The requests for proposal and the actual selection of a consultant would be done by the Commission at a later date. After much discussion, it was decided to set the meeting for a Saturday in January. Rick will speak to the planners and set the date (and a snow date). Commission members will email questions to Rick that the Commission may wish to ask the consultants to respond to.

 

 

 

 

Sign enforcement

 

At the September meeting, Karl was asked by the Commission to do another field check on sandwich board signs. Karl has spoken with Attorney Tom Byrne who was opposed to Karl removing the signs from the properties. Karl explained that the enforcement process would involve taking pictures of the violations and another visit by Karl to explain to business owners that if the signs are not removed he would issue a notice of voluntary compliance with a photo and a copy of the regulation. After 21-30 days, if there is no compliance, Karl will issue a notice of violation, a photo and a copy of the regulation. If there is still no compliance, a citation or court order will be issued. He explained that once the process starts, it can not be stopped. Rick stated that most of the violating signs are in the State right-of-way and that if reported to CONNDOT, they may remove them. Doc stated that either the regulations should be changed or they should be enforced. Members made an effort to work with the business owners, but no one wrote letters requesting a change in the regulations. The Commission authorized Karl to take pictures, visit the businesses and tell the owners that the process will begin and if they are concerned, they should write to the Commission. Rick will write a summary of the steps that the Commission has taken to date regarding the CommissionŐs actions in addressing the issue of sign regulations.

 

Dave Colbert voiced concerns that the guidelines for open space were significantly weakened in a two week period without much discussion. He is unhappy with how fast the changes were made and would like to discuss it at a future meeting. Doc would also like to discuss open space and the awkwardness with each subdivision application received. He would also like to hold a workshop about protocol at a public hearing and what can be discussed via email between members.

 

It was unanimously voted to add Cheryl EvanŐs request for a filing extension to the agenda.

Cheryl has requested an extension to the 90 day filing requirement for filing the mylar of her land division. It was unanimously voted to grant a 90 day extension.

 

 

Change November meeting date

 

It was unanimously voted to change the date of the November meeting to November 15th  due to election day falling on the regular meeting date.

 

 

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.