Planning Board Meeting Minutes - 201600503

The following minutes are a summary of the Planning Board meeting of May 3, 2016. Interested parties may request an audio recording of the meeting from the Board Secretary for a fee.

Call to Order & Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act: Mr. Joel called the meeting to order at 7:50 p.m. The following members were present: Councilwoman Knudsen, Mr. Abdalla, Mr. Thurston, Ms. Patire, Mr. Joel, Ms. Bigos, and Ms. Dockray. Also present were: Gail Price, Esq., Board Attorney, Blais Brancheau, Village Planner; and Board Secretary Michael Cafarelli. Mayor Aronsohn, Mr. Nalbantian, Mr. Reilly, Ms. Altano, and Christopher Rutishauser, Village Engineer, were not present.

Ms. Dockray asked about the status of the Church of God and Ms. Price said she spoke with their attorney who said the initial prices for the site work were higher than anticipated but he anticipated that work would be completed by the end of the summer. Ms. Price told him the Planning Board is concerned.

Other members suggested that Ms. Price recommend to the Church of God that they have a representative report to the Board in person to demonstrate that they have a plan in place to meet the conditions. Board members suggested that a representative come to the next Planning Board session and report on the status on work performed or planned to be performed to meet the conditions of approval. 

Mr. Thurston stated that he wanted to correct an inaccurate statement made at Candidates Night concerning a recommendation in the draft housing plan for a multifamily housing zone. Councilwoman Knudsen said she also heard the same information and would clarify the matter at the next Council meeting. Mr. Brancheau said there were two articles in the newspapers that misstated the facts. He talked about the complexity of the inaccuracies in the newspaper.

Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board – No one came forward.

Ms. Price gave an update on the status of the court actions concerning affordable housing. She said that the Fair Share Housing Center petitioned the court to have the appeal filed on behalf of the municipalities dismissed and the Supreme Court denied it. She indicated there is an appeal pending on the “gap” issue that will be decided by the Appellate Division. Judges Tracone, Obrien, and Perry took the decision from the Appellate Division and issued an omnibus order putting everything on hold in their counties until the Appellate Division issues their decision on the gap period, saying there is no final action to be taken in any municipality. As of now, the June 30 deadline for filing the Village’s housing plan with the court is still in place and the Village's affordable housing obligation remains the same.

Mr. Brancheau said timing is important. He said the Village is not able to meet any of its obligations, not even the “gap” obligation. He said the State continues to add to the Village’s affordable obligation each round even though there is a lack of vacant land in the Village.

Reexamination Report Action Items – Mr. Brancheau discussed the reexamination report action items from an updated list distributed to Board members. He said it was updated by numbering each item and he added a status column. Councilwoman Knudsen suggested a method to move through the items in a more efficient way and suggested Board members could take the document home and provide Mr. Brancheau with feedback. He said not all 'easy items' are easy and gave an example of an easy item that has dependencies and said many items are a precursor to other items.

Board members discussed the 'easy' items to determine which were housekeeping and those that needed to be discussed.  Members asked for clarification on houses of worship and Mr. Brancheau responded. He agreed to go through all items, pull together the quick fixes, and bundle the package for the next meeting.

Approval of Minutes – The minutes from November 3, 2015 were adopted approved as written.

The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                                Michael Cafarelli

                                                                                                Board Secretary

Date approved: October 18, 2016