20151201 Planning Board Minutes

The following minutes are a summary of the Planning Board meeting of December 1, 2015. 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: Ms. Bigos, Councilwoman Knudsen, Mr. Nalbantian, Mr. Reilly, Ms. Altano, Mr. Joel, Ms. Dockray, and Ms. Patire. Also present were: Gail Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Blais Brancheau, Village Planner; and Board Secretary Michael Cafarelli. Christopher Rutishauser, Village Engineer, Mayor Aronsohn, Mr. Thurston, and Mr. Abdalla were not present.

Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board – Lorraine Reynolds asked about public comment during the reexamination of the master plan. Mr. Brancheau said no public hearing is required and that the reexamination is not an amendment.

Administration of Oath to Debbie Patire and Isabella Altano – Debbie Patire was sworn in as a new alternate member of the Planning Board, filling the unexpired term of Isabella Altano, and Isabella Altano was sworn in as Class IV Board member for the unexpired term of Michelle Peters, from alternate member.

Committee Reports - Ms. Dockray said the Open Space Committee survey is ready but it needs $1,032 in funding.

Correspondence received by the Board – Michael Cafarelli reported there was none.

Continued discussion of the reexamination of the Master Plan and development regulations - Residential Land Use – Mr. Brancheau provided the Board an overview of his report and redefined split-zones. He said his goal was to obtain feedback on what the Board wants him to include in the draft report. He said the entire Master Plan needs to be updated and digitized. He discussed the documents he provided the Board and talked about split-zones, corner properties, FAR in undersized lots, front yard setbacks, teardowns, clusters, and churches in split zones. He said subdivisions or lot mergers result in some properties being split by zone boundaries. His recommendation is to move some of the properties identified in the documents as split-zones into one zone.

Mr. Brancheau described a 'teardown' when a property owner retains a nonconforming basement or wall in a building to be demolished, which enables the structure to be grandfathered. Board members asked if this reduced taxes. Mr. Brancheau said it did not.

There was a discussion about obtaining the Zoning Board's annual report and that it would be helpful for the Planning Board to see what properties came before them and what was approved. Mr. Nalbantian agreed to write a letter to ask for a copy of their annual reports.

Ms. Dockray motioned to authorize Mr. Brancheau to move forward with his recommendations. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joel and all approved.

Discussion of the Housing Element – Mr. Brancheau reported he provided the Village Attorney a housing summary that was submitted to the court. He said the court gave the Village an extension until March 2016. He said he received a confidential draft report regarding the Village's housing obligation. However, he could not disclose the information as it is a confidential report. He anticipated receiving the final draft report in late December. Mr. Brancheau said the Planning Board should be considering an increased obligation.

Approval of Minutes – The minutes from November 9, 2015 were adopted with one revision to add 'plan summary' to the third from the bottom paragraph.

Other Business – Board members asked about the status of the Church of God and Tito's Burritos. Mr. Rutishauser said he would investigate the status of the Church if God and that Tito's Burritos were working with the Historic Preservation Commission to finalize a suitable rendering.

Executive Session – 9:30 p.m. The Board went into executive session to discuss pending and threatened litigation.

The meeting adjourned at 11:51 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                      Michael Cafarelli

                                                                                      Board Secretary

Date approved: February 16, 2015