Town Board
February 28, 2017
CLOSED SESSION
Personnel and volunteer board interviews
OPEN SESSION
1. The Weyant multi family housing (Crompond Road)
The discussion assumed, on a “broad strokes” basis, that the property would be rezoned to transitional use. Supervisor Grace said that the proposed use is acceptable and that for him the main issue was the aesthetics of the development as it related to the gateway to Yorktown. In response to a Hamblyn Street resident who asked why the board wasn’t considering the development’s impact on his neighborhood, the supervisor pointed out that the board could always rezone the property to other, less desirable, uses, such as commercial, or that, as of right, the existing old house could be converted into a restaurant. He asked the residents, who would be meeting with the developer the following evening, not to have a knee jerk reaction against the development. Councilman Bernard stated that the multi family use is in furtherance of the town’s goal of having a diversity of housing opportunities.
Mr. Capellini emphasized that the units would be strictly market rate, with no affordable housing or Section 8 subsidies.
The Hamblyn Street homeowners also expressed concern about traffic coming from Hallocks Mill Road and it appeared that there would be ongoing discussions about the access and also the need to widen Hamblyn from Route 202 to the development’s entrance.
Supervisor Grace assured the residents that their other concerns would be addressed at both the Planning Board and Town Board levels. He explained that after the Planning Board reviews the site plan, the Town Board will make the ultimate decision on the rezoning that will include approval of the site plan.
2. Granite Knolls Sports Complex
Handing board members a packet of plans, Joe Riina said the hard engineering for the project was 99% complete, and that only a few small details needed to be firmed out. He said the stormwater plan (SWPPP) would be completed next week. He saw no reason why a public hearing on the project should not be scheduled.
Supervisor Grace alluded to a possible change in the access point. (Note: See discussion of the Shrub Oak International School.)
Mr. Riina suggested that the plan be slightly modified to include an adaptive field abutting one of the planned fields that would be able to accommodate the disabled. The board agreed with the suggestion.
Most of the discussion focused on whether the project should be bid out as one project or broken into segments, e.g., the fields and the parking lot as one contract, and separate contracts for the tennis courts, basketball court, etc. Supervisor Grace said the quicker the project can go out to bid, the quicker the town would have cost figures for the project, adding that it was important to get the job done soon. After some back and forth, the board appeared to accept Mr. Riina’s advice that bidding out the total project would be the preferred route and that a general contractor would likely hire other contractors who specialize in finishing off the fields, e.g., installing the artificial turf.
The board also appeared to agree to have a surveyor survey the entire site now so that board members could visualize where all the parts would be; the board plans to wallk the site with Mr. Riina.
3. Mohegan Auto & Tire (aka Hillsop Service Station), East Main Street
In an item not on the agenda, Councilman Bernard raised the issue with the Mr. Riina, of the number of cars that can be parked on the site. He said he and Councilman Diana were concerned that based on the discussions that had taken place so far, there was no limit and it appeared that the owner was moving cars between his Shrub Oak and Peekskill locations. He said that without any definition, it would be hard to enforce any conditions of the rezoning. Mr. Tegeder suggested that when Mr. Riina prepares the final plans, the parking lot be striped so as to better delineate where cars can be parked.
4. Double Utility poles
Town Attorney McDermott advised the board that he drafted a local law that would regulate the repair and installation of utility poles used by the power companies and communications vendors. (There can be more than one user on the same pole.) The problem appears to be that when a pole is damaged, instead of replacing it, the utility company simply installs a new pole next to the existing one. While it was noted that the utility company is the ultimate owner and responsible party for the pole, the proposed law would make all users jointly libel. The law will include what the attorney described as a stiff penalty for non compliance.
A public hearing was set for March 21st.
5. Master Fee schedule
(See Town Board 1/10/2017.) The town engineer and town attorney reviewed the two possible ways to assess fees for building permits: estimated cost of construction or cost per square foot. There would also be a flat fee for residential permits where costs were $5,000 or less, and a flat fee for commercial permits with costs of under $10,000. It was not clear if the board preferred cost or square footage for other applications.
Mr. Quinn raised the issue of how to handle cases where a property owner improved the property without a permit. He was advised that town code already had a provision that in such instances, the property owner would be required to pay double what the permit would have cost.
Other permit costs still to be finalized include street opening permits, rezoning, wetlands, performance bonds and erosion and control. Supervisor Grace preferred limiting the need for performance bonds to only off site improvements, such as water and sewer lines, explaining that issues like complying with on site landscaping requirements could be dealt with at the certificate of occupancy stage, but Mr. Tegeder pointed out other circumstances where the town might want to impost a bond; while the bond may never by pulled, he noted that it does give the town leverage.
Mr. McDermott will continue to work with the appropriate department heads to finalize these fees. It appeared that the Refuse and Recycling Department may have already instituted a change in the bulk trash pick up fee from a straight $50 to $50 for 9 cubic yards.
Supervisor Grace said the changes are being made so that the town gets a fair fee that reflects the amount of staff time needed to review and issue the permit. It was not clear if the revised fees would generate any additional revenue.
6. Clothing bins
Supervisor Grace asked the town engineer who is temporarily heading the building department for an update on the permits required to have on site clothing bins. If the property owner has obtained the required permit, there should be a sticker on the bin. Mr. McDermott said that the code inspector has been checking up on the issue. Councilman Bernard raised the issue ofwhat can be done with the confiscated bins that the highway department is storing; the town attorney said that as long as the owners had been notified and did not retrieve them, they could be scrapped.
Route 202 ballfields: In an item not on the agenda, the board approved a resolution dealing with the drainage at the Route 202 ballfields. In a voice that could not be heard by the public, Town Clerk Quast who is also the chairman of the Recreation Commission explained what the resolution was for.
Inspecting sewer lines: The board approved a resolution to hire an outside vendor to inspect the town’s sewer lines.
CLOSED SESSION
Subject matter not disclosed.