Unofficial summary. This is a community summary of the town's official minutes, provided so the record is searchable and readable. It condenses the meeting and may omit detail. Some private individuals’ personal details have been left out. The official signed PDF is the complete record of authority.
Office of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Town of Schaghticoke — October 3, 2019, at the Town Hall, 290 Northline Drive, Melrose. The meeting opened at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Ed McDonough (Chairman), Rich Geddis, Kristin Griswold, and Jason Shover. Absent: Lettie Saheim. Also present: Elizabeth Hale (Clerk) and Kristin Pratt (Deputy Town Attorney).
Regular meeting
- September 5, 2019 minutes accepted as submitted (Griswold · Shover — Ayes: McDonough, Geddis, Griswold, Shover; Nays: none).
Knickerbocker Road property — code-enforcement discussion
A property owner appeared, at the suggestion of Code Enforcement Officer Brian Davidson, to discuss the use of his 6-acre parcel on Knickerbocker Road in an RA district, adjacent to the Hudson River. The parcel has an 8×12-foot storage shed, vehicles, and equipment. A neighboring property owner had lodged multiple complaints about activity and noise, and Mr. Davidson had visited to assess whether the uses conform to the Zoning Code.
The owner stated he cuts wood for his own use and stores materials, does not use the property commercially and does not lease it, and is employed full-time elsewhere. He said the shed stores personal items and that he keeps trailers, a plow, lawnmower, snowmobile, skid steer, mini-excavator, and other vehicles on site, some briefly; that his wood-cutting noise is short-lived, not daily, and never past daylight; and that driveway traffic is limited. He learned a video of his property had been submitted to the Code Enforcement Officer by the neighbor; Deputy Town Attorney Pratt said she had the video, that it was deemed public through FOIL, and offered to share it. It was suggested the owner meet with the Code Enforcement Officer, the neighbor, and Attorney Pratt to attempt to settle the dispute.
Other
Ragone Foundations, Inc. — preliminary discussion
A discussion took place regarding Ragone Foundations, Inc., located at 53 Wetsel Road in an R district. Owner Vincent Ragone is considering an application to relocate his contracting business to a parcel in a Hamlet District on Fogarty Road, with access from Fogarty Road and NYS Route 40, proposing a 10,000-square- foot building for vehicle storage, office, and workshop. The parcel, long for sale, is surrounded by residential homes and near Scriven Press, Choice Physical Therapy, and the Eastover Road National Grid substation. Because a contracting business is not allowed in a Hamlet District, the applicant would need a use variance from the ZBA or a rezoning (HD to Highway Commercial) from the Town Board.
Jason Shover said he was familiar with the parcel and had concerns: poor sight distance from either driveway, large vehicles entering and exiting during high-traffic periods at an already dangerous Fogarty Road / Route 40 intersection where numerous accidents have occurred, and that a contracting business amid a high concentration of single-family homes is not suitable to the neighborhood’s character; he anticipated considerable neighbor opposition. Attorney Pratt said she would advise the applicant’s land surveyor, Brian Holbritter, that the ZBA had held a preliminary conversation and that traffic safety was a concern.
Chairman McDonough also reported a call from a nursery-business owner in an HC district complaining that his taxes are high; Mr. McDonough referred him to the assessor, David Jones.
Adjourned at 8:17 p.m. (Geddis · McDonough — Ayes: McDonough, Geddis, Griswold, Shover; Nays: none). Submitted by Elizabeth Hale, Clerk (dated November 7, 2019).
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