Planning Board

Office of the Planning Board, Town of Schaghticoke — February 2, 2022. The Board met via Zoom videoconference under the 2021 amendments to the New York Public Officers Law. Deputy Town Attorney Kristin Pratt explained the Zoom procedure and noted the meeting was recorded (to be posted to the town website), that minutes were being taken, and that comments should be spoken aloud to be recorded.

Public hearing

Constable Tree Service — Special Use Permit and Site Plan (Tax Map #41-1-62.2)

Opened at 7:32 PM. Applicant Michael Constable III proposed establishing a tree service business in an existing steel building at 939 Route 40, Melrose, in a Highway Commercial (HC) district surrounded by a residential district. He would use the site as the base of the business, storing vehicles and equipment, with plans to create office space later. Land surveyor Brian Holbritter prepared a site plan showing employee parking (including one handicapped space), paved areas, work-vehicle storage, 20-foot-wide screening to the southerly property line, building access, and septic and proposed well locations. Mr. Constable said he also plans a fence along the street and the southerly line.

A resident who owns property across the street asked about the septic and well. Mr. Constable said the septic was installed and a well would be completed when weather permitted; Chairman Alessandrini noted that a commercially used building requires both. The resident asked whether wood chips would be stored on site; Mr. Constable said wood chips, mulch, and tree-removal waste would not be stored there, adding that he lives nearby and intends to maintain the property’s appearance. Asked whether an escrow account would be required for the well, Mr. Constable said escrow was not required and that he was not “looking to do anything inappropriate.” The hearing was closed at 7:42 PM.

Regular meeting

Convened at 7:43 PM. Members present: Frank Alessandrini (Chairman), Wayne Akin, Dan Clow, Elizabeth Hale, Robert Weir, and Scott Wiley. Brian Davidson was absent.

• January 5, 2022 minutes approved as submitted (Wiley · Akin — Ayes: Alessandrini, Akin, Clow, Hale, Weir, Wiley; Nays: none).

Constable Tree Service — decision

The Board reviewed the site plan. Chairman Alessandrini noted no signage information had been submitted and that a separate sign application would be required; Mr. Constable said he planned a sign near Route 40 and would review the sign regulations. The Chairman advised that vehicles could not be stored within the 30-foot rear-yard setback. Lighting (down-lighting on the building, no pole lighting) and landscaping (staggered plantings, maples, arborvitae, and low-growing junipers) were discussed to improve compatibility with the surrounding residential neighborhood.

• Negative declaration under SEQRA (Akin · Clow — Ayes: all six; Nays: none).
• Site Plan and Special Use Permit approved for a tree-service business at 939 Route 40 (Wiley · Akin — Ayes: all six; Nays: none), with conditions:
  1. Install plantings in the 20-foot-wide screening area shown on the site plan within 6 months.
  2. Install staggered plantings from the parking lot to the 20-foot buffer — at least 15 arborvitae with low-growing junipers between them, plus at least 3 maple trees in the front yard — within 6 months.
  3. Replace any landscaping required as a condition, as necessary, throughout the operation of the business.
  4. No construction-related vehicles stored within the Zoning Law setbacks, specifically none within the 30-foot setback of the northern portion of the property.

Hoosac Valley Farmers Exchange — Sign Permit (Tax Map #32-3-14.2)

Applicant Maureen Mayer appeared; manager Justin Frisino was present. The proposal is for two signs at the business at the corner of Madigan Road and Route 40 (HC district): a 72″ × 84″ externally lit standing sign off Route 40, and a large back-lit letter sign (28″–36″ letters) on the westerly side of the building. Because the state owns significant road frontage along Route 40 and the building sits roughly 300 feet from the road, a larger-than-normal sign was argued necessary for visibility to passing drivers. The Board discussed setting a nightly time to extinguish the lighting, suggesting 10 PM (as White’s business on Route 40 does). With submission of the short-form EAF and the Rensselaer County 239 review, a public hearing may be scheduled at the March meeting for a Special Use Permit and a waiver from the Zoning Code’s sign regulations.

Other

• Chairman Alessandrini relayed an inquiry from a property owner on Calhoun Drive who wants to subdivide a 3.11-acre property into 3–5 lots; road frontage is sufficient, but the minimum lot size and density do not meet the Zoning Code. An abutting 22-acre ravine is undevelopable; the owner suggested buying 9 acres of it if that would allow further development. The Board discussed density calculations, noted the 9-acre parcel could be land-locked absent flag/“spaghetti” lots, and advised that a ZBA application is an option to permit the subdivision.
• A separate inquiry concerned Lot #18 on Powers Lane (off Calhoun Drive), where the individual asking does not own the property. Originally two lots (shown by a dotted line on the tax map) later combined under one tax-map number, with an existing residence on one half; the question was whether the subdivision is still valid as two lots. Attorney Pratt said the issue — which has surfaced before, mainly in the Pleasantdale hamlet district — needed research.

Adjourned at 9:09 PM (Akin · Wiley — Ayes: all six; Nays: none). Submitted by Elizabeth Hale, Planning Board Clerk (dated March 6, 2022).