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.
A note on the link above: the town’s record of this meeting is a Word document from the Town Clerk’s office, and it is no longer available on the town’s website. The “Official PDF” link is a copy we host, converted to PDF for reading; the content is the town’s, unaltered, and we keep the original Word file alongside it. For a certified copy, ask the Town Clerk.
Office of the Planning Board, Town of Schaghticoke — March 1, 2023, at the Town Hall, 290 Northline Drive, Melrose.
Public hearings
None.
Regular meeting (7:00 PM)
Members present: Frank Alessandrini (Chairman), Dan Clow, Brian Davidson, Elizabeth Hale, and Scott Wiley, with new member Chris Reynolds welcomed to the Board. Absent: Bob Weir. Kristin Pratt, Deputy Town Attorney, was present. The Board approved the February 1, 2023 minutes (Wiley moved, Clow seconded; Reynolds abstained).
Applications
- Accessory apartment on NYS Route 40 (Tax Map #31.-1-14). With the county’s 239-m review now returned for local consideration, the Board granted final approval of the special use permit for a basement accessory apartment at a residence in an RA district (Davidson · Wiley · all).
- Fane lot-line adjustment (Tax Map #61.-1-20 and #61.-1-20.112). Surveyor Mark Danskin, for applicant Donald E. Fane, proposed waiving 0.39 acre (where a tennis court sits) into an adjacent 13-acre parcel on the east side of NYS Route 40, across from Warren W. Fane Inc. The Board granted the subdivision waiver (Clow · Hale · all).
- Northline solar farm (Tax Map #41.-1-27.21). Diego Barroa, regional construction manager for AES — which purchased the project — presented amended plans, joined by a landscaper and an associate project manager from Dynamic Energy. The requested changes included relocating and increasing the interconnection poles from four to six (after National Grid revised its interconnection study), modifying the access road, and substituting screening species (the Black Hills spruce and Eastern red cedar in the approved plan being hard to source or disease-prone). After discussion, the Board agreed screening with staggered Norway spruce (four rows, 10 feet apart) and a narrow access opening would suffice, and approved the amendment (Wiley · Clow · all), with a formal amendment application to be filed.
Other
- Proposed rezoning near Hilltop Bowl (Tax Map #71.09-1-11). At the Town Board’s request, the Board reviewed a proposed rezoning of Hilltop Bowl — a 4.67-acre parcel on Hillview Road — from Residential to Hamlet District, sought to make the property more marketable. Because the parcel is not contiguous to a Hamlet District, the Board recommended a broader rezoning of nearby properties out to the southerly town line to avoid “spot zoning”; Deputy Attorney Kristin Pratt will draft the opinion. A resident suggested the town’s comprehensive plan should be reviewed.
- Al’s Towing (Tax Map #51.3-1-6), 751 NYS Route 40. The ZBA determined at its February 2, 2023 meeting that Al’s Towing is not operating a motor-vehicle service or repair station under the Zoning Law.
- Hometown Heroes banners. Having been unable to reach the banner program’s organizer, the Chairman asked Dominic Pasinella, Fire Chief of the Melrose Fire Department, whether the department would take on responsibility for maintaining the banners; Kristin Pratt will draft a letter seeking the department’s consent.
- A resident raised concerns about solar farms — recycling of panels and scrap, and future technological change — and about the possibility of marijuana shops in town. Attorney Pratt noted that solar developers post a substantial bond with the town and cannot profit from scrap.
The Board adjourned at 8:00 p.m. (Davidson · Wiley · all).
Respectfully submitted by Elizabeth Hale, Clerk.
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