Planning Board

The Planning Board of the Town of Schaghticoke met on October 7, 2026 at the Town Hall, 290 Northline Drive, Melrose, with the public hearing called at 7:00 p.m. This summary is drawn from a community recording of the meeting, not from town minutes, which had not been posted as of October 8. The recording does not capture a roll call, so attendance is not listed here. Motions and seconds are given where the recording makes them clear.

Public hearing: The Kustom Addiction, 751 NY Route 40 (Tax Map #51.01-1-6)

The hearing was on a special use permit and site plan review for a metal finishing business, with an 8-by-20-foot storage container, at 751 NY Route 40 in the Melrose Hamlet district. Applicant Ken Murray said he bought what locals call the Melrose garage, the former SRM Motors building, and described the business: stripping, sanding and refinishing metal, mainly by powder coating, with some brush finishing, on anything from car wheels and motorcycle restoration parts to driveway gates, a cast iron tub or a boat trailer. Everything happens inside the building. He keeps no set hours; the customer base is pickup and drop-off, which he estimated at three to five a week, “less than a UPS guy coming in and out.” The compressor is quiet and the operation enclosed. He said he already knows the neighbors across the street and behind him and that they seemed pleased someone was cleaning the place up.

The chairman asked for comments, questions or concerns from the public. Hearing none, he closed the hearing. He noted that notices had gone to every neighbor a couple of properties deep.

A tax-map note: the town’s hearing notice gave the parcel as #206.-1-11, and we carried that number on our notices board. The chairman’s agenda for this meeting, and the hearing as read, give it as #51.01-1-6.

Minutes of September 2

A member offered a follow-up, not a correction, to a remark he had made at the September meeting about the Dollar General project: the site plan had put the flat portion of the roof at 30 percent of the building, but the architectural design has developed since then and that figure may no longer hold. The September 2 minutes were accepted as presented. Motion and second by board members · Ayes: All · Nays: None.

Fane subdivision, 5 Warren Lane: final approval (Tax Map #61.-1-33)

Preliminary approval for Gregory Fane’s one-lot subdivision was granted in May; the only item outstanding was the septic design. The chairman read an email from Derek Gardner of the Rensselaer County Department of Health, relayed through the applicant’s engineer and surveyor, approving the proposed system plans at 5 Warren Lane as submitted and stating the county will issue a permit to construct once it receives proof of the town’s subdivision approval. The chairman noted the county has handled permits to construct this way for several years. The board granted final approval. Motion: Ragone · Second: Clow · Ayes: All · Nays: None.

The Kustom Addiction: SEQR, site plan and special use permit

Returning to the Route 40 application, the board reviewed the short form Environmental Assessment Form. The chairman described it as an existing building with a use very similar to the previous operations there. A member asked how long the building had been idle; the answer was about a year and a half, with the earlier repair shop operating until a handful of years ago and the building rented after that. The applicant confirmed he takes parts, not whole vehicles. The property has public water and an existing septic system.

The board issued a negative declaration under SEQR. Motion: Clow · Second: Ragone · Ayes: All · Nays: None.

The chairman said the site plan is essentially unchanged from the prior use except for the 8-by-20 storage container placed alongside the building and out of the way, and that the zoning code already allows one storage container on a lot, so the container is not itself part of the special use consideration. A member remarked on the odd shape of the half-acre lot, which runs as a narrow strip back toward the next street; the applicant explained the 1930 building replaced a 19th-century blacksmith and carriage shop that likely used the strip to move carriages out the back.

With no further questions, the board approved the site plan and the special use permit. Motion and second by board members · Ayes: All · Nays: None. The applicant was told he would receive the decision in writing.

Kocienski timber harvest: pre-filing conference (Tax Map #12.-1-8.11)

The chairman presented a timber harvest permit application from Adam Kocienski for a wooded parcel on the west side of Route 40, about 1.4 miles north of Route 67, past Curtis Lumber. The purpose of the session was for the board to flag any issues with the harvesting plan before the formal review; the applicant still has to submit an Environmental Assessment Form, so SEQR review will come at the next meeting.

The parcel, 72.5 acres on the tax rolls and about 71 acres by a recent survey, is flat, with no stream crossings and no steep slopes, and was last logged about 30 years ago. A forester has reviewed the plan, which the applicant wrote up from his conversations with the forester, and the applicant has posted the surveyed boundary according to DEC spacing. He said a forested wetland on the property, which appears as a lighter area on the aerial map, will not be logged, though the forester told him logging is allowed there under different density rules. He plans to build a house on the land and described the harvest as cleaning up the woods for wildlife and driveway access rather than taking money out of the property.

The board asked for something more formal from the forester, such as the forester’s letterhead and signature on the plan already submitted, so the record shows the forester has reviewed it and is prepared to proceed. A member asked whether the plan sets a buffer along the property lines; the applicant said the forester’s approach is to survey first and then mark the trees he is comfortable cutting, with no fixed buffer width. Another member asked why one informational layer had been switched off on the DEC Environmental Resource Mapper printout; the applicant said it showed nothing significant on the parcel. The chairman called it about as simple a harvest as the board has seen, with no stream crossings, slopes or erosion issues to work through.

The board scheduled a public hearing for the November meeting, with the SEQR review and the forester’s sign-off to follow. The $450 permit fee was received.

Madigan subdivision, Madigan Road: preliminary and final approval (Tax Map #42.-1-12)

Though not on the printed agenda, the chairman took up Thomas Madigan’s one-lot subdivision, which had its public hearing on September 2. The chairman read a second email from Mr. Gardner at the county Department of Health stating that his review of the proposed conventional septic system for the Madigan Road property was complete and that the county will issue a permit to construct once it receives the permit fees and the town’s subdivision approval. The chairman said this was the last outstanding piece.

The board granted preliminary approval, and then final approval, for the one-lot subdivision. Motions and seconds by board members · Ayes: All · Nays: None, on each.

For information: off-leash dog runs on a rented farm

The chairman reported an inquiry, raised so members can answer questions if neighbors ask, about a dog trainer who brings groups of trained dogs by van from his place of business to run off leash on rented farm property in town. After talking it over with the town attorney, the chairman concluded no Planning Board approval is needed: it is not a kennel, no customers come to the site, and he found no requirement in the code. He told the trainer by phone and in a follow-up email that the town’s other dog regulations, on leash and barking dogs among them, still apply. Members agreed it sounded fine so long as no neighbor reports a pack of dogs chasing something.

The meeting then adjourned.

Sources: a community audio recording of the October 7, 2026 meeting, transcribed and summarized by speigletown.org, and the chairman’s agenda dated October 5, 2026 (PDF on the town site). The town had not posted draft minutes as of October 8; when it does, the signed PDF is the record and this entry will be updated. Private individuals who are not applicants are not named.