Town of Huron Planning Board Minutes - subejct to approval.
Regular meeting - April 5, 2010
Call to Order: Larry Lockwood called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m.
Members present: Larry Lockwood, Chris Kenyon, Jack McGuire and Joe Snyder. Charles Boogaard was absent.
Other Officials present: Dave Buisch and Lois Buckalew - Town Council members.
Guests: George Frantz and Bill Dixon.
Correspondence
Brochures regarding training opportunities for board members were given out. Jack and Joe hope to attend the training at the Burgundy Basin Inn. The board members were impressed with the offerings for the day.
Approval of Minutes: Joe Snyder moved, seconded by Chris Kenyon to accept the minutes of March 1, 2010 as submitted.
Old Business
(Mr. Frantz had not yet arrived and Chris had information to share on Trails so the agenda was amended.)
1. Recreational Trails
Chris had spoken with DEC Biologist Jim Eckler who is in charge of the Lakeshore Units. They will be meeting next Tuesday and walk Dutch St. Rd. where the old Girl Scout Camp was. Chris asked Mr. Eckler if he thought a multi-use trail would be possible and Mr. Eckler thought it might be. Mr. Eckler said that the DEC might use their equipment initially to make it walkable but would not maintain it. He said that it could possibly be a multi-use trail and if there is hunting in the area, signage could be made up. Chris asked if it could be promoted to the public and Mr. Eckler said yes and that their liability would cover the trail. Dave Buisch wondered if it would be possible to continue it over the barrier bar. Chris said that they would see when they walked it. Joe asked what "multi-use" is. Chris said that since it is DEC, there is some public hunting and therefore would be multi-use if a walking trail was added. Chris stated that no motorized vehicles are allowed. Chris said that hunting and trails co-exist in Chimney Bluffs State Park now.
It may be possible that the Trialworks group could help maintain the trail once it is established.
Chris stated that a homeowner in the area had contacted DEC about maintaining the trail.
There was discussion about the status of the closing of some of the State Parks. Chris said that at this time, the money for the parks had been reinstated. Lois Buckalew had stated to Supervisor Crane that if the State didn't want Chimney Bluffs Park, then the Town would be interested in taking it over since it only costs $4000 a year to maintain it.
2. Master Plan
Mr. Frantz stated that he had signed the contract with the Town.
Wayne County Planning had emailed him data which he can use to make a base map of the Town for the Master Plan. He has begun basic research. He put together an outline for the Master Plan which he would go over with the board, looking for suggestions for any changes or additions. He mentioned that he had arrived in town earlier in the afternoon and had driven through approximately three-fourths of it. He provided copies of the outline to those present.
He stated that it was a standard outline for a Master Plan but that he had included some things that had been required according to the contract with the Town. For instance, Town law requires that a Master Plan have a Regional context so he had added that to his outline in Section B. The other part of the regional context would be water and sewer and the Harbor Management Plan. It would be a synopsis that will place the Town of Huron within the region.
For Section C of the Outline, Population, Mr. Frantz is proposing to have a table that will start with the population of Huron and the other towns and villages in Wayne County for 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000. Later in the fall, when the new census data is available, 2010 will be added. This should show how the population has changed over the long term. Joe Snyder asked about tracking seasonal versus year-round. Mr. Frantz explained that, in the census, vacant (not abandoned) dwellings are counted. Joe said that there seem to be more places now that are used year-round but they are still not primary residences. Joe thinks it's important to understand where the money comes from to pay for the services in the Town of Huron; to what extent do non-residents pay for Town of Huron services.
Lois Buckalew stated that about 75% of the buildings (houses) are water-related. Dave Buisch suggested contacting the Associations which may have data as to which residents are permanent.
Mr. Frantz said that the tax rolls will be helpful because it will list the primary address of the property owner. He said that he will try to get a close estimate as to what the seasonal population is for the town. He also noted that he will add Economy to Section II. Joe asked that something dealing with Infrastructure be added and Mr. Frantz agreed.
Joe also mentioned a study that was done with regards to broadband services in Wayne County which he thought might be useful.
Joe asked Chris Kenyon if the Tourism Department would be able to provide data as to the effects of tourism in the County. Chris said he would check. He thinks there is some on farm markets, agri-tourism and sport fishing.
Section D deals with land use and land use trends. Mr. Frantz will look at what percent of the land is agricultural, etc.
Joe Snyder brought up the issues that our neighboring communities are having with CAFOS. He feels that it is something to be aware of since the local public there had no input on the business.
Mr. Frantz said that he would be reviewing the Town's zoning to see if there are areas that might need improvement.
Joe noted that there are Empire Zones in Huron.
Mr. Frantz said that he would sit with the Code Enforcement Officer and review how many new dwellings have been built since 2000. Mr. Frantz said that the town would need to decide what kind of waterfront community it wanted. Joe then mentioned the issue of Keyholing which had been discussed last year by the board. Mr. Frantz said that now is the time to head off problems that you see happening elsewhere. Dave Buisch noted that one of the things that is happening in Huron is that land that is no longer being farmed is being sold off and developed. Joe remarked that Zoning does require that those parcels be at least 5 acres.
Jack wondered if Mr. Frantz had a copy of the current Master Plan since it already contained some of the data that he would need (up to 1992). The clerk will send Mr. Frantz a copy.
Section E would also be an inventory of the Open Space and Environmental Resources in Huron. Joe asked if it would include the wetlands. Mr. Frantz said there are wetlands maps but he goes to the soil survey which identifies hydric soils which the Army Corps uses to help identify wetlands. He would place those on the map along with identified wetlands. He added that the map created in Section G will allow the town to go to one map to view what areas of the town are suitable for development and what areas to stay away from.
Section F deals with Transportation Systems. Mr. Frantz noted that Huron has private roads which need to be considered and he thought that Route 104 may be considered a controlled access highway, meaning no curb cuts are permitted. Joe wondered if public accesses to the water would be included. Mr. Frantz said that it could be included either under Open Spaces or Water Resources. Joe also wondered where trails would be covered. Mr. Frantz said that he could add Parks & Recreation to the Outline.
Section H is Water Resources.
Part III contains Goals & Objectives. Mr. Frantz said that Section H, Municipal Services, would be changed to Infrastructure.
Joe asked if the maps that were listed would be the only ones included. Mr. Frantz said that what is listed is the minimum. He said that generally, as the plans evolve, he might add tables, graphics, etc.
The last section of the outline is Recommendations. This would take the information in the Inventory and Goals and Objectives and use that information to come up with recommendations that the Town could then implement to achieve the Goals and Objectives.
Mr. Frantz will make the changes to the Outline that were discussed and email it to everyone.
Joe asked what the next steps will be. Mr. Frantz replied that he would like to have the rough draft of the Inventory section done and to the board by the end of May and he would come to the June meeting to discuss it. There was discussion as to the best time to hold a community forum. It was decided that August might be the best time for both the farm community and seasonal residents. There was discussion about the format of the meeting, time and place but no decision was made.
New Business
1. Govener Property
Mr. Bill Dixon, a realtor working with Lloyd Govener, stated that Mr. Govener has some property on West Port Bay Road that he wants to divide into three parcels. Mr. Dixon said that the lot size on the road is supposed to be 100ft and he has 298ft of frontage at the road but 398ft on the Bay. He wanted to start by bringing the rough proposal to the board. Larry asked if he had spoken to Roger Gallant. Mr. Dixon had spoken to Roger who said to start with this board. There were some pictures of the property which the board reviewed. Joe asked about the Zoning. It is in the Resort section which Joe believes requires a minimum 1 acre lot. Mr. Dixon stated that he and Roger had discussed that Sodus was looking into requiring smaller lot size in their resort areas. Mr. Dixon discussed the fact that the property was assessed for $200,000 but they had not been able to sell it for the 2 years it had been available. Mr. Dixon said that they have tried to sell the property as a whole but it has not sold so they would like to divide it and try to sell the smaller lots.
Joe said that he thought it would be considered a mini subdivision and subject to those zoning laws which would apply and an Area Variance would be needed. Mr. Dixon said that he would talk to Roger again. Joe said that once the application for the Variance was in, then the board would look at it again.
2. County Planning Board Monthly Report
Larry reported that he had taken the question about Broadband to the County Board. Bret DeRoo said that the study was done but they are still in the process of compiling the data so the report is not done yet. There were also 2 private wind tower applications brought to the board; one from Ontario, the other from Sodus. Larry had a copy of an article from the Democrat & Chronicle on wind farms.
Adjournment: Chris Kenyon moved, seconded by Jack McGuire to adjourn the meeting at 9:25PM
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Grandjean, clerk
Email communications
During the month of March, the following emails were received:
3/1/10 - forward from Charles - an email from Mr. Frantz regarding Master Plan progress.
3/1/10 - from Jack McGuire regarding a telebriefing on Broadband Stimulus.
3/24/10 - from Jack McGuire on NYPA and hydro-electric power.
