Town of Huron Planning Board Minutes - subject to approval.
Regular meeting - July 12, 2010
Call to Order: Larry Lockwood called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Larry Lockwood, Jack McGuire and Charles Boogaard.
Other Officials present: Lois Buckalew - Town Council member and Roger Gallant -Building Inspector.
Guests: George Frantz and Carolyn Richards
Correspondence
There was none.
Approval of Minutes: Jack McGuire moved, seconded by Charles Boogaard to accept the minutes of June 7, 2010 as submitted.
(The agenda was modified. Mr. Frantz notified Charles that he would be late.)
Unfinished Business
1. Recreational Trails - Chris Kenyon
Chris was absent but stated in an email that Jim Eckler is working on the map. After they finish mapping it, they will list the strong and weak points of the trail and how much the DEC will be able to do to make it more accessible. They will also be discussing signage.
2. Changes in Zoning Law
The Town Board voted to allow Attorney Knauf to write up a local law that basically states that the water front area is the front lawn and non-water front area is road front area.
3. D&L Disposal
Charles asked what was going to happen with the D&L issue. Roger Gallant stated that he had spoken with the town board and they were going to set up a workshop meeting with the owner and his lawyer and talk about why he can't comply with the stipulations of the Special Permit. They will see if he needs to come back before the Zoning Board.
There was discussion about LaValley's property on Ridge Rd. and North Huron Rd. Jack McGuire and Lois Buckalew both had concerns about the way the properties look. Lois has had calls from residents. It was decided that Lois will write a letter of complaint representing those residents.
(In comparing that property with D&L, Jack, Charles and Lois all had positive comments on what has been done at D&L up to this point.)
4. Master Plan - George Frantz
Since Mr. Frantz had not yet arrived, the board started to review the materials that he had sent regarding strengths and weakness, etc.
Lois stated that under weaknesses, Mr. Frantz had listed "lack of employment opportunities." She felt that with all the agriculture and the packing houses, etc. that it should be "lack of skilled employment opportunities."
She questioned what "Nighttime light pollution washing out views of the night sky" under challenges meant. Charles explained that at night, on the Bay, there are so many lights that sometimes you can't even see the stars. There are towns that have created ordinances that will only allow lighting that is capped, which makes the light shine down rather than up and out. Charles said that it's a choice that needs to be considered, looking like a lake in the Adirondacks or looking like a mall area.
Jack said that when he looked over the materials, he wondered what our goal was - to encourage more people to come to Huron or keep what we have. Do we want expansion or are we happy with the character of the town the way it is.
Charles thought that Chimney Bluffs should be mentioned under strengths. Lois thought it would be included under "other water resources with great scenic and recreational value."
Charles also thought that an important weakness listed by Mr. Frantz was the lack of broadband internet. He worries about being able to have the capability to work from home and educational demands for his kids. It is something that could keep people from moving here or cause people to leave. Roger suggested that perhaps the Planning Board needs to approach Time Warner again. Lois said that the 10yr agreement is up this year so discussions will take place.
At that point, Mr. Frantz arrived with his intern, Carolyn Richards. He stated that the task he had given her is to research broadband internet access for the Master Plan. He stated that he had compiled information from the emails sent by Joe and Charles and then added some of his own to the Strengths, Weaknesses, etc. The board reviewed the points that they had discussed prior to Mr. Frantz's arrival. In discussing the lighting pollution, Charles said that he has a sample ordinance from a group called "Dark Skies" that could be used. Mr. Frantz said that he is familiar with that and has others. Ms. Richards said that she is still researching the broadband.
They discussed some issues about the lack of emergency services. Mr. Frantz said that it was addressed in the '92 plan and should be in the new plan as well. They also discussed the difficulties that emergency vehicles encounter due to the number of private roads, etc. many of which are one lane roads.
Mr. Frantz then discussed Town Law Section 280 which deals with frontage requirements needed to get a building permit. He said that the Courts recently ruled that the way this law should be interpreted is that a permit can be issued if the property has at least 20ft of frontage on a public highway or frontage on a road that is on an approved subdivision plan or if the property is on a private road that is shown on the official map of the town. Mr. Frantz thought that it would be a good idea for the Town to adopt an official highway map and Roger Gallant said it would be very helpful to him. There was some discussion about keyhole development. Roger stated that public water will make development more desirable and should be looked at in the plan.
Jack brought up the fishing industry as a strength but added that the fishing has declined for a variety of reasons. Roger added that access to good fishing has become very limited. He sees it as a strength that is becoming a weakness. Mr. Frantz said that under Challenges he would put invasive fish and plant species.
Charles sees the educational system as a weakness. When comparing NRW to some other neighboring schools, their scores have been consistently lower. Mr. Frantz said that it could be added to the "wish list" in the Master Plan.
In discussing opportunities, Charles thought that there should be some development in the Bay Bridge area. Lois said that she always thought that it would be a good place for the town to develop, but when it was suggested in the past, the Town Board thought that it would compete with the other local businesses located in the area. Charles talked about the public launch on the south side and said that perhaps a trail system could be developed in that area. Roger used Fulton as an example of how a town could develop an area without a boat launch. Mr. Frantz agreed that they could look at some kind of development in that area. Charles thought that birders would be interested.
Lois thought that although Route 104 is a main corridor and should be a strength. However, because of it's proximity to the lake, it discourages development to the North of it. Mr. Frantz wondered if some type of Parkway style development would be possible along 104. Charles noted the snowmobile trails that run along 104.
Mr. Frantz then discussed the draft map of land use in the Town. They used the County's property classification system. There were still changes that needed to be made. Jack asked if the map showed the Right of Ways. Mr. Frantz said that it shows some but not all.
The discussion moved to the Public Forum. Mr. Frantz said that it was his thinking that he would present the information to the public and get their feedback. He thought that we should allow 2 to 3 hours for the meeting. He said that he would talk for about 30 min. and then use 20 to 30 min for questions & answers. Then we would take a 15 min coffee break followed by another hour of discussion. The meeting was set for August 30, 2010 from 7:00PM to 9:00PM at the American Legion. Mr. Frantz handed out a draft of a press release that could be put out to advertise the meeting. Lois asked who was responsible for the fee for the American Legion and Mr. Frantz said that he was responsible according to his contract. Lois suggested that name tags be used. Mr. Frantz said that he would utilize chart paper to take notes and perhaps have paper available at tables for residents to share their ideas. Charles said that it would be important to share with residents why it is important for a community to develop a Master Plan (necessary when applying for grants, etc.)
New Business
1. County Planning Board Monthly Report
Larry reported that there was nothing of interest to Huron to report from the meeting.
Adjournment: Jack McGuire moved, seconded by Charles Boogaard to adjourn the meeting at 10:00PM
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Grandjean, clerk
Email communications
During the month of June, the following emails were received:
6/5/10 - from George Frantz with the Draft Inventory attached
6/26/10 - from Joe Snyder with his input on the Master Plan
