Varick Planning board minutes
June 23, 2022
Present: Linda Mastellar (chair), Cindy Lont, Lauren Burling (by Zoom), April Freier, Frankie Long, Thomas Björkman (Secty) One vacancy.
Guests: Richard Jensen, Neil & Lisa Olver.
Called to Order 7:12 pm
Minutes for May
Approval moved by Lont, second by Freier. Approved 6-0
Public comment
https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/apa_book/weak-law-hurts-shorelines
Foggo sent an article about Lake George 2014 impact of weak shoreline protection. Lake George ultimately took aggressive zoning law steps to attempt to better protect the shorelines, including the new construction setback requirement of 75 feet from the high water mark and limits on tree and shrub cutting I mentioned at the last meeting.
Jensen subdivision.
Public hearing
Opened 7:41.
No comments.
Closed 7:42 Moved by Björkman, Second by Long. Approved 6-0.
The applicant provided a Subdivision application, fee, EAF and SEQR. The proposed action was reviewed by the Seneca County Planning Board. They recommended that the application be “…approved conditional upon 1) the larger parcel being made a part of tax parcel 11-1-8.12, and 2) either enlarging the smaller parcel to a size where it can be demonstrated that there is enough room for a typical 3 bedroom house, septic system and well by trading land with land from tax parcel 11-1-8.12, or merging the smaller parcel with the adjacent tax parcel 11-1-8.2 that has the same owner as the parcel being subdivided.
These alternatives were discussed the applicant. The applicant/owner intends for the residual parcel to have different ownership from the adjacent parcels, which precludes combining them now. He is aware that the remaining parcel is not buildable, and accepts that as a good feature of its anticipated use as a recreational site for his family into the future. He recognizes that be the only future prospective buyers are likely the owners of the two neighboring parcels.
Resolution
The Varick planning board issues Final Approval of the Jensen subdivision. This action transfers 33 acres of Lot 11-1-8.11 to Lot 11-1-8.12 leaving 1.26 acres.
The applicant supplied an Agricultural Data Statement. The board finds that there will be no impact on adjoining agricultural uses because the land use will remain agriculture.
The board received the Short Environmental Assessment Form and declared itself the lead agency for State Environmental Quality Review. Upon review of the EAF, the board found no impact because the action will lead to no change in land use, nor creates a condition that would encourage one. The board makes a negative declaration of environmental impact.
The application was reviewed by the county planning board, which recommended approval with the proviso 1) the larger parcel being made a part of tax parcel 11-1-8.12, and 2) either enlarging the smaller parcel to a size where it can be demonstrated that there is enough room for a typical 3 bedroom house, septic system and well by trading land with land from tax parcel 11-1-8.12, or merging the smaller parcel with the adjacent tax parcel 11-1-8.2 that has the same owner as the parcel being subdivided. This resolution does not incorporate the second restriction that the action.
Moved by Björkman, seconded by Lont.
Because this action is not fully consistent with the County’s recommendation, it requires a supermajority (5 yes votes) to be approved.
Passed 6-0
Olver subdivision
The preliminary plat was accepted in April. The applicant has six months to submit a final plat for consideration. The applicants an board discussed which parts of the plan were likely to require further discussion and which appeared mostly settled.
The board did not see any immediate concerns with the proposed property lines and encourage the applicant to proceed with the application using those lines. Indeed, they are very well thought out to preserve the value of the property for agricultural and residential use in the future.
The main question will be to determine a building envelope for the lake side of parcels 4-7 that accomplishes the protections of natural features as described in IV §7. F. of the subdivision code since this stretch of lakefront recognized as an irreplaceable asset of the community.
Lin project
The landowner is ready to apply for a Special Use Permit, but the town board has placed a temporary moratorium on issuing those. No action was taken.
Short Term Rentals
The STR committee met with attorney Tom Fucilllo for guidance on the permanent version of the STR regulations. They also met with Town Attorneys Frank Fisher and Steve Ricci. They identified desirable and enforceable ways to achieve the major goals of accountability by owners and limitation on commercial conversions.
Town board had an extra meeting in June to pass LL#3 to replace LL#1 to correct some technical defects.
The town board wants a system of permits for short-term-rentals. The permit will be non-transferrable and have an expiration date.
Code Enforcement Officer Tim Dorn reports that he is no longer getting calls from realtors regarding STR properties since the local law was passed.
The discussion on size has a maximum occupancy of 10. But a mechanism is needed to a lower limit to account for the number of bedrooms, septic capacity, parking space, and proximity to neighbors. Parking requirements should be explicit that trailers, typically boat trailerscount as a vehicle.
The current estimate is there are or have been 60 STRs on the lakes, where there are ~330 houses. That is close to 20% of the housing is used for STR.
Fees.
Cindy Lont has collected fee information from adjacent towns. The fees in the Town of Varick are about half for the things we a charge for, but those fees were also set 18 to 45 years ago. Other towns have fees for many things that we do not, but those go well beyond the Planning Board’s purview. We will develop a recommendation at the next meeting.
Adjournment
Moved by Björkman, Second by Lont. Approved 6-0.
Adjourned 9:06 pm