The Varick Town Planning Board met May 24, 2007 at 7 PM at the Varick Firehouse. In attendance were Thomas Bjorkman, Larry Peterson, Frankie Long, Annie Bachman, and Bob Kayser. Absent were Kevin Swartley and Bill Larzelere.

Annie Bachman made a motion that the minutes of the April 26, 2007 meeting be approved. Bob Kayser seconded the minutes and it was carried.

Frankie Long gave a report on dog kennels. Noise to neighbors seems to be the biggest concern of the ownership of dogs. Frankie had done research with State Ag & Markets, other government agencies, and with Bruce Johnson. Bruce Johnson lives on the East Lake Road and is probably the only dog breeder in Varick. He raises and sells a small breed of pure bred dogs and has up to six pregnant females at one time. We decided that five or fewer non-commercial dogs can be kept without restriction. Commercial dogs are dogs boarded for others, kept for sale, or kept to produce puppies for sale. Small scale kennels will be six or fewer commercial dogs, or 6 or more non-commercial dogs. For these the condition in all three residential zone will be that the outside runs are more than 100 ft from adjacent dwellings and that the noise should not exceed 55 dB at the property line. Large kennels will be 7 to 20 commercial dogs. This will be permitted in the ARR zone only, with the condition of a 300-foot setback from the outdoor run to adjacent dwellings. We put no limit on the number of dogs under six months old, they do not count towards the totals. We decided to put no restrictions on number of cats.

Annie Bachman led a discussion on the definition of an inn. We decided a bed and breakfast should follow NY state law, and be an owner-occupied single family home with 5 or fewer rooms for rent. A hotel would have more than 12 rooms. An inn would be “in between” with 6 to 12 rooms, and may provide meals. The setback from adjacent properties should be 300 ft in the Lakeshore Zone, 200 ft in the Agricultural Rural Residential Zone, and 15 ft in the Hamlet Zone. They should not generate noise over 55 dB at the property line.

Bill Larzelere had provided information on mobile home conditions. We decided there would be no single-wide mobile homes in the lake zone, and that new mobile homes should be on a permanent foundation that goes below the frost line. Looser rules for one or two mobile homes used as farmworker housing on farms, as recommended by Ag & Markets.

Bob Kayser led a discussion on annoying smells that would bother a neighbor. He did considerable research on this controversial topic. He found that Seneca Falls has some very good local laws in this area. We decided that a separate noise ordinance would be more effective for dealing with specific activities rather than land uses. The standard for smoke is that it not exceed Ringelmann Smoke Chart No 2.

For the next meeting, Annie Bachman will research the definition of vehicle sale and service, Larry Peterson research the definition of a warehouse, Bob Kayser will research multi-family dwellings conditions (C-7 and C-11 in the Use Table) and define General business office, and Bill Larzelere will develop a definition of Laboratory/R&D facility.

The next meeting will be June 28, 2007 at 7 PM at the Varick Fire House.
The meeting was adjourned at 9 PM.

Respectfully,

Larry Peterson
Secretary

Approved June 28, 2007