Planning Board Minutes

TOWN OF JEWETT
PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES
MARCH 4, 2010

Agenda Item 1: The meeting was called to order at 7:08 pm.

Roll Call:       Chair: Donna Bernard
Members: Gene Beers, Joan Kutcher, Janet Nicholls, and Marianne Romito

Agenda Item 2: Approval of Minutes for January 7, 2010 and February 4, 2010.

Ms. Bernard noted that the Planning Board had forgotten to approve the minutes of January 7, 2010 at its February 4th meeting, so she called for a vote to approve them now. Mrs. Kutcher voted to so approve the minutes from January 7, 2010, as corrected and Mr. Beers seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.
Ms. Bernard asked whether anyone had corrections to make to the February 4, 2010 minutes. She herself had a few minor corrections, which Ms. Laubmeier took note of and made on the computer. Mrs. Nicholls made the motion to accept the minutes as corrected; Mr. Beers seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

Agenda Item 3: Boundary Lot Line Adjustment for Linda Varelas and Tom Hitchcock, Tax Map Nos. 131.00-2-28 and 131.00-2-30: Rural Conservation Zoning District.

          Mr. Fancher from Rettew Engineering represented Mrs. Varelas tonight. He brought a Boundary Lot Line Adjustment application, complete survey maps, deed descriptions of the property before and after an exchange of ownership, and the fee of $50, which he gave to Ms. Laubmeier. The Planning Board members were surprised, as it had not been decided during a previous meeting with Mrs. Varelas whether the PB's approach should be a Boundary Lot Line Adjustment or an application for a Minor Subdivision, given the condition that this is a grandfathered property.
Mrs. Varelas had appeared before the Planning Board in January with her question of how to proceed on a property transfer from her brother Tom Hitchcock. She needed the extra land to build a tool shed and bring the lot size up to conform to Town of Jewett Law. The PB was not immediately certain that this case was applicable as a Boundary Lot Line Adjustment, and the situation had been heavily discussed at the January meeting.
Mr. Beers has given this situation a lot of thought. He said this situation becomes an opportunity for the Planning Board to put to use its full intention for being: to make life easier for applicants. The laws and by-laws that members have worked conscientiously to build since the inception of the PB can work out beautifully in this case, reversing the instance in the 1960's when Elwood Hitchcock divided the land for his children. He reasoned that the Boundary Lot Line Adjustment is the simplest way to proceed.
Mrs. Kutcher questioned the precedent the Planning Board might set for future cases, and wondered whether the Subdivision Application would be the better approach, since the acreage to shift is too large for the Boundary Lot Line approach. Mr. Fancher said that there is not any need to create a new building lot, that this was simply a transfer of land from brother to sister. Ms. Bernard asked the PB to consider whether the transfer of land would have been accepted by the PB if Mrs. Varelas had never come to it with her questions. The intention is correct, she said, to make a non-conforming parcel conforming.
Ms. Laubmeier read aloud the minutes from January. Mrs. Nicholls read aloud from the Boundary Lot Line Adjustment Law, Local Law 2 of 2000, which states in part the "purpose to allow minor adjustments of existing properties." The Planning Board has the power of discretion in deciding when the Boundary Lot Line Adjustment Law can be applied. No limit of acreage is set into the written law; therefore the PB chose to accept this approach.
Mrs. Kutcher made the motion that the Planning Board accepts the Application for Boundary Lot Line Adjustment with the two and one tenth (2.1) acres to be transferred at the discretion of the Planning Board. All of the required paperwork has been received. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Romito and subjected to a Roll Call Vote: Mr. Beers - aye; Ms. Bernard – aye; Mrs. Kutcher – aye; Mrs. Nicholls – aye; and Mrs. Romito – aye. Ms. Bernard signed the maps and two were saved for the file.

Agenda Item 4: Report from Greene County Planning Board Representative Gene Beers.

Mr. Beers said that the county meeting was cancelled again.

Agenda Item 5: Report from Town Board liaison J.R. Quackenbush.

Mr. Quackenbush could not be present tonight.

Agenda Item 6: Other Business: training reimbursement, and wintry snowstorms.

Ms. Bernard passed on the information that the training for the new GIS program will be accepted as required for the Planning Board members attending and reimbursed accordingly. Ms. Bernard also reported that the Town Board had approved a raise in salary for the Planning Board members. The second training for the GIS program will be on March 24th at the Hunter/Tannersville High School's new computer room. The program will be further developed as Planning Boards use it and determine what features will be needed.
Mrs. Kutcher said that Carol Muth and the highway crew did a fantastic job in responding to citizens' needs during the extreme weather. Ms. Bernard commented that she had heard many stories in support of this position. Mrs. Romito said that Mrs. Muth got Mr. Mallory to plow out a disabled neighbor. Mr. Beers said that he recalled the days when Mrs. Muth was first supervisor and praised her for her non-partisanship in dealing with both the Republican and Democratic parties within the Town of Jewett. Mrs. Muth has always put the town first.

          The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Beers, seconded by Mrs. Romito, and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:07 pm. The next meeting will be held April 1, 2010.

         
Respectfully,

Susan Laubmeier, Clerk

_____________________________
Donna Bernard, Chair