Town of Otsego Planning Board

Minutes – April 22, 2008

A special meeting (workshop) of the Town of Otsego Planning Board was held on this date and convened at 7:31 PM. Members present were Paul Lord (Chairman), Donna Borgstrom (Vice-Chairman), John Phillips, Doug Greene, and Steve Purcell. Zoning Enforcement Officer John Stucin and Planning Board Clerk Bill Deane were also present. Members Wes Ciampo and Joe Galati were absent.

Deane distributed copies of the March/April 2008 Talk of the Towns & Topics (the only correspondence received since last meeting), the April 1 meeting minutes, and the May 6 meeting agenda. The Board proceeded to the discussion of potential Land Use Law revisions, as assigned during the April 1 meeting.

Phillips discussed home offices/home occupations, which he believes are interchangeable terms. The Land Use Law refers to “private offices,” “home offices,” and “home occupations,” but only the latter is currently defined in the Law. Phillips said he consulted with the Association of Towns in trying to find definitions used elsewhere. He said the main difference between home offices and businesses, as he sees it, is that a business usually involves a retail trade, whereas a home office usually involves a service. Lord said the key issues from the public’s standpoint are signs and traffic/parking. Greene suggested that Phillips go through the list of permitted home occupations in Section 6.03 on page 26 of the Land Use Law, seeing how each fits with the various terminology. Lord suggested that Phillips download the Land Use Law from the Town’s web-site, doing a search for the various terms. Phillips will continue to work on this issue.

Purcell discussed “Principal building per lot” in Section 3.04 on page 16 of the Land Use Law. The problem with this section involves the last paragraph: “The identified land area associated with each principal building shall be sufficient to provide independent water supply and sewage system in accordance with the requirements of Section 3.02.” It is not clear whether having two or more principal buildings on a single lot requires that they have separate water and septic systems, or just the room to accommodate them, which would make more sense. The consensus was to add wording to the end of the paragraph, such as, “unless contractual agreements or easements are included on the plat and provided for Planning Board review.” Purcell will consult with Planning Board Attorney Jim Ferrari and draft a proposed revision to this section. Lord asked Purcell to also look at the definition of “multiple family dwellings.”

Greene discussed the definition of “private road,” and distributed copies of relevant sections from the Town’s Land Subdivision Regulations; existing definitions from The New Illustrated Book of Development Definitions; and his proposed changes, borrowed from State Law. Phillips noted that the Town is not allowing any new Town roads, so private roads are the only alternatives for development. Lord said that the Town will take over private roads once they are “paid for.”

Lord distributed copies of his draft for new Section 2.13, defining “Heirloom Barns and Buildings.” He had originally proposed such a section in April, 2007, while working with the Comprehensive Planning Committee. Lord asked members to look at the special permitted uses in each of the districts listed in his draft (RA-1, RA-2, H-R, H-B, GB-1, GB-2, and R/E), considering whether there are any potential problems in adding this section.

Lord also distributed a list of not-yet-implemented Planning Board Land Use Law change recommendations from August, 2006 to the present. The Board discussed some of these. Lord did not bring up two items mentioned during the April 1 meeting: the definition of “structure” with regard to driveways, or the requirement of a land use permit before construction (Section 7.02).

Borgstrom discussed the definition of “campground.” She looked at many definitions used elsewhere (remarking on the unusual term, “cabin colony,” used in Fulton, NY), and decided that Otsego’s is adequate as it is. Borgstrom thinks the problem is in the definition of “motel,” assigned to Ciampo, who was not at tonight’s workshop [Ciampo later e-mailed his findings and proposal to the members].

Chairman Lord asked the members to be ready to submit final language (and location in the Land Use Law) for the proposed changes assigned to them, in May.

Stucin asked the Board’s guidance on a few specific cases which had come to his attention.

At 9:38, Steve Purcell moved to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Deane

Planning Board Clerk