Hearing to focus on alternate members for boards
PORT EWEN, N.Y. >> The Esopus Town Board has scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, Feb. 4, on a proposal to add two alternate members to the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.
The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Town Hall, 284 Broadway, Port Ewen.
Under the proposal, the alternate members of the two seven-member boards would serve one-year terms and would substitute for regular members who are “absent or unable to participate because of a conflict of interest.”
“This has previously been discussed at different board meetings over different years,” town Coun
cilman Jared Geuss said.
“The [Planning Board] chair was the one who brought this to us couple years ago,” Geuss said. “We just never got the ball rolling on it until this year.”
Planning Board members review site plans, special-use permits, property subdivisions, lot line adjustments and site development plan applications. The town says the board’s role is to balance “conservation, preservation and development at all levels, including industrial and residential uses.”
Town Councilman Chris Farrell noted that longtime Planning Board member Fred Zimmer is expected to step down but could be available to fill in if necessary.
“You don’t want to lose his knowledge,” Farrell said. “He’s invaluable.”
Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals are responsible for resolving questions about landuse regulations or providing a way to contest decisions from the code enforcement officer. Issues the board examines include the height and size of buildings; the percentage of a lot that may be occupied; the size of yards, courts and open spaces; the density of project populations; the location and use of buildings; and whether structures and land are properly being used for commercial, industrial or residential purposes.
Applications currently are being sought to fill a vacancy on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Town Board had planned to schedule public hearings in 2017 on adding alternates to the boards, but they were called off when an attorney for the town wrote that decisions could be overturned in court if alternates were used.
Three years ago, town officials drafted a resolution to allow alternates on the boards after three town Planning Board hearings had to be rescheduled due to the lack of a quorum.
Town Councilman Chris Farrell noted that longtime Planning Board member Fred Zimmer is expected to step down but could be available to fill in if necessary.