Town of North Harmony
Planning Board
Tuesday, 2/20/2018, 7:00 PM
Members Present: Pat Rice Dick Johnson
John Warner Louis Rieg
Phil Strand Walter Geist
Brad Lawson, Zoning C.E.O
Others Present: Don McCord, Stephanie Gibbs, Dick Sena
Mr. Rice opened the meeting at 7:00 PM.
Mr. Lawson, Zoning C.E.O. gave report.
Mr. Lawson said Mrs. Grice’s property on the old map was commercial property and on the new map shows it is not.
Mr. Rice said he does not think it was the towns intentions to make that change.
Mr. Lawson said the owners of Lakeside Grocery was showing interest in the property as a commercial property.
Mr. McCord said we changed it to R3 when the town redid the comprehensive plan.
Mr. McCord said the town would have to rezone it if they wanted it to be a commercial property.
Mr. Lawson said other than that the town has been quiet.
Mr. Lawson said there has been a couple zoning issues which includes a deck built to close to the lake that has also caused other issues such as forcing water onto the neighbor’s yard.
Mr. Lawson said the town has made the decision to make them take it out.
Mr. Lawson said another issue is a garage that was build on Loomis Bay received an area variance for being too close to the property line and the property was not the correct size to build on.
Mr. Lawson said another issue was a pond went in illegally on Route 394 on the lakeside of 394. Dave Span looked at it and was ok with the pond and the pond seems to be in good shape but does need a couple things fixed with it. The owner will be coming in front of the zoning board soon.
Mr. Lawson said a saw mill went in on Warner Rd. and was put in illegally. It is not permanent, and they plan to be out late spring, early summer. The Zoning Board ended up allowing them to run with some conditions.
Mr. Sena said the Board talked about some disciplinary action for illegal building.
Mr. Lawson said he sends a letter and give them to the time to fix it. If they don’t fix it, they get an appearance ticket to come before the judge. If it still is not fixed they can then give them a fine.
Mr. McCord discussed sticking to the town law and enforcing it.
Mr. McCord said other towns charge more for the permit if they build before getting a permit.
Mr. McCord said our code is currently lax. A fine will make people think twice about getting around the law.
Mr. Sena said the Town Board finally passed the Solar Law
Mr. Sena said Kathy Young came up with a grant program and talked to Sally about applying for a grant for a million dollars for a new building. The Town Board authorized Sally to go ahead with applying for the grant.
Mr. Rice asked what was going on with the sewers.
Mr. Sena said we were getting closer but would have to turn over our sewer district.
Mr. McCord said we are continuing to work on funding.
Architectural Plan:
Mr. McCord said there was already a current plan that already has some guidelines that we are looking for such as the pitch roof and the parking location.
Mr. Warner said he would like to see something in place that is specific but not too
much.
Me. Sena said we could possibly include photos as examples to go along with what we are looking for.
Mr. McCord said he could possibly have something ready in May.
There was discussion about having lake access to the lake in the town.
There was discussion about the Celeron Hotel.
Next regular meeting scheduled for April 10, 2018 at 7:00 P.M.
Walter Geist motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Phil Strand.
All in favor yes (5) No (0)
Meeting adjourned at 8:30PM
Stephanie Gibbs
Deputy Town Clerk