TOWN OF NORTH HARMONY
PLANNING BOARD
TUESDAY, 09/14/2021, 7:00 PM
MEMBERS PRESENT: PAT RICE PHIL STRAND
JIM GOODLING RICHARD JOHNSON
GARY WINGER BRANDON VANCURAN (alternate)
WALTER GEIST
Brad Lawson, Zoning C.E.O
OTHERS PRESENT: Stephanie Gibbs, Dick Sena, Dale Robbins/Kelly Johnson, Mike Pfeil, Don McCord,
- PAT RICE OPENED THE MEETING AT 7:00 PM.
- DICK SENA, TOWN COUNCIL GAVE TOWN REPORT. (See 9/13/2021 Town Board Minutes)
- MR. LAWSON, ZONING C.E.O. GAVE ZONING REPORT.
- Mr. Lawson said there is an individual named Brandon Feinen that would like to appear at the October planning board meeting to discuss a potential project at property 2118 Magnolia Ave to convert the existing building to a climate-controlled self-storage which is not compatible with the current zoning.
- Cannabis
- Mr. Johnson asked if the town board is going to act on Cannabis in the November or December board meeting. Mr. Sena said they must act on it by December. Mrs. Johnson said the deadline is December 31st. Mr. Sena said there are some locals trying to extend that date. Mr. Sena said one reason we didn’t opt out initially is because if we stay in, we can dictate certain things such as where it can be and where it can’t be. If we opt out, we can only opt out of the dispensary and the parlors and everything else is there anyway and we don’t have control over anything. Mr. sena said all the communities are opting out so we thought we should do the same thing. Mrs. Johnson said beside location you can control times they can be open and when they must be closed, days of the week they can’t be open, ect. She said right now they still need to set up committees to put together regulations to abide by. She said if you opt out you wave your rights to control and any rights to tax benefits. If you opt out there is no guarantee you will be able to partake in the tax benefits. Mr. Goodling asked if you have not opted out before December 31st can you still opt out after. Mrs. Johnson said they have not clarified that but as far as we know, no. Mrs. Johnson said there is 13% sales tax on cannabis. Mrs. Johnson said the town will have a public hearing.
- Solar
- Mr. McCord said there are very minor changes. He said on page 7 he corrected the chart on page 8 he added on the right side of the chart that we are limiting to 110% of the electricity consumed in the site for the previous 12 months. He said the only exception to that would be if the farms get an agricultural exemption. Mr. Winger thought the maintenance statement should come first on page 10 number 8. Mr. McCord said the last question on page 11, the Agricultural impact statement he looked into, and a lot of these cases it is asked to have and agricultural impact statement in order to assess what the impact is on agriculture of the town. He said it is not the towns responsibility if we get to a complete tier 4 to do an agricultural impact statement it would be the responsibility of the contractors not only in the agricultural districts but outside of the district as well. Mr. McCord said the only other changes were to add in the some of the languages were we only had tier 3 and we thought it should be tier 3 and 4. Mrs. Johnson asked if the batterie law was a different law or if it was included in the law they were working on. Mr. McCord said it is a separate law. Mr. VanCuran asked if it would be known by the fire department if someone has solar. Mr. McCord said it should be.
- MOTION
MR. WINGER MOTIONED TO RECOMMEND TO FORWORD THE ADVISED SOLAR LAW AS DISCUSSED BY THE PLANNING BOARD TO THE TOWN BOARD SECONDED BY MR. GEIST. YES (7) NO (0)
- COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
- Mr. Rice asked Don McCord what he thought about the comprehensive plan. Mr. McCord said North Harmony hasn’t changed a lot, but we need to think about the change sewer may bring. He thinks it is worth looking at.
Next regular meeting scheduled October 19, 2021, at 7:00 P.M.
- MOTION
- ON A MOTION MADE BY MR. GEIST, SECONDED BY MR. JOHNSON AND NONE BEING APPOSED, THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:30 PM
Stephanie Gibbs
Deputy Town Clerk
