Philipstown Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

March 16, 2006

The Philipstown Planning Board held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, March 16, 2006 at the VFW Hall, Kemble Avenue, Cold Spring. The meeting was opened at 7:30 a.m. by the Chairman, George Cleantis.

Present: George Cleantis

Josephine Doherty

Kerry Meehan

Anthony Merante

Andrew Pidala

Pat Sexton

Tim Miller, Planner

Janell Herring

Tim Pagones, Counsel

Absent: Michael Gibbons

Public Hearing

Wheaton-Zelnick - Approval of a Minor 2-Lot Subdivision - 1524 Route 9D, Garrison: Discussion/Submission of revisions per comment

Mr. Cleantis said that the Board had a site visit on this parcel, saw that the drive was in place and had asked the applicant to see if they could make it less steep. He said that there were some drainage issues with regard to the drive, and the Board asked that the drainage not affect the septic system. Mr. Cleantis said that the Board also asked that there be no blasting and to save the trees and conserve the area between the drive and the road down below.

Ms. McCormack-Smith said that she did the profile and put the slopes on as was requested. She said that the driveway came out really good. The part where it takes up from the paved part to the building site, taking out a small point on it, she was able to keep 13.8 percent slope. Ms. Smith said that the other good thing about the driveway is that it is straight, because when you have a steep driveway and a lot of curves, it is harder to manager. She said that it is less than the fourteen percent and fits right into the grade of the existing driveway. There is a little bit of the existing driveway that exceeds the fourteen percent, but the house has been there for thirty years and fire trucks have been there twice, so they do manage to get in. Ms. Smith said that she had a detail of the portion of the driveway they are constructing for the new house and it showed the paved swale - how to get two catch basins and pipe under the drive and then the riprap dissipater. She said that the riprap dissipater is a hundred feet from the pavement of Route 9D and it does meet the requirements for the septic. Ms. Smith said that the other comment was regarding the blasting, which they are no longer proposing. She said that she had put a fifty foot wide strip along Route 9D that no trees would be removed. Ms. Smith said that Ms. Herring said the Board was speaking about the entire area below the driveway, so she was able to achieve all of the concerns.

Mr. Cleantis asked if the Board had any comments/concerns.

Mr. Merante said that they are trying to compare the original print and what is in front of them. He asked if along the traveled way there was a stone retaining wall that wasn’t on the last print.

Mr. Pidala said that it is drainage.

Ms. Smith said that it is a swale.

Mr. Merante asked if the cross hatched area close to the road is (did not finish sentence).

Ms. Smith said no tree cutting, but that might be expanded.

Mr. Cleantis said that Ms. Smith had mentioned something about a fifty foot buffer for the trees as opposed to a buffer all the way up.

Ms. Smith said yes, she thought it just was straight and did not think there was a problem.

Mr. Cleantis said that he would prefer to see it go all the way up to the driveway. He said that in other words, not disturb any of the vegetation from the driveway down to Route 9D.

Ms. Sexton said that if she had to take one or two of those trees down for the sun just to melt some of that (did not finish sentence).

Mr. Cleantis said that he thought that was a very important issue and it had to be worded to give the ability to remove something (did not finish sentence).

Ms. Smith said that she thought if you have fifty feet of trees and you’re going by at forty miles per hour, you’re not going to be disturbed by (did not finish sentence).

Mr. Cleantis said that he personally would have preferred to see it all nice and covered, but if there is a problem with sun, a tree falling, a dead tree or some landscaping they want to do, there is no reason why they shouldn’t have that, and he did not have a problem with that.

Mr. Miller said that with regard to the location of the proposed house, they had area to the south and he asked if that area had been tested as a possible septic area.

Ms. Smith said that it had been, but there wasn’t really enough room. She said that she had the septic area below it. Ms. Smith pointed it out and said that there really wasn’t enough area.

Mr. Miller referred to another area and asked if there was enough area there.

Ms. Smith said that it is in the steeper slope.

Mr. Miller said, so that would not comply.

Ms. Smith said and it would also require that she pump it.

Mr. Miller said that he only thought about it in terms of them having the area on the right. He said then the expansion area has to be cleared now also, and asked if that was right.

Ms. Smith said no. She said that it is clear. Ms. Smith pointed out the existing property line and the paved driveway. She showed where the grassy area came down and the area that was less than fifteen percent slope, and said that she convinced the applicant that on a septic area nobody builds anything so it wouldn’t affect the view from the house to look over a septic area. Ms. Smith said that is why she had to take the jog in the original property line.

Mr. Miller said that Ms. Smith had a note indicating that she was going to put electric service underground and he asked where that would be starting.

Ms. Smith said that there is a pole (pointed out). She said that it would be whatever is serving the house now and she has two wells that have to go in, so she would have to be coming around and then would probably come in on the side of the road and down.

Mr. Miller asked where the underground service would start.

Mr. Cleantis asked if it would start at the last pole that was up or one pole back.

Ms. Smith said that this pole (pointed out) would come out.

Mr. Cleantis asked if that was the one that the Board saw.

Ms. Smith said yes.

Mr. Cleantis asked if then she would go back to the next pole.

Ms. Smith said that Mr. Pidala was there and that she did not know anything about that.

Mr. Pidala explained and pointed it out to the Board on the plan.

Mr. Miller said that the note should also be changed to indicate the telephone and cable as well -all utilities.

Mr. Cleantis asked if anyone from CAC was present and wanted to comment.

There was no comment.

Mr. Cleantis asked if the public had any comment/question.

Mr. Ron Massaro introduced himself and stated that his property line borders the property they are talking about. He said that his concern is drainage and he wanted to know how many feet off of the road the first building would go, as he did not see that the parcel could support two houses. Mr. Massaro said that their other concern is that they are on the low side of the vein for the wells right now, and the applicant is putting in two more. He said that he wondered where their pressure is going to be at that point, because every time somebody puts another vein in there, their pressure keeps dropping down. Mr. Massaro said that his other question was the septic, because he saw where they did the test parts and did not know if there is going to be enough there for septic, as the drop off grade is over 45 degrees.

Mr. Cleantis asked Ms. Smith to point out to the Board where his property and well was and if she could respond to some of his questions with regard to the well, septic and drainage.

Ms. Smith pointed out Mr. Messaro’s property. She said that the drainage for the driveway is going to come along the swale, under the driveway into a dissipater.

Mr. Meehan asked if Mr. Messaro could identify where his well is.

Mr. Messaro did so.

Mr. Cleantis asked how the drainage would be coming down.

Ms. Smith said that the drainage will be seep drainage. She pointed out the swale along Route 9D and said that there is a state catch basin (pointed out) draining across the road and there is another one (pointed out) going across the road. Ms. Smith said that the DOT had indicated to her that these were sized and had adequate capacity.

Mr. Cleantis asked Ms. Smith if any of her drainage would impact his property.

Ms. Smith said that the drainage goes perpendicular to the contours. She said that Mr. Messaro’s property is over here (pointed out) and it would sheet drain this way (showed the Board). Ms. Smith said that she knew they did test holes, but that was another engineer.

Mr. Cleantis asked Ms. Smith to show Mr. Messaro where the septic is going.

Ms. Smith did so.

Mr. Cleantis asked Ms. Smith to point out where the two wells are going and asked why she was putting in two wells.

Ms. Smith said because the well for the existing house is twenty five feet from the septic.

Mr. Cleantis asked if that would be capped off.

Ms. Smith said that it has to be abandoned. She said that there is a standard - you have to fill the well with concrete.

Mr. Cleantis said that essentially there will be one well.

Ms. Smith referred to the plan, pointed to the well and said this one will take its place.

Mr. Cleantis asked where the two wells were located on the map.

Ms. Smith pointed them out.

Mr. Cleantis asked where Mr. Messaro’s well is located.

Ms. Smith pointed it out.

Mr. Cleantis asked if it was close enough or far enough to impact his wells or it was something they don’t know until (did not finish sentence).

Ms. Smith said that they don’t know.

Mr. Cleantis asked if there was any history that Ms. Smith knew of in the area that wells get sucked dry.

Ms. Smith said no, but they had a problem at the Garrison Golf Course when they were doing the watering and had drawn down a lot of wells in the area.

Mr. Cleantis said but that was more than a private house in terms of use.

Ms. Smith said that she was saying that if Boscobel is more like the golf course and if they are watering a lot, they can run down the wells. She said that use for a private house would not have the impact that watering the lawn over there would.

Mr. Messaro said that they are at low volume right now and when they built the last house on top of Beverly Warren Road, they went down another notch on it. He said that he was looking at this as where it could almost be in the same vein.

Ms. Smith said that it doesn’t really run like that. She said that you could drill right here (pointed out) and get nothing and then go over (pointed out) and get twelve gallons. Ms. Smith said that she has been doing this for forty years and has never found a pattern.

Mr. Miller asked Mr. Messaro when he said he was having pressure issues, what his actual experience was.

Mr. Messaro said that their actual volume went down.

Mr. Miller asked how he knew that.

Mr. Messaro said that they had it tested when they first put it in because they put a new pump in and then they had it tested after and definitely lost some volume on it.

Mr. Miller asked if the water level in Mr. Messaro’s well is lower than it used to be.

Mr. Messaro said yes.

Mr. Miller said, but he is not having a reduction in the amount of water coming into his spigot.

Mr. Messaro said that they can’t run it for any length of time. He said that they can’t water the lawn or anything like that, because then it will start tapping out their well.

Mr. Miller said but this is not affecting the operation of his home.

Mr. Messaro said no, only if they kept water running consistently.

Mr. Cleantis asked if anyone else in the public had any comment.

There was no comment.

Ms. Sexton made a motion to close the public hearing. Mr. Merante seconded the motion. The vote was as follows: George Cleantis - In favor

Josephine Doherty - In favor

Michael Gibbons - Absent

Kerry Meehan - In favor

Anthony Merante - In favor

Andrew Pidala - In favor

Pat Sexton - In favor

Mr. Miller distributed a Part 2 and stated that he did not see anything in the Part 2 that would rise to a potential large impact. Mr. Miller said that if the Board wanted to go through each item, he would do so, but again, he did not see anything there.

Mr. Cleantis said that the Board went to the site and looked at it very carefully. He said that if the Board wanted to go through the Part 2 one by one, it was fine, otherwise he didn’t see any reason to either.

Mr. Miller said to check everything “No”.

Mr. Cleantis said o.k.

Mr. Miller distributed a Resolution. He read it aloud to the Board.

Mr. Merante made a motion to adopt the Part 2. Mr. Meehan seconded the motion. The vote was as follows: George Cleantis - In favor

Josephine Doherty - In favor

Michael Gibbons - Absent

Kerry Meehan - In favor

Anthony Merante - In favor

Andrew Pidala - In favor

Pat Sexton - In favor

Mr. Cleantis asked if Mr. Miller would go through the Resolution.

Mr. Miller said that basically, it approves the subdivision with a couple of conditions - signature of plat by Health Department. He said that they are suggesting a note be added to the plat, and designating of area within100 feet of Route 9D as a no-cut zone. Mr. Miller said that he guessed in light of Ms. Sexton’s comments, the Board may want to change that. He said that if he was thinking about this in the right way, it is not clear to him that shortening that distance from 100 to 50 feet is going to make any difference - that driveway is not going to get the sun at that time, and he was not sure they are achieving what they were talking about. Mr. Miller said that the Board needed to decide and it was written for 100 feet right now as a no-cut zone.

Mr. Cleantis said that the hundred foot does not put it up to the driveway anyway, and they have room to cut trees along the side of the driveway if need be, so whatever the Board thought.

The Board agreed that 100 feet is o.k.

Mr. Miller said that they are looking for a maintenance agreement regarding the maintenance of the shared driveway and he thought they should add the condition that the note be changed from electric utilities to all utilities underground from their location on Route 9D to....any new utility extension.

Mr. Cleantis asked what kind of utilities there were.

Mr. Miller said that there’s cable and television. He said that it is a conditional approval and expires within 180 days.

Ms. Doherty made a motion that the Board accept the Resolution as amended (copy attached). Mr. Pidala seconded the motion. The vote was as follows:

George Cleantis - In favor

Josephine Doherty - In favor

Michael Gibbons - Absent

Kerry Meehan - In favor

Anthony Merante - In favor

Andrew Pidala - In favor

Pat Sexton - In favor

MCHP Realty LLC - Site Plan Application - 2761 Route 9, Cold Spring: Submission of revised plan

Mr. Pidala recused himself and left the table. He stated that he did so because he is a cousin of the applicant.

Ms. Margaret McMannis stated that they readdressed the site plan and reworked some of the grading mostly for stormwater reasons. They needed to direct the stormwater to the back of the property, as there is no outlet for it along Route 9. She said that with regard to the storage units, they’ve added a peaked roof to them mostly for an aesthetic reason. The planting has been readdressed and they’ve included a highway entry plan in the packet for the Board’s information. Ms. McMannis said that also in the packet is a revised EAF and copies of the keypad entry they are proposing for this site. She said that some of the pages to the site plan were revised parking spaces and an easier handicapped access parking. The grade of the site is basically coming up the driveway to the entrance where’s there’s a little island for the keypad - a car can come in, press the keypad and the gates will open allowing a car to access. The grading of the site drains to the back, where there will be stormwater retention and water quality treatment. There is a caretaker’s house and office.

Mr. Cleantis said that one of the things he noticed in the comments from the Board’s advisor which he would agree with entirely, is that the Board would definitely need building plans and elevations because there was such a massive structure going in there and it is very hard to envision what is going on without that. He said that secondly, as he had indicated last time, they are dealing with something that is approximately the size of a football field and buildings that are probably the size and shape of trailers, so the applicant needs to consider all of that as far as impact is concerned. Mr. Cleantis said that he noticed they had a couple trailer parks on Route 9.

Mr. Merante said pre-existing, non-conforming.

Mr. Cleantis said that one of the things he noticed passing by trailers going north at fifty miles an hour, is that it is not thrown in your face - it has good landscaping and has been there for many years. He said that landscaping does go a long way, site plan goes a long way, but they do have to consider that what they’re putting in there is something very akin to that kind of a thing.

Ms. McMannis said that the structures themselves will actually have a brick face on them - they are not a metal building. She said that it is a masonite, actually concrete that is etched to look like brick - you can’t tell the difference.

Mr. Cleantis said that another thing that is important to consider is that fact that with Polhemus, you might argue that this is slightly different, but with Polhemus there is a mixed use going in and this clearly also has a mixed use as well - there is a big private house going in front.

Ms. Sexton asked what trailer park Mr. Cleantis was talking about when he said it looked o.k. when he passed by it.

Mr. Cleantis said that it is the one on this side of 301.

Mr. Merante said that only alleviates part of his concern - the fact that it is brick-faced or simulated brick, because he thought it was going to look like a container port. He said that he had some real problems with it. Mr. Merante said that granted, it may be industrial zoned, but it is right in the middle of several residences and they’re putting this monstrosity in. He said that he had noticed and he may take some pictures of several other storage facilities - one on Merritt Boulevard in Fishkill, just off of Route 9. Mr. Merante said that you would never know it was a storage facility. It looks like an office building. He said that there is another one on Route 9 just before you get to Poughkeepsie Ford. It is a huge thing, but it looks like an office building. He said that he was certain there was a difference in the cost, but they are putting this right in the middle of a residential area even if this is zoned industrial, he has a real problem with it.

Mr. Miller said that something the Board may want to look at as an alternative would be to break this up into eight buildings that have space between them, peaked roofs, and really start to look a little more like residential. He said that he thought the biggest problem is the long mass of this - it is impossible to break it up, but if they were to do it three and three or four and four with some space, there’s going to be a little bit of loss of floor area, but at least that allows them to start to get a scale and an aesthetic and some roof lines that kind of mimic a residential idea and put a little bit of space there that doesn’t look like a big long line of things.

Ms. Doherty said that she thought that would make it more palatable to some of the Board members.

Mr. Meehan said that he would like to see some different renditions of what they could have there.

Ms. McMannis referred to the plan and said because of the grade change along here (pointed out), it isn’t one straight roof line - it is actually a stacked roof line, so it doesn’t look like one long continuous building.

Mr. Cleantis said that he was not hearing the Board condemn the use. He said that he thought the Board was saying that they really have to look very carefully at the architecture and how this is going to appear in that area. Mr. Cleantis said that if they could put together a package that is attractive - as attractive as the kind of thing that Mr. Merante, Ms. Doherty and the others are talking about, regardless of the fact that they might lose a little space, they might find the Board willing to go along with the plan a little bit. He said that this may be a controversial project and so it would behoove them to get a good architectural plan so that it works.

Mr. Meehan said that he would keep it one level.

Ms. McMannis said that it is proposed for one level.

Mr. Miller asked if Ms. McMannis was saying that this whole thing steps down and that the floor elevation is inconsistent for this project.

Ms. McMannis said that the buildings are quite long, so in order to achieve a one percent grade, the elevation has to change along. She said that these all (pointed out) have access off of the drive. So it would be like five units all at the same level, where you can grade back with the driveway to catch the grade, so that you can access it and then would most likely step up a half of foot or maybe a foot.

Mr. Miller said that this drains to the back, so it is stepping down as you go back.

Ms. McMannis said yes - it all drains to the back.

Mr. Miller said that he thought in light of that, it would lend itself even more so to even breaking up the buildings where they are stepping it. He said that they need to create some light out there - it is massive, and light between the buildings he thought was the only way they were going to get a good aesthetic out there.

Ms. McMannis said that they also sent a packet to Bibbo, but she did not think that the Board had received comments.

Mr. Miller said that they have not.

Andrew Pidala returned to the table.

Polhemus Construction Co., Inc. - Site Plan Application - Route 9D, Garrison: Submission of Revised Plans

Mr. Cleantis said that Polhemus Construction has requested to be dropped from the agenda this evening. A letter was received today, March 16, 2006.

Mr. Miller asked if he could make a comment with regard to this application.

Mr. Cleantis said sure.

Mr. Miller said that he was looking at the noise study that had been done by Badey and Watson. He said that he knows that the Board had gone out and listened to the screener and rock crusher and it doesn’t seem so bad, but the noise study that was done by Badey and Watson shows the machinery generating an excess of a hundred decibels at the source and it is a real high noise generator if that is what it is generating at the source. Mr. Miller said that a hundred decibels is a very loud sound and it shows the noise at the property line in the high sixties, so at the house it is also going to be in the high sixties - possibly seventy decibels, which exceeds the HUD guidelines for residential development and so forth. He said that their Code says you can do this and that with noise, but the Planning Board still has to deal with SEQRA and environmental issues, etc., and if the applicant is dead set on having these mixed uses on the property, he thought it may make sense to actually do a positive declaration and require an Environmental Impact Statement that is focused so that an acoustical engineer can actually do a real study that basically either demonstrates that the land uses are compatible and that there will not be an impact on the residential use within the property, or alternatively there is some way of mitigating it so that the exterior noise is consistent with residential living. Mr. Miller said that way, in the SEQRA process, the Board can decide if the impact is there, if it’s been mitigated enough, because if it hasn’t been mitigated enough and there’s still an impact, then the Board can’t approve it under the law. He said that he just felt like the applicant needs to be encouraged to address this in a little bit more deliberative way and that is a possible way of getting them there if this still is wanting to be a residential use.

Mr. Meehan said that they talked about that on their site visit.

Mr. Cleantis said not now, because the applicant was not present.

Mr. Meehan said that it is not a residence. He said that he has it rented out to a (did not finish sentence).

Mr. Miller said that he knows the family who lives there. He said that they are a family, they sleep there every night, there are three kids.

Mr. Merante said that they are living there. He said that he is conducting business out of there because as they said, he has a house in Beacon but he can’t do his business out of the house in Beacon, so he’s doing it here.

Mr. Cleantis said that he thought they had to assume that people will live in the house whether he does or not. He said that Mr. Miller’s point is well taken, it will be in the minutes and he thought it was worth reading them and preparing themselves for the next time they come in to decide whether or not the Board wanted to go that route. Mr. Cleantis said that if they come back before the Board and the members want to talk to him or anyone about their feelings, he would like to get some kind of a consensus as to how they want to proceed so that when they do come in, they can be prepared in a united way.

Mr. Merante said that he thought that was an important point. He said that he thought that maybe they should have an outside expert who has certified sound equipment and can make a determination.

Mr. Cleantis agreed and said that he thought that would make a very fair, unbiased opinion.

Ms. Sexton said that they spoke about that and it was missing in the minutes.

Ms. Doherty said that she thought they said last month that it was what they wanted.

Ms. Sexton said they agreed to have Bibbo or whoever because Ms. Herring said (did not finish sentence).

Ms. Herring said that they did talk about that.

Mr. Miller said that he would rather have an acoustic engineer do the study within the process of a positive declaration because if you can’t make findings that there is no impact, the Board cannot approve the project, and at the end of the day, people need to understand what they can do and what they can’t do and what land use rights are and what the Code says and what the law says and in this process, everyone will understand that.

Marangoni - Approval of a Minor Subdivision - Route 9, Garrison: Second 90-day extension

Mr. Cleantis said that the Board had a Resolution on this matter and asked if the Board wished to discuss it prior to going forward with it.

Ms. Doherty made a motion that the Board adopt the Resolution (copy attached) as presented. Mr. Pidala seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously and the vote was as follows: George Cleantis - In favor

Josephine Doherty - In favor

Michael Gibbons - Absent

Kerry Meehan - In favor

Anthony Merante - In favor

Andrew Pidala - In favor

Pat Sexton - In favor

Mr. Meehan asked if it was the last extension for this application.

Mr. Cleantis said yes, it was.

Mr. Meehan said that maybe it should be noted.

Ms. McMannis said that the client realizes the extension.

Correspondence

1. Letter dated February 22, 2006 from Eleanor Ruby to George Cleantis regarding Quarry Pond proposed development.

2. Letter dated March 1, 2006 from Bibbo Associates to the Planning Board regarding Walter Hoving Home site plan review.

3. Letter dated February 16, 2006 from the Town of Philipstown Planning Board to William Mazzuca, Supervisor regarding Quarry Pond SEQRA reimbursement.

4. Letter dated February 28, 2006 from the Town of Philipstown to all elected officials and Planning Board regarding approval procedures.

5. New York State DOT Roundabout Design Seminar on April 17, 2006 at the Desmond Hotel, Albany, New York.

Mr. Cleantis said that if anyone wished to go to please let him know.

6. Letter dated March 9, 2006 from Richard Shea regarding CAC’s concern with Planning Board receiving Garrison Golf Club PDD.

Mr. Cleantis read the letter aloud.

7. Letter dated March 13, 2006 from Bibbo Associates to the Planning Board regarding Holubar subdivision approval.

8. Letter dated March 15, 2006 from The Town of Philipstown to the Planning Board regarding Resolution for reimbursement for planning and engineering fees for the SEQRA Review of Quarry Pond.

9. Two emails from Michael Gibbons to the Planning Board.

Mr. Cleantis said that the Board received two emails that he wanted to share with the members. Mr. Gibbons had asked that the Board postpone discussion of the third Thursday versus fourth Thursday meeting with Mr. Miller, as he was not going to be present this evening. Mr. Cleantis said that also, he received a second email saying that Mr. Gibbons felt that it was not an issue of Mr. Miller being there or not, but rather that he had some conflicts with the third Thursday. So Mr. Cleantis said that his feeling was that the Board should just wait until next month when Mr. Gibbons comes back, so the Board can find out what his thoughts are.

Miscellaneous

- Letter regarding the Comprehensive Plan

Mr. Cleantis said that the Board had a letter in front of them this evening that needs to be signed. It is from the Philipstown Planning Board to William Mazzuca. He asked if Tim Miller Associates would go through the letter.

Ms. Herring said that based on the last workshop the Planning Board held, she tried to summarize it in the letter with regard to the accessory apartments. She said that the Board had felt that it wanted it studied further, so that is the first one. Ms. Herring said and then eliminating that 4B portion, the non-conforming uses and the non-conforming lots. She said that also, the last sentence is talking about the maintenance for private roads. Ms. Herring said that the second one is soil mining and that the Board felt it really wanted to see the soil mining map before it could further review that portion of it.

Mr. Cleantis said that he would prefer to postpone signing the letter this evening. He said that he would like to look at it a little more carefully, because they have been back and forth with these people and workshops. Mr. Cleantis said that he wanted to make sure everything they had talked about was included and asked the Board Members to read it on their own and either contact him or Ann by email to say “go ahead and sign as is” or include anything else they might want to include.

- ESP

Mr. Merante said that he noticed in going north on Route 9 that ESP has finally decided to put their stack on Route 9. He said that something has to be done with these guys. Mr. Merante said that they’ve made it a traffic hazard by people stopping, picking through the stuff and before they put a device to hold the things in place, it was rolling out into the road, and there are people there with their vehicles rummaging through it. He said that he thought the Board should insist that there be some sort of enforcement on this site. Mr. Merante said that other people have told him, though he had not seen it lately, that the front end loader has been there again - parked so that it is half-way out into the road - definitely over the white line. He said that he thinks he is out of control, he knows this matter is in court, but it has been going on for years.

Mr. Cleantis asked if he was clearly in violation.

Mr. Merante said that he is in court.

Mr. Cleantis said that he could assume by this being brought up that they’re suggesting there is noone else in the entire Town of Philipstown who has called Code Enforcement.

Mr. Merante said that he went in to the Code Enforcement Officer. It happened to be on a Thursday, when the full-time Code Enforcement Officer wasn’t there and he mentioned it to his assistant. Mr. Merante said that he said, “Oh yeah, he’s getting rid of old pipe”. Mr. Merante said, “well, it’s rolling into the road”. Then he said, “yeah I know, but now he put stakes up to keep it from rolling into the road”. Mr. Merante said that he’s talking into an apple pie. He said that he was going to write a letter to the Town Board and still may do it, but he wanted to bring it to the Board’s attention.

Mr. Meehan asked if that stuff was on State property.

Ms. Doherty said sure.

Mr. Merante said that he is well into the setback.

Mr. Meehan asked Mr. Merante if he called the State Police.

Mr. Merante said that he did not.

Mr. Cleantis said that everyone has the right individually to write to either the Town Board or Code Enforcement Officer. He said that he would encourage anyone who has an interest on the Board to do so as a citizen as the community. Mr. Cleantis said that they have done that in the past. He said that he is willing, if the Board wants and thought it would be appropriate, to write a letter. Mr. Cleantis said that this guy has taken the Board’s time for years now and he is defiant and is doing it with what appears to be the legitimacy of other members of the Town. He said that he would be willing to sign (did not finish sentence).

Mr. Merante said that he was going to write a letter himself as a citizen.

Mr. Cleantis asked if the Board wanted to send something as a Board to Mr. Monroe.

Ms. Doherty said that she did not understand why the Board was even entertaining their application when there are so many violations on that property and continues to be new violations such as this.

Mr. Cleantis asked if they could just send a letter saying that the Board will not even entertain the application until all the violations are cleared.

Mr. Pagones said that he would have to speak to Mr. Monroe and see if he is even in court.

Mr. Miller said that he is in court and the court has mandated that he prepare a site plan that is in conformance. He said that he has acquired more property, and has had a plan back and forth with the Board that requires many, many variances.

Mr. Cleantis said that he’s never even made any attempt to get any of them.

Mr. Merante asked if they remembered the last time he came before the Board and they were discussing the setbacks in the back, etc.

Several of the Board members said and agreed that it had been at least a year ago.

Mr. Pidala said that until he gets a violation, they should just give two years to straighten out.

Mr. Meehan said that he bought property in the back of the existing property. He said that if he utilized that, he wouldn’t have to go for a variance. Mr. Meehan said that he thought that was what Mr. Miller told his lawyer.

Mr. Miller said that he would have to look at the minutes, as he did not remember.

Mr. Cleantis said, but they had never come back with some kind of proposal. He said that they draw it out year after year, so that now they are literally years.

Mr. Meehan said that he did not need that much more property to reduce the amount of coverage to put him in legal status.

Mr. Merante said that on top of that, there was a safety issue. He said that he went by yesterday and a guy was literally half out into the northbound lane, rummaging through the pipes. Mr. Merante said that he has not only created zoning and site plan violations, but now he’s contributing to a traffic hazard.

Mr. Meehan said that if he calls the Sheriff and tells him there’s a hazard some place, he usually does something about it.

Mr. Merante said that he did not think of that, but he will.

Mr. Cleantis said that on the other hand, he did not want to get to the point where they are writing letters as a Board every time there’s a violation out there.

Mr. Merante said that he wanted to make the Board aware of another issue. He asked with regard to the application Mr. Giachinta had before the Board - the site next to Giachinta Concrete Products - where that went. He said that all the trees are cleared, he sees heavy equipment in there now and it looks like they’re starting excavation.

Mr. Miller said that there is no prohibition on that, so this is like a convenient way of getting your site ready. He said that there is no planning to be done now, no trees to be preserved. Mr. Miller said that the Code needs to be drafted for Route 9 anyhow that you can’t cut a tree without a permit because people go in, get the site ready and then what is there left to do planning-wise? He said that he would, if the Board would like him to, draft a local law and provide it to the Town Board that states that there shall be no tree cutting within the hundred foot of the center line of Route 9 or two hundred feet of the center line without a tree permit from the Planning Board.

Mr. Cleantis asked about disturbance.

Mr. Miller said that you have to cut trees before generally you can do disturbance. He said that if there are no trees there, it is not quite as serious an issue, but it is the trees that create the aesthetics of the corridor and if you don’t have some law like that, then you can’t complain because nobody’s done anything against the law.

Several Board members asked what the size of the trees were.

Mr. Miller said that there were some big trees there that were taken down.

Mr. Cleantis asked what is the size of the tree before you need a permit.

Mr. Miller said that he would say six inches.

Ms. Doherty asked if Mr. Miller would mind writing a letter.

Mr. Miller asked if the Board wanted to start at four inches.

Mr. Cleantis said that he and Ms. Sexton thought six.

Ms. Doherty suggested five, as that would split the difference.

Mr. Cleantis said that the Board all agreed unanimously that it is something very critically important with regard to that.

Mr. Merante said that at last week’s Town Board meeting, he had invited Dr. Michael Clemmens, who is the Director of the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, which is connected to Cortlandt, Somers, New Castle and Croton - there are a number of governmental bodies involved and they deal with all kinds of things that the Planning Board deals with - subdivisions, biotic environmental areas, clustering, housing, and they had just gone through five years of discussion on the comprehensive plan. Mr. Merante said that a couple of Board members contacted him and said that they would like to get him back and asked that he make connections with the Planning Board, Zoning Board and CAC together with the Town Board. He said that it will take some time to make these connections, but the people from the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance said that they would be interested in doing it again. Mr. Merante said that they’d like to get them back for a workshop session, maybe a Wednesday night if possible, for the Town Board to discuss a good many of these issues.

Mr. Meehan said that he was talking about the type of curb cuts - if you put a driveway in, you have to have a special kind of curb cut to allow the various creatures to go over the blacktop. He said that they can migrate and you don’t have any impediments.

Mr. Miller said that most of the driveways that get built - even oda roads - don’t have curbs. So in areas where new subdivisions are taking place on roads that are being dedicated to the Town, they have roads, they have curbs, and they have drainage in those roads, because they’ve got to direct the water and get it into the Town system. Mr. Miller said that here in Philipstown, it is very rare that we have curbs. Most of the time, it sheet flows off the edges and we don’t have that type of obstacle or obstruction to the movement of small (did not finish sentence).

Mr. Meehan said that he was saying if you do put a curb in, this is a better type of curb than the square.

Mr. Merante said that one of the things he was talking about was that rather than take a ten acre site and putting a house here on three aces, and there on three acres, and another house on three acres, do something like what is going on with Quarry Pond - take a number of units, put them in an area and leave the rest of the area open and don’t isolate animals. Mr. Merante said not only that, but human recreation - don’t have it in little pockets.

Approval of Minutes

- February 17, 2006

- June 16, 2005

- November 17, 2006

- January 19, 2006

- February 16, 2006

Mr. Pidala made a motion to adopt the minutes. Mr. Meehan seconded the motion. The vote was as follows: George Cleantis - In favor

Josephine Doherty - In favor

Michael Gibbons - Absent

Kerry Meehan - In favor

Anthony Merante - In favor

Andrew Pidala - In favor

Pat Sexton - In favor

Adjourn

Mr. Pidala made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Meehan seconded the motion. The meeting ended at 8:35 p.m.. The vote was as follows:

George Cleantis - In favor

Josephine Doherty - In favor

Michael Gibbons - Absent

Kerry Meehan - In favor

Anthony Merante - In favor

Andrew Pidala - In favor

Pat Sexton - In favor

Respectfully submitted,

Ann M. Gallagher

Note: These minutes were prepared for the Philipstown Planning Board and are subject to review, comment, emendation and approval thereupon.

Approved:_________________________________________