Yorktown Town Board Work Session and Public Hearings - March 12, 2024
Yorktown Town Board Work Session and Public Hearings - March 12, 2024
The Yorktown Town Board held a work session and multiple public hearings on March 12, 2024, addressing a range of topics including a deck construction wetland permit, a grant writing service contract, two moratoriums (large-scale energy systems and smoke shops), a major rezoning petition from Toll Brothers, traffic safety measures, a lake dredging project, and a do-not-knock registry. The meeting included public comments, board deliberations, and several votes.
Consent Calendar
- UV Lamp Replacement Extension: Authorized extension of ultraviolet lamp replacement disinfection system bid for the Water Pollution Control Plant for its final one-year term, including quartz lamp ink and quartz sleeves.
- Personnel Actions: Granted permanent status to Nizen Cahori (Senior Office Assistant); authorized termination of Zoe Cosmo from John C. Hart Memorial Library.
- Refund: Authorized refund of $512.12 to water account 2098 due to overpayment.
- Police Training: Authorized one officer to attend DCJS-sponsored traffic crash reconstruction training (April 21-25, Monroe County).
- Budget Transfer: Authorized budget transfer from water department for legal department.
- Change Order: Authorized change order #2 ($2,812.50) with Coran Maine for additional plumbing at 18 locations.
- Grant Application Support: Authorized agreement with Weston & Sampson Architects PC for grant application support ($4,009) for water district structural relining project.
- Lease: Authorized lease of rooms in the Albert A. Cappellini Community and Cultural Center to Felam Self-Defense Inc., subject to permissive referendum.
- Tax Sale: Authorized in-rem tax foreclosure proceedings for parcel 225 Underhill Avenue (one-year sortiary).
- Letter of Support: Authorized letter to support NYS Bills S8614 and A9287 to legalize nutrient inactivants.
Public Comments & Testimony
- 3167 Lincoln Drive Deck: Kevin (Amazon Road) expressed no concern about the deck, provided conditions are met, noting DEC already blessed the project (though a written letter is still needed).
- Grant Writing Service: No public comments.
- Large-Scale Energy System Moratorium: Multiple speakers:
- Jay Copstein urged immediate passage of the moratorium without delay, asking for all correspondence to be posted online.
- Larry Killian cautioned about legal risks of moratoria, urged explicit reasoning, and called for open work sessions with public reports and analyses.
- David Cooper (attorney for IBM and other clients) requested that projects already processing applications before the planning board be allowed to continue at their own risk, and that certificates of occupancy (COs) for approved projects not be blocked.
- Brian Rosenblatt advocated for adopting the moratorium as is, but supported allowing COs for projects near completion; opposed allowing reviews to continue during moratorium, as it burdens residents.
- Paul Moskwitz (Climate Smart Community task force) raised questions about cutting mature forests for solar and industrial installations in residential areas.
- Dan Strauss criticized the board for not acting earlier, stating the process is flawed and that the moratorium should have been enacted two years ago.
- Susan Siegel supported the moratorium due to inaction on known issues, but urged open discussions before drafting amendments.
- Peyton Boswell (Woodfield Renewables) requested that projects already substantially complete (like his) be exempted from the CO prohibition to avoid financial harm.
- Ken Belford supported the moratorium but urged reasonable exclusions for projects that have gone through review and are near completion.
- Dennis Fair (PowerFlex/IBM project) defended the planning department and suggested applying existing laws better rather than a moratorium.
- Smoke Shop Moratorium: Jay Copstein urged moving the question tonight without delay.
- Toll Brothers Petition: No public comments (the discussion was a project update, not a public hearing).
- Traffic Safety: No public comments.
- Teatown Dredging: No public comments.
- Do Not Knock Registry: No public comments.
Discussion Items
- 3167 Lincoln Drive Deck (Wetlands Permit): The applicant seeks to construct a deck on an existing home. DEC conducted a site visit and indicated no objection, but a written determination is pending. The board discussed conditions requiring a DEC permit for buffer activity, a $300 monitoring fee, a $500 erosion control bond, and a pre-construction meeting. The town board adopted a negative declaration under SEQRA and approved the wetland permit with conditions.
- Grant Writing Service – GNG Municipal Consulting: The board interviewed three firms in closed session and selected Jay from GNG Municipal Consulting. Jay described his experience (former county legislator, grant success up to $9M) and proposed including a New York Forward grant ($4.5M) in the contract. The board voted to hire GNG, effective April 1, 2024.
- Large-Scale Energy System Moratorium: A proposed six-month moratorium on permits for large-scale energy systems (≥1 MW). Discussion focused on exempting projects that have already received site plan approval and building permits (or COs). The planning board recommended allowing projects with planning board approval to proceed, while others could continue review at their own risk. The board reached consensus to remove COs from the moratorium and allow reviews to move forward if applicants sign a waiver acknowledging risk. The moratorium will be redrafted and brought back for a vote.
- Smoke Shop Moratorium: A six-month moratorium on approvals for smoke/vape shops, prompted by a recent case where a “smoke and candy shop” sold marijuana to minors and was shut down via tax enforcement. The board discussed the need for stronger local laws, including restrictions near schools and a “one and done” policy for violations. The public hearing was closed and the moratorium was adopted unanimously.
- Toll Brothers Petition (Zoning Map Amendment): Update on a proposal to rezone 50 acres at the Field Home property for a 118-unit active adult (55+) community. The applicant presented numerous studies (stormwater, traffic, recreation, historic, I&I, aesthetic, wetlands). Key issues: I&I mitigation (town is studying system, Toll Brothers offered 1:1.5 mitigation contribution), recreation offset (loss of practice field, $150,000 contribution to upgrade upper Hunterbrook field plus $472,000 recreation fee), and visual impacts from trails. The board directed staff and planning board to complete review of the new submittals before determining SEQRA significance. Emergency services impact may need further study.
- Traffic Safety Committee Report: Highway Superintendent Dave Paganelli presented findings from the committee (which is not televised; attorney will research open meetings law). Decisions on numerous traffic requests: speed bumps denied on Spruce/Sunny Ridge, Springhurst, Sagamore, Loader Road, Ridge Street, Lookout Street; stop signs added at Hunterbrook/Whitehill (already installed), Spruce/Judy, Strang/Woodlands; speed limit reductions on Mountain Road to 20 mph, Wood Street hill to 20 mph, Underhill Avenue to 30 mph (118 to Overhill); no parking on Revere, Birdsall; weight limit and speed reduction on Aqueduct Road; flashing stop signs on Strawberry Road; and others. Several items will require local laws and public hearings.
- Teatown Lake Dredging Project: Update from Tim Judge. Army Corps of Engineers will not require a permit. DEC and DEP comments addressed: septic system protection (steel plates), soft start for aquatic organisms, invasive seed bank solarization, and wildlife crossing culvert. Final drawings and responses to DEP letter are being prepared.
- Do Not Knock Registry: Town Clerk Diana Quast proposed a comprehensive rewrite of the peddler/solicitor law, including a do-not-knock registry. Police chief prefers no law. Board agreed to draft a local law for future work session.
Key Outcomes
- 3167 Lincoln Drive Deck: Adopted negative declaration and approved wetland permit WP 05923 with conditions (unanimous).
- Grant Writer: Hired GNG Municipal Consulting effective April 1, 2024 (unanimous).
- Large-Scale Energy Moratorium: Consensus to revise draft to exempt projects with planning board approval and allow review at own risk; will return for vote.
- Smoke Shop Moratorium: Adopted unanimously (public hearing closed, motion passed).
- Toll Brothers: Board directed staff to complete review of updated studies before determining SEQRA significance; I&I mitigation and emergency services impact to be studied further.
- Traffic Safety: Approved several measures; items requiring local laws to be drafted by town attorney and scheduled for public hearing.
- Teatown Dredging: Progress reported; final drawings and responses pending.
- Do Not Knock Registry: Draft law to be prepared for work session.
- Resolutions (Consent Calendar): All passed unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the March twelfth, twenty twenty-four uh work session. If we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Sergio, would you lead us up? Certainly. I pledge allegiance to decline the United States of America. And to the Republic, it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice. And if we could have a moment of silence, uh for you'd remain standing. Uh moment of silence for uh all of our first responders and soldiers fighting for our freedoms and keeping us safe every day. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. All right. Uh just before we jump into this, we're waiting for our grant writing service uh person to get online. Uh, but I will um mention just one thing. The American Legion is having an open house this Friday from starting at 4 p.m. 235 Veterans Road, and that is celebrating the Legion's 105th anniversary. So please stop by. They're gonna do uh presentations, I'll have things set up for uh from World War II, Vietnam, Korea, and uh possibly even some World War I stuff if I could get it down to them as well. So it should be interesting, uh a lot of a lot of stuff. Learn about the history of the Legion and uh what they do, and they are also opportunities. Uh if your father or grandfather served for uh someone to be in the Sons of the American Legion, and I think it's uh a little less stringent on on the or there's more opportunities of people serving for the uh for the American Legion Auxiliary for both men and women as well. So uh they're starting that up, and you can find some information out about that. Not yet. All right. Um, he will have to wait. We'll uh convene our public hearing for 3167 Lincoln Drive for the construction of a deck. Um Dan, you want to come up and uh talk about it real quick? Good evening. Um so as minor as this sounds, uh we're just putting a deck on the rear of an existing home. Um chapter um what is it, chapter 178, our wetlands law, uh doesn't allow uh the the issuance of an administrative permit when there's a state wetlands involved. So because of the presence of the state wetlands, we it appears they're in the buffer. I don't know if it's been flagged yet or not, but the applicant's architect is here and can get into that a little bit. But basically, that's that's why this Meyer is an issue as it is. What's triggering it is the uh proximity to the state regulated weapons. Did we have a letter from the state declaring that they did not think it was state? All right, yeah, the last uh I saw I believe there was a letter uh to assist the applicant with the procedure to have a state weapons biologist come to the property and evaluate the uh the boundary of the state weapons. I was under the impression that uh they had all of that in place and they were gonna use special sonotubes and all this other stuff. We did have somebody coming from you, Paul's from New York State uh DC uh checking the property and they said everything is fine. You have a letter that says that or something that's documented. So far we uh we have not received um have a they call me directly they call me directly and they did came over the uh they look around, they didn't say anything, they just say everything is fine. So we will request uh Yeah, I mean I guess we need to see something in writing, right? Well, we have something here. Uh this action is located outside New York City's watershed, as such, no further review is required. This is from DEP. Thank you. Uh Planning Board, suggests Foundation Plan Provider. Conservation Board. Uh it's kicked to the conservation board by planning. And uh there was no tree permit. I thought there was another.
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