by Gary Danforth
The Town of Hoosick Planning Board meeting took place this past Monday evening, August 18, in the Hoosick Falls Armory with Interim Chairman Jim Dunigan calling the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Following the Pledge of Allegiance the minutes of the previous month’s meeting were approved, with three corrections noted.
First, Peter Schaaphok appeared before the Board and explained that he wanted to relocate his business from South Troy to Hoosick. The 10,000 square foot assembly plant would be a steel frame building with a metal roof. The applicant had previously submitted an application. The party said the proposed project is not going to take place in an agricultural district. Two neighbors to the project were present to listen to the proposed plan. The total acreage of the parcel is 13.84 with building to take place on 2.5 acres. No trees will be disturbed. Utilities will need to be installed with the site plan showing traffic flow, lighting, signage and handicapped parking and access areas. Test borings were also shown. The water table depth will not be known until a well is dug. The applicant and the Board are still trying to determine whether this site plan is within the parameters of the Town’s comprehensive plan. It is hoped that the answer will be resolved by next month’s meeting once the comprehensive plan is gone over by the Board and applicant. The Board declared the project to have a negative impact on the surrounding environment. The Board passed a motion that the application packet was complete with the application packet being sent to the Rensselaer County Department of Health for approval. The Board set a public hearing for this project for 7 pm on September 15 before the next regular monthly Planning Board meeting. Schaaphok will come back before the Board next month.
Next, a land owner appeared before the Board wanting to subdivide his land located at 29 East Hoosick Road. There are eleven total acres to this parcel. They were present before the Board last month. The Board passed a motion that this would be a simple subdivision.
Then, Robert Breese, representing the Hoosick Fire District, appeared before the Board to discuss the Fire District acquiring the former Haynes Ford auto dealership lands, which would result in the land being used for a different purpose. Two disclosures had been made in the previous meeting concerning this proposed project. First, Stan King, the Town planning Board attorney, disclosed that he had agreed to represent the Hoosick Fire District in this matter prior to the Planning Board meeting and this could be a potential conflict of interest, but he believed this would be up to the Board to decide. Second, Jim Dunigan, the Interim Planning Board Chairman, disclosed that he was a Hoosick Fire District commissioner. Both of these disclosures could be potential conflicts of interest, with the latter not being able to vote on any Planning Board matter concerning this change of use. The residents of Hoosick will vote on whether the District will acquire the Haynes property in an election on August 26. The Board agreed that the Town Building Inspector will need to decide whether the potential new land owners of the former Haynes Ford parcel, potentially the Hoosick Fire District, would even need to come before the Planning Board for a site plan application process, based on the change of land use. A preliminary site plan was gone over with existing lighting, utility and septic systems, along with any impact on local schools discussed. The Board would waive having a site plan on linen along with lighting, floor elevations, a topographic map, grade contours, landscaping planning, parking plans, a survey, an engineer’s stamp on the project, interior design, a seating plan, service and storage areas and a scale of building heights. Handicapped parking and access to the existing building and traffic flow patterns would need to be shown. A short form environmental assessment form would need to be filled out. Breese said two additional overhead doors would need to be installed on site and two existing overhead doors would need to be enlarged. Breese and other fire department officials will be back before the Board next month if the Hoosick voters approve the department’s move to the Haynes Ford property.
Finally, Tim Holt, appeared before the Board wanting a boundary line adjustment to his 25 acre parcel in the vicinity of Bardee Road. He wanted to deed over a thirty foot parcel so a neighbor could have road access to a now land locked parcel. The Board approved this as a boundary line adjustment with language in the deed stating that this thirty foot strip of land could never be a stand alone parcel.
The warm, stuffy meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm.