by Gary Danforth
A busy Town of Hoosick Planning Board meeting took place this past Monday evening, November 17, 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. Dunigan told fellow Board members that the Hoosick Fire Department, of which he is a commissioner, had put on hold, at least until Spring, 2009, the acquisition of the old Haynes Ford auto dealership as a potential site for a new fire house as Fire District residents had voted the proposal down.
In other action, a landowner by the name of Avis had an initial conference for a simple subdivision for land on Harkin Hollow Road, formerly the Pine estate, in which the present landowner would like to separate 4.6 acres from a 49 acre parcel. There is a dwelling on the property, and the land to be subdivided is on the south side of the road. They will be back before the Board.
Also, Rick Tinkham, representing Brian Pello, approached the Board about subdividing a parcel of land on Fog Hill Road into three parcels, two being about five acres and the third being about eleven acres. The land is the old Scott Areson parcel. The Board couldn’t find a letter which designated Tinkham to act on Pello’s behalf so they couldn’t proceed any further with this initial consultation.
Next, Barbara Sussman had a question for the Board concerning private roads within the township and was told private roads remain private roads unless taken over by the Town under strict specifications guided by law.
Then Jim Hoag and George Durkee approached the Board with questions about the Stearns subdivision which the Board had previously approved. Town Planning Board Attorney Dennis King advised the Board that this was a closed matter before the Board and also advised Hoag, a former Planning Board member, and Durkee, to review the Planning Board file on this matter as it was a matter of public record and also that they could get a copy of maps filed on this action through the County Planning Board office. Hoag and Durkee said a road to the Stearns subdivision may be in error and wondered how the Board could approve such an action if this were the case. Hoag and Durkee thanked the Board and will check into this matter further.
Also, a property owner in Buskirk, who has had an existing machine/fabrication shop on the land for years, located on Route 67, the site of the former Monty Wolfrum automobile repair shop, approached the Board about adding his own auto repair and sales activity to this existing site. After brief discussion with the Building Inspector, who was in attendance and who knew the site, the Board waived any further action for this site, okaying the property owner to go ahead with his auto repair/sales endeavor.
Next, Attorney George Holbrook, representing the Fitzpatrick estate, approached the Board about another possible reconfiguration of this land because the landowner wants to build a home on another section of the land. Prior to this, the Board had approved a simple subdivision and a reconfiguration of this land. After looking at a plot map, the Board pointed out that there would be no road frontage for this home per the proposed reconfiguration, which would mean the parcel would not be a stand-alone parcel and so it couldn’t be sold by itself in any future sale to another party. The party could build the home on the reconfigured lot and submit an application for a boundary line adjustment with language in the deed that this new parcel would be a stand-alone lot. Holbrook will further discuss this proposal with his client. Holbrook also asked the Board for a copy of the Planning Board minutes of October, 2008, in which this parcel had been approved as a reconfigured land parcel.
Next, two women came before the Board representing themselves and another party for information about property on Ball Street which they had purchased from the Fitzpatrick estate. They said they may build a horse arena and three homes on the 92 acre parcel. They were told they would need to have road frontage for each home or they would have to build a private road, which could be shared, to the homes. They said they were interested in hosting collegiate horse competitions from Williams College as one of the women was a horse trainer for the Williams College equestrian team. They said equestrians from other colleges would come to their facility and use their horses for the different competitions. It was noted that this was just a preliminary discussions about the project. The Board informed the women that they would need to review copies of the site plan review law and the subdivision law and submit an application for any and all of this before any more could be done.
The busy meeting adjourned at 8:36 pm.