by Alex Brooks
At a special meeting of the Petersburgh Planning Board held on Monday, December 13, Chairperson Janet Spitz said the application for approval of a high-end camping resort on East Hollow Road has been withdrawn by the developer. The communication from the developer’s attorney confirming withdrawal of the application did not state the reason for it, but it appears to be about additional permits that may be required and the possibility that it would be be declared a Type 1 action under SEQRA, which would require an extensive (and expensive) environmental review. The Eastwick Press contacted said attorney, John Hartzell, who said he had no comment on the reason it was withdrawn.
Chairperson Spitz said she received multiple angry e-mails from the developer, Becca Benvie, accusing Spitz of mismanaging the project review and sabotaging the project. While Spitz admits to some missteps in the project review because she is learning on the job, she said she initially liked the sound of the project and was by no means opposing it from the start. She also noted that she joined the Planning Board after the review of this project had begun, and she didn’t become the Planning Board Chairperson until late October, six months or so after the project review had started.
The review of this project has been a bruising process, and Spitz brought this up to initiate a conversation with her fellow Board members about their process moving forward. She said she has seen a large number of e-mails between members of the Town Board and Planning Board maligning her personally, and that this has created a hostile work environment on the Planning Board, which she said is illegal and has to stop. She said it’s fine for members of the Planning Board to disagree on the matters before them, but it should be done in a professional manner, maintaining respect for each other and refraining from personal comments. There was no argument from the rest of the Board on this and they resolved jointly to work together respectfully as Spitz had outlined.
Spitz then said she thinks the Chairperson should handle all communications with outside entities like the attorney, the applicant and other regulatory agencies so that those outside people are not hearing different things from different members of the Planning Board, and Planning Board members are not hearing different things from various outside people. Michael Casey took issue with this, saying he doesn’t like getting information second hand. As an example, he said he had spoken to DEC liaison Patrick Connally that morning about the Benvie proposal, and the message was different than Spitz’s summary of what Connally had said. He suggested that they do all communications by e-mail and copy all members of the Planning Board.
Spitz said she thinks that is not practical, as business is normally done by phone conversations, and it may be very cumbersome to try to do it all by back and forth e-mails. Casey challenged that idea, saying he thought it could work that way, but given the difference of opinion, he asked that as much as possible of the Planning Board communication be done by e-mail, with all Planning Board members copied on the correspondence. Casey also said he may have his own questions for the attorney, or the DEC liaison, or someone else, but he agreed to e-mail his questions to Spitz, and have her ask the questions, so that all members of the Planning Board can see the questions and the answers.
Notes on Subdivision Plats
All subdivision plats approved by the Planning Board have several notes included on them, and Spitz asked the Board to review them. The Board came to agreement on language for five notes to be included on all plats. The first says that no further subdivision can be made without Planning Board approval. The second says the lots are approved for single family residential use and for no other use without Planning Board approval. The third says no structures, RVs or travel trailers can be put on the land except as permitted by Petersburgh law. The fourth says onsite sanitation must be approved by Rensselaer County Health Department and DEC, and the fifth says all driveways must meet specifications established by the Planning Board. Spitz said she will send the revised notes to Planning Board attorney Andrew Gilchrist for review.
Planning Board Files
Spitz said by law, all Planning Board files must be readily accessible to the public, but there are a lot of files that have not been filed, so the filing room is a bit of a mess right now. Planning Board Clerk Beth Dare said starting in January she could start devoting four hours a week to it, but she didn’t say how many weeks it might take. Spitz said it is a big job, and the Board was a bit concerned about whether this work would fit in their budget. Brandon deWaal suggested the Planning Board hold a “work party” to work on the files. Dare liked that idea, and Spitz asked deWaal to organize a work party.