PLANNING BOARD
TOWN OF ROCHESTER
ULSTER COUNTY
ACCORD, NEW YORK
(845) 626-2434

MINUTES OF September 27th, 2021 WORKSHOP MEETING OF the Town of Rochester PLANNING BOARD, held at 6:30pm at the Harold Lipton Community Center, 15 Tobacco Rd., Accord, NY and Streamed on Youtube.

Chair Jones called the meeting to order and asked everyone to stand for the Pledge to the Flag.

The Secretary did roll call attendance.

PRESENT: ABSENT:
Rick Jones, Chair Ann Marie Maloney
Sam Zurofsky, Vice Chairperson
Maren Lindstrom
Marc Grasso
Zachary Jarvis, Alternate
Zorian Pinsky
Patrick Williams

Also present:
Alyssa Farrell, filling in for Secretary
Mary Lou Christiana, Attorney for the Town
Liz Axelson, CPL, Town of Rochester consulting engineer
Erin Enouen, Councilwoman, (facilitating YouTube livestream)

APPLICATION REVIEW:
1. PB 2021-07 SBD Continued Application
Suzanne Cusack (Owner & Applicant)
Minor Subdivision

Barry Medenbach, Heather Gabriel, Bill Collier, and Suzanne Cusack (6:42pm arrival) were present on behalf of the application.

Chair Jones announced the draft decision was not ready to be approved at this meeting. He stated he instructed the secretary to forward the draft to Mr. Medenbach. The Chair did not receive appointment by the Town Board until the evening of 9/22. Following this appointment, he did not feel the findings were ready to go to a vote on this application.

Chair Jones asked Mr. Medenbach and Mr. Collier to provide the Board with flexibility to continue the approval process until the 10/14/21 meeting. The Board will discuss/modify the decision.

Mr. Medenbach stated he was hoping to discuss some details of the draft decision with the Board. Chair Jones stated the Board would enter into a meeting with the Attorney for the Town for legal advice following this workshop meeting and he would like to hold off on any discussion with Board members until they were properly advised.
Chair Jones asked if Mr. Medenbach and Mr. Collier would agree to let the Board extend the approval process, to which they both agreed. Ms. Christiana asked to receive this agreement in writing the next morning for the record. The applicant, Mrs. Cusack, also agreed.

Mr. Medenbach stated they would like a decision that is reasonable for the applicant that everyone else can live with.

Chair Jones highlighted the main findings and asked Mr. Medenbach if he had any additional items to be addressed.

Mr. Medenbach stated it necessary to clarify the “limit of disturbance” and stated though they put a proposed home on the lot in the plans, the final project could vary slightly, while still meeting the setbacks and other requirements.

Chair Jones stated the applicant must understand the total limit of disturbance has to be under 5 acres and the limits of each lot also needed to be respected. Any change to either would trigger return to Planning Board and/or action by the CEO.

Mr. Medenbach felt the wording regarding limit of disturbance was very rigid. Chair Jones stated the Board would take that under advisement.

Mr. Collier stated that the level of scrutiny regarding this application does not seem to follow the Board’s normal pattern and that if the Board was going to delve into that amount of detail, it is important to do so with all other subdivision applications.

Mr. Medenbach proposed a change of the working from “no further subdivision” of the property to “no further subdivision without Planning Board approval”. Chair Jones and Board agreed that this was reasonable and would consult with counsel.

Mr. Grasso asked if it might be beneficial to have a meeting with the applicant’s representative, Ms. Axelson, and Ms. Christiana outside of the meeting. Chair Jones said that may be a possibility if needed but the board would first have the meeting tonight with the attorney and discuss all the points made by the applicants’ representatives. Any further discussion would take place on October 14th.

ACTION ON MINUTES:

Action on minutes from September 13th meeting tabled until October 14th meeting.

ADJOURNMENT:
Chair Jones made a motion to adjourn at 6:53pm and enter into an attorney-client meeting. Mr. Williams seconded the motion.
Ayes: 6 Nays: 0 Abstentions: 0
All in favor. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Nicole Knapp