KINDERHOOK–The Town Board plans to make a few changes to the Comprehensive Plan before adopting the latest version. After keeping the public hearing on the changes open for several months, the board discussed the plan at their regular on Monday.
Some board members met with the Comprehensive Plan Committee before the December 9 regular board meeting to talk about aspects of the plan, included a requirement that Town Board members receive training for their positions, and curb cuts in the sidewalk along 9 and 9H.
Board member Glenn Smith, attending his last meeting as a member of the board after choosing not to run for a second term in November, said that the issue he had with the training was not that board members shouldn’t take classes in zoning and planning laws; he just felt it shouldn’t be mandated.
Board member Patsy Leader took a similar position, saying, “I would be glad to see it stay in if you changed the wording.”
Committee members at the meeting agreed to the change, so that the plan will suggest that Town Board members get training. Members of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals must receive state training before assuming their duties on those boards.
The issue of curb cuts is another issue where the Town Board differs with the committee’s recommendations. Board member Deb Simonsmeier said that the state Department of Transportation (DOT) looks at a town’s comprehensive plan when that agency reviews projects. She told the committee members that DOT might look at the town’s plan when that agency reviews projects, saying that the DOT might conclude that “you want to limit the curb cuts.” She added that restricting the number of places where traffic can cross the sidewalks for driveways and parking “would not be business friendly.”
“We can’t stop the growth,” she said of the curb cuts.
The draft plan currently reads, “Curb cuts should be minimized wherever possible. Multiple curb cuts increase traffic congestion and clutter roadside.”
The board said they would find better wording to deal with the issue.
The board did not move to approve the plan at the meeting. The entire draft revision proposal is available on the town’s website, www.kinderhook-ny.gov.
The board did not discuss the former Town Hall in Niverville, which did not sell in a second auction, this one run by the Town Board on December 7. After the meeting, Town Supervisor Pat Grattan said the board would try again in the spring to sell the building and its 5-acre lot. “I think it’s a bad time of year to try to sell it,” he said.
Town resident Marcie Anderson one again urged the town to keep some of the land surrounding the now-empty town hall, using it as a town park. She said to the board, “You want to maintain your park land.”
Also at the meeting, Mr. Grattan presented plaques to Mr. Smith for his service on the board and to Laurie Lanz for 28 years as Town Court clerk. Ms. Lanz retired this year.
The board will meet next on Monday, December 30 at 6 p.m. for an end-of-year session. The next regular meeting will be Monday, January 13, 2014, at 7 p.m. in the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building.
To contact reporter Emilia Teasdale email eteasdale@columbiapaper.com.
