By EMILIA TEASDALE
VALATIE—The Town Board approved members to the newly formed Comprehensive Plan Update Committee at their regular meeting on March 4.
The town’s Comprehensive Plan is from 2000, though there is an updated Comprehensive Plan (called “Town of Kinderhook Draft Comprehensive Plan”) from 2013. Now that both versions are over a decade old, the board has decided to revisit the plan for the town with the largest population in the county.
Board members Sally Naramore and Sean Casey are co-chairs of the committee. Ms. Naramore brought the idea of the new committee to the board at their first meeting in January of this year. At the March meeting, the board appointed members of the town’s recreation committee and planning board to be on the update committee. The town was still looking for a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals to join. Town resident and recreation committee member Mark Leinung was also appointed to the update committee since he served the committees for both the 2000 and 2013 plans.
Councilwoman Naramore stressed that this is an update to the Comprehensive Plan and there are grants available from the state for the process and for hiring a consultant.
For the Comprehensive Plan from 2000 the town used consultant Nan Stolzenburg from Community Planning & Environment Associates. For the 2013 draft, River Street Planning & Development, LLC is listed as planning consultant.
According to the state, a “comprehensive plan is the culmination of a planning process that establishes the official land use policy of a community and presents goals and a vision for the future that guides official decision-making.” A municipality’s comprehensive plan is used to create or update zoning laws. “Having a comprehensive or well-considered plan ensures that forethought and planning precede zoning and zoning amendments,” the state Division of Local Government Services writes.
The town has run up against a few of those issues over the years. There was concern about changes to the conservation subdivision laws in 2013 and home occupation rules in 2014, which people felt went against the Comprehensive Plan. There have also been zoning laws created for solar panels, for installations on homes and solar farms. Solar panels are not part of the 2000 plan. New issues, like short-term rentals, have come up in the years since the plan and the update were adopted.
As reported by Deborah E. Lans in The Columbia Paper, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued a report recently about housing issues in the state called “New Yorkers in Need: The Housing Insecurity Crisis.” Ms. Lans reported that “the report highlights that the ‘greatest and most important role played by local governments is through the governance of land use through zoning regulations or ordinances that designate permissible uses of space, including which types of housing may be created.’” She also pointed out that several local municipalities have updated their Comprehensive Plans. (The story was from the March 14 issue.)
Also at the Town Board meeting, Carol O’Donnell, a resident of Niverville, brought up issues with zoning laws not being followed or enforced in the hamlet. She said there are residents who put sofas, tires and cars in their front yards as well as issues with an abandoned property that poses a possible safety hazard. She told the board that the citations the homeowners receive from the town are “not working” because the issues do not get resolved. “We’ve got to do something,” she said, pointing out that the problems are “really frustrating.”
“The town has regulations,” she said and asked the board why the town has these regulations if they are not going to do anything about the zoning issues.
Town Supervisor Tim Ooms said the town has tried to take property owners to court, but “they don’t show up.” He did say that the abandoned house was something the town needed to “look into.”
Ms. O’Donnell also has major concerns with the CSX underpass on Park Hall Road in Niverville. She brought that up briefly at the meeting with the board but also sent a letter to the editor to The Columbia Paper, published on March 21, calling it an “eyesore and possibly a looming safety hazard.” In the letter she said that CSX, the company that owns the tracks, told Supervisor Ooms that the bridge was safe but she points out, “It may be safe for trains passing overhead but not for the person or car when a chunk of concrete suddenly drops down.”
The letter goes on to say, “CSX needs to be a responsible corporate citizen and repair and paint the underpass. If not, the town should implement its blight ordinance and demand that the walls be repaired and painted.”
Also at the meeting:
*The board approved the purchase of “mower upgrades” at $53,634 and a John Deere Zero Turn Mower at $15,838.13
*The board discussed a basketball tournament fundraiser Volunteer Park and the long term repair of the courts at the town owned park
*The board also passed a motion acknowledging Women’s History Month with a statement from Town Historian William Better saying, “We celebrate women who advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion.”
The next board meeting will be Monday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building. For more information go to www.kinderhook-ny.gov
To contact reporter Emilia Teasdale email eteasdale@columbiapaper.com
