PLANNING BOARD MEETING
CANAAN, NY 12029

JULY 20, 2009

The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm and all Board members were present.

Boundary Line Adjustment for Tom & Sarah Crowell and Robert Levin and Patricia McKenna at 3105 and 3125 County Route 9

Tom Crowell appeared for the application. He presented the maps. The Board went over the required items:
-Notarized letter from Sarah Crowell since she was not in attendance okay
-Notarized letter from R. Levin/P. McKenna since they were not in attendance okay
-Pinning letter okay
The Board found all paperwork was in order.

MOTION TO ACCEPT THE BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENT AS PRESENTED-
Pierre Gontier Second-Michael Belknap All in Favor

Roll call Chairman Davis-yes
Ian Hooper-yes
Jennifer Mickle-yes adopted
Pierre Gontier-yes
Michael Belknap-yes
A fee of $50.00 was collected.

Boundary Line Adjustment for Carrie Bither and June Foster at 14 & 18 Old Queechy Rd.

Ms. Bither, Mrs. Foster and Fred Haley, the surveyor appeared for the application. Mr. Haley stated a portion of the Foster land was to be added to the Bither land (3 acres). The buyer for the Foster property only wants to purchase the house and 7 acres so the other 3 acres is to be added to the Bither property. The existing road frontage is non conforming however it will not change. Ron said there is a NYSEG line running thru the property and NYSEG owns it. This is unusual in that normally NYSEG only has an easement. The application, deed and pinning letter were okay.

MOTION TO APPROVE THE BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENT-Ian Hooper
Second-Jennifer Mickle All in Favor

Roll call Chairman Davis-yes
Ian Hooper-yes
Jennifer Mickle-yes adopted
Pierre Gontier-yes
Michael Belknap-yes
Planning Board Meeting July 20, 2009 Page 2

A fee of $50.00 was collected.

Commercial Site Plan Review for Alan & Julie O’Brient for a store/café at the former Backwater Restaurant on Queechy Lake Dr.

Mr. O’Brient appeared for the application. He stated they have owned this property for over a year and it has been shut down for about a year. They would like to redo this in phases so it will be a satellite store to the one they own in Stockbridge, Ma. which is called Williams and Sons. He said this would have a lot of weekend traffic. They plan to make ice cream at the Pillars Restaurant (which they also own) and bring it to Canaan to sell. They want to recreate a country store selling items such as candles, cards, gifts and candy. They plan to add a café to the other side of the building, where they will sell the ice cream and other things. They plan to invest money and effort into the kitchen.

Ron referred to a letter from Dave Cooper (the ZBA) which states this would be a continuing use of a non-conforming use. Ron said this is wrong; it is not continuing. Ron said Mr. O’Brient will have to go back to the ZBA for a Special Use Permit for the store. The restaurant use is okay since it is within the 2 year requirement in our Zoning Law. Ron said he would have to apply for signage as well.

Mr. O’Brient asked why he was before the Planning Board? Ron said he did not know why either since all the necessary paperwork is not in place for the 2 businesses that Mr. O’Brient would like to have there. Mr. O’Brient said Pat Pulver told him it was only a modification. Ron said it was true it was a modification of the former restaurant but the store added something else to it.

Ron told Mr. O’Brient he needed to go back to Pat Pulver and apply for the second permit (the store) before it could move forward. He suggested that the ZBA could “roll it” into his standing application. Ron then said Mr. O’Brient would have to come back before the Planning Board after going back to the ZBA.

Mr. O”Brient said he was trying to look for a clear answer. Ron said it is all listed in the Zoning Law and told him to call Dave Cooper asap since their meeting is next week. Mr. O”Brient said his paperwork was forwarded to the Planning Board. Ron said it was
forwarded however it is not complete so he does not want to act on it. Pierre said the site plan is unacceptable since it needs the square footage of the building and other information. He also said the building is on a County road and must be sent to County Planning. The Clerk advised the Board that the ZBA Clerk had sent a copy of this presented map to County Planning.

Outstanding items
1. Square footage of the building
2. Signage details
Planning Board Meeting July 20, 2009 Page 3

3. Handicapped parking designated
4. Walkways for pedestrians
5. Where and how the garbage will be stored

Pierre asked Mr. O’Brient about the docks behind the restaurant and Mr. O’Brient said only 1 is approved. The others are illegal and do not have his approval. Pierre asked if there were easements there and Mr. O’Brient did not know.

Ron said if this was reopened as only a restaurant , there is no County input. A restaurant would have an easy time for approval. Both Ron and Pierre said they were very concerned about the traffic. Pierre said he would not be inclined to approve this as it stands.

Mr. O’Brient said he had not gotten good information from the Town and clarified that by saying the people downstairs (in the Town Hall). He then left.

After Mr. O’Brient left, Ian said it was too bad Mr. O’Brient had been pushed between each committee (Board) and no one talked to one another. Ron said he got the impression from Dave Cooper that the ZBA did not think there was any problem with this application.

Informal appearance for a changed driveway in the previously approved Braun subdivision on Bradley Crossing Road

Paul Nowak appeared for this driveway change and stated it is his driveway that the Highway Superintendent wants to change. He said the change would be better, give better visibility and be further from the other driveways. The Board received a letter from the Highway Superintendent stating the new driveway was acceptable. Ian asked if the Highway Superintendent needed permission from the Planning Board before he could issue a new driveway permit. Ron said normally no but in this case, a change to the driveway would constitute a change to a previously approved subdivision.

Ron told Mr. Nowak he would need to get the subdivision maps redrawn to show the new
driveway. The new maps would have to be approved and stamped. The Board could approve it after the new maps were drawn.

Informal appearance for Matthew Bowe for a Boundary Line Adjustment for property next to The Inn at Silver Maple

Mr. Bowe stated this property has a common driveway off Route 295. The property owner wants to sell a portion of it as a building lot using the common use road and then creating a permanent easement to the new parcel. Ron said the ROW would have to be 60 feet wide (after the common portion) and going along the boundary line (as an easement) for another 290 feet to create the needed 350 feet of road frontage. The 290 feet would be
Planning Board Meeting July 20, 2009 Page 4

owned by the new property owner and that portion of acreage needs to be deducted from the new portion. Ron also advised Mr. Bowe he would need a copy of the easement to make sure it is transferable and also that the grade of the ROW cannot be more than 15%.

The Board will wait to hear from Mr. Bowe.

Review and Approval of the June 15th minutes

MOTION TO TABLE-Pierre Gontier Second-Ian Hooper All in Favor

Correspondence
1. Letter and email dated 6/26/09 from Dave Everett re: Verizon’s insurance certificate. It does not fully comply with the Town requirements.
2. Notice of a seminar on Outdoor Wood Boilers on 7/23 in Kinderhook.
3. Notice of a SEQRA class on 7/29 in Hudson.
4. June 2009 ZEO report.
5. May 12, 2009 ZBA minutes.
6. May 26, 2009 Special ZBA Meeting minutes.
7. Request for comment for a Special Permit in Richmond, MA.
8. Access Easement Agreement for Berkshire Farm dated 6/18/09 for the cell tower.
9. Current bill from Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna for $202.50.
10. Certificate of Liability Insurance from Cellco ( Verizon Wireless) for Canaan West.
11. Certificate of Liability Insurance from Cellco (Verizon Wireless) for Canaan East.
12. Certificate of Liability Insurance from Cellco(Verizon Wireless) for Berkshire Farm.
13. Spring issue of Nuggets & Nibbles.
14. Spring issue of Rural Futures.
15. Copy of the proposed fee schedule from Pat Pulver.
16. Spring/Summer issue of Planning News.

The letter written by Dave Everett was discussed and Ron felt it could be said that the Board had not done their due diligence. Ron said he had talked to Scott Olsen about Verizon. Chris Ciolfi told Ron he would be calling the Vice President of Verizon this week. The hold up to the insurance is only 2 words, according to Mr. Ciolfi, and he further stated they (Mariner) have spent over $100,000 on this and can’t move forward without Verizon. Ron said using the words the Town is included is unacceptable. It needs to state that the Town is an additional insurer. Ian said this looks like Verizon is deliberately not including the Town. Pierre said this brings up issues that need to be addressed in the Telecommunications Law. It should be reviewed and rewritten where necessary. Ron also advised the Board that the geotech report has not gone to Linda Stancliffe yet and should be sent this week.

Additional business
1. Michael said the Verizon issue brings up the subject that the Board needs to go back
Planning Board Meeting July 20, 2009 Page 5

and look at how escrows are handled and what the fees are. He said the message from the Board should be if the money is not put into escrow, the Board will not do anything. He said the Town should not be put into the position of taking a chance or bearing the risk. Pierre said the Board also needed to look at when you release the escrow account, It should only be after a Certificate of Occupancy is issued.

2. Ron said he asked the Supervisor what the Town Board was going to do about the windmill issue and the letter the Planning Board sent to the Town Board. His response was “ what do you want us to do ?” Ron said it is an issue that should be dealt with. He has worked in a Town where there are numerous signs to keep windmills off the ridgeline (commercial windmills). He feels it should be dealt with before it becomes an issue. The Supervisor told him it would be brought up at the next Town meeting (August). Pierre said he still believes it is not a permitted use no matter what and an applicant would have to go to the Town Board for approval.

3. The Clerk told the Board the page numbers in the application do not match the pages listed in the new Zoning Law. She said she would make the changes and get them to the Town Clerk.

4. Ron said the Board is still short 2 Board members and it will need to be advertised again.


There was no more business before the Board.

MOTION TO ADJOURN-Pierre Gontier Second-Ian Hooper All in Favor

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm.

Respectfully submitted,


Tammy C. Flaherty
Planning Board Clerk

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