Zoning Board of Appeals
Town of Canaan
Columbia County, New York


May 29, 2007

Present: David Cooper, Ann Pearce, Pat Liddle, Jean Dickason, John Stelling

Chairman Cooper opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. with an audience of 2. Motion by Pat Liddle with 2nd by Ann Pearce to accept the March 2007 minutes as prepared by Barbara Fischer. All in favor.

David read the decision for Appeal 2007-2. He then discussed a Town Board proposal for a moratorium on Flint’s Crossing to basically stop future commercial uses in that specific area until a traffic study and resolution of the physical grade crossing at the railroad. John Stelling attended a meeting early in March regarding the safety of the grade crossing. Also in attendance were 12 safety engineers from NY State, 3 from CSX, Bernie Meyers, Gary Flaherty, Ron Davis. When David was working on the SEQR for the Clark company, it was clear that it would become a positive declaration because the infrastructure for the road and grade crossing were insufficient. It has not come up before because in the past trucks were crossing and going into a driveway 50 feet up the road. There is nothing in the SEQR about the transfer station and that crossing. The trucks were not supposed to go up Flint’s Crossing above the grade crossing. There is a lot about Route 22. This application has brought this to a head. The CSX safety officer has declared the crossing unsafe. CSX has tried to make it safer but have had several near misses with broken gates at least twice. Something definitely will happen at some point. The moratorium is to give the town time to figure out what to do. Bernie is supposed to block off parking between the railroad and Route 22. Trucks will no longer be able to park on the sides as they have done. There will be a stop sign on Flint’s Crossing Road for the traffic that approaches from the Flint’s Crossing side, to give trucks a right-of-way entering and leaving the transfer station. Discussion of traffic patterns on Flint’s Crossing Road. Jean, addressing the resident’s concerns, said that garbage trucks are not supposed to be going down Flint’s Crossing Road.

Their manager, Meg Morris, wants to work with the town and the state to make it safer; they want it resolved. They are putting in a 2nd set of scales to facilitate trucks getting weighed, dumping, and getting weighed again on the way out without having to come back up to the present set of scales. They are also proposing moving the Canaan town dump area to facilitate citizens going in and out. It is in the interest of the town for this process to work well. It behooves us to help participate in this so it will go smoothly.

Ron Davis is deputy chair of the Planning Board and has pushed to get the ZBA involved because he feels it may involve a zoning change. We need someone to volunteer to do this, and it is John Stelling. Ann Pearce feels that John is the one to do it. David will back John up and will participate whenever he can. Ron has suggested that the committee be required to report by a certain date so that the matter is not open-ended. Ann suggests going back and reviewing the Town Board’s resolution to be sure we know what has been resolved.

David read a letter from Don Malin, Chair of the Canaan Planning Board, re attendance requirements for the Planning and Zoning Boards. Don says there is a conflict between Local Law 2 and the Canaan termination policy. The Planning Board believes it would be best to amend the local law to give the flexibility that was intended by the termination policy. He recommends amending “shall” to “may” in each subsection to bring the two into agreement. Ann asked if we can ask that Don be aware that the ZBA does not have to meet 12 times a year. Motion by David with 2nd by Ann to send a letter agreeing with Don’s request that we support “may” instead of “shall” while making a note that unless there is business, the ZBA does not normally meet. All in favor.

David read the application for Appeal 2007-4 by Ann Graziano for a special permit for a bed & breakfast and asked if the Board wanted more information. Pat Liddle would like to know how she would alter the building. The applicant must go for a site plan review with the Planning Board. The driveway will need some adjusting. Motion by Pat Liddle to accept the file conditionally but have her add a better description of the use and how it is going to work, the changes to the physical structure of the building, a sample floor plan that describes the interior structure (the Planning Board will also need that). She must go to the Planning Board with a site plan and proposed parking plan on a timely basis. Jean commented that NY State is very loose on bed & breakfasts, but for three bedrooms she will need more than three parking spaces. She can check the Bed & Breakfast Association web site for NY State requirements. John commented that the Canaan Zoning Law requires a parking space for each sleeping room and one for each employee. The site plan will need to show the driveway and the parking spaces. She will need to meet these conditions by June 11th. 2nd by Ann Pearce. All in favor.

David discussed a class coming up for SEQR basics. Must pre-register by May 31st for a June 5th class. David said anyone can go who wants to go.

Motion by Ann Pearce to adjourn with 2nd by Pat Liddle at 7:40 p.m. All in favor.

For the Zoning Board of Appeals,



Julie Alexander, Clerk

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