Comprehensive Plan committee moves to suspend meetings

AMENIA — After months of meetings to review and update the town’s comprehensive plan of 2007, the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee voted unanimously at its penultimate meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 20, to suspend scheduled meetings until the services of a professional planner can be obtained.

The committee agreed to draft a letter to the Town Board and to approve that draft at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, their final meeting until a planner is found.

While the seven-member committee had edited the plan’s sections where editing was logical to update the work of existing entities, members agreed that the sections that would look to the town’s future development would need input from a town planner.

Initiating discussion about the work of the plan review committee, member Ken Topolsky recommended sending the newly edited sections on to the appropriate entities for their approval or amendment, rather than awaiting production of a fully completed draft. Topolsky felt that it would be important to keep the process moving ahead.

The forward-looking topics that the committee felt would need the advisory services of a professional planner included affordable housing, agriculture, short-term rentals, food trucks, topics that have different approaches in terms of modern planning.
“It’s not a good use of our time if we are not looking forward,” Topolsky said.

Committee member Nina Peek agreed. “To set goals for the next ten years, we should hold until a professional planner is on board. We are not making the progress we would like,” she said.

Asking what the original charge to the committee had specified, committee member Tony Robustelli and the committee recalled that town officials had suggested incorporating large-scale development such as Silo Ridge, food truck regulations, noise, smaller homes and sustainability, all areas that would benefit from a planner. It was noted, however, that topics such as noise and food trucks might better be addressed by changes to existing zoning regulations.

While some town funding is in place for planning services, necessary grant funding has not been secured to support the hiring of a professional planner.

During the public comment section, resident Sharon Kroeger spoke of a petition being circulated around town that would seek to protect the scenic vista view from DeLavergne Hill by placing the visible stretches of farmland into permanent conservation easement. She noted that the 2007 plan and earlier plans had specified that the view be protected.