Budget in, overlay delayed

WASHINGTON — In a well-attended meeting meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, the Washington Town Board opened a public hearing on the proposed town 2024 budget and upon hearing no comments, closed it, took a vote and passed the budget. 

A public hearing was opened on the creation of a hospitality overlay district, which encompasses three areas, including two parcels where the Cottonwood Motel sits. The main site in question at the meeting was the former Daytop structure, which has two addresses for one building: one on College Lane and the other on Ramble Hill. Councilman Joe Rochfort stated that the main change was the light allowance, and the county recommendation was to go from 4000 to 3000 kelvins.

The College Lane entrance to the property would be for emergency only and the question of deliveries arose: If an oil truck is delivering to College Lane and needs to go to the Daytop site, why couldn’t it proceed from there? Why would it need to go the official entrance on Route 343?

One resident asked why College Lane couldn’t be made a private road. If that happened, however, residents would be entirely responsible for its upkeep, including the bridge at the bottom that may need repairs at some point. 

Enough questions arose pertaining to environmental impact, along with other concerns, that the vote was put off until some further research could be conducted, and another public hearing will be called. One resident was unhappy that the inn, if it were to become an inn, has 37 bedrooms. The Daytop structure is an older structure, with that number of rooms, and so would be grandfathered in. The same question arose for the Cottonwood, but the Cottonwood is on two parcels of land. Because any parcel can have up to 10 rooms, the Cottonwood is covered. However, any changes the Cottonwood business wants to make must go through an environmental assessment.

It was pointed out that there is not at this time any application to the Planning Board concerning the Daytop property; if and when there is, there will be a public hearing and the residents will have say in the proceedings.

The Short Term Rental Committee also met for a workshop meeting that was open to the public. The main topic was whether or not the resident of the rental had to be on the property, and what constitutes a primary resident and what type of resident the owner should be. More research will be done, and this may or may not be ready for discussion at the board’s December meeting; it might not come up to the public until the January meeting.