Stewart’s renovation approved, Carson Power moves forward, Stissing Center receives green light

PINE PLAINS — Preempting the Pine Plains Planning Board’s decisions on a number of contentious local projects, Chairman Michael Stabile kicked off the Wednesday, Aug. 9, meeting with some perspectives on local governing bodies. Gearing his comments toward explaining the role and responsibilities of the planning board, Stabile quoted 18th-century political philosopher Edmund Burke as theorizing that the role of a representative is not simply to be industrious, to enact laws in a workmanlike way, but to exercise judgement.

From there, the board gave approval to the Stissing Center’s site plan amendment, which includes extensive renovations to the building, that will be formally voted on at the Wednesday, Sept. 13, meeting. The board had received non-binding comments from Dutchess County on the contributions the new plans will make to skyglow, but the board determined that the impacts would be negligible.

The board also received binding comments from the county on the issue of the Stewart’s renovation at 7710 Main St. denying approval of the site plan. In order to give site plan approval to Stewarts, the board will have to conduct a supermajority—majority plus one—vote to overrule the determination by the county.

The county’s comments hinged around the availability of alternative site plans that did not contradict the town’s zoning codes, and that a plan should be adopted that does not require a setback variance. The board considered these suggestions and ultimately decided to overrule the determination, stating that the issue of a setback variance was moot in this case due to vegetative screening that will mitigate the impact on town character, and that losing access to gasoline services for two months (a result of the construction requirements for alternative site plans) represented a hardship to the community.

A formal resolution will be voted on at the September meeting. The board required Stewart’s to develop a sign without the use of LED lights in order to remain consistent with town codes, which Stewart’s agreed to do.

Finally, the board briefly discussed the state of the Carson Power solar farm application. At its July meeting, the board had directed planning consultant Frank Fish and town attorney Warren Replansky to further develop the State Environmental Quality Review with a negative declaration of no significant impact, giving the first of three necessary approvals to Carson Power.

The board will formally adopt the negative declaration at a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 23, which will allow the town Zoning Board of Appeals to consider the special use permit. The board will then hold a public hearing on the site plan and special use permit at its Sept. 13 meeting, after which point a resolution approving the project could be drafted and voted on at a later date. All indications at the moment are that the board will give Carson Power approval for the project.