Zoning for varied growth

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Sal Indelicato wants to accommodate new business in the Town of Cochecton, but the zoning law is no longer fit for that purpose.

At Cochecton’s Town Board meeting on Wednesday, April 9, Town Attorney John Keating called for zoning law amendments to specify new land use standards in rural and agricultural districts.

Now, the law simply prescribes maximum lot coverage in square feet, including parking lots. Buildings on rural district (RU) lots must be no larger than 5,000 square feet, and buildings on agricultural district (AC) lots must be no larger than 15,000 square feet.

“This becomes unreasonable when a person owns a 40 to 50 acre lot, in which case a commercial building can only resemble a postage stamp on a large envelope,” Bob DeMan, Cochecton Planning Board member said at the meeting.

Such limitations will not suit those who want to build large commercial facilities, such as a 50,000 square foot Gasko Myers building and a 275,000 Global Aquaproductions commercial fish farm building in Fosterdale.

Indelicato asked the planning board to create amendments that standardize maximum property usage with percentages, just as they are in other districts.  Building footprints are subject to further debate, but Keating said, “They  must go up to 50 percent or more. If you restrict the [development] space too much, no one will want to build.”

Keating stressed the need to augment commercial growth around Lake Huntington, but said, “If there is going to be development around the lake, you can’t keep it at 40 percent on a one half acre lot. It’s part of our comprehensive plan to start looking at more commercial activity in Cochecton.”

Keating said that the Town of Callicoon zoning allows 65 percent of properties to be covered by development, while tri-county planner Tom Shepstone recommended 40 percent.

DeMan agreed with Keating, saying, “We need to be more general with the zoning, and then we’ll have more latitude to assess each project.” He said that flaws in the present zoning go beyond its unsatisfactory lot coverage law.

“All of Cochecton is a commercial zone based on specific uses. The schedule of restrictions [a pullout in the zoning law] is intended to provide areas for growth and development at specific density, but there is no zoning law that pertains specifically to commercial enterprises. Instead, this section provides long lists of business types allowed to build in each district. If we keep moving in this trend, we’ll need to make hundreds of lists in special use categories.”

DeMan took issue with board member Larry Richardson who said, “The more you can list, the less argument will come up.” DeMan said lists impede the planning board from considering the details of each use application.

Several members of the public expressed concern about warehouse construction in the RU and AC districts if commercial zoning becomes more general. Indelicato explained to his audience that he must avoid the pitfall of incorporating zoning laws that infringe on landowners’ constitutional rights.

“I understand that the best place for warehouses is in somebody else’s neighborhood, but we simply cannot prevent them from coming. What the planning board can do is demand site design that prevents a warehouse from looking like a warehouse,” Indelicato said.

He told a story about a district in Pike County where township supervisors restricted a landowner from subdividing his land. “Subsequently, the township was sued for millions,” he said.

As amendments are drafted, it appears that both boards will look to accommodate new business with generalized zoning. “If a district is compatible to business, we will make the whole district compatible,” Indelicato said.