ZBA decides to mull over access issue

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

NARROWSBURG, NY — Town of Tusten officials have decided to deliberate on a building application that would improve handicap accessibility in Narrowsburg. Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) said unqualified approval would cause another problem concerning parking and trespassing at the Bridge Street lot across from the town hall.

At a July 7 ZBA meeting, some residents argued that town officials should work to accommodate building projects meant to improve access for physically disabled people, even if the projects fail to satisfy zoning restrictions.

The application before the board was Jane Sloyer’s, a proposed deck and ramp along the side of her new Bridge Street business, Janie’s Children’s Theater. It would require a variance since the ramp would reach closer to Robert Green’s adjoining property line than zoning law allows. The law requires a 25-foot setback, and the deck would extend within five feet of the property line, so Sloyer is asking for a 20-foot variance.

Further, the parking lot in question beside Sloyer’s building has the ZBA concerned because the deck, if constructed, would jut out over the narrow driveway designated to provide customer parking and delivery vehicle access, and would force vehicles to trespass on sections of the adjacent parking lot owned by Robert Green, the Frontier Telephone Company and the Upper Delaware Council.

Sloyer presented alternative ways of approaching the application, saying that Narrowsburg needs to strengthen its moral commitment to handicap accessible businesses. She also pointed out that her property behind the building could be used to access the business.

She also argued that the scheme of the Bridge Street parking lot will need to be rethought as the town grows and traffic increases from the Narrowsburg Bridge.

Tusten Code Enforcement Officer Stephen Stuart said that if the town begins to require new businesses to provide parking for customers, it will effectively prevent empty buildings from being occupied by new entrepreneurs.

He also referred to federal disabilities law,  which requires municipalities to make reasonable allowances in zoning to make buildings accessible to physically disabled people.

The ZBA decided to table the application until the next meeting on August 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tusten Town Hall.