The meeting was opened at 7:35 P.M. by Chairman Maggie Schmidt.  Present were Kurt Vanderhorst, Nilda Burke, Maggie Schmidt, Audrey Ketchum, Ed Malis, Attorney Bob VanVranken and Secretary Chris Nelson.

 

A motion was made by Kurt Vanderhorst and seconded by Audrey Ketchum to approve the minutes of the September monthly meeting and Public Hearing.  All approved.

 

The By-Law changes were done and will be printed up for the next meeting for signatures by the Board. 

 

Under old business Maggie asked Bob VanVranken what the status is of the cell tower ordinance.  Bob said that he is waiting for a response from the Town Board who have a few modifications.   Maggie also brought up the on-going discussion of whether or not to put the Minutes on the town website.  Maggie gave all the members the memo that was sent by Torbin Aabo to the Town Board requesting the Minutes.  Maggie refreshed the Board that during previous discussions on the matter, the Board has unanimously agreed to not put the Minutes on the website but to put the Decisions from cases on the web.  Maggie asked the Board’s opinion again.  She had a suggestion to put the minutes of the monthly meetings, the announcement of the Public Hearings, and the Decisions of the Public Hearings on the website, but not put the Public Hearing Minutes on the website.  She asked for discussion from the Board on their suggestions and what they would like to do.  Nilda said she agreed with Maggie about not putting the Public Hearing Minutes on the website.  Ed and Kurt also agreed.  Maggie asked Bob what other towns do and he said it varies.  Maggie asked Chris to email the town webmaster with minutes to the monthly meetings, the notices of upcoming Public Hearings and the Decisions for those Hearings when applicable.  Audrey Ketchum suggested that if there are no meetings for a particular month, that Chris also notify the webmaster of same so he can post a notification stating there is no meeting to lessen any questions or confusion.  The Board thought that was a good idea.

 

Under new business Maggie stated the Town Board has a request to discuss whether or not they need a Use Variance from the ZBA to erect a new municipal building.  Bob VanVranken said that according to town law, they don’t need a Variance for a governmental structure.  Bob said that it’s not only town buildings, but also schools and there are regulations for churches as well.  He said Charlton has a Historic District that has a church, the current town hall, and the firehouse.  He stated that firehouses and fire districts have been given a wide latitude by the courts in terms of compliance with the technical details of the zoning law.  The history up until 1988 was that when a question such as this occurred, you asked another question which was what is the purpose of the use of the space.  The court used to categorize two uses.  One would be governmental, that is to say is the school district going to build a school building.  That would be consistent with governmental purposes.  If the school was going to close a building and rent it to private tenants, that’s proprietary.  The rule has been that if the municipal corporation uses the property for a governmental purpose, then it was exempt from zoning.  If it was proprietary it was not exempt from zoning.  There were specific cases about town halls and what is in a town hall.  Does the town hall have a court room, a place for governing boards to meet, a place for the town clerk.  The law changed in 1988 stating several criteria.  Such as, what is the legislative intent of the zoning ordinance? What are the zoning requirements that are not being met by, for example, a town hall being built in a residential and historic district, what’s the function of the land use and what’s the public interest?  Is there interest in having a town hall built on that space and expanding the usability of the town hall?  What are the land use regulations for that area?  They are basically residential but the lot is consistent with lot sizes in that area.  In terms of area, it meets the criteria.  Are there other locations in the town where such a structure could be built?  The Town Board has already purchased the land so evidently at the time they felt that was a good site.  Are there alterations to the surrounding area that are going to be required in order to make the improvement?  In this case I don’t think anyone is going to be impacted.  It’s Bob’s opinion, based on what he knows the use to be and the location and that the Town Board is interested in working with the architect in the historic district to make it look compatible with the buildings, he doesn’t see any need for the Town Board to ask the Zoning Board of Appeals for a Use Variance.  Ed Malis asked if the Historic District has any say in the matter and Bob stated that they don’t.  It’s exempt from zoning but it would be good for the Town to coordinate with the Historic District on the subject.  Maggie told Ed that the Historic District has limited power and they are purely advisory, but that most of the Board’s take advantage of the Historic District’s input if there is an issue in the District. 

 

Maggie reminded the Board of some meetings coming up with the County.  There is a meeting for the Chairs of the municipal Planning Boards and Zoning Boards on November 30^th and Maggie plans on attending.  She invited everyone else to join her if they wish.  Nilda said she will plan on attending.  On January 27, 2005 the County Planning Board is sponsoring their first annual meeting.  Maggie said the state is considering making training workshops mandatory for Board Members.  They will be having Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and SEQR overviews, review of special use permits, open space preservation, and planning and zoning case law.  Nilda, Ed, Kurt and Audrey all said they will attend.  Maggie will get everyone registered.

 

There is no hearing next month, December, so the Board will not meet. 

 

A motion was made by Nilda Burke to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Kurt Vanderhorst.  Meeting adjourned at 7:55 P.M.