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TOWN OF STERLING PLANNING BOARD MEETING December 7, 2015 A regular meeting of the Town of Sterling Planning Board was held on Monday December 7, 2015 at the Sterling Town Hall at 7:00 pm with the following members present: June Ouellette ~ Chairman Sue Allen ~ Member Vernon Bishop ~ Member Susan Lemon ~ Member Absent: Member Grover Horn Also Present : Virginia Fichera, Steve Keeling, Robin Allinger, Mireille Watts, Carolyn Waterman, Jeff Couperus, and Donna and Denise Shortslef. Chairman Ouellette called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. BUSINESS Donna Shortslef – Preliminary Meeting – Minor Subdivision – 1817 Andrews Road, Sterling (#7.00-2-51.1) Donna and Denise Shortslef presented an application with SEQR form and a map of a proposed subdivision of property on the corner of Andrews Road and State Route 104A. The sisters would like to divide their mother’s property into 3 parcels – the residence as one parcel and the remaining parcels to be merged with properties already belonging to Denise and Donna separately along State Route 104A. The sisters are still debating the final plan and as such will need to provide a final plan for the Board to preliminarily review and schedule public hearing. The board reviewed the required elements checklist against the map as well as the dimensional requirements of the LUR and found some issues the applicant would need to change. The lots are in conformance with the LUR but the map lacks setback dimensions for buildings on the primary lot, the locations of well, septic and driveway, and the title block needs to be consistent with the primary lot information. The surveyor has shown slope on the map with arrows instead of using elevation contours which the Board members discussed. A motion was moved by Member Lemon to waive the 2’ slope contour requirement and finds the arrows an adequate method to represent the indication of slope for the purposes of this minor subdivision. The motion was seconded by Member Bishop, all were in favor without further discussion, and the motion passed. Chairman Ouellette explained that the next step in the process is a Public Hearing and that any changes to the map would be needed before scheduling the Hearing. Donna Shortslef agreed to contact clerk, Lisa Somers, with final map for a cursory review if they were able to decide before December 18th to allow enough time for neighbor notification and publication in the Lakeshore News. PRIVILEDGE OF THE FLOOR Steve Keeling – Approached the Board to reassess a change that was made to the fee schedule that seems excessive. A minor subdivision has an application fee of $200 and $50 per lot once approved – a total of $350 for 3 parcels. To subdivide the same lot into 4 parcels it becomes a major subdivision with an application fee of $500 and $100 per lot once approved – a total of $900 for 4 parcels. The Planning Board members agreed that the difference in cost for the applicant jumps significantly even though the process ---PAGE BREAK--- doesn’t appear to change but Member Bishop cautioned that the Board would need to investigate the work already involved to modify it and the reasons for the modification before recommending further change. They also stated that the Town Board has the authority to modify the fee schedule and could request the Planning Board to review the situation. Carolyn Waterman – Discussed the sales tax supposedly generated by the proposed mining operation and provided a worksheet that further explained the path tax proceeds are distributed by the County and State. Jeff Couperus and Robin Allinger – Stated they had sent an email to the Board Members restating their objections to the approval of a Special Use Permit for the Ferlito mining project. Virginia Fichera – Questioned the progress of the traffic study. She was told that the traffic study had not been started and no contract had been signed between the engineer and the Town. The study had been placed on hold as was the review of the Project documents due to the pending litigation of the Article 78 proceeding that was filed at the end of October. Mirielle Watts – Questioned the November minutes that stated in her comments that the Board discussed the sea level measurement which she stated had occurred earlier in the meeting. Virginia Fichera – Asked when the review of the Ferlito Special Use Permit would resume. Chairman Ouellette stated after the conclusion of the Article 78 proceeding. EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was moved by Member Bishop at 8:19 pm to enter into an Executive Session to discuss the pending litigation of an Article 78 proceeding regarding the proposed Ferlito mining project. A motion was moved to come out of Executive Session by Member Bishop at 8:32 pm, the motion was seconded by Member Lemon, all were in favor and the motion carried. MINUTES Member Lemon questioned a section of the minutes (page 4) where 6 points listed for consideration in the LUR were considered not applicable to this project. Each of the points ( 1,3,4,6,8,10) were reviewed by the Board and again deemed to be inapplicable to this project because their scope involves the development of housing or buildings and roads. Member Bishop commented on the first line of the minutes and stated that a type of meeting should be described – regular or special or work session. The Board members agreed. Meeting minutes for November 2, 2015 were approved with minor corrections by a motion moved by Member Allen and seconded by Chairman Ouellette. All were in favor without further discussion and the motion passed. ADJOURN On a motion by Member Lemon and seconded by Chairman Ouellette, the meeting was adjourned at 8:33 PM. Approved Minutes, Respectfully submitted, Lisa Somers, Planning Board Clerk