Planning Board, September 9, 2024

The agenda was long – 17 items – but many items were fairly routine and didn’t require much discussion time. Below are some highlights.

Envirogreen Associates, 1833-1875 East Main Street, Mohegan Lake. After the Board voted to reapprove a 2021 site plan approval for a new 12,400 sf retail building, the applicant indicated that he plans to resubmit a revised plan at a future date.

Curry Honda. The Board was pleased with a revised landscape plan along the site’s Route 202 frontage and modifications to the building’s exterior. A public hearing will be held in October. 

Teatown Campus. The Board was pleased with plans for major changes and upgrades to the campus, including a new educational building for indoor and outdoor classrooms, revised parking layouts for smoother traffic flow and upgrades to the existing nature building.

Foothill  Solar Farm.  Already under construction, the applicant was requesting approval for changes in the seven acre tree mitigation plan for the forested area that will not be disturbed by the installation of the panels.  (The plan was not for visual screening.)  The changes include substituting smaller trees for the ones originally planned and reducing the number of proposed shrubs. The changes are needed, he explained, because the presence of boulders makes the it more difficult to plant the larger trees that need larger holes; the larger trees would also require using heavier equipment that would disturb the ground and “stir up” invasives.  To make up for the smaller size trees, the applicant will plant more trees, although Planning Director Tegeder expressed concern that too dense a planting could choke the trees.  Boulders were also an issue leading to the decision to reduce by one half the number of proposed shrubs.  The applicant was advised to work with town staff to see if the shrubs eliminated from the forest mitigation plan could be planted elsewhere on the site. A memo will be prepared acknowledging the changes.

MJM Subdivision, 3132 Gomer Street. Now that the wetlands delineation issue for this 13 lot subdivision has been resolved with input from the  town’s environmental consultant, the applicant asked the Board for feedback on which of three site plan options it prefers; the options have different road connections and will have different impacts on the site’s two wetland areas. Before making a decision, the Board will reach out to Highway Superintendent Paganelli for more information about the impact on the Cordial Road option, specifically the width of the road and grade at the point where six of the houses would access Cordial.

Jacob Road Solar Farm. In response to comments made at the previous meeting about screening, the applicant said he would  plant additional trees, change the species mix, and increase the size of the trees in some areas from 10’ to 12’  in order to assure “fuller screening.”  The Board was pleased with the proposed changes. 

Although the applicant was only on the agenda to discuss the landscaping issue,  he requested, and the Board agreed, to let him comment on the proposed amendments to the Solar Law that was also on the agenda. (See below. The public typically cannot address the Board during a work session.) At issue was the proposed amendment increasing the buffer area between the panels and the property line to 200 feet from the current 100 feet requirement. (Note: In 2022, the Law was amended to increase the buffer to 100 feet from  50 feet.)  It was the applicant’s contention that if the increase in the buffer was to provide for better screening, then the best way to deal with that was with landscaping not the size of the buffer.  He noted that if the 200 feet requirement was enacted into law, it would result in a 26% loss of the site’s megawatt output – which would make the project financially challenging. In response, Board member LaScala noted that the applicant’s financial outlook should not be  a concern to the Board. Board member Garrigan indicated that the 200 feet buffer might be needed if the “industrial” solar array was located in a residential neighborhood. (Note: the Planning Board can’t act on the application while there’s a moratorium on  the Solar Law. It was also noted that the moratorium expires on September 30^th  and will have to be extended as the Town Board will not be able to enact a new law before then.)

1700 East Main Street (Lafarge property). On a referral from the Town Board, the Planning Board was asked for its opinion on the concept plan for 144 units of senior rental housing combined with a wellness center (See August 13^th Town Board meeting.) Chairman Fon described the concept as “interesting,” noting that the rental units would fit in with the town’s goal of diversity of housing. In response to questions, the applicant stated that the facilities in the wellness center, e.g., offices for doctors, nutrition staff, physical therapists, would only be available to the residents and not the general public. As an example, it was explained that doctors with offices at other locations could provide services at the wellness center on specified days of the week, almost like making house visits. The applicant stated that the plan to combine apartments with a wellness center was a growing concept and that the developer has done other such projects.  The Board said it would like to see a business plan. Concern was also voiced about the access to Route 6 with an emergency access to Strawberry Road.

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With only three members present, the Board deferred action on three proposed laws referred by the Town Board, also noting that additional information was needed on each of them.

• Recycling Moratorium
• Solar Law. The Board wanted numbers on the degree to which the state was meeting its goals for solar energy, adding “let’s get it right.”
• Battery Storage Facilities Moratorium. The Board  felt that the county should  probably be looking into the issue.