436 East Main Street (See Town Board August 12, 2025). The Board opened and closed the public hearing on the stormwater and tree permits for this single family house. The town engineer provided documents that show that the property owner has access to the private portion of Nelson Avenue. While there were no public comments, Councilwoman Siegel, referring to the Conservation Board’s memo, had issues with the site’s steep slopes and the adequacy of the stormwater plan and her concern that there could be runoff onto Wood Street. The owner’s engineer and the town engineer assured the Board that both issues were being adequately addressed. The Board will likely have an approval resolution at its next meeting.
Tanto development/Front Street (See Town Board September 2, 2025.) The Board opened and closed the hearing during which one property owner who abuts the site spoke. While there was general agreement that the Board needed more information about how the new uses for the site would be screened from the abutting houses on Summit Street, as well as concerns about noise from the equipment repair operation, lighting and the materials used for the fencing, there was some disagreement as to how to proceed. (Note: Because the site is in a transitional zone, the site plan is approved by the Town Board, not the Planning Board, although the Town Board would refer the site plan to the Planning Board for its recommendations before voting to amend the plan.) While Councilwoman Siegel felt that the Planning Board should review all the site plan issues before the Town Board voted to amend the site plan, the other members of the Board voted to amend the law with conditions that those issues be addressed before the amended site plan was officially signed.
Set public hearing dates
Recreation Fee law: In a 4-1 vote, the Board set November 18th for the hearing. Councilwoman Siegel said she didn’t think the proposed law was ready for a hearing and suggested that the Board first discuss possible revisions to the draft.
Solar Law: In a 4-1 vote, the Board set November 25 for the hearing. Councilwoman Siegel, citing the controversial nature of the amendments, suggested that the hearing be postponed until the makeup of the Town Board starting January 1st was known.
Affordable Housing RFP. The Board voted to advertise a RFP for third party services to administer the rental units that are part of the town’s affordable housing program. There are currently five units in the program and two more have been approved but are not yet built. While the all volunteer Community Housing Board has been able to monitor the for sale units in the program, the group felt it did not have the resources to monitor the rental units.
Fieldstone Manor parking lot. After an online article appeared on substack.com regarding an illegal commercial parking lot on town property, Councilwoman Siegel read a lengthy statement explaining the history of why and how the town took title to a 8.9 acre parcel once part of the Fieldstone Manor development off Srawberry Road – and how Fieldstone’s developer was conducting a commercial parking operation on the site and collecting rent. Supervisor Lachterman followed with a different take on the issue. See the video link at the end of this post for the details.
Sign law. In response to a comment made during the Public Comment portion of the agenda about the proliferation of large election signs, Councilwoman Siegel acknowledged that this has been a recurring problem in Yorktown and that in January she planned to bring the issue up at a Board work session. Councilman Esposito indicated he would like to work with her on the issue, adding that he also saw a need to revise the sign law as it related to business signs.
NOTE: Because of Election Day, Tuesday, November 4, and Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11, the next Board meeting won’t be until November 18 – although the Board will meet in open session on November 6 & 7 to review the supervisor’s tentative budget. At those meetings, Board members will question department heads about the proposed budget for their departments. The public can observe but not address the Board.
For a video of the meeting, click yorktownny.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=2015