by Kieron Kramer
Five public hearings were held before the regular Grafton Planning Board meeting on Monday, July 21. The hearings began at 6:20 pm and were allocated either five or ten minutes, lengths determined by Planning Board Chairman Tom Withcuskey based on his best guess as to the interest in the applications being heard.
[private]Edelmann Lot Line Adjustment
The first hearing, scheduled for five minutes, was on the Edelmann lot line adjustment application. In June of last year a major subdivision by Clark Edelmann and his sister MaryLou MacNaughton that created five parcels was approved. One of the smaller parcels, owned by Tim Edelmann, needs just .57 acres from the 67 acre parcel in order to site a septic system more easily. The only interested party in attendance at this hearing was Clark Edelmann. There were no comments made. Later, during the regular meeting, the Planning Board agreed on a negative declaration of the environmental impact – meaning there is no significant environmental impact in their view – and they approved the lot line adjustment.
Ray Darling Family Subdivision
The second hearing, allotted ten minutes, dealt with the 2-lot subdivision on Old Road owned now by the estate of the late Ray Darling. Darling had bequeathed 5 acres of his 62 acre property on Old Road to his fiancé, Jodie Deschaine. The family made its application to subdivide the 62 acre property on Old Road into a five acre parcel and a 57 acre parcel last month. The five acre parcel, with a dwelling, will be recorded in Deschaine’s name.
Deschaine was in attendance; there were no comments by the public. In the regular meeting, after the Board made a negative declaration of environmental impact, Withcuskey made the motion to accept the subdivision application, and the Board voted unanimously to do so.
Birch Crest Estates Lot Line Adjustment
The Birch Crest Estates lot line adjustment was allocated five minutes and needed more than that. In 2006 Ray Darling developed 13 lots on Dunham Road known as the Birch Crest Estates, which was approved by the Planning Board at that time with the stipulation that a road meeting Town specifications be constructed to provide access to the lots. The Darling family is applying to have the development separated into two phases. Phase one would consist of the first five lots with a turnaround at lot five. The turnaround requires a lot line adjustment.
At the beginning of the hearing surveyor Bill Darling, who represents the Ray Darling estate in this matter, announced that the turnaround, which was originally designed to be 35 feet deep and fifty feet wide would instead be made 55 feet deep and fifty feet wide. Withcuskey said after the meeting that this revision was done at the suggestion of Grafton Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck so that the Town plow trucks could turn around there more easily.
More controversially, the environmentalist and advocate, David Hunt, who lives on Jay Hakes Road – relatively close to Dunham Road – read a letter addressed to “Dear Fellow Townspeople” that expressed his concerns about the possible development of the Birch Crest Estates. The letter says, “I pass along the following comments in writing as part of the public hearing that will apparently address a lot line adjustment for the 13-lot Darling Subdivision on Dunham Reservoir Road, allowing preparation for construction of a new road deeper into the forest-interior of the Wager Pond Block. These comments follow my May 14, 2006 letter to the planning board, under the leadership of Barbara Messinger at the time, which I requested be put into the file as part of the public record…My original comments mentioned the dramatic impact this subdivision, especially what is now known as Phase 2 of the project, will have both on a regionally important forest-interior area and the connection of the portion of forest-interior area on our nature preserve on Jay Hakes Road to the forest-interior area that extends through Madonna Lake and Snyder Swamp. It also mentioned the impact that development of the Phase 2 lots will have on a mature section of hemlock-dominated forest of state importance. Phase 2 is also designed on an area of steep slopes which will likely cause more erosion problems not only into the Quacken Kill but also between neighboring lots within this subdivision…Despite my efforts to review an EAF before the original public hearing [in 2006]…one was not developed until after my letter to the planning board was drafted. Upon review of the EAF, none of the impacts of regionally-important habitat mentioned in my letter was mentioned in the EAF and the forest cover of the parcel, which I estimated at that time at 75%, was recorded in the EAF as very low (about 20%).
Recent analysis of the entire Rensselaer Plateau between 2009 and 2013 put into the regional conservation plan reinforce my comments in the 2006 letter. Six lots of Phase 2 will enter and essentially destroy what is currently a “strictly-defined” forest-interior due to a road and/or houses placed within that area, one of regional importance and about the 5th largest left in the Town of Grafton. Destruction of this forest-interior area follows the trends of other recent subdivisions that are shrinking the forest-interior areas left in Grafton such as Water’s Edge and Sylvan Way and shifting Grafton from a rural community to a suburb. The modelled potential loss of significant habitat for 14 forest-interior animals such as fisher currently known from our nature preserve on Jay Hakes Road due to severing of our forest from the larger forest-interior which Phase 2 will bring about is addressed in my original 2006 letter. Because construction of a road into the Phase 2 lots will cause significant ecological and social damage, I suggest a compromise to aim for sale and development of Phase 1 lots nearer Dunham Reservoir Road and on more gentle slopes and try to sell the Phase 2 lots for conservation land, perhaps as part of the Forest Legacy program which assists only willing landowners.”
The Planning Board feels that the further development of the Birch Crest Estates can be addressed when the site plan is applied for and, therefore, approved this lot line adjustment. Hunt sees the possibility of the development as a slippery slope that will lead to the destruction of Grafton’s interior forest.
AT&T Tower Upgrade
In the ten minutes allocated to AT&T for its application for modifications to the cell phone tower at 38 Radio Tower Way, Attorney Don Ross of Phillips Lytle, LLP, representing AT&T, made the only comments.
AT&T would like to install three additional antennas to the six it already has with associated wiring and lines using the equipment box already existing on site. According to the application, no height will be added to the existing tower, which is owned by a third party and which is shared with Verizon. The additional modifications will allow for AT&T to provide 4G-LTE service in the Town. Ross referred to the structural analysis report included in the application which states that the tower’s current capacity is at 98.6%. At this percentage the tower will maintain its structural integrity in 70 mph winds or in 60 mph winds if the antennas are loaded with ice, he said. The antennas weigh about 120 pounds each and are 8′ high x 1′ wide x 8″ deep, he added. No other comments were made.
However, at the regular meeting, after the Board approved the application, 4-0, they strongly requested that a generator be installed in the near future in order to supply power to the cell tower during power outages. Ross said he had passed the message, which was made last month as well, along to the “owners.” Board Member Jim Goyer asked Ross for contact information so that he could contact AT&T directly. Ross gave him his card and asked to be called later. Board Member Owen Grandjean said, “I would really like a commitment.” The power went out for 12 to 24 hours the last time – a generator is crucial, he said. Withcuskey said that a site plan review for this would not be needed, just a building permit.
The County communications system has back up generators. But the issue here is that Goyer, as Fire Chief, and other emergency service personnel use their cell phones to contact each other during an emergency. And so the Fire Department, and other organizations, contract with Verizon under the state bid. Verizon has antennas on the tower at 38 Radio Tower Way up to the 120 foot height; AT&T’s antennas are above that – up to 168 feet. Presumably Verizon has no satisfactory power backup. So when Ross gets back to the “owners” about a generator, the AT&T Board sitting in the Cayman Islands or wherever will probably wonder why it’s their problem.
After the meeting, and the Board’s approval of the AT&T modifications, Withcuskey handed Ross the building permit for the project which Ross had mistakenly not applied for earlier in the process.
Goyer Lot Line Adjustment
Last month Jim Goyer and his father Harold applied for a lot line adjustment for Goyer’s property on CR 85. Withcuskey thought a full survey would be needed even though the piece in question is a small part of the 20+ acre lot. After last month’s meeting Planning Board attorney Sal Ferlazzo indicated that a survey is indeed needed for this adjustment. At Monday’s public hearing ten minutes were allocated to the Goyer subdivision, but there were no comments or questions. In the regular meeting the Goyer lot line adjustment application was tabled until next month because the Goyers had not provided the survey that was requested.
There was no new business and no informal discussion during the regular meeting, which started at 7 pm sharp and adjourned at 7:04. The normally five member Planning Board still has only four members because a replacement for Pete Gundrum, who resigned in early June, has not been named. Next month’s Planning Board meeting on August 18 will be held at 6 pm instead of 7 as usual because Board Secretary Jessica Crandall’s schedule does not allow the regular start, and she is, after all, in charge.[/private]