Dear Essex Resident,
Several years ago Steve Sayward, Claire LaPine, Don Hollingsworth, Ted Cornell and I were asked to review the Town’s Zoning Law and suggest improvements. We worked on that task for over two years, joined toward the end of our work by Jim LaForest. Steve initially chaired the group; when he left to be Town Justice, I took over his responsibilities.
We completed our initial work by the summer of 2011 and the Town Board held two public hearings on the changes we recommended. The public suggested several further changes, some of which we incorporated into a further revision. That fall the Town hired a consultant to do a required State Environmental Quality Review (SEQRA) which she completed in the Spring of 2012. That process required that the DRAFT changes be shared with a number of governmental agencies, which resulted in further suggestions for change. In the summer of 2012 the Town Board voted to accept the SEQRA’s negative declaration (meaning the changes did not result in any significant environmental change.) A third public hearing was held shortly thereafter that resulted in further modifications of the law. The Town Board then considered adopting the law, but no action was taken.
In January 2014 I was asked by Supervisor Gardner and the Town Board to complete the revision process. The original committee was no longer functioning, so I worked alone on four remaining issues. They included incorporating language related to Forestry into the law, adjusting some land use categories in Brookfield, adjusting the boundaries of the Shoreline Overlay District, and clarifying wording in the law on Density and Lot Calculation. That work is now complete.
A FINAL Draft of the Law dated October 2014 that contains all of the revisions made to date is posted on this web site along with this letter and three other documents:
A summary major changes to the law.
A summary of proposed changes Article by Article (Note: changes made since 2012, when the first SEQRA was done are italicized)
A memo dated October 3, 2014 to Supervisor Gardner with attachments, detailing all the changes made since the last public hearing during the summer of 2012.
In accordance with requirements of the existing law regarding amendments, the Planning Board will consider passing a resolution at its November 20 meeting recommending acceptance by the Town Board of these and any further changes they may recommend. The Town Board will schedule another public hearing on the latest changes either before the end of the year or early next year, and reach a consensus on what the final version should include shortly thereafter. Then an amended SEQRA on the further changes will be done, followed by final adoption.
Your input into this process is important before the changes being recommended are adopted. Please feel free to review these documents and offer your reactions at any time via email (planningboard@willex.com) or regular mail to me at the Town Hall, PO Box 114, Essex, NY. The public hearing, when scheduled, will also provide an opportunity for town residents and other interested parties to provide input.
James Van Hoven, Chair Planning Board
