Planning Directed to Make Recommendation to Council
(Town of Sullivan – May 7, 2014) After several attempts by Councilman John Brzuszkiewicz over the past few years to get the Town Council to establish zoning controls for adult entertainment businesses, Supervisor John M. Becker last Wednesday evening tasked the Sullivan Planning Board with reviewing other local laws governing the topic and making a recommendation to the Council.
Planning Board member Michael Keville was present at the town board meeting Wednesday evening and was directed to take the matter up at the Planning Board’s meeting the following evening. Town attorney John Langey said he had examples of zoning that had been affirmed elsewhere and said he would have those available at the May 8 meeting.
“It is essentially a model law out of the Association of Towns,” Langey said. “Zoning cannot ban adult entertainment business, but it can create a special zone, and that is usually in ‘industrial.’ You don’t have a lot of that in the town.”
Langey spoke briefly about regulations preventing adult businesses from being located in proximity to churches, schools and residences.
“[By limiting location to industrial zones] you create a very small space, which is much more easily controlled,” Langey said.
Keville said there is good reason to do it now and not wait for someone to apply for a permit.
“If someone puts in an application, where the zoning stands now, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on,” Keville said. “We can’t outright put a ban on it.”
He said it is a case where secondary impacts on auxiliary institutions would have to be considered.
“If somebody applies, would you get a moratorium?” asked Nancy Shaver of Lestina Beach Road.
“No, we can’t do that,” Keville said.
Public Hearings
The Town Council held two public hearings May 7. The first was to move construction-related ordinances from the town’s zoning law to codes (Local Law ‘C’ for the Year 2014); the second was to require the installation of five-eighths-inch fire rock beneath all framed staircases in new construction and replacements (Local Law ‘D’ for the Year 2014).
Fire Inspector Bill Pindle said it was extremely low-cost and could add as much as 45 minutes to the time someone could egress a burning structure without a stairwell collapse. He said there are exceptions for wrought-iron spiral staircases.
Keville said he recently learned at a planning conference that building regulations have no place in zoning, and this is a good move for the town.
Both laws passed unanimously after some discussion about the necessity of Pindle’s additional fire rock requirement.
In other business
* The Town Council approved a bid for blacktop from Dolamite Corp.
* Parks & Recreation Director James Raulli announced the grand opening of the Canine Corral dog park in Chapman Park this past weekend. A Rotary Grant helped pay for the facilities, which have been unofficially open for a couple of weeks.
“A lot of hard work went into this,” Becker said, “and the ribbon-cutting is finally here Sunday.”
* Raulli reviewed the list of his proposed summer hires; he said 17 are returning, 7 are new, and about a half-dozen more need to be recruited.
* Raulli said the parking lot at the Parks & Recreation Office is untenable and solicited a quote from Ruston Paving. He said while they were assessing that lot, he also had them look at Sullivan and Chapman parks.
“We will talk to [Highway Superintendent Elwin] Sonny [Centner] to have him look at it and see if it’s something we can do and save big on this,” Becker said.
Raulli said the parks could wait another year or two.
* Becker told Raulli the spring Parks & Recreation flyer looked good.
* Author Judy Barrett presented her new historical book about Bridgeport, which are available from Barnes & Noble, the author and for loan at the library.
Martha E. Conway is vice president of M3P Media, LLC, and publisher of the Madison County Courier. She can be reached at 315.813.0124 or by emailing martha@m3pmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/marthaeconway or Facebook at facebook.com/meconway.