By NEAL RENTZ
The Lewisboro Town Board on Monday declined to vote on a waiver of notice to the New York State Alcohol Beverage Control Law with respect to a liquor license application for the Waccabuc Country Club.
Several residents who live near the club have contended that town approvals for renovations are harming their quality of life, including excessive noise generated by events. A group of residents submitted a petition of rehearing to the zoning board of appeals to reopen the review of the country club’s renovation project, but that board voted unanimously to not reopen the review during its January meeting.
“Basically, with these applications there’s a 30-day advance notice to the municipality,” from the entity seeking the liquor license, Supervisor Tony Gonçalves said at the town board meeting. Municipalities have the option to waive the 30-day notice, he said.
“I would recommend that we not move on this,” Gonçalves said. He noted that the town board had received several emails from residents on the issue. The application was submitted by the country club Jan. 15. The waiver will elapse Feb. 15 and the state could issue the liquor license, he said.
Residents have the opportunity to express their comments to the New York State Liquor Authority, Councilman Dan Welsh noted.
Some who opposed the waver spoke at the town board meeting, including Susan Annar, who lives across from the country club.
“I can hear the parties they have now without the DJs and the speakers and the widescreen TV and the 350-capacity deck they’re building,” she said.
The club has stated it will hold about 15 catered events per year, she said
The country club is “directly competing with the residents’ ability to enjoy the lake and the peaceful environment,” Annar said.
Annar called on the town board to tell the state liquor authority that a license would negatively impact residents.
Judy Robinette, a member of the Three Lakes Council, said the country club has been given approvals for an outdoor and indoor recreation area with a disc jockey, live and recorded music.
“It was already a nonconforming use of residential property on a small, private residential lake that does carry sound as all lakes do,” she said.
Board takes a look at building fees
The town board is considering restructuring building department fees.
Building inspector Kevin Kelly presented his draft of building department fees at the Jan. 27 meeting. His proposals include several categories, but the main topic of discussion at the meeting was the proposed charges for residential and commercial building permit fees for property owners whose permits have expired.
Gonçalves said he asked Kelly to look at the department’s fees based on conversations he had with contractors and others.
Gonçalves said the town had an amnesty program for property owners in October and November to allow them to renew their permits without a penalty fee. The building department received no requests from property owners to participate in the amnesty program, he noted.
“We didn’t do a good job in marketing that amnesty program,” he said.
With the new fees there would be no need to extend the amnesty program, Gonçalves said.
Kelly said his department has received many comments on the structure of his department’s fees. Without the amnesty program, property owners would be required to pay a 125 percent surcharge to extend their permits, he said.
“The goal is to take permits to three years,” Kelly said. For permits that expired after three years there would be a renewal charge of up to $1,000 for homeowners, he said.
For a residential property owner who needs one of the building department’s “small permits” for such work as adding an oil tank, “they would probably not hit the $1,000 fee,” Kelly said.
“We’re not trying to hurt anybody,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to come up with a more systematic way to eliminate all their construction time.”
“It’s basically the same set of ground rules” for commercial property owners, Kelly said. “Because those permits are so much larger,” the maximum renewal fee charge for permits that expired after three years for commercial property owners would be $5,000, he said.
The board did not vote on Kelly’s fee proposals.
“This is for us to absorb and think about it,” Gonçalves said.
Zoning changes hearing
Also at the meeting, the public hearing on proposed zoning amendments continued.
The potential zoning changes are being made in conjunction with the years-long effort to update the town’s master plan, which was approved by the town board last year.
Several residents expressed concerns with aspects of the proposed changes.
Chris Alvarez of South Salem, a general contractor for 23 years, said, “I feel if my kids were not in this school district, I’d high-tail it out of there.”
“The amendments you’re proposing should be addressed separately, not lumped into one package, claiming to improve the town,” Alvarez said. “It feels like a huge congressional bill overloaded with minutia.”
Most people do not have time to read or fully understand the proposed amendments, Alvarez said. They will not be aware of the zoning changes until they seek to have work done on their properties, he said.
Dean Travalino was also critical of the proposed zoning changes. The town does not have a minimum size for an exemption from requiring a wetlands permit, he said. The town requires a permit for property owners seeking to cut down trees that are 18 inches in diameter or larger, he said. In comparison, a property owner in Pound Ridge does not need a tree cutting permit unless a tree is at least 36 inches in diameter, he said.
What Lewisboro defines as a buildable lot is obtuse, Travalino said. Other towns have eliminated their steep slopes law because there are other stormwater regulations in place, he said.
Travalino said he has disagreed with town officials over the years about how to make regulations more fair for homeowners in an effort to get more affordable housing in Lewisboro.
The town board will continue its discussion of the proposed zoning amendments during a work session scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10. The public hearing will continue at the Feb. 24 meeting.