The Village of Schuylerville took one step closer to implementing a zoning law that has been in draft form for a decade. At least two more steps remain, and the final outcome of the proposed law is not guaranteed.
The latest step, a public hearing held by the Schuylerville Zoning Commission Wednesday evening, Dec. 1, offered the public an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed code.
Just two members of the public spoke, one in favor and one had some questions and concerns.
The code is identical to the code voted down in 2009. Commission Chair Leona Colvin, who has been instrumental in bringing the code before the Village Board of Trustees both times, explained that the village board in 2008 asked that the code be created and that a new board in 2009 voted it down.
The code was drawn first from a survey of the village itself, creating a land use map that showed where residences, businesses, churches, parks and other facilities already were. From that, with the help of C.T. Male engineering, they drew up the code, Colvin said.
[See our earlier coverage here.]
The draft has sat dormant and has not been changed by the village since 2009, a fact that plays a crucial role in its potential passage, Mayor Dan Carpenter and Colvin both said. Mandates from the state have been added to the code, as they would have been if the code were already law, they said.
This is significant since, in the past, the code worked its way through the various county and state channels which means it can still be passed as is and then be amended, where needed, after passage, Carpenter said.
If they were to make changes now, the code would have to go through a long, and potentially expensive process, Carpenter said. The contract with C.T. Male a decade ago was about $50,000, Carpenter has said.
“The code is still valid and meets the needs of the village,” Colvin said during the public hearing, adding later: “I’d personally like to see it come to fruition.”
The proposed zoning code [click here] will direct where and how development can take place in the village, including the building permit application process, the set-backs required on any development, sidewalk placement and violations and penalties enacted when not following code.
Without a zoning code, the village is left “vulnerable” to a developer or landowner who creates a development that does not fit with the village, and little could be done to stop them, Colvin warned.
The proposed code divides the village into eight districts which direct development of housing, commercial spaces, educational spaces and recreational districts.
“I am glad you were able to resurrect this,” trustee Dan Baker told Colvin near the end of the hearing.
In the next steps, Colvin will report to the trustees. Since the proposed code is law, it must follow the procedure enacting any law. The trustees will set their own public hearing and then, presumably, vote.
That vote could come in February, Carpenter said.