BETTER THAN HEARSAY - A Different Planning Plan

CATSKILL - What’s done is done and won’t be undone, changing the way the Greene County planning board does business, but one explanation given for doing it has left some local planners displeased.

The county legislature recently approved a pair of resolutions related to the adjustments, reducing the planning board from 19 to 5 members, thereby eliminating in-person participation by towns and villages.

Lawmakers say they authorized the actions because, “the county planning board has not convened since April of 2022 due to loss of professional planning personnel, staffing and other resource limitations.”

Those resource limitations included not having, “the time necessary for staff to support the operations of the function of the County Planning Board,” the legislative resolution states.

All of that is what it is, and not necessarily disputed by Carl Giangrande, who has  been the representative to the county planning board for the village of Hunter for several years.

Giangrande, however, says he was told a primary reason for the county reconfiguration was “a lack of member participation,” meaning the 19 representatives from the county’s 14 towns and 5 villages.

“That’s the way it was described to me and I take umbrage with that,” says Giangrande. “I’ve spoken to other members who agree with me and they are equally miffed.

“In the years I served on the planning board, I found all the members to be enthusiastic. Their contributions were heartfully given. I can count on one hand the times we didn’t have a quorum,” Giangrande says.

The county planning board was established in 1968 with 14 members, “to conduct the review of certain proposed planning and zoning actions as prescribed by General Municipal Law,” the resolution states.

Those 14 members represented each town, with the number increasing to 19 in 1985 to further encompass the villages.

It is generally agreed that all was well and good until two key county planners, Karl Heck and Richard Schiaflo, left the job to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

They were not replaced or were replaced after a lengthy absence, leaving town and village planners in limbo, according to Giangrande.

“When [Schiaflo] resigned, the role of director was never filled. That’s what we were told was the reason the meetings weren’t being held, and that when the position was filled we would be returning,” Giangrande says.

“We were basically waiting for that to happen. Instead, we get the word from the county about going with only five people,” Giangrande says.

That sentiment is echoed by Cindy LaPierre, the town of Jewett’s representative to the county planning board.

“It seemed to me there were no meetings because there was nobody to replace [Schiaflo],” LaPierre says. “Only in the last month or so did the county send information that the board would consist of five people.

“They believe they can handle it. The frustrating thing for the local planning boards is we were the only input from the local boards to the county,” LaPierre says.

“And I brought home decisions the county had made that helped the local planning boar understand what was going on at the county level.

“It was important because we would become aware of issues going in other communities that would be helpful, especially if it was something we hadn’t  had to deal with yet,” LaPierre says, such as solar farms, etc.

“The loss of that is disappointing,” LaPierre says. “And it definitely feels like we no longer have any representation at the county level.”

County officials say Warren Hart, the director of Economic Development, Tourism & Planning, has essentially been overseeing the work load, reviewing local applications requiring county input.

While he’s been up to the task, “that is no way to run a department,” says legislature chairman Patrick Linger, noting the covid pandemic created complications of its own.

“During covid, people were allowed to attend meetings virtually. Once that went away, people started not attending the meetings,” Linger says.

There were “multiple times” that non-attendance resulted in not having the legal quorum to conduct business, officials say.

While municipalities are not part of the county board any more, “it will still be up to the town and village planning boards to pass or not pass applications that come before them,” Linger says.

“Nothing has changed that way. What we had in place was not working. We had to redefine the board. It was nothing personal,” Linger says. 

General Municipal Law requires that, “certain types of municipal planning and zoning actions conducted by towns and villages be referred to a county planning board or a regional planning council before local action be taken on that particular project,” the resolution states.

“The purpose of the [review] is to consider impacts on adjacent communities and potential inter-municipal or county-wide impacts of proposed projects,” the resolution states.

Lawmakers have determined, “it is in the best interests of the county and its municipalities to have these reviews conducted by a county planning board comprised of a more manageable, efficient and productive body.

“The members of the Greene County Planning Board, both past and present, are hereby acknowledged and thanked for their service to the county and its communities,” the resolution states.

Newly appointed members, to 3-year terms, are James Hannahs (Greene County Economic Development & Planning), Robert Van Valkenburg (Greene County Highway Department);

Audrey Terwilliger (Greene County Real Property Tax Service), April Ernst (Greene County Industrial Development Agency) and Joel DuBois (Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District).