Van Buren — In order to streamline the development process and save the town money, Van Buren has voted to combine its planning board and zoning board of appeals.
The Van Buren Town Board cited the village of Solvay, the town of Marcellus and the town of Springport in Cayuga County, all of whom have merged their zoning and planning boards, when it voted Dec. 15 to create the “Van Buren Joint Zoning Board of Appeals/Planning Board.”
“We’re trying to streamline our process and cut down on the number of months it takes to get through the process,” Supervisor Claude Sykes said.
Sykes said the boards changed their meeting dates about a year ago to try to speed up the process for applicants, but the problem only got worse.
At the Nov. 17 public hearing, Sykes said some applicants had to wait four to six months to get their applications through the both boards.
The consolidation of the planning and zoning boards is a financial move as well.
“Having one consolidated board hear and determine all zoning and subdivision issues in the town [and] having all board members cross trained in the disciplines associated with both zoning and planning matters … is anticipated to result in some financial savings to the town,” the resolution for Local Law No. 4 of 2015 read.
The law will go into effect once it is filed with the secretary of state of New York.
Members of the town board called the merger a sign of progress for the town.
“Van Buren continues to be a pioneer in things like this,” board member Darcie Lesniak said.
“We’ve been on the forefront of consolidation since I got on the board eight years ago,” board member Howard Tupper added. “It’s a continuation of our plan for efficiency.”
The joint ZBA/planning board will consist of seven appointed members whose terms will expire in each consecutive year. After that, terms will last seven years. The town board will appoint one chairperson.
continued — The members of the joint board are Chair Tony Geiss, Joe Kiselica, James Bowes, James Schanzenbach, James Virginia, James Ruddock and Roger Roman.
Given the changing of the guard, the following members of the planning and zoning boards are resigning their posts:
- Bob Cleverley, ZBA member
- Harold Crandon, planning board member
- Eric Knapp, planning board member
- Laura McBurney, ZBA member
- Fred Thomas, planning board member
- John Virginia, ZBA chair
“We just want to recognize them and thank them for their service,” Sykes said.
Changes at PAC-B
The six planning and zoning board members’ resignations weren’t the only exits announced at the town board meeting. Baldwinsville Public Access Channel (PAC-B) videographer John O’Neill is retiring after 18 years with the channel.
When asked if the channel had found a replacement yet, O’Neill said, “Who can replace me anyways? I’m one of a kind.”
PAC-B, which broadcasts on Time Warner Cable channel 98 and Verizon Fios channel 30, is looking for volunteer videographers. For more information, call 638-2768 or email [email protected].
In other PAC-B news, Mary Frances Sabin, the town board’s liaison to the Cable TV Committee, said that the channel’s franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable ends next year, so negotiations for renewing that agreement will begin in October or November 2016.
Reminder for snowbirds
Town Clerk Lynn Precourt wishes to remind residents who need to pick up their January property tax bill early or need it mailed to a different address should contact her office at 635-3010 or email her at [email protected].
The bills are available during the final week of December.
