Agency’s role
The ZBA’s jurisdiction is that of an appellate body. The agency hears and decides appeals from, and interpretations of, written orders, requirements, decisions, or determinations made by the town’s zoning enforcement officer, or ZEO. (In recent years Woodstock’s building inspector has also functioned as the ZEO.) The appeals may pertain to area variances, use variances, and interpretations.
Apparently overlying the current friction between the ZBA and certain Woodstock officials, including Town Board members, is the expansion of Cucina restaurant, located at the 105-109 Mill Hill Road property owned by Cyrus and Nancy Adler, to include an accessory catering business in a separate building on the site.
In April 2012 an interpretation by the ZBA found that a building permit for the expansion, which had been issued by ZEO and building inspector Ellen Casciaro, was improper, in part because Cucina had failed to obtain a required special use permit (SUP) from the Planning Board. The ZBA reaffirmed its decision at a rehearing two months later. In September 2012 the Planning Board waived requirements for a new SUP and site plan review, granting approval for the Cucina project to proceed under certain conditions. The matter is currently in litigation, as the State Supreme Court considers an Article 78 lawsuit filed by Woodstock resident Nancy Schauffler.
Some proponents of the controversial project have maintained that Casciaro’s issuance of a building permit (and, subsequently, a temporary certificate of occupancy) was proper and lawful, while the ZBA’s decision amounted to a misguided and unnecessary impediment to the expansion of a successful and popular local business. Other observers vigorously defend the ZBA’s action, arguing that the agency, in this instance and others, has consistently and evenly interpreted the zoning law. If the law is flawed, change it, they say, but don’t assail the conscientious decisions of a volunteer board.
Said Harris: “The ZBA is not involved in zoning law enforcement. Change the law if necessary, but don’t get on our case because you don’t believe the ZBA isn’t interpreting the law correctly. It boils down to the fact that I don’t think there is really corruption involved, but what is going on is unethical, with Town Board members trying to influence the ZBA.”
Jeremy Wilber concurred with Harris’s view of the zoning law. “He’s absolutely correct,” said the supervisor. “Planners say that if a certain type of variance repeatedly comes to the ZBA, the town should consider modifying the zoning law. Before I took office (in 2012) there was an attempt to ‘clean up’ the Gateway District. There was a big uproar, but no change.” Wilber added: “There are always fears of a McDonald’s or a hotel” in the Gateway (zoning) District, which lies at the eastern entrance to the hamlet and contains the Cucina property.
Point, counterpoint
Among the resignation letters submitted to the Town Board in the immediate aftermath of the January 2 vote, Anthony’s stood out for its forceful language. It had recently become “increasingly difficult” for the ZBA to do its job, she wrote, as a result of “the lack of follow-up by the Zoning Enforcement Officer and also the Town Board’s political intrusion into our cases and decisions.” Anthony, a lifelong resident of Woodstock, deemed the council’s replacement of Harris, “who has worked tirelessly for the Town for many years,” with an inexperienced candidate “the last straw.”
In a January 7 interview Anthony elaborated on her letter’s contents, although she declined to cite examples of the ZEO’s alleged shortcomings. “Many ZBA decisions and orders should be followed through, but in many cases they are just ignored. I believe that is the job of the ZEO, but it is not done. Most recently, under the current building inspector and with this administration, there has been no interest in trying to improve the situation.”
In the absence of specific examples, said Jeremy Wilber, he could not comment on Anthony’s allegation. The supervisor noted, however, that he had twice appointed Anthony to terms on the ZBA, most recently in 2012 despite her support of Wilber’s electoral opponent.
Her letter’s reference to “political intrusion” related to an alleged instance in which McKenna, in his capacity as a councilman, appeared at a ZBA meeting and attempted to influence the agency’s views on the matter at hand. She described the incident as an “intimidation-type thing.” “The ZBA is an independent entity, like a judgeship,” she said. “The ZBA makes decisions apart from politics, based only on how the zoning law is written and interpreted.”
McKenna took issue with Anthony’s claim, acknowledging that he appeared at a Planning Board session on the Cucina case but asserting that he had no recollection of attending a ZBA meeting. At the Planning Board meeting, he said, he raised questions about that agency’s procedures. “When several Planning Board members asked me to shut up, I did,” said the councilman, who maintained that there was nothing “illegal or immoral” about a Town Board member’s attendance at the meeting of a volunteer board or commission. He added: “I didn’t realize that I was such an intimidating figure and don’t imagine that Joanne would be that easily intimidated.”
Jeremy Wilber supported McKenna’s account, recalling that the councilman attended a Planning Board meeting to discuss parking requirements related to the Cucina expansion. In response to a question, the supervisor acknowledged that about a year ago he received a letter from the Adlers that expressed criticism of the ZBA and Harris. “Yes, but I get letters like that all the time,” he said. “They do not influence my decisions.”
The supervisor objected to a passage in McCormick’s resignation letter, in which the departing ZBA member wrote, “It appears that the Town Board has lost confidence in the ZBA as a team and so I am resigning from the ZBA.” Wilber maintained that the proper role of ZBA members is not to function collectively, as a “team,” but independently, as a body composed of five individual parts.
As of now, four of the component parts are missing. The supervisor reported in the recent interview that some residents have already expressed interest in serving on the volunteer zoning panel. The Town Board, he said, hopes to fill at least some of the vacancies by next week.
Criminalize fracking
In other business at the January 8 meeting, 11 residents urged the board to adopt a resolution that would criminalize hydrofracking in New York State. No one expressed opposition to the proposed measure, which would make the controversial natural-gas drilling method a Class C felony. Speaking in support of the resolution, Joan Walker-Wasylyk warned that hydrofracking could poison aquifers and devastate farming and tourism. Linda Leeds reported that studies have detected elevated emissions of methane, which she described as a powerful greenhouse gas, at drilling sites. Myra Silander deemed agencies like the federal EPA and the state DEC understaffed, underfunded, and unequal to the task of protecting the public and the planet through regulation. “We don’t regulate crimes of violence,” she said. “We shouldn’t regulate crimes against the Earth.” The Town Board may consider the resolution at its next meeting, on January 15.
Planning board and Zoning board of appeals members make decisions that impacts the communities for decades and should be trained for the job.New York State law requires that board members receive a minimum of four hours a year training which is not enough ,also its important to keep politics out of decisions.Term limits would keep things fairer,someone in office to long can get to have to much power.