Goshen Town Board to consider abolishing Environmental Review Board

The March 7 meeting of the Goshen Planning Board ended with a flourish. Planning board member Diana Lupinski said she “heard at ShopRite” from someone that the Goshen Town Board was considering abolishing the Environmental Review Board because it is redundant with the planning board.

Lupinski, a former Environmental Review Board member, said that if this were the case she would like the planning board to make a statement indicating their support of the Environmental Review Board. Martin Holmes, another former member of the Environmental Review Board who is now a planning board member, agreed he found the board helpful.

Town Supervisor Joseph Betro was in attendance and said such chatter was premature. The town board has not even proposed the idea yet, he said. Betro told The Chronicle that he would be taking the lead in investigating whether the Environmental Review Board is needed anymore and we are months away from the issue potentially landing on the town board agenda.

He said the Environmental Review Board was instituted before SEQRA (the NYS State Environmental Quality Review Act) was made the law of the land, adding that with SEQRA in place it may be redundant. Planning board members noted if the town board proposes the abolishment of the Environmental Review Board then the planning board would be consulted for their opinion on the matter as a matter of course and no special resolution would be necessary.

Other business

Another proposal casually mentioned at the very end of the meeting was that the planning board should broadcast their meetings online to avoid any appearance of operating in the dark. Board members were generally supportive of the idea, but attorney Kelly Naughton noted that such a measure would have to come from the town board, as they would be the ones who authorize the expense and use of equipment.

As for regular business, several projects and two laws were up for discussion at Thursday’s meeting. The board voted its approval of Introductory Law #11 that said the town of Goshen should be able to sell water to other municipalities but with language pertaining to the village of Goshen removed. According to Naughton, “The Town Code currently prohibits the removal of groundwater for use outside of the town, ‘including groundwater removed for use in the village of Goshen public water supply’ except pursuant to a special permit issued by the planning board upon a finding that groundwater recharge measures will be taken to prevent any negative impact on water quantity or quality within the town. The quoted language was recommended to be removed.” As for Introductory Law #1 regarding a Solid Waste Management Facility, the board decided to refrain from a vote until SEQRA was completed.

Goshen Hospitality, a proposal for a hotel and restaurant at Cheechunk and 6 ½ Station roads is nearing approval. “We’re getting close on this one,” Naughton said. She read revisions from the Findings Statement aloud and said the board would circulate the “final redline” on March 28, and the LLC would be back before the board the first meeting of April.

The board discussed RVH Mulch Supply’s application for an amended site plan approval for a mulch processing facility on Hartley Road and NYS Route 17M. RVH Mulch Supply is seeking permission to use 10,000 gallons of water per day approximately three months out of the year, which is well above the 2,060 gallons that code says is the maximum. The planning board voted themselves the lead agency in reviewing RVH’s application and ruled that no public hearing would be necessary for the matter.

All in Audio, a 43.2-acre site on Cedar Swamp Road, is seeking conversion of an agricultural warehouse to a non-agricultural warehouse. Originally All in Audio was going to eliminate three two-family houses from the property as part of its conversion, but due to a favorable finding from the Department of Health, the applicants now seek to keep them. Seasonal farm workers reside in the homes. There was disagreement on the board over whether a new septic tank would trigger the need for a new site plan approval. Members eventually agreed that the Department of Health would be the judge of that. The board ruled that no public hearing is required for this matter.

Ludo’s Thick and Thin Lumber Farm’s application for site plan and special permit approval was heard by the board. The applicant seeks to build two 5,000-square-foot buildings on 2.92 acres on Pumpkin Swamp Road and County Route 25. He is seeking an agricultural designation for the lumberyard. Some board members said they considered the project’s use to be light industry. The project needs two variances, one for being in a flood plain and one for being just under the three acres required for an agricultural operation.

The board voted themselves lead agency in the SEQRA review of the project.

A planned discussion about the 17M Flex Building warehouse along Route 17M was dropped from the agenda.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include an explanation by village attorney Kelly Naughton regarding Introductory Law #11.