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As both a concerned resident and a reporter for the TPFYI website, I attend Board of Trustees meetings on a monthly basis and take fairly detailed notes with regard to the issues discussed here. Therefore, over the course of the last several months, I have been privy to most if not all discussions with regard to Local Law Introductory # 5 (pertaining to zoning code changes relating to non-conforming uses, non complying structures and substandard lots) and Local Law # 7 (pertaining to a possible Ridgeline and precipice overlay district and regulations) The Board has conducted lengthy, constructive discussions with regard to both pieces of proposed legislation and as a result certain aspects of the laws have been changed or “tweeked” ,if you will, in order to give them the teeth they will need to be effective in Village. There has been a lot of conversation with regard to making absolutely sure that these laws are very CLEAR and concise and they there is little to no room for misinterpretation moving forward. I applaud the Board for this hard work, as legislating in a responsible way is certainly one of the reasons each of you was elected.
With that being said, I also need to point out that there has been AN EXCESSIVE amount of redundant and circulatory discussion with regard to both pieces of legislation. For example, anyone who has attended meetings in the last 3 months or obtained tapes from the V.O. or read meeting reports on TPFYI knows that Trustee Hanson feels that the Ridgeline legislation is too restrictive, specifically when it comes to building height restrictions…and that in his view, passing the law as it stands may result in an increase in ranch style homes or homes with flat roofs in the proposed district area. Mayor Stebbins, and Trustees Worthy and Hays disagree with this concern. They feel the law will encourage smart architecture. The Board has had this very same discussion, for no less than 90 minutes at a clip, at each meeting for the last three months….and nothing has been resolved.
Likewise, when it comes to LL # 5, Trustee Hanson feels there should be no time limit on rebuilding damaged structures while Trustee Worthy feels 5 years would be appropriate and Mayor Stebbins and Trustee Shaw are more comfortable with 10. Again, the same, lengthy discussion has taken place three times now with no advancement to date.
What is even more unfortunate is that each month these discussions are placed on the agenda in the OLD BUSINESS section…and OLD BUSINESS comes before NEW BUSINESS. So, each month residents who arrive at a 7:30pm meeting are left having to sit through these long, and often times agonizing, stagnant debates before they are able to either comment on or receive the information they came for. The monthly meetings, on average, end between 12:30 and 1am. Last month, the attorney for the Board actually had to interrupt one of these redundant discussion to inform the Board that it was 11:59pm and if they did not skip ahead and open a public hearing (not that there was any public present aside from myself at that late hour) it would no longer be legal to conduct the hearing.
My point is simply this….while I understand that passing legislation needs to be done in a very thorough and concise manner so that the end result is both clear and effective, obviously there are aspects of both of these laws that the Board disagrees on….and no amount of circulatory discussion is going to make you agree. By the time you reach the third month of discussions and have opened the legislation up for public comment, the Board should no longer be debating the intent of the proposed legislation. In noting that both pieces of legislation are on the agenda for this evening, I implore if not beg you on behalf of myself and everyone else here present, not to have the same 90 minute conversations but rather to move ahead with the laws in a manner that is both constructive and beneficial for us all.
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