Village of Dering Harbor
Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes

July 13th, 2109 1:00 pm

• The meeting called to order at 1:19pm

• Attendance- Meredith Jenkins (chair), Alex Jackson, Eric Deutsch, Marian Brownlie; absent- Devon Cross; Wayne Bruyn (village attorney), Vicki Weslek (village clerk), Susan Carey, Donna Ritzmann

• Marian made a motion and Eric seconded to accept the minutes from the last ZBA meeting. All Board members present voted in favor.

• Ms. Jenkins read the following applications for review:

(1) Application of Timothy Hogue appealing the Building Inspector’s “Order to Remedy Violation” dated July 31, 2018, wherein it is alleged that an off-street parking area was constructed without requisite permits on property located at 19 Shore Road, SCTM# 0701-001.00-02.00-001.000.
For the record, Marian Brownlie recused herself from discussions regarding this application.

Ms. Jenkins read aloud a letter (dated July 1st) from J. Lee Snead requesting an adjournment.
Ms. Jenkins wanted to confirm that the subpoena authority lies with the ZBA board. Mr. Bruyn said yes and explained. Mr. Bruyn explained that this is an administrative proceeding and that only the ZBA can issue subpoenas regarding it’s own proceedings. Mr. Snead is requesting to compel by subpoena the mayor and building inspector to be at the next meeting, as well as asking the ZBA to suppoana its own records, which he cannot do. Mr. Bruyn thinks it is important to find out the relevancy of the subpoena request. Mr. Bruyn doesn’t think there is a dispute over the facts, simply a request for an explanation of the building inspector’s interpretation of the statute. He sees no reason for the mayor to be called in to answer questions regarding this matter since the mayor has no say in interpreting code and its enforcement. In Mr. Bruyn’s opinion, the facts are clear and it is up to the ZBA to provide a pure interpretation of the law once all the facts are presented. To date, there’s been no presentation whatsoever by Mr. Snead as to the facts or circumstances or his argument.
After a discussion about precedent, procedure, and what the ZBA can typically expect from applicants regarding an application in question, Ms. Jenkins recommended that the meeting be adjourned and kept open for the purpose of hearing a presentation from Mr. Snead about the application and the case, as well as an explanation of the relevance of the witnesses he is asking to be subpoenaed.
Meredith moved and Alex seconded to keep the public hearing open and adjourn until next meeting on August 10th, 2019 at 8am. 3 votes in favor and 1 recusal.

• New Business: Wayne reminded the ZBA of the ethics code and state law when there is a conflict of interest.
Marian asked Wayne how the new proposed law regarding designating alternates to boards would change things. Wayne explained that alternates can only be designated in the case of recusal or the possibility of a long-term absence from meetings.

A motion to approve a resolution to schedule future ZBA meetings for the 2nd Saturday of every month at 8am was moved by Mr. Deutsch moved and seconded by Mr. Jackson. All board members present voted in favor

• Ms. Brownlie made a motion and Mr. Jackson seconded to adjourn the meeting at 1:48pm. All board members present voted in favor.