Village of Dering Harbor
Trustees Meeting
Minutes
April 23rd, 2022, 9:00 AM 

• The meeting was called to order at 9:03am

• Attendance- Karen Kelsey (Deputy Mayor), Brad Goldfarb, Ari Benacerraf; absent- Patrick Parcells and Brandon Rose, Wayne Bruyn (village attorney), Vicki Shields (village clerk), Donna Ritzzmann (Timothy Hogue’s stenographer), Dennis Corcoran, Susannah Rose, Sam Ashner, Eric Deutsch, Stephanie Deutsch.

• A resolution to accept the minutes from the April 2^nd Special meeting was moved by Ari and seconded by Brad. All Board members present voted in favor.

• A resolution to accept the minutes from the March 12^th special meeting was moved by Brad and seconded by Ari. All Board members present voted in favor.

• A resolution authorizing payment of the outstanding bills abstract, minus the invoices from Ocean Electric (which need further review) was made by Brad and seconded by Ari. All Board members present voted in favor.

• Announcements

1. Historical Architectural Study – Patrick Ahearn June 4^th, 2022- Brad recapped the email that was sent to the community earlier in the week. He hopes that as many residents as possible join for that event. Karen commented that this is definitely a consensus driven process. Susannah asked what happens if people cannot attend that day. Brad said there will be other opportunities to connect with him.
2. Water Update – Long Term Funding- Short term financing will convert to a bond, which is the last piece of financing of this project.

• New Business

1. Discussion of new NYS Public Officers Law Sec. 103-a(2), regarding authorization of public bodies to conduct meetings using videoconference technology. Karen gave background on the specifics of the proposed law. Wayne advised that the village adopt this law so that it has the flexibility to use it, but only in extraordinary circumstances. Must be adopted by June 8th.

• Old Business
  1. Application for a curb cut at 22 Locust Point Road. Dennis Corcoran provided hardcopies of the traffic study he had done, in addition to the digital copies he had provided in an email to the clerk. Karen alerted Dennis to the fact that the speed limit in the village is 25MPH and asked him to have his engineer recalculate his findings based on that speed limit. Dennis agreed.

1. 1. Motion to reopen the Public Hearing – A Local Law amending §§230-7, 230-8, 230-9 and 230-21 of the Zoning Code related to permitted/prohibited uses, interpretations and accessory driveways and off-street parking areas was made by Ari and seconded by Brad. All Board members present voted in favor.
      • Karen said that the board had received several letters from residents, including one from Brandon Rose, which were entered into the record by the clerk. Karen read aloud portions of Brandon’s letter. Wayne provided clarification regarding the language about parking in driveways with a quick answer that the village does not want parking in driveways, since the driveway is intended to be the access to the parking area. The intent is for all new construction to include a parking area so that parking does not occur in a driveway. Karen and Brad both commented that they don’t see a problem with people parking in a driveway, since it is better than people parking on their lawn. Wayne explained that the intent is to encourage future development to have a parking court and that the driveway could be used for parking but that it is not intended to be the permanent off-street parking area. Regarding Brandon’s question about whether the surface area of a driveway counts towards the requirement of 4-B-(1), the board members present all agreed they are fine with how that section reads in the proposed law. Regarding Brandon’s suggestion to add language to clarify the temporary basis and limit the frequency of parking on lawns. It was agreed by the Board members present that there is overwhelming support for prohibiting parking on lawns. They discussed whether it should be prohibited entirely, leave it as written in the proposed law, or expand on it. It was agreed that the more specific the code is on this, the harder it becomes to enforce. Ari suggested either leaving it as is or eliminating it entirely. Wayne interjected with the intent, which was to recognize that people do sometimes park in their driveways or their lawn temporarily, but that the village doesn’t want that happening on a long-term basis. Defining a temporary basis gives the building inspector or code enforcer a standard to enforce. Sam Ashner had a question regarding parking that occurred last summer at a residence. Karen explained that there is a section of the code that provides residents an opportunity to notify the village when there will be an event at residents where parking on village streets may occur. Brad asked if setting the 24 hour limit is helpful or does it not matter? Wayne explained that the law sets expectations while also establishing standards that are enforceable. After further discussion, it was agreed to take out the 24 hours piece regarding parking on lawns and dirt areas.
   2. The Board went on to discuss the concerns regarding setback requirements in the proposed law. The Board suggested there be a different setback for driveways in the A Zone versus B Zone. Dennis Corcoran commented about how this proposed law affects his pre-existing, non-conforming lot. He offered examples of what he is dealing with in designing his residence. Karen commented that some people think that there should be no setbacks and Dennis thinks that is a better way to go, since property owners should be allowed reasonable access to their property. He went on to explain the genesis of his design and why he sited the house and the driveway on his property. Stephanie Deutsch responded to Dennis’ questions regarding why the code exists the way it does. And that there is a mechanism in the ZBA for providing relief, which Dennis said he would use if needed. Karen went back to Dennis’ original question regarding pre-existing, non-conforming lots and asked Wayne about it. He said there is no grandfathering in the proposed law. It is prospective and it would apply to every new house and alteration of driveways. No specific property is being grandfathered in the current draft.
   3. Ultimately it was agreed by the board that the setbacks for driveways should be changed to 50’ in the A zone. They asked Wayne to make that change in the proposed law.

A motion to adjourn and keep the public hearing open until May 14th was moved by Ari and seconded by Brad. All Board members present voted in favor.

• Adoption of FY 2023 VDH Budget.
  • Karen noted that there were two changes made to the budget since the Tentative budget was discussed. The expense line item for cleaning village hall was increased and the revenue from permit fees is anticipated to increase. She also noted that this is the 4th consecutive year that village taxes have decreased.
  • A motion to adopt the 22/23 FY Budget was made by Brad and seconded by Ari. All Board members present voted in favor.

• It was agreed that an Executive Session to discuss litigation was not needed.

• Date for next regular Trustee’s meeting – May 14^th, at 9:00 am.

• A motion to adjourn at 10:02am was made by Brad and seconded by Ari. All Board members present voted in favor.

• A motion to reopen the meeting was made by Ari and seconded by Brad. All Board members present voted in favor.

• A motion to go into Executive Session at 10:05am was made by Ari and seconded by Brad. All Board members present voted in favor.

• Motion to reopen the meeting at 11:00am was moved by Ari and seconded by Brad. All Board members present voted in favor.

• Motion to adjourn at 11:01am was moved by Brad and seconded by Ari. All Board members present voted in favor.