Introduction of a Local Law establishing a new chapter in the Town Code of the Town of Greenburgh entitled “Planning Board, Alternate Members” permitting the appointment of alternate members to serve on the planning board when regular members are ill, on extended vacation or find they have a conflict of interest on a specific matter before such board.
This will be on the agenda of the Town Board meeting on Wednesday. A public hearing will be scheduled.
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16 comments:
While this is completely unnecessary, I'm curious as to why this is being proposed only for the Planning Board and not for all the Boards?
The Planning Bd needs an alternate so they won't have to cancel meetings due to lack of quorums. Some of their members miss meetings frequently.
I wonder whether the planning board chair thinks this is a good idea.
The problem with providing for "alternates" on a board as important as the town's planning board is that the alternate may be called in at the last minute to cast a vote on a matter on which the "alternate" knows nothing.
Planning board matters are often complex and require review of many documents and testimony over multiple meetings.
To planning board members (and ex-planning board members) who never do or did their homework anyway, this may not be that big a deal.
But serving on a planning board requires that the voting member do his or her homework before casting a vote. Otherwise, the voting member merely functions as a rubber stamp or worse, instead of exercising his or her informed judgment, the alternate merely does what he or she is told to do.
Before going down that road, the planning board chair should tell the public exactly how many times planning board meetings had to be postponed for lack of a quorum.
Just how serious a problem is this?
I suspect this is an effort by Feiner to stack the deck in his favor (and in the favor of any devopers who support him).
I think this is another call for Edgmont to become a village. Feiner, who hates Edgemont, wants to get rid of planning and zoning.
and BTW, Mr. Snyder, you said Feiner wanted to turn the Dromore land into parkland,
WHERE DOES THAT STAND
If a decision has to be made and the board needs so many people present to do so then there should be alternates available.
By the way you should have people who speak english.
There's one man on that board who speaks with a heavy accent that cannot be understood.
Truthfully speaking he really should not be on this board if he has good qualifications means nothing if he cannot be understood.
Why not just make Feiner a voting member of everything - it saves having to worry about whether his surrogate will parrot the right lines.
No matter what suggestions Feiner makes he is always wrong.
Had this idea come from Sir Sheehan you would not have any problems of accepting it.
You must be a resident of Edgemont.
I'm not a resident of Edgemont, and I think this is a ridiculous idea. I'm tired of Mr. Feiner's brain-farts; too many ideas without having done necessary research in advance.
Sorry to disappoint my critics--but this idea was initiated by the chair of the planning board.
This is a very important issue, I think.
Will the new law require that the alternate(s) sit in on all Planning Board sessions and work sessions, as I understand alternate jurors due when jury panels are chosen? Or if it's like "Let's call Pete or Mary to come to the Planning Board tonight because we don't have a quorum, and we'll let them vote with little knowledge of the issues, because we have to get whatever is before the PB finished tonight because the applicant is getting tired of coming back in order to meet the requirements, kind of thing - then it really undermines the integrity of the PB.
PLEASE, let this be done with INTEGRITY. Otherwise everyone who lives here - including those in favor of rampant development, and those who never want another thing built in Greenburg, has a right to be suspicious of the motives of this new law.
We want to trust our Town gov't. Give us more information so that we can trust.
Lately the planning board has been dragging out cases .
I cann't understand how many times a person has to come back and forth to give them what they seem to come up with after the meeting is over.
Is anyone from the outside telling them what to ask for.
Some applicants have come back five and six times because the civic assoc. want things done differently.
If the building department gives out a permit why is it that the planning board sees things in a different light.
Who do you trust?
Bring on some people that won't fall asleep while the meeting is going on.
We do need fresh blood in this department as well as alternates.
They should make their decisions after two meetings not after six and then maybe not at all.
This is why the town keeps getting sued.
This is an irresponsible and unnecessary idea.
Sorry 10:22 - I disagree with you completely. We have a very serious planning board. They consider things in depth in an effort to be sure that the requirements of law and good planning are met. All of this so that the Town will not be sued because of lax following of codes, laws, and other requisites.
Granted, life for builders is more complicated than it used to be. This is because everyone has seen the results of letting builders do what profits them most, but makes disasters for the lives of the rest of us in Town.
Lengthy planning approval is factored in these days by builders as a cost of doing business. If this cost was too prohibitive, they would not be seeking planning approval in Greenburg.
The town keeps getting sued because Feiner is irresponsible and tries to broker deals (Fortrees Bible?)
The gentleman that was introduced at the work session seems to be well suited for the job as an alternate.
Job well done.
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