Master Plan Review Committee Chairman and Town Councilman Eric Johnson presented the latest committee recommendations to the Wallkill Town Board during the March 6 work session.
“This is a working document; it is a living, breathing thing,” Mr. Johnson said of the proposed changes, noting that committee members welcomed town board input to perfect their recommendations.
A top committee proposal will facilitate the development process by adding a new town engineer and a new coordinator position to oversee the planning, zoning, and building departments.
“That individual is going to keep the three boards in sync to make development much simpler, much more streamlined, and much more effective,” Mr. Johnson said.
The committee recommends adding a sunset clause for conditional approvals and tightening the definition of project progress in related clauses for the post-approval process.
Committee members also propose to strip overlay zones from the town code or limit them to fewer zones than currently allowed for fear they can be used to drastically change the face of a neighborhood.
For example, the current town zoning code allows planned residential development as an overlay district that can inject itself into three zones, including the suburban residential district.
It is also recommended that the conservation subdivision be removed from the code for a similar reason.
Specific changes by zones are proposed by the committee to keep up with developments or drive the desired growth.
Camps are recommended to be removed from the allowed uses in the suburban residential district as not enough land is left in that zone to support such a development; mobile homes, too, are suggested to be stripped off the same district because they do not fit in with the neighborhood.
As warehousing developments heat up in Orange County, it is recommended to clearly define warehouses and distribution centers in the code and incentivize such facilities to cluster around three major intersections regardless of the zones.
Committee members also recommend adding commercial recreation as permitted special uses in the highway commercial district to encourage developments such as indoor sports complexes.
Places of worship are recommended to be removed as allowed use from at least three zones.
What’s Next
Town Supervisor George Serrano commended the efforts of the Master Plan Review Committee members at the work session. The Town Board and the committee are expected to hash out the final changes in the coming months before setting up a public hearing.Initiated by former Supervisor Frank DenDanto, the committee came under Mr. Johnson’s stewardship following Mr. Serrano’s election two years ago.
The last master plan and zoning changes were adopted in 2005.
The nine committee members include the following: Mr. Johnson, Councilman Steven Vinella, Jerry’s Collision Center secretary Carol Gillen, Loiodice Excavating owner James Loiodice, 373 Plumbers and Steamfitters Union foreman Chris Michaels, cybersecurity engineer and retired Army Reserve officer Saleem Newsome, Quickway Diner owner Teek Persaud, NYC iron worker and volunteer firefighter Richard Reeves, and community relations professional Denise Romero.
At the March 6 work session, the Wallkill Town Board also authorized a formal request for a proposal for a four-season environmental review of the natural resources of Shawangunk Kill.
The town imposed a 12-month moratorium on developments within that stream corridor last May to allow time for such a study.
