With most Planning Boards and ZBAs struggling to find volunteers, maybe it’s time to consider bigger.
As in regional.
That’s a possibility Village of Schoharie Planning Board chair Tom Hitter floated Monday.
The Planning Board has been swamped, Mr. Ritter pointed out, while the ZBA—Zoning Board of Appeals—hasn’t met in a few years.
“We have a very small pool here,” Mr. Hitter said, wondering if it’s possible—legal—to merge the two.
Possibly, said attorney Dave Brennan; he knows of regional Planning Boards in the North Country and in 2016, the Village of Saranac Lake combined its Planning Board and ZBA into one five-member Village Community Development Board.
Two of the Planning Board members there had served on the ZBA.
Filling seats has become so difficult, Mr. Brennan said, that some communities have responded by downsizing their Planning Boards and ZBAs to as few as three people.
The problem with that, he said, is that there’s not a lot of diversity of opinions.
Legally, if you have zoning, you have to have a ZBA “to provide relief,” Mr. Brennan said; he’s not sure about Planning Boards but will look into the possibilities.
Not everyone was sold on the idea, however.
Outgoing Planning Board chair Dusty Putnam said it’s possible for the ZBA to permit something, but then the Planning Board determines it’s not allowed—something that’s happened in Schoharie, she said.
“We have had entities vote differently.”
“It’s not like I’m totally sold either,” Mr. Hitter said, and Mr. Brennan agreed that the idea has its pros and cons—though it’s worth looking into.
The two boards could be combined into one, Mr. Brennan said, or some members could wear both the Planning Board and ZBA hats, he said.