Planning Board to hold public hearing on Lowe’s Monday

The Town of Geneseo Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the Newman Development application to build the Geneseo Town Centre on Monday August 11 at 8 p.m. at the Geneseo Town Hall. The hearing will be on the site plan, subdivision and special use permit needed for the project.

The Town Board recently passed a local law approving PDD zoning for the project. The law also included certain site plan details that are normally the province of the planning board, and which in some cases were at variance with what the planning board has recommended. (See previous post)

It is unclear whether the planning board has the authority to modify any of the town’s rulings based on public input at the hearing. The developer also needs a special use permit to operate an outdoor garden center.

Town Board ignores Planning Board recommendations

The Geneseo Town Board attached site plan and architectural requirements to the PDD zoning that it passed last week that are, in some cases, at variance with the recommendations made by the Town Planning Board. For example, the Planning Board had recommended that the maximum height of the building be no more than 40 feet but the Town Board specified that the building can be 45 feet high.

The existing code does not allow a height higher than 35 feet, but such requirements can be superceded by the PDD zoning. It is unclear, however, which board will have the last word on this matter. The site plan now goes back to the Planning Board for final approval and they may try to restore their own recommendation.

The PDD zoning was adopted as Local Law #2 The new law, which amends Town Code Section 106-13 by adding a new paragraph (22), was passed on a 4-1 vote with Dan Dimpfl voting against. The introduction of the new local law was a bit of a surprise and it was passed without any prior published notice or public hearing, other than the combined SEQR hearing with the Planning Board last October.