Coalition
Members

Apolacon Twp..
Bridgewater Twp.
Choconut Twp.
Forest Lake Twp.
Franklin Twp.
Jessup Twp.
Liberty Twp.
Middletown Twp.
Rush Twp.
Silver Lake Twp
Friendsville
Little Meadows
Montrose

Meeting Minutes - July 2008

Liberty Township July 17, 2008

The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Dave Darrow.
Roll call, and 8 delegates answered.  A quorum was present.

The list of members and visitors will be listed on a separate piece of paper considered to be an official part of this document

Secretary’s Report: Bruce Griffis made the motion to accept the Secretary’s Minutes and Bill Dovin the second.  The motion was passed.

Treasurer’s Report: Beverly Way made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report and Bill Dovin the second.  The motion was accepted.

Old Business:  Gas Company truck’s affects on local roads – a separate meeting will be held to discuss this matter. 

Zoning:  The DCED Grant has been closed.  The Finance Committee will meet with Carson to discuss fees for reviewing any development.  The Grant runs for two years but the consultant must complete the work. 

The Public Meeting is tentatively scheduled for the second week of September in the Montrose High School Auditorium.

Several changes have been made to the original document.  They will be posted on line.  Both the County Planning Commission and those Townships with their own Planning Commissions will have 45 days to review the Ordinance.  Choconut and perhaps several other municipalities will need time to add map changes.

The fact sheets available to the municipalities are available to the residents.  All information is available and the elected officials welcome questions .  Three of the most asked questions: “How will it affect my property? “What is a conditional use?” “How will this affect my taxes? “

How will this affect my property?   If you do not make any structural or line changes to your property there will be no affect.  If, you subdivide your property the County’s subdivision rules apply plus, a review to make certain your changes do not affect the your zone.  Yes, you will have to pay a small fee for the zoning officer to review your plan.  The current plan is less than $25.00. 

What is a conditional use? . Any change in the use of a property less than 300 ft. from a neighbor might trigger a conditional hearing response.  If the change is in accord with the designation “conditional use” it would mean that instead of having the zoning officer immediately approve, he/she would have the applicant take the matter to their local Planning Commission.  Example:  A church in a residential area is considered a conditional use.  Why?  Many churches today are not the little white church in the vail.  They may have large recreation centers, childcare and are open 24/7 for activities.  The scope of the church’s activities and it’s affect on the neighborhood should be reviewed by a local body.  At this stage of zoning review,  if the residents of the NTC want a church to be removed from the conditional list it could be removed. 

How will this affect my taxes?  At this point, there is no way to tell.  The zoning officer for the most part is a part time job and the salary will be paid in part by fees.  It might be necessary to contribute to a salary if there are not enough fees to cover all of the salary and the thought is currently less than $1,000 per year per municipality.  If all of the NTC shares the cost of course the cost to the local community will be less. 

The NTC must do more to educate.  The purpose of zoning is to provide reasonable rules to protect neighborhood property values.  Seven years of work went into the making of the Ordinance and the reasoning was well thought out.
There were numerous documented public meetings.  The NTC has not done enough to provide insight to this Ordinance.  Not everyone has a computer and hard copies of the Ordinance must be made available. 

The public portion of the meeting consisted of honest questions, opposing comments and threats in equal measure. 

Meeting adjourned.

Secty. Carolyn Doolittle

Members: Kendall Mitchell, Bob Boyanowski, Mary Long, Frank Burns, Charles Pierson, Bruce Griffis, Tom Curley, Chuck Mead, Mary Mead, Beverly Way, Charles Davis, Ted Plevinsky, Charles Fahringer, Bob Templeton, Bill Dovin, Dave Darrow, Carolyn Doolittle

Visitors: Please understand that the writing is not always clear
*indicated on sign in sheet that they were opposed to zoning.

1. Richard Naylor Jr.*
2. Richard Naylor Sr.*
3. Clement Naylor*
4. Martin Bennett*
5. Gloria Naylor*
6. Becky Naylor*
7. Mary Jo Billing*
8. Francis R. Bolles
9. Theresa Aray
10. Krista L Naylor
11. Lori Raub
12. Eric Wilber
13. Gene Famolari
14. James Lindsey
15. Carol Shilling
16. Roger Taylor
17. Bruce Bevan
18. Anna Bevan
19. Jennifer Casselbury
20. O. Robert Niera
21. Cindy DeGraw
22. Jeanne Kelar
23. Chuck McNeal
24. Dave Stetson
25. Don Hanrahan
26. Julius Norton Jr.
27. William Kleswen
28. Thomas Brand
29. Bob Henry
30. Ted Norton
31. Clifford Reed
32. Don Rifenbury
33. Kevin Luce
34. Donald Henry
35. Elizabeth Henry
36. Robin Cushner
37. Stacie Wilson
38. Nancy L.Bicexe
39. Donald Robert
40. Angelo ? (Franklin Twp.) cannot read
41. Violet Henry
42. Joyce Bevin
43. Richard Bevin
44. Angel Kublo
45. Jack Davis
46. John Norton

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