Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission ______
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Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission ________________________________________________________________________________________ Robert J. Gaffney, Chair P.O. Box 587 Felix J. Grucci, Jr., Vice Chair 3525 Sunrise Highway, 2nd Floor Vincent Cannuscio, Member Great River, New York 11739-0587 Ray E. Cowen, Member 516-563-0385 / Fax 516-277-4097 James R. Stark, Member Commission Meeting Summary (FINAL) for January 8, 1997 (Approved 3/12/97) Riverhead Town Hall, Howell Ave & East Main Street / 2:00 pm Commission members present: Mr. Proios (for Suffolk County), Ms. Wiplush (for Brookhaven), Ms. Filmanski (for Riverhead), Mr. Freleng (for Southampton) and Mr. Cowen (for New York State). Others present: General counsel was Ms. Roth. Staff members from the Commission and other agencies included Mr. Corwin, Ms. Trezza, Ms. Plunkett, Mr. Milazzo (from the Commission), Mr. Hopkins (from the Suffolk County Water Authority), Mr. Grecco (from the Suffolk County Department of Law and Vice Chair of the Pine Barrens Credit Clearinghouse), and Mr. Spitz (from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation). Additional attendees are shown on the attached sign-in sheet. The meeting was called to order at approximately 2:10 pm by Mr. Proios, with a five member quorum. Administrative ! Public comments Summary: There were no speakers. ! Draft summary for 12/18 meeting: review and approval Summary: A motion was made by Mr. Freleng and seconded by Mr. Cowen to approve the summary of the 12/18/96 Commission meeting as drafted. The motion was approved by a 5-0 vote. ! Specifications for logo design competition: review Summary: Mr. Corwin distributed the attached draft announcement for a design contest for producing a Commission logo, plus the attached list of schools which have expressed interest in publicizing the contest among their students. It was agreed that 4/25/97 will be the deadline for submittal of design entries, that there would be an entry form with a signed statement which will assign all legal rights to the winning design to the Commission, and that the winning designer would be presented with an award (possibly a plaque with the selected logo) at a Commission meeting. It was also agreed that the draft announcement would reflect the Commission's responsibility to produce and implement a land use plan for the Central Pine Barrens, and that Mr. Corwin will fax a copy of the revised announcement in the next several days. Pine Barrens Credit Program ! Warner / Riverhead: PBC Certificate issuance; credit purchase status Summary: Mr. Grecco, Vice Chair of the Clearinghouse Board, reported that the closing between Mr. Warner and the Clearinghouse was held at 1:00 pm today, that the conservation easement on the subject property has been filed with the County Clerk's office, that the back taxes owed have been paid, that the title is clean, and that the Suffolk County Treasurer's office should be able to write the check to Mr. Warner by late ___________________________________________________________________________________ FINAL Commission Meeting Summary for 1/8/97 (Approved 3/12/97) - Page 1 Monday morning, 1/13/97. The necessary funds, $479,900, will be drawn from the Clearinghouse account being maintained by the County Treasurer's office. Mr. Warner has already signed the voucher needed by the County Treasurer's office. Mr. Proios then signed the voucher for the Commission. Mr. Cowen then requested that the Clearinghouse consider what should be done with the credits which the Clearinghouse is purchasing, and that will be done at their next meeting. Mr. Grecco commented that the Clearinghouse is polishing its procedures for conducting "reverse auctions" in which credit holders are requested to submit purchase prices they would like to receive for their credits. ! Update from 1/6 Clearinghouse meeting: Status of Letters of Interpretation, PBC Certificates (PBCs), and Requests for Offers to sell PBCs Summary: Mr. Milazzo distributed and summarized the attached summary of the activity of the Clearinghouse showing Letters of Interpretations and Pine Barrens Credit Certificates issued, breakdowns by towns and school districts, etc. Ms. Roth then distributed and discussed the attached latest version of the Pine Barrens Credit reverse auction papers. She noted that the next such reverse auction would be held on behalf of three purchasers, and that, taken together, these purchasers are willing to buy 12 PBCs. She described the procedure by which the received bids would be tallied and a single purchase price per credit would be determined. She also described the process for completing the actual sales once that single purchase price for this reverse auction is determined. Plan implementation ! Protected Lands Council work to date: summary Summary: Ms. Plunkett distributed the attached summary to the Commission members of the Protected Lands Council's work to date which includes their recently approved goals and objectives for the formulation of a regional management plan. She also briefed the Commission on the Council's work on identifying problem access points for core area protected lands. It was noted that the Council members will try to select a small number of these problem sites - perhaps up to three - and to physically modify the sites to alleviate the problems. This may include new gates or berms, rearrangement of parking areas, signs, etc. It was noted that this work would focus upon sites which can simultaneously serve, and affect, more than one public or participating non-profit or quasi-public landowner. ! Law Enforcement Council: status (not on the original agenda) Summary: Mr. Corwin spoke briefly on the coordination of work efforts between the Protected Lands Council, the Law Enforcement Council, and the Wildfire Task Force. Core Preservation and Compatible Growth Areas ! Chardonnay Woods / Quogue: new application; scheduling of hearing Summary: Ms. Plunkett summarized this new application, entitled Chardonnay Woods, submitted to the Commission for a golf course and residential subdivision development on two adjacent parcels containing approximately 400 acres on the south side of Sunrise Highway in East Quogue, in Southampton Town. The property is partly within the Core Preservation Area (i.e., that portion of the site immediately adjacent to the south side of Sunrise Highway), and partly within the Compatible Growth Area (CGA). ___________________________________________________________________________________ FINAL Commission Meeting Summary for 1/8/97 (Approved 3/12/97) - Page 2 She explained that these sites were the subject of a previously filed map, which included an additional site of approximately 210 acres and located to the west of the 400 acre site. This older project, which may be exempt under the pine barrens statute, contained two components. One was an affordable housing complex which was to be located on the smaller, separate parcel to the west. That parcel was, in fact, dedicated to Southampton Town, and now contains an affordable housing complex. The second component was a residential subdivision on the approximately 400 acre site. Ms. Plunkett noted that the new application submitted to the Commission only refers to the vacant, approximately 400 acre parcel, and that the new application does not propose any development within the core area. She also noted that the CGA portion of the property is also a designated Critical Resource Area (CRA) in the Central Pine Barrens Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The CRA designation specifies "Buck moth habitat generally north of the 100 foot contour". She explained that the new proposal contains a golf course, as well as detached and attached housing units. She explained that the new proposal requires a zone change to a Quasi Public Service Use District. A request for such a rezoning is pending before the Town Board, who is conducting the State Environmental Quality Review Act processing. A discussion was held regarding the reason for the CRA designation, the geology of the area (informally known as Henry's Hollow), processing of applications within CRAs under the Plan, and the application of the standards and guidelines to CRA projects. The Commission agreed that they will seek an outside opinion on the question of the buck moth and its habitat on this site. A motion was then made by Mr. Cowen and seconded by Ms. Filmanski (1) to designate the Commission staff as the designated planning entity for review of this application by the Commission, (2) to request the assistance of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in evaluating this application with respect to the standards regarding nitrogen loading to groundwater which are contained within the Plan, (3) to request that this review by the Health Department be completed by the date of the Commission's hearing on this application, if possible, and (4) to schedule a hearing on this application for 2/19/97 at 5:00 pm at the Brookhaven Town Hall. The motion was approved by a 5-0 vote. Plan implementation ! Research presentation: Kyle Beucke, Ward Melville High School, Setauket Summary: Mr. Beucke, a senior at Ward Melville High School in Setauket, was introduced by Mr. Corwin. It was noted that he provided a technical poster display at the October 1996 Pine Barrens Research Forum. Mr. Beucke summarized his research work on "Responses of Scarabs and Other Scavengers to Fire in a Pine Barrens Environment" (see attached paper). Questions discussed included the methods and equipment used, duration of the work, and possible topics for future research. His work to date has concentrated in the Rocky Point and Westhampton areas, including both burned and unburned sites. Dr. Marilyn Jordan of the Long Island Chapter of the Nature Conservancy is his principal scientific advisor. At the conclusion of the discussion, he was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation by Mr. Proios for his contribution to the Pine Barrens Research Forum. Executive session and adjournment Summary: A motion was made by Mr. Freleng and seconded by Ms.