Three public hearings resulted in two approval recommendations for small subdivisions from the Marlborough Planning Board at its Monday, September 16 meeting. A third earned the Board’s qualified recommendation for approval – provided the owners and the Planning Board’s attorney can clarify the thorny issue of the two lots sharing the same well.

 

The application is for a 20-acre lot at 37-43 Bailey’s Gap Road to be divided into a new, one-acre lot (“Lot 1”) that would be residential in nature, while the remaining 19 acres would continue the present agricultural operation. The applicants, Fred and Sharon Wilklow, seek to divide their property between their two children. 

 

The single well shared between the two lots has been the biggest obstacle to securing approval, as Planning Board members wanted to avoid leaving one of those lots without water service should it be sold in the future to a non-family member.

 

“We’ve had extensive discussions about the shared well,” noted Pat Hines, principal for MHE Engineering of Newburgh and the town’s consulting engineer. “The issue was encountered before in a two-lot subdivision application, which received Board approval in August of 2023.” That 2023 approval came with two provisions: an easement that facilitated the use of the shared well by those two lots, and a condition that a new well be installed on the lot that lacked its own well should it be sold to an outsider.

 

Planning Board member Cindy Lanzetta was especially hesitant to approve the Bailey’s Gap Road subdivision. She pointed out that the 2023 subdivision involved a time-sensitive estate matter, but that the current application involved no such constraints.

 

“Our best practice as a board should be to require proper sanitary systems and an adequate water supply,” Lanzetta said. 

 

“How complicated an issue is this, in your opinion?” Board Chairman Chris Brand asked Gerard Comatos, the board’s consulting attorney. Comotos replied that besides an access easement, which has already been added, language could be added to the site map clarifying that any future sale would be contingent on the owners first locating a new working well. With these provisions, he agreed to draft a letter of approval for the subdivision for the Board’s next meeting, which is scheduled for October 7.

 

Also recommended for approval were a two-lot subdivision at 45 Old Indian Road in Milton and a four-lot subdivision at 397-407 Willow Tree Road, also in Milton. The owner/applicants are, respectively, Donald Schreiber and LynnDavid Properties, LLC, of Marlboro. The only resident who spoke at any of the three public hearings was a Mulberry Lane resident who lives near the proposed LynnDavid subdivision, whose question about line-of-sight testing was answered sufficiently.

 

During the ongoing application review portion of the meeting, the most noteworthy discussion concerned an application for yet another “solar farm” in the Town of Marlborough – this one at 206 Milton Turnpike in Milton. This was the second appearance by the applicant – Highland 201 Solar LLC – before the board. 

 

The firm’s last appearance took place on August 5, during which the Board questioned the proposal’s inclusion of an energy-storage complex that utilized lithium-ion batteries. Proposals for such facilities have elicited strong opposition in other municipalities for their fire and other environmental hazards, leading those towns to impose moratoria on them or ban them completely. Highland 201 Solar has since deleted the storage component from its plan.

 

The property totals approximately 78 acres and is primarily agricultural; Highland 201 Solar intends to use less than 20 acres. The solar panels would be fixed in a tilted angle and would face south, thus capturing the best solar power. The rest of the property would continue to be farmed. 

 

If it gets the go-ahead, the solar company would lease the acreage from the property owner, Organic Valley LLC. That company’s name prompted a question from Garofalo, who wanted to know if the solar farm would employ herbicides for weed control.

 

“There needs to be some clear discussion with the property owner,” said Garofalo. 

 

Lanzetta noted that the nearby Hudson Valley Sportsdome is visible from more than 25 miles away on a steep portion of I84 near the Taconic Parkway. “The glare from the solar panels would need to be examined,” she said, “as that would affect a lot of cars and drivers.”

 

A representative from Highland 201 Solar said the matter would be studied. He added that the south-facing nature of the panels would be expected to make them unobtrusive to distant drivers.

 

A more detailed review took place of the proposal by Summit Drive Properties to construct four six-unit apartment buildings on a seven-acre lot behind a cul-de-sac, Summit Drive. It would be built behind several existing houses and would involve the construction of an access road between two of them.

 

The engineer for Summit Drive Properties – Matt Townes of Willingham Engineering – has appeared before the Board on multiple occasions since the project was proposed last October. Board members’ chief concerns at this point involved whether the entrance to the building would be adequately lit, particularly during snowy weather, and the number of parking units the plan would have. 

 

Currently, the project calls for 36 spaces for those 24 apartment units. Several board members urged Towns to add more, as many occupants of two-bedroom apartments often have two cars. Lanzetta suggested adding a parking area covered with a permeable surface, which would not pose the water-runoff issues that come with impermeable (ie., blacktop) surfaces.

 

The Board also continued its ongoing review of additions to the Buttermilk Falls resort, the resort planned for Lattintown Road in Marlboro, and a smaller “eco-cabin resort” planned for Willow Tree Road in Milton. New applications added to the Board’s mix included a mini-storage facility proposed at 1430 Route 9W in Milton and a short-term rental at 224 Highland Avenue in Marlboro.