Chairman’s Corner: The role of the County Planning Board

At times, I’m asked what the role of the Columbia County Planning Board really is.

I’ll start by saying that sections 239-l and 239-m of the New York State General Municipal Law Article 12-B, which are accessible through the planning page on the county website, guide the county planning board’s activities.

Let’s boil some of the GML language down into a more manageable form. In a nutshell, the GML provisions call for a city, town or village body within a county to seek county approval for proposed zoning actions that may affect neighboring municipalities.

“If there’s a change in the zoning,” said county Planning Department Director Patrice Perry, “such as a zoning amendment or other zoning action, the intent of the planning board’s review is to identify any impacts that may occur as a result of the proposed action. That’s first and foremost.”

“A town’s responsibility is to create a document that is in accordance with its comprehensive plan, along with any other land uses or policies they have in place,” she added.

When changes are proposed and sent to the county planning board, full text of the proposal and any environmental impacts are forwarded to the board, along with any provisions in local municipal laws that will be affected.

“Some of the considerations set forth in the GML include compatibility of land use, traffic impact and characteristics, community character, drainage, and impacts on existing or proposed county or state uses. That’s the sort of broad lens we’re using,” Perry said.

The clock begins ticking when a municipality within the county forwards its changes to the planning board.

At that point, the planning board has 30 days to issue its determination as to whether or not there are county or inter-municipality impacts.

Should the board determine impacts do exist, it has several choices: to recommend approval, to disapprove, or that modifications are in order.

“If there’s a recommendation of disapproval or modifications, then the local legislative body may only act contrary to that recommendation by a majority plus one vote,” said Perry.

At the end of the day, Perry stresses the county planning board’s review is not legally binding on the municipality proposing changes: “The county planning board does not have the authority to approve or disapprove anything.”

“It is a recommendation to the municipal body to consider in their evaluation of the proposed amendments,” she added. “It’s the local body’s responsibility to make sure that they hold public hearings and consider public comment, to go through the process set forth in state law for enacting the local law. The county planning board does not police or referee what local municipalities do or don’t do.”

The Columbia County Planning Board meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the county office building’s first floor committee room at 401 State St., Hudson.

Reach Matt Murell at matt.murell@columbiacountyny.com.