By Zach Simeone

ALTAMONT — There’s a new zoning law in the village, and it almost follows the comprehensive plan.

After two years of labor, and a storm of feedback from the community, the village board unanimously passed the law last Wednesday, replacing the 1971 zoning regulations.
"This is the culmination of well over two years worth of work by an extraordinary committee, made up of many members of the community, our staff, and professionals, chaired by our Trustee Dean Whalen," said Mayor James Gaughan at the top of the meeting.

Throughout the process, the board considered hundreds of letters from community members, along with multiple points of view expressed by residents during four months of public hearings that started in October of 2007.

The board has clashed with local landowners and businessmen along the way. And the board backed off strict requirements for a historic overlay district when villagers objected.

Carl Schilling’s parcel off of Schoharie Plank Road and the undeveloped Bozenkill property were denied the multi-family designation that the committee had recommended. John Donato has been trying for nearly a year to have his Altamont Lanes Bowling Center re-zoned as an apartment building, but it remains zoned for business.
Trustee William Aylward followed up on Mayor Gaughan’s introduction: "The last zoning ordinance served the village well. I was mayor when it was adopted, and it was 35 years ago," he noted. "If this goes 35 years, it will be 2043 when the next board and the next mayor will be thinking about revising the zoning ordinance."
"I would suggest that everybody go to the local Stewart’s and purchase a lottery ticket with the numbers 2-0-4-3," Mayor Gaughan joked in response to Aylward’s observation. "It sounds like a lucky number."

Before the vote, Village Attorney Michael Moore read into record the resolution for Local Law No. 1 of 2008, which restated that the village board had adopted a comprehensive plan, and had appointed a committee to develop zoning amendments as part of implementing that adopted comprehensive plan.
"This draft zoning law is designed to implement the long-term vision, goals, objectives and strategies to guide the orderly growth of the village, and to promote other purposes set forth in the law," read the resolution. "Implementation of these zoning amendments will positively assist Altamont in reaching goals of maintaining the environment, as outlined in the adopted Village of Altamont Comprehensive Plan," and will aid in maintaining the "historic aesthetic character" of the village.

Mayor Gaughan made a motion for the vote, seconded by Trustee Aylward, which led to a unanimous vote in favor of passing the new law.
"It’s a grand first leap for positioning ourselves for all these other things," Mayor Gaughan told The Enterprise of passing the new law. "This now creates a starting point for what was envisioned in the comprehensive plan, and I would like to highlight our renewed interest in our cultural and historic heritage. On a practical level, it is an update of a well-over 30-year-old plan that was way out of date — not only in terms of vision, but in terms of building codes and recent changes in law.
"The thing that I’m particularly interested in is that it puts us in an excellent position to solicit grants and get funds. One part I’m particularly interested in is developing the pathways and sidewalks that connect parts of the village. In fact, we just got a $28,000 grant to look at pathways, and I’ll now be able to lay out a plan for that.
"I am a firm believer that, with this two years’ worth of work, we will be better able to get grant money. It will help us get grants for the Crounse House on the corner of Gun Club; we have some grand plans for that." Frederick Crounse, Altamont’s first doctor, built the Federal-style frame house over 150 years ago. Guilderland Supervisor Kenneth Runion previously told The Enterprise of plans to use the property for community functions. The town and village purchased the property jointly by paying back taxes to Albany Country.
Following the vote, Mayor Gaughan said, "I think it’s appropriate to congratulate Trustee Whalen, who can now, in part, return to his normal life, we hope."

A week earlier, Trustee Whalen had cast a dissenting vote when his fellow board members decided to do away with the multi-family designation that his committee had proposed.
Trustee Whalen responded to Mayor Gaughan by saying that he had "forgotten what a normal life is," as the board shared a laugh. "It’s been a long road."

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Authorized a reimbursement of retirement insurance for a local retiree for the remainder of the year.