WESTERLO — Layers of research, never before compiled, have come before the town board in the past year to guide land-use decisions.

In January, Westerlo became the last town in Albany County to adopt a written comprehensive plan, considered a broad outline, based on public input, of the town and its future. The plan’s main conclusion was that residents want to preserve the rural and agricultural uses of the land.

In April, the town board received a 232-page report from a zoning review committee that details the risks and history of drilling for natural gas.

The committee, made up of four residents and a code enforcement officer, recommended creating an economic development committee and passing an amendment to the town’s zoning code that would clamp down on impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing not specifically covered by the state’s ban.

A previous report on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, prepared by a special committee and forwarded to the town board, was controversial over the roughly two years since 2012 that it was being developed. Its most vocal critic, resident Dianne Sefcik, pointed out that it took many facts from sources within the industry, didn’t include information about certain risks, and made no recommendation to the town board.

When Sefcik, a zoning review committee member, asked about the report during the May town board meeting, Supervisor Richard Rapp said he hadn’t yet read it and that it would be on the board’s agenda for June. The two documents are posted on the town’s website. 

The zoning review was the first major use of Westerlo’s comprehensive plan, which was developed by the town’s planning board.

The committee’s direction from the town board in September had been to review local zoning laws related to gas drilling activity; determine whether amendments were needed to the zoning law to preserve the rural character of the town; and, if they were recommended, to draft specific changes.

“These impacts could affect our health and safety, our property values, mortgages and insurance, our farms and animals, our emergency first responders, our roads, scenic beauty, and the quiet enjoyment of life as we know it in the Hilltowns,” the report says of the “industrializing impacts” of intensive shale gas development.

The report goes on to say that the statewide ban doesn’t protect Westerlo from the risks of waste management, compressor stations, pipelines, and storage facilities associated with high-volume hydraulic fracturing.

The Constitution Pipeline is proposed to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania through New York and into Schoharie County, where a compressor station is to be expanded in a town bordering Albany County. The town of Westerlo now has the Iroquois Natural Gas Transmission System and an Enterprise Products Pipeline running through it.

“A stronger, more diverse local economy would provide better immunity to Oil & Gas industry projects and other heavy industry pressures,” the report says. “It would also provide alternative opportunities for our residents and broader support for the cost of Town services, and is consistent with the economic development objectives in the [comprehensive plan].”

The report offered two sample resolutions. One would form an “Economic Development Team” that pursues new opportunities in business, grants, infrastructure, attracting new residents, and regional programs.

Along these lines, the committee supported the suggestion for improved infrastructure and telecommunications in the comprehensive plan. The committee gave as examples of activities in nearby towns, maple syrup tours, farmers’ markets, and conservation easements.

The second resolution was to seek an expert legal review of the town’s comprehensive plan and zoning law.

Edwin Lawson, the town’s code enforcement officer, chaired the zoning review committee. Residents Dianne Sefcik, Kathleen Bobb, Patricia Britton, and Pamela Schreiber were the other members.

The comprehensive plan committee was made up of Gerard Boone, Richard Kurylo, Doyle Shaver Jr., Edwin Stevens, and Dorothy Verch.

In recent decades, the town board had been resistant to planning at one point dissolving its planning board after developers complained about the time-consuming process for approval. Also, Westerlo hasn’t revalued properties in decades.

Comprehensive plan

The goals and objectives listed in the comprehensive plan focus on the natural resources in the town, as such plans for rural towns often do, and direct the town to be mindful of growth using zoning; to encourage more telecommunications infrastructure; and to maintain the “character and beauty of the rural landscape.”

The plan focuses on special-use permits and site-plan review as two ways town boards are able to have oversight. The town’s building department encourages commercial enterprises to undergo both processes, the plan says.

The plan points out that areas along routes 32 and 85 in Westerlo could be good sites for commercial development.

The plan recommends zoning for dedicated housing for the elderly and handicapped and “incentive zoning” — regulations that encourage residential development closer to hamlets.

“This will have the double effect of utilizing or expanding existing infrastructure as well as preserving agricultural lands and open space in areas throughout the Town not in proximity to hamlets,” the report says.

The plan includes specific guidance on alternative energy resources; portable structures; and wood-burning appliances, which it says should have permits addressing chimney height and spark arrestors.

The plan also says new zoning laws should have standards for property maintenance and enforcement.

“Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, specifically, identified this area as troublesome,” the report says.

The shoreline of Lake Onderdonk, now occupied by year-round residents, poses a special zoning issue, the report notes, because of sub-standard lots and septic systems. As a result, any new work or building there requires a variance from the town, a point some lake residents complained was too long and complicated. The committee, however, said it is the best tool available.

“By continuing to use the variance process on all substandard lots it will allow for regulated growth and change in the Lake Onderdonk area, while protecting the water quality of the lake,” the report says.