A "Secret" Stipulation settling a lawsuit?

Tucked in a packed Town of Wappinger Planning Board agenda -- were the following words:

MId-Hudson Development Corp. and the MId-Hudson Holdings, LLC Article 78 Against The Town of Wappinger, the Town of Wappinger Town Bard and the Town of Wappinger Planning Board - Stipulation of Settlement

1336 Route 9 LLC (CITGO) Article 78

Given the mysterious circumstances of the last Planning Board Meeting (please see previous post), and that the Town Board Tabled a similar resolution during their last scheduled meeting.... and that the Town Board and Planning Board has held very well attended meetings concerning proposed developments... it is amazing how under the cover these discussions are held. We get that legal strategies have to be done in confidence, but once a decision... or a "Stipulation of Settlement" is decided.... and VOTED on... the public has every right to know what is being decided on their behalf and what the status is.

Here's how it went down, the matter, after a long discussion about updates to the Subaru Building was held was brought up very quickly and quietly and the chair asked for a vote approving the Stipulation... without ever articulating what the stipulation was... and the whole board voted yes and on to the next topic as quickly as possible.

A few problems with all of this... the public has been very vocal about the proposed developments and the potential impacts on quality of water resources and the impact of additional development in the area owned by the Plaintiff. As of right now - very few people in the town - know what is going to happen and what was agreed to. And is this dependent on the Town Board Agreeing, the plaintiff agreeing? what is going on? and oh by the way -- Mid-Hudson Development and 1136 Route 9 LLC (CITGO) are two completely different entities, proposing two completely different development projects -- are they being combined in this stipulation? was one overlooked?

On to the rest of the agenda:

A Public Hearing on the 7 Brew Coffee Site Plan for 1506 Route 9 was held, with no public comment. The building will have LED Blue Trim on the canopy and roofline (we are soon going to be overtaken by LED lights year round). The Hours of Operation proposed are Sunday throught Thursday - 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday - open until 11:00 pm. The public hearing was closed and the project moved ahead with a few more details to be provided by the developer.

Discussion:

Performance Auto requested that their project be removed from the agenda for April 20.

Subaru Building Expansion Amended Site Plan - 1162 Route 9 - Subaru would like to expand its Service Bay area (a discussion on whether additional employees would be required, if so would that change parking calculations, the answer is no). The plan proposes to relocate some light poles, the engineers asked if a waiver could be granted on the height of the light pole, because since the original poles were installed, the lighting code has changed, but they would like to reuse the light poles and not throw them away. There are proposed modifications to the facade of the building, but the footprint will not be changed. No wetlands or wetland buffers will be affected. The board requested a Landscape plan and that the Town Board needs to vote on accepting a bond for the landscape plan. A public hearing is scheduled for May 18th. The planner was requested to prepare a draft resoluion with a SEQR Neg Dec to be voted on at the next Planning Board meeting.

Then can the vote on the Article 78 Settlement.

Architectural Review:

Skin by Eve - 735 Sgt. Palmateer Way - more LED lighting on its way. A sign above the main entrance with a green lit sign creating a "halo" effect... with 6500 Kelvin temperature where 3000 is allowed in the code. The lighting designer said that a dimmer and a timer could be placed on the lighting. The board approved.

Durants Event Rentals - two discussions on the agenda. So, Durants is looking to move to a property at 1 Stage Door Road -- a building long unoccupied (once a furniture showroom) and was recently the subject of discussion with UHaul. The first discussion was that they would like to install 5 12'x12' overhead doors in the rear to facilitate the loading and unloading of rental items held in storage. These doors would not be used by customers, only by deliveries to/from Durants storage area while they initally relocate their storage to this facility. The board approved

The second discussion was a "conceptual review" of the updates Durants would like to make to the building when they move both the storage AND their showroom to this location. They are planning to upgrade the look of the building with a stone veneer, adding windows. The Septic system will have to be expanded. The board was very pleased with the initial views provided and commented that it will improve the entrance to the town. More work will need to be done before a site plan is submitted to the Planning Board.

Goodwill Storage Area Walls - 1488 Route 9. Goodwill would like to install vinyl fencing which will replace the fence on the west side and back side of a current storage area. No electric or heat will be installed. The issue is that birds/animals are currently getting into the space and they would like to increase the height of the walls to prevent this from happening. A request for the existing site plan was made (will the town be able to find it?) to understand what was originaly approved. A discussion about vinyl vs. stucco --with the board saying the improvements have to look consistent with the current look. The architect assured them that a horizontal vinyl will look like clapboard. So when the current site plan is discovered, it can be determined if an amended site plan will need to be submitted - but in general the board seemed ok with the inital design.