Tonight (2019-05-20) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees.
Before the meeting started there was some chatting anticipating a short meeting. That might have been true, if there hadn’t been a tangent during the zoning discussion. But as the detour was taken, the meeting ended up being about average length.
Before we reached that point, there was the regular business that occurs at these meetings. Three items of which I found interesting:
The Community Garden plots are sold out. So if you don’t have one already, you’ll have to try again next year (or look elsewhere for your growing needs).
About half the DPW staff spends most of their week mowing, as it is that time of year again. That amount surprised me, but they do have alot of ground to cover.
The former Festival on the Green continues it’s transition to a Music Festival. Sounds like the Masons have breakfast Saturday and there will be 4+ Bands in the afternoon.
Which brought us to the discussion on the Zoning Code update. Stan quickly derailed what would have otherwise been a quick/simple setting of a public hearing (which did happen in the end) by bringing up how the commercial square footage was a bit low (in his opinion, which I also share). While there are details that will need to be double checked, it sounds like it will create a few preexisting nonconforming properties as well, a practice that is generally frowned upon.
Much back and forth, much discussion. I think it was good, as it may lead to less restrictive zoning. There was talk about previous businesses, that would have been desired, but who couldn’t work with the existing footage limitation. Goes to the question of how much of an obstacle do you want your zoning to be. Do you want the only people able to build anything to be those willing to challenge the code? See Dunkin’ Donuts…
Personally, I think zoning is one of those things where having less is more. KISS. We live in a small village: heavy industry, giant shopping centers, and apartment towers aren’t going to fit in. So apply a basic limits on things like height and building size. Then have three zones: Residential where only residences are allowed, Industrial/Commercial where only businesses are allowed, and Mixed where anything goes. Again, within some general limits. Make it as simple and open as possible, and let people find creative solutions.
Jim said better to take the time and do it right, then rush it through, which was why he voted against having a public hearing next month. I happen to agree with him here, although as everyone else voted for a public hearing, there will be one at next month’s meeting, June 17.
For anyone interested, there is a copy of the draft on the Village’s website, although it does not appear to be the most recent version. Hopefully it will be updated soon, and you can read through the changes for yourself.
After that, the only other interesting topic was rubber playground mulch. In particular, a complaint had been submitted that it was ‘unsafe’. I remember when stones were unsafe, then wood chips were unsafe, and now rubber is unsafe. What next? Only pixie dust and unicorn horns (ground up, of course, can’t have sharp edges) are acceptable for playground mulch?
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the May 20, 2019 meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees.