PINE BUSH – Following review by the Orange County planning board, a public hearing resumed on an application for a 5,000 square foot "drive through" storage facility to be located on one of the lots created from the old Sha-Wan-Ga Airport. Engineer Larry Marshall represented Orange County Estates again, and Orange County planning's advisory comment regarding the proximity of Federal Wetlands, e.g. the Shawangunk Kill, prompted Crawford planning board chair Linda Zwart to ask for a description of the vegetation and wetland areas to give her board a better idea of what was there. The Shawangunk Kill is a protected stream, Marshall noted, areas around it boast high bio-diversity, and it requires protection from human disturbance. Board members also asked for stakes to be set out to show the area that will be disturbed; they plan to visit the site to see for themselves before the public hearing continues on January 28.

Marshall also represented Robert Nazzaro, who is switching from a trucking business to a storage unit business on a site to the east of Boniface Drive in Pine Bush. Two new buildings of storage units will be added and the existing buildings, designed for the truck business, may be removed. Should the new business succeed, further storage units could be added. The public hearing was closed. The board requested photos of the site and there was brief discussion of the aesthetics of a new sign, which will be plain, and in black and white paint.

The Moriano Estate, who own and operate the 54,000 square foot Valley Supreme shopping precinct, returned to the planning board to seek re-approval for an amendment to their site plan for a 2,775 square foot extension to allow for relocation of the Wishy-Wash Laundromat, which currently is housed in its own building at the eastern end of the site. During the public hearing, residents Tabitha and John Bath from Depot Street, which lies hard by the western end of the Valley Supreme site, voiced complaints concerning the dumpsters and oil tanks, now removed, at the rear of the shopping center's buildings. Tabitha Bath also complained that the proposed new siting of the laundromat would have its main entrance pointing west, which she felt would increase light pollution in Depot Street, which already suffers from lights across Route 52 above the new Dollar General store. The Baths also asked where and when proposed sidewalks would be built to connect the Valley Supreme to the hamlet proper.

Ken Spadola, representing Moriano Estate explained that the oil tanks had been removed and work on the area behind the buildings was continuing. Regarding complaints about the proposed burial of three propane tanks in that area, he noted that originally the tanks were to be above ground, but it had been requested that they be buried. Larry Marshall, who was also representing Moriano Estate before the board, said that landscaping, i.e. trees, would screen the entrance of the proposed laundromat extension. Spadola added that sidewalks were to be added along the front, bordering Route 52, and that they would enter the parking area and connect at the eastern end by Pine Bush Chinese restaurant.

The Wishy Wash building was being discussed with a new tenant, who would use the entire building; another new business was going into the current empty 1,500 square foot space in the main arcade.

Finally, Spadola explained that the four oil tanks that had been removed were a legacy from decades ago. They had leaked, the state Department of Environmental Conservation had investigated. He added that boring was continuing in the ground behind the True Valley store, but the work would continue under DEC oversight.

Michael Manus of Mavis Tire appeared before the board to seek a change of use on the Victory Lane auto repair site. Mavis Tire is buying the property and will replace the current business with one that handles brakes, mufflers, shocks and of course, tires.

"Less emphasis on oil changes and more on tires," said Manus, noting that tires will be stored in the basement of the current building and there will be no outside storage. The signage will change, he added — there will be a monument sign 5 foot by 6.5 feet, and a building sign no more than 50 square feet. The monument sign will be internally lit. A public hearing will be held at the February 11 meeting of the planning board.

Finally, it was noted in discussion that bed & breakfast accommodations are currently only allowed in the central hamlet and in R district parts of the town. Prospective buyers of the 1847 Rose Cottage, off Lybolt Road, are seeking to turn it into a B&B. The town board had requested advice from the planning board and Zwart noted that the fears generated by B&Bs were twofold — first, that they opened the door to "boarding houses." Secondly, they might be used for large scale functions, such as weddings with attendant issues of noise and traffic.

Town attorney Ben Gailey said that other towns limited B&B stays to fourteen days maximum. The board discussed the proposal, and a letter will be sent to the town board to consider the idea with careful restrictions.