Published: August 21, 2008 09:13 am         

Change in law would create Historic Preservation Board

By JIM AUSTIN
Cooperstown Crier

The board of trustees set a public hearing during its meeting Monday night in regard to an amendment to the zoning law that would create a five-member Historic Preservation Review Board.

The planning board worked with a model law and attorney Joseph Catalano to come up with the proposed amendment.

Steve Newby, who is currently on leave from his job as village code enforcement officer, commented that everything he had seen in the law made sense.

Mayor Carol Waller said some residents were concerned the creation of an historic preservation review board would simply add another layer of red tape, but Newby said that was not really the case.

The draft of the law reviewed by the board had a major change from the previous version in that it allows for a local appeal.

In a memorandum to the board, Catalano said the planning board believed an appeal to the board of trustees was appropriate.

Planning Board member Cynthia Falk commented during the meeting that some people on the planning board felt there should be a review at the local level. But Catalano wrote that he favored an appeal process that went directly to an Article 78 proceeding in court. Trustee Jeff Katz said he had a problem with an appeal that went to the board of trustees, which he believes could result in ``many more appeals.’’

The historic preservation board would be appointed by the mayor and approved by the trustees, and it is likely the board of trustees would be prone to rubber-stamping a decision, he said.

Without the appeal to the trustees, the law ``makes perfect sense,’’ Katz said.

Board members agreed, and the amendment will call for an appeal process that goes through an Article 78 proceeding.

The law requires that any exterior alteration, restoration, reconstruction, demolition, new construction or moving of any building, structure or property within the historic district, or any material change in the appearance of such property, its light fixtures, sidewalks, fences, steps or other exterior elements shall not be made without first obtaining a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Review Board.

The public hearing on the amendment is set for Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. during the board’s next monthly meeting. A copy of the amendment is available from the village clerk’s office.