The future of Troy’s planning commission is in question.
Dozens of residents flooded City Council chambers Thursday in opposition of a proposed plan to dissolve the planning commission.
On Wednesday, Mayor Carmella Mantello proposed abolishing the planning commission and instead replacing it with a planning board. The mayor says the proposed board, made up of executively-appointed people, would better serve residents by streamlining approvals.
The first-term Republican says the decision to eliminate the commission follows the alleged delay of several projects and the insertion of commissioners’ personal bias in decision making. Mantello says the decision is not political.
“The people of Troy elected me to do job,” Mantello said. “I'm going to do the job. And, you know, I'm not going to make I'm not here to make friends and you know, I'm. Not looking three and a half years from now on reelection. We're here now. We're going to do a job and we're going to get it done.”
Over the last three years, the commission has approved 118 projects.
Corporation Counsel Dana Salazar says at a May meeting, she watched as commissioners made gross requests to applicants. Salazar gave several examples of decisions she felt were unnecessary.
“It is a check the box job when it comes to site plan approval, when you're looking for a use variance, yes, discretion is very important looking at how a use variance or something that's different from the actual use that's going on in the area, then discretion is important when it comes to checking whether site plan complies with your comprehensive plan and your zoning," Salazar said. "It's a very simple process, and it's not developers that are being impacted. It's everyone who goes in front of the planning board."
Salazar says the city has received several calls from attorneys threatening Article 78: a challenge to state or local government actions.
Roddy Yagan, chair of the commission, refutes the allegations by the administration, saying the commission is asking the necessary questions and making reasonable requests.
“The Planning Commission's role is not sitting with an architect or a structural engineer or a civil designer while they're at their desk working on the projects that they bring to us," Roddy said. "So, we give them direction, we point them in a way, and we say, 'here's what I'm envisioning.' And some of the commissioners don't have the actual specific background as architects or civil engineers, structural engineers, planners. Some of them don't have that background. So they give more general direction."
James Rath, a planning commissioner, encourages members of the administration, council, and public to attend planning commission meetings instead of following recommendations blindly.
“Listen to the way that we do deliberate, because it's not based on the color of somebody's shirt, it is based on our judgment, and the seven of us all have applicable backgrounds that impact our decision making," Rath said. "So, while yes, there are some subjective things that we discuss that are not checkbox items like maybe RPI proposing to plant six white pines above a sport court. White Pines, if you don't know, are known for dropping large branches and storms."
Democratic Councilor Aaron Vera of District 4, an engineer who perviously worked on the planning commission, agrees with several planning commissioners who took part in the meeting’s public forums.
“I probably presented in front of two dozen different commissions and boards in my time, and you certainly do sometimes run into comments that feel over the top, but in general, it's not unusual to receive some of the comments that you that you listed, most of the comments that you listed," Vera said.
Councilor Irene Sorriento, a Republican from District 5, says a board would better serve the residents, saving them money. Sorriento supports the change, adding she has received complaints regarding personal bias issues within commission decision making.
“What this planning commission, what the nightmares, the horror stories that I'm hearing, it's only discouraging these business owners or these property owners that want to build in Troy, to go elsewhere," Sorriento said.
In an email statement Thursday, councilor Bill Keal, a Republican from District 1, said, “I am likely to support the change because a new administration requires new people with similar vision.” He adds any commissioner who “support the vision of the new administration need to convince the Mayor and Council” that they’re onboard.
"I think that this will be better for Troy, because we need a planning board that's going to make things smooth," Keal said. "For people who want to refresh their home, make new changes, that kind of thing, and for those who are in business that want to create a business there and make it work."
You think of planning board would make the process smoother? How so?
"I'm hoping that that's the case," Keal said. "There will only be five people on this particular Planning Board, and in this case, I think they will be, let's just say, not under the former mindset, that they can just make up their own notion of how things should go. That's really what I believe, is that that's been the problem they've kind of, they want to all be autonomous."
A public hearing regarding the planning commission’s future is scheduled for July 25th.
