Woodstock’s planning board told the town’s library last week that they need to address parking problems, stormwater runoff, an underground fuel tank, and other items as part of an environmental review of the proposed new library building.
The planning board had earlier agreed not to dispute the library’s assertion of State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) lead-agency status if the library undertook a review of preliminary plans and conducted site-plan review once plans were finalized. The library agreed. Now the planning board is preparing a memo listing the considerable concerns it wants the library to address.
Although stormwater runoff during construction of the 12,000-square-foot library was addressed as part of the SEQRA process, planning board chairman Peter Cross said but it needed more scrutiny. “We definitely do not want silt or groundwater getting into the creek [Tannery Brook],” Cross said at a July 30 workshop meeting. “I asked the library if the library would be willing to allow the planning board to have their own independent engineer review of the stormwater retention. The library agreed to that.”
Parking, “is always an issue,” and as much parking as possible should be available to patrons. Several spaces across Library Lane needed to be removed from what shows in plans as library parking. The spaces belong to Woodstock Hardware owner Vincent Christofora, who has allowed library patrons to park there. However, they cannot be counted as fulfilling the required number of spaces for the library.
Cross has asked the employees to park in the town-owned Lower Comeau lot, freeing up spaces for patrons. The library has agreed, but it needs to formalize its plans.
While some of the recommendations are not directly part of the SEQRA process, planning consultant Matthew Rudikoff said the planning board had a duty to inform the library. “As an involved agency, you have the obligation to inform the lead agency, which is the library or going to be the library, of all of the issues of concern that you, the planning board, think have to be dealt with in SEQRA by the library board,” Rudikoff said.
Planning board member Judith Kerman asked what the recommendations have to do with SEQRA. Rudikoff answered there was overlap with parking, for example. “It’s also a SEQRA issue because, if for some reason there’s not enough parking … or it’s located in a way that causes other problems in terms of pedestrian crossings or management problems or whatever,” he explained. The number of parking spaces “could be an environmental issue.”
Planning board vice chairman Stuart Lipkind asked library trustees about disposition of an underground fuel tank. “In their own reporting, the underground piping is not up to code,” Lipkind said. “I’m not comfortable assuming anything. They need to tell us.”
Initially, library trustees were under a crunch to get planning board input so it could finalize SEQRA review in time to get a bond issue on the November ballot. Changes in election deadlines gave the library a bit more leeway, allowing it to place a bond question on the ballot as late as 60 days before the election instead of 90 days.
Rudikoff expressed the hope the library uses that time wisely.“It would be nice if they use this month to address some of these issues,” he said. Rudikoff will incorporate planning-board suggestions into a list and have it forwarded to the library this week.
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