By NEAL RENTZ
The Lewisboro Town Board is considering zoning amendments in a process connected to the work to revise the master plan, which was adopted earlier this year.
The zoning amendments were proposed by the town’s Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee and its consultant, Nelson Pope Voorhis.
The Lewisboro Planning Board voted unanimously Nov. 19 to send two letters to the town board outlining its comments about proposed zoning amendments.
Currently, the planning board has no plans to have a representative speak at the Dec. 9 town board public hearing on the proposed amendments.
The planning board discussed the proposed zoning amendments during its meetings Nov. 12 and 19.
At the Nov. 19 meeting, planning board chairwoman, Janet Andersen, said the board should send two letters to the town board, with the first letter stating that the board would have a red lined document indicating the changes her board wanted in the zoning amendments.
“Send a letter saying we intend to follow through later” with the proposed changes, Andersen said. The second letter from the planning board would lay out “the items of concern,” she said.
Andersen said the letters would be sent to the town board from planning board counsel Judson Siebert.
Andersen said one of the issues the board wanted addressed in the zoning amendments is requirements for home businesses, including which types of businesses should be allowed in residential areas.
Wolf Conservation Center
Also at the meeting, the planning board voted unanimously to approve a time extension for its previous approvals for various projects at the Wolf Conservation Center, which were originally approved in November 2023.
The board previously provided a site development plan, a special use permit, a wetlands activity permit and stormwater permit approvals for the private nature preserve, which is located at 7 Buck Run, South Salem.
Janet Giris, an attorney representing the center, told the board her client was asking for a 180-day extension for the approvals, which would expire May 14, 2025.
In her Nov. 4 letter to the planning board, Giris stated that her client and its consultants are continuing to work with outside agencies to obtain the remaining needed approvals for the project and to meet the conditions the planning board included in its subdivision approval.
Giris told the planning board that her client has been working with the Westchester County Department of Health, which told the center to circulate the subdivision plat for the needed signatures. The center will shortly ask town Supervisor Tony Gonçalves to sign the plan, she said. The supervisor’s signature is required because the town is a party to the subdivision application as co-owner of the Old Field Preserve, she noted.
After the supervisor signs the plat, the center will resend it to the county health department for its signature, Giris said. After that the plan will be distributed to Andersen and town receiver of taxes, Deirdre Casper, before filing it with the office of Westchester County Clerk Timothy Idoni, she said.
A pump test was recently conducted at the center and she is awaiting the results, Giris said.
The approval process for changes at the center has been “a long process,” Andersen said.