Your Questions Answered: Who Decides Which Businesses and Buildings Come to Thompson?
When a new store, restaurant, or other business opens its doors in Thompson, sometimes residents will ask the Town, “who decided on bringing that business to our area?” Great question!
Because we get this inquiry so often, we wanted to share some answers.
Q) Who are the people choosing what gets built in Thompson?
A) You may be surprised by this, but the Town doesn’t decide which businesses will open here. The businesses decide!
Because we live a free market society, if a business wants to set up shop here, it may, as long as it abides by the Town zoning laws. The same goes for proposed housing developments and any other type of land use.
Basically, if a proposed building or development project falls under the category of “permitted use” in the zoning district where it would be built, then the project will move ahead. If you’d like to take a closer look at zoning laws in Thompson, click here.
Before being approved, most projects require site plan approval and/or a special use permit from the Town of Thompson Planning Board in the zoning district where the property will be located.
Q) Who is on the Town of Thompson Planning Board?
A) The Planning Board consists of five members (and two alternates).
While members are appointed by the Town Board, the Planning Board acts independently from the Town Board. Planning Board members are residents of the community and represent a wide range of knowledge and experience. Members are also required to participate in annual training related to planning and zoning. Here is a current list of the Planning Board members.
The Planning Board also retains an attorney as a regular course of business. In addition, the Planning Board may engage experts or consultants to assist with major projects. Usually, the Planning Board will utilize a town planner, engineer, and traffic consultant.
Q) What does the Town of Thompson Planning Board do?
A) The Planning Board’s role is to review proposals for new development.
The Planning Board is tasked with making sure development standards, which are set by New York State or by the Town Board, are followed by all property owners and developers. When these owners and developers want to launch a new project, they must submit a formal proposal to the Planning Board. This proposal must demonstrate that they are following the development standards.
According to the Thompson Town Code, when reviewing any proposal, the Planning Board must take into consideration the “the public health, safety and welfare and the comfort and convenience of the public in general and the residents of the immediate neighborhood in particular.”
Therefore, the Planning Board often makes detailed recommendations regarding things like: site layout, traffic circulation and parking, access for emergency vehicles, as well as aesthetic concerns like architectural design, landscaping, and signage. This is contained in the Town Zoning Code, here.
For example, recently an applicant had proposed a new supermarket with one parking spot per 150 square feet of space within its store. However, the Town had recently changed the parking spot requirement to 1 parking spot per 250 square feet of store space in an effort to reduce stormwater runoff from large parking lots. Basically, the applicant was going to build a parking lot that was much larger than it needed to be. The Planning Board quickly alerted them of its updated zoning laws at the initial project review.
The Planning Board also helps both residential and commercial builders follow the Town’s zoning laws and will notify the applicant if a proposed project does not comply with the laws. The Board will request that the plans be revised and resubmitted, or if necessary, refer them to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Q) How can I find out which projects are being considered for development in the Town of Thompson?
A) Proposed projects to be discussed at an upcoming Planning Board meeting will be listed in that meeting’s agenda.
Detailed plans and documents need to be submitted to the Town’s Building Department before a proposed project gets on the Planning Board agenda for discussion.
The Planning Board meets twice a month and the agendas are posted on the Town website ahead of time. Proposed projects are listed as either a “discussion” or “action” item. If the Planning Board votes to take action on a particular item, the project must be listed on the agenda.
In an effort to be as transparent as possible, we have made it easy for anyone to view the very same documents that the Planning Board is reviewing via a cloud-based file sharing system (Google Drive).
All you have to do is click on the agenda for an upcoming meeting, here. Then, you will see project names underlined and in blue. This means that the project has associated documents with it. If you click on the project name, you will be taken to a location on the Google Drive where you can view the documents for yourself.
Q) How and when does the public have input during the proposal review process?
A) If and when the Planning Board holds a public hearing.
You and any member of the public are always welcome to attend Town Planning Board meetings! However, comments on the projects can only be made during an official “public comment period” at a public hearing. Not all projects will have public hearings, but most larger projects will – and some projects require a hearing.
Public hearings are advertised at least once in the Sullivan County Democrat, at least 10 days prior to the hearing. The notice is also required to be sent, by the applicant, to the owners of all properties within a certain amount of feet within 10 days prior to the hearing.
During the public hearing comment period, you can attend the hearing in person, via Zoom or send written comments and questions by email or letter.
After the public hearing, the applicant is usually asked to prepare a written response to the comments and issues brought forth by the public for review by the Planning Board at a future meeting. The Planning Board may take action the night of the public hearing; however, normally action will be deferred to another meeting.
Q) What happens when a project does get Planning Board approval?
A) The approval is good for one year.
If the applicant is ready to proceed with their proposed project, they would make an application to the Town Building Department. The Town Code Enforcement Officers are responsible for ensuring that the project is built as per the Planning Board approvals.
If an application has not been made to the Town Building Department within the one-year time frame, it must be submitted to the Planning Board for an extension or new approval if the project has changed from the initial approval.
Q) Why would a project not receive Planning Board approval?
A) The reasons are varied.
It may be that the applicant does not wish to pursue the project due to market conditions, unexpected costs that may be associated with the development of the project, or insufficient funding.
In some cases, the applicant may not want to comply with the request of the Planning Board or it has been determined that the project does not or cannot comply with existing zoning.