Parking concerns raised
by Kristina Gabalski
Members of the Town of Hamlin Planning Board have decided to table discussion of the proposed library. Library counsel and an architect from Clark Patterson Lee appeared before the Planning Board during the regular meeting held Monday, March 4.
James Bonsignore, counsel for Library Trustees, asked the Planning Board to schedule a public hearing on the project.
“It’s a public necessity that is desperately needed,” he told board members. “The project is in bigger jeopardy the longer this process goes on. It’s time to move forward, there’s little we can accomplish with another sketch meeting.”
Planning Board Chair Linda Morey expressed concern over the size of the parking lot and the potential danger of children and older people being struck by vehicles backing out of parking spaces.
“It’s a big issue,” she said.
Bonsignore responded that the design is compliant with town code, but added that architects are open to suggestions.
Hamlin Building Inspector Chad Fabry said there were no construction or building detail issues for him to bring forward.
Board member Peter Tonery also expressed safety concerns, particularly because there are recreation fields located near the site where the library would be built.
“There are hundreds of kids playing out there,” Tonery said, “(potentially) riding bikes going from a game to the library.”
Chair Morey also asked if architects could look into having a cross-walk placed across Route 19 as a business on the opposite side of the busy road may sell ice cream during the summer months.
Architect Maria Maurek said a pedestrian crossing was beyond the scope of the library project. “You’re venturing into redesigning a different venue,” she said of the revisions suggested by the board.
“A cross-walk is not required for operation of the library,” Bonsignore argued. “The plans are fully code compliant – the board cannot require off-site improvements.”
Chair Morey said the board would like to see revisions. “I think you’ve got plenty of time,” she said.
In a prepared statement, Hamlin Supervisor Tom Breslawski, who attended the Planning Board meeting, said he is shocked and disappointed by the decision to table the application.
“This action is unprecedented,” he wrote, “and has denied residents of Hamlin the right to publicly address the Planning Board. The library’s architect and engineers presented a completely code compliant application and petitioned the Planning Board to schedule a public hearing.
“On behalf of the residents of Hamlin, I am working diligently with town legal counsel to explore what options the town board has going forward to complete the project on time and on schedule, regardless of the Planning Board’s decision to bring it to a halt,” the Supervisor wrote.
Breslawski stated the Planning Board has jeopardized the largest grant ever attained by the Town of Hamlin and threatens the very future of the Hamlin Library.
“The residents of the Town of Hamlin deserve to have a beautiful, modern and most importantly, Hamlin-taxpayer-free facility. The town board has been and remains committed to this dream and will exhaust all legal options to ensure its completion,” he stated.
Sue Evans, president of the Library Trustees, told the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald the decision by the board to table the project puts construction of the library in jeopardy.
Architects have done “every legal thing we are required to do,” she said. What the Planning Board is asking, Evans said, is not in the jurisdiction of architects to accomplish.
“The Planning Board is making the library a battlefield for their political wars,” Evans said. “They are willing to hurt the whole town.”
Library Trustees have been awarded a $466,000 NYS Construction Grant to build a library and have an additional $600,000 bequeathed from the late Margaret McGrath for the sole purpose of constructing a new library. The project would have no impact on tax rates and Library Director Kay Hughes-Dennett has said the grant for the library will not be available if the site is changed.
