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1980-03-10At a regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger on March 10 , 1980. The following resolution was offered by councilman ,Johnson and seconded by Councilwoman Reilly . WHEREAS the Town Board has been engaged in the consideration of the adoption of an amended comprehensive zoning ordinance and map to supercede a comprehensive zoning ordinance and map previously adopted by it on or about January 29, 1963, as further amended from time to time, and WHEREAS pursuant to the provisions of Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law, the regulations applicable thereto, and Local Law No. 2 of 1977, the Town Board has requested that its agent, EcolSciences, Inc., prepare on its behalf a draft environmental impact statement, and WHEREAS, said draft environmental impact statement has been prepared and was accepted by this board on or about December 28, 1979, and WHEREAS notice of completion of said draft E.I.S. was duly circulated and written comments from the public were invited by advertisement appearing in the WAPPINGER AND SOUTHERN DUTCHESS NEWS on January 2, 1980, and WHEREAS the Town Board has reviewed the contents of the draft environmental impact statement and the comments thereon, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the findings of the Town Board as to the possible environmental impact resulting from the adoption of the aforedescribed amended comprehensive zoning and map ordinance/be as follows: ONE: That the adoption of the said amended comprehen- sive zoning ordinance and map viewed in their entirety, will have no adverse environmental impact. TWO: That many of the objections to the said ordinance are those which address concerns associated with implementation of permitted land uses under the ordinance, which concerns are gen- erally preserved for further review as to environmental impact in those specific instances of implementation in view of the safe- guards afforded by the ordinance, the State Environmental Quality Review Act and its regulations and Local Law No. 2 of 1977. THREE: Those comments previously made by the Town Board and set forth as Exhibit A hereto are readopted and reaffirmed. FOUR: No E.A.F. Statement shall be required in view of the submission of a draft E.I.S. FIVE: The Town Supervisor is empowered to prepare and circulate a notice of no significant impact on the environment (negative declaration) in the manner prescribed by regulation. Said notice shall conform to the requirement of Section 617.10 of 6 NYCRR, Part 617. Roll Call Vote: Supervisor Louis D. -Diehl Aye Councilman Nicholas Johnson Aye Councilwoman Bernice R. Mills Aye Councilwoman Janet M. Reilly Aye Councilman Frank Versace Nay Resolution Duly Adopted 3-10-80 The determination of the environmental impact resulting from the adoption of a comprehensive revised zoning ordinance and map must be made in the context of the many variables which attach to land use practices. At one end of the spectrum, land development and use, when viewed in the environmental context, could be wholly denied to prevent any impact on environmental elements. At the opposite end of the spectrum, land use could be unregulated, thereby creating a maximum potential for adverse impact upon environmental elements. Human needs and the promotion thereof require both the consideration of the environmental elements and the consideration of whether or not at times, such human needs may outweigh the preservation of environ- mental elements in their pristine state. Where development is inevitable, environmental considerations require that such development be permitted in a manner that will minimize environmental impact. Any zoning ordinance necessarily reflects the weighing of interest between development and preservation of the environment, A zoning ordinance which absolutely forbids development would be constitutionally suspect. Conversely, a zoning ordinance which failed to consider environmental elements would be equally suspect in terms of meeting legitimate environmental objectives. Consideration of land use proposals must also be made in the context of existing land use experiences within the municipality. Finally, any land use evaluation made in environmental g, 0 context to the extent that such evaluation attempts to project actual impact is inherently speculative, as the objective of such zoning ordinance is not to affirmatively cause growth, but to control the same. Whether or not such development will take place cannot be ascertained with any degree of reasonable certainty. Therefore, the ability to project actual impacts is diminished. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the foregoing constraints, a determination of no adverse environmental impact is made for the following reasons: 1. Commercial activity will be relegated to those areas which are presently heavily used. Commercial areas will not be expanded into areas of current low density land use, thus eliminating the impact of such commercial activity to areas already experiencing high intensity views. Illustrative is the Route 9 corridor. 2. Low density residential zoning is generally prevelant in those areas adjacent to the Hudson River, thus minimizing the impact of any development upon the ecological system of the river. 3. Higher intensity residential development is limited to those areas generally served by municipal water and sewage facilities, thus minimizing the impact of such development on existing water tables and sub- surface waters. 4. Section 480 of the zoning ordinance makes provision for the control of obnoxious activities including but not limited to noise, vibrations, smoke, dust, toxic matters, traffic, and other activities that if left unregulated would adversely affect the quality of the environment. No comparable provisions are present in the existing zoning ordinance. 5. Provision is made for site plan review of all non- residential activities, empowering town agencies, as an incidence to development, to take into consideration environmental factors and considerations in regulating development of such sites. 6. Provision is made for special considerations which are attached to development of flood -prone areas. 7. Provision is made for designated residential develop- ment (Section 442) which development places priority upon considerations of preservation of environmental features. Such designated residential development is a floating zone permitted throughout the town.