Antler Club seeks zoning change

PINE PLAINS — Members of the Antler Club, a member-owned not-for-profit corporation owning 10.5 acres on the western shore of Stissing Lake, appeared at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Oct. 15, to plead their case for a zoning change.

The town’s zoning law precludes club members from building, based on density restrictions. 

Douglas Wicks Jr. was the main speaker in support of the Antler Club.

“My family has owned a share since 1941,” he said. “I’ve owned a share since 1997-98. The zoning law caps density, so if there are 15 people who built houses we’d be over the density cap at .7 acres per house. It’s too dense for the zoning law.”

So far 12 Antler Club members have built homes, described as cottages, on Stissing Lake. Three have not.

“I have been a taxpaying, dues-paying shareholder of the Antler Club since 1998,” Wicks wrote in a letter to the Town Board. “Through the club, I have paid thousands of dollars of Pine Plains property and school taxes. Doing so has always been predicated on my ability to at some point construct a dwelling, or confer or sell the right to build to another party. Two other members are in the same situation — they’ve paid taxes and dues over the years in anticipation of exercising their right to build, or conferring or selling that right as they see fit.”

Town Supervisor Brian Coons noted that the zoning law, enacted in November of 2009, has been amended twice already. Prior to 2009, the town had no zoning. Coons said this is not the first time the town has been approached by the Antler Club.

“I believe your dad may have brought this up in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s,” he told Wicks. 

“My father was working on this for a long time, since before zoning came to Pine Plains,” agreed Wicks.

“This is on our agenda now because we’re exercising the [zoning] plan,” said Coons. “Unfortunately, we have had to be more reactionary because we’re not studying it every single day.”

Wicks said he understood. He also said that the 15 shareholders all were under the understanding that at some point in time, 15 houses would be built.

“This is an acceptable density [for shareholders] and everybody has agreed to it,” said Wicks. “And .7 versus 1 acre per house is a pretty fine distinction.

“We’re not putting up a tower or anything like that,” he added. “We ask the town to return to us that right to build, to give us back what we had before the zoning law was enacted.”

Wicks requested the town simply make the change rather than requiring Antler Club members to go through the time and expense of an amendment process.

It was noted by Councilman Rich Brenner that before any construction can happen at the Antler Club, decisions regarding sewer and water would have to be made — and meet with Board of Health approval.

Coons noted that today’s standards would have to be met.

“You can’t build to 1954 standards,” he said.

Antler Club member Steve Miller also spoke at the Town Board meeting. He said the club “is a unique place.” He also said that scale is important.

“The footprint is of smaller lots,” he said. “It’s not like a development.”

He asked that the .7-acre- per-house density be “grandfathered” in, as that was the original intent of the club when established 100 years ago.

Town Councilman Gary Cooper asked why that wasn’t done when the zoning code was adopted in 2009.

“But I guess I’ll research that,” he said.

During his report to the board, Attorney to the Town Warren Replansky said the issue, though not new, has not been ignored.

“We revisited it four or five times,” he said. “It’s very complex, the solutions we suggested to the Antler Club people.”

Replansky said the solution was zoning the club as a condominium.

“It would solve all the problems,” he said.

The attorney said he’ll go back in his files and draft a memo for the board.

“If we create a zone of 10.5 acres it’s not going to solve the problem,” he added. “You can’t get a mortgage on the property. The solution, to really do it right, is to create a condominium. That still won’t solve the Board of Health and water approval. The Board of Health is going to be all over this, especially with what’s there already with the septic system and its proximity to the lake.”

“So do we spin our wheels for nothing?” asked Cooper.

“I’m going to recommend we talk with the Board of Health first,” said Replansky. “The county is going to be all over us if we rezone. It’s not going to be happy.”

The Town Board decided to follow Replansky’s recommendation and wait until after discussing the matter with the Board of Health before responding to the Antler Club’s request.