Perotti talks zoning code changes

AMENIA — Town Supervisor Victoria Perotti announced an effort to revise Amenia’s zoning laws at a Town Board meeting on Thursday, Dec. 11. Perotti covered three areas of the code that are in need of updates.“We’re currently working on a local law for a junk yard,” she said of the first item. “We’re researching it and looking at what other towns have in place.“We have one existing junk yard that’s been grandfathered in, however there’s nothing in our current zoning law where we can police that junk yard,” she said. “It’s only in our zoning law as not being an acceptable use, so that other people wouldn’t be able to have junk yards, but we need to police the one we have and require inspections.”The second area Perotti addressed was zoning of mobile homes, a subject she said is “almost nonexistent” in the code.“We also need to strengthen our laws there and since we do have mobile home parks within the town of Amenia, we have to not only police them but take care of their needs correctly,” she said.The third area intended for change is signage.“Another area we have had some complaints about are also our sign laws,” the supervisor said.Councilperson Mike DeLango asked Perotti about establishing a group to act as a “sounding board of what we need” in regard to these and future changes. DeLango suggested the group include a member of the Planning Board, a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the town’s code enforcement officer and people from the general public.“I want to have everybody heard from all at once,” he said.Perotti said it was a good idea and advised DeLango to start planning it.“It’s a very important and large task to upgrade the zoning laws and it requires a lot of thought,” she said.