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Planning board renews Katona Museum special permit for five years with conditions
Summary
The board reestablished the Katona Museum of Art’s expired special use permit for five years, imposing conditions on generator testing time, EV charger bollards and site‑plan submittals, and asking the museum to discourage parking on Barrett Road and notify neighbors of large events.
The Town of Bedford Planning Board reestablished a lapsed special use permit for the Katona Museum of Art (KMA) in an R2A residential zone, granting a five‑year permit renewal with conditions aimed at reducing neighborhood impacts.
Craig Inerelli, an architect who also identified himself as board chair of the Katona Museum at the hearing, and Michelle Yan Mabel Thorp, the museum’s executive director and chief curator, described the museum’s community programming, an EV charging installation, and a generator installed about five years ago that requires an updated site plan notation for setback compliance.
Neighbor Evelyn Tapp Rosenthal told the board that generator self‑testing has been occurring in the early morning (she reported 6:15–6:30 a.m.), that the museum’s Young Artists event has in the past led to unannounced overflow parking on Barrett Road, and that dumpster and garbage collection early in the morning can be noisy. Museum representatives said the generator has been scheduled to test at 10:00 a.m. on Mondays, that the museum uses a 53‑space lot and an overflow agreement with the local American Legion, and that the museum will notify immediate neighbors in the future about large events and avoid directing patrons to park on Barrett Road.
The board completed SEQR review and determined the reestablishment would not create significant environmental impacts. Conditions in the approved resolution require the museum to submit site‑plan materials showing the generator setback and EV charger protective bollards, to provide neighbor notification for larger events, to avoid encouraging parking on neighborhood streets, and to maintain the current weekday garbage routine or inform the town if significant change occurs. The board set the renewed special permit term at five years (rather than the historic ten) to allow earlier review of compliance.
The special permit was approved by voice vote; the meeting record does not show a roll‑call tally. The museum must return with the outstanding site‑plan items before the permit becomes final.
