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Applicant proposes garage near Philipstown wetland; board requests site visit and DEC clarification
Summary
An applicant representative told the Philipstown Conservation Board that a proposed roughly 1,000-square-foot garage would sit near a state-flagged wetland off Victoria Drive; board members requested staking, an alternate site outside the buffer and a site visit, and asked the applicant to confirm DEC permitting jurisdiction before a formal application.
Jason Snyder, representing property owners Kevin and Mary Anne Headey, told the Philipstown Conservation Board that the applicants want to construct a garage of roughly 30 by 33 feet for personal vehicle storage near Victoria Drive, just behind the North Highlands fire site.
Snyder said a new state biologist had flagged wetlands near the proposed footprint and suggested a general permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) might apply. "Based on what he saw, we could just get a general permit from the DEC," Snyder said. He described the area as the west side of a wetland and noted buffers and hatching on the submitted map.
Board members pressed for more precise information before formal approval. The chair (addressed in the transcript as Sunola) said the board would want the proposed building corners staked on site and asked for a clear alternate location outside the wetland buffer. One board member noted, "Maybe that's worth staking that, the corners of that too," and another recommended a site visit to confirm topography and buffer distances.
Members discussed regulatory jurisdiction and the recent changes to wetland mapping; one member summarized staff guidance that DEC jurisdiction may not apply if a site is under 12.4 acres and not mapped on the DEC wetlands mapper. Snyder said he would check the DEC permitting question and provide more complete plans, including quantified ground disturbance and a limit-of-disturbance map.
The board directed staff and the applicant to schedule a site visit and to reflag wetland boundaries as needed. The board emphasized that staking, re-delineation and confirmation of permitting requirements should precede a complete wetlands application.
Next steps: the board will schedule a time for a site visit and asked the applicant to confirm DEC jurisdiction and submit a complete wetlands application with quantified disturbance and proposed mitigation.
