Planning board tables proposed e-bike penalties, approves edits to energy-storage and other local code

The Grand Island Planning Board on July 19 voted to table a late-arriving referral that would change penalties in a proposed e-bike law, and approved a bundle of local code edits that included revisions to energy-storage setbacks and the removal of some external code citations.

Chair opened the meeting and moved immediately into referrals after announcing minutes were not available for approval. The board spent the first hour debating whether the e-bike memorandum — circulated to staff shortly before the meeting — contained sufficient detail for meaningful review. "We got this extremely late," the Chair said, asking that staff or a representative from the originating advisory board be asked to present before the planning board renders advice. The board then passed a motion to table the referral, amended to request more information and a presenter; the tabling motion carried on a voice vote.

Why it matters: members said the referral as drafted raised enforcement and jurisdiction questions and arrived after the board’s submission deadline, leaving the board without time to vet operational impacts. The Chair said he had spoken with both the county sheriff’s office and state police, and those agencies indicated parts of the proposed law likely would not fall to them for enforcement — an open question the board said needs clarification before it comments to the Town Board.

The board then turned to technical edits in a separate package of proposed laws. A primary locus of debate was energy-storage standards (draft section labeled E3 in the circulated document), where members pressed staff to clarify how setbacks are measured and how to define protected uses. The code language previously used the phrase "occupied residence"; board members and staff argued that "occupied" is transient and can create inconsistencies, so the board agreed to remove "occupied" and to add an inclusive definition for "other public areas" (examples discussed included day-care centers and senior-living centers).

Industry comment came from Andy Welch, who introduced himself as a representative of Rick Energy and urged the board to avoid using property boundaries that include undevelopable wetlands as the basis for setbacks. "Holding the same setback from unusable land because it's the property boundary versus the actual protection that you're looking for…may be worth considering," Welch said, adding that industry-submitted materials from CSRG support a 100-foot setback as safe.

Board members said those site-specific issues could be handled through the site-plan review process and through the special-use permit/variance process rather than by drafting bespoke rules for every circumstance. They also directed staff to remove references to "New York City code" where it appeared in the draft, to delete obsolete references to "tier 3" systems, and to make the technical edits discussed at the meeting.

A motion from the Chair to approve the proposed laws with those edits — removing references to New York City code, deleting the phrase "occupied residents," and adding "other public areas" as appropriate — was seconded and carried by voice vote. The board did not record a roll-call tally in the minutes; the approvals and the earlier tabling vote were taken by voice.

The board also passed a motion asking that Town Board members follow the planning board’s published submission deadlines and processes rather than sending materials to staff or the Chair at the last minute. Members discussed follow-up on continuing-education training and a possible subscription or membership with the New York Planning Federation to help the board access seminars and credit hours.

What’s next: the e-bike referral will return only after the planning board receives the requested documentation and a presenter to explain enforcement and implementation. Staff will incorporate the agreed text changes to the code and prepare a final draft for the Town Board as part of the town’s legislative package.

Relevant quotes

"We got this extremely late…we want more details and more information about what's in the law and…is there someone that could present to answer questions," the Chair said when members moved to table the e-bike referral.

"A 100 feet away from one of these is a safe distance, that will have no impact on anyone," Andy Welch said, identifying himself as a representative of Rick Energy and pointing the board to CSRG-supplied material.

"Remove any notation to New York City code…remove occupied residents and add other public areas as seen fit by onboard," the Chair said when moving the final approval with edits.

Ending

The board concluded by asking staff to incorporate the edits discussed, to request a presenter and fuller packet for the e-bike referral, and to follow up on training and membership opportunities. The meeting adjourned after the board completed its motions.