Board schedules Sept. 15 hearing for 307 Millwood Road after wetlands and mitigation review

The Planning Board agreed to schedule a public hearing on Sept. 15 for a site development application at 307 Millwood Road after reviewing revised plans that reduce disturbance by reusing an existing driveway and propose buffer mitigation.

Applicant team members walked the board through a reduced disturbance approach that reuses an existing gravel path and restores disturbed buffer areas. Environmental review staff said the ERB found the mitigation area would need to be about 6,100 square feet under current calculations; staff offered ballpark conversion guidance that suggests that area could accommodate roughly 200–250 shrubs depending on spacing. ERB and planning staff also discussed tree replacement under Chapter 121 and estimated replacement needs in the range of 47 to 61 trees depending on which removed trees were counted and whether hazardous specimens were excluded from the count.

Town staff advised the board that DEC (state) review of similar jurisdictional permits has been in flux because of a state court action; staff said the DEC program was paused after an Albany Supreme Court decision, meaning this site would proceed under the town’s wetland permit for now. The planning board recommended the project team and staff perform a site walk to confirm wetland boundaries and tree counts before the application returns to a public hearing. The board voted to schedule the public hearing for Sept. 15 and set an internal deadline of Aug. 24 for submission of materials.

Next steps: applicant and town staff will finalize mitigation plans, confirm tree counts with a site visit, and submit materials by Aug. 24 so the board can consider the project at its Sept. 15 meeting.