By JIM AUSTIN
Editor

The board of trustees is looking at making a change to the zoning on Main Street in the vicinity of the Otsego County office building and courthouse.

The area is now zoned residential, but over the years, a number of variances have been granted which have opened the door to mixed uses, particularly professional office space. That change was driven, to some extent, by the location of the courthouse and office building and also the migration of professional offices out of the business district as more space was taken over by businesses aimed at serving tourists.

There are currently two applications before the zoning board of appeals for variances to use residences as office space or a mix of office and residential use.

Oneis from the law firm of Schlather and Birch who want to change the use for an apartment building to include office space. The house is located between homes they have already converted.

The second application is from the village's newly-appointed municipal attorneys, John Lambert and Michael Trossett who want to convert a home to office space next to another home that was converted earlier.

Both applications were given positive declarations during the SBA's environmental review of the proposal and require the applicant to complete a draft environmental impact statement to address concerns about the impact of the variance if it was to be granted.

During last week's trustee's meeting, Mayor Carol Walker appointed former village trustee and administrator Gills Russell as an advisor to specifically review zoning in that portion of Main Street.

Russell, who is currently out-of-town to attend a funeral and could not be reached for comment, worked with Otsego County Planning Director Diane Carlton and the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) to determine the village's options for addressing the issue, Waller said.

According to the mayor, NYCOM officials believed a new zone was in order.

During a special meeting Thursday evening to discuss the ongoing process of revising the village's zoning law, there was a discussion about a possible change to a new district, called R2A.

Waller said that Russell recommended the change to a new zone that would allow mixed residential and professional office space uses with no more than 50 percent dedicated to office space. Professional offices would include attorneys, medical practitioners, engineers, architects, accountants, and others.

The coming of the county office building was the first step in the change of the neighborhood, said Waller, whose home and business are in that portion of Main Street.

"I live up there and I'm going to be the only one left," she said. Tuesday. "The change has already been affected."

Waller commented that she was in favor of the adoption of a new district, but that the change would be subject to a public hearing and that she could not speak for the remainder of the village board.

"When we have the public hearing, lots of residents could say no and the board could vote it down," she said.

Waller said she had considered taking up the issues as part of the overall revisions to the zoning law which have been in the works now for a number of years, but decided against it because she knew it would take much more time.

SBA Chairwoman Susan Snell wrote to the planning board in February after Schlather and Birch applied for a variance and suggested the board recommend changes in the zoning law for that area of Main Street be made by the board of trustees. She proposed a change from residential to business.

Tuesday, Snell said she was very much in favor of studying remapping and the creation of a new zone that would address the environment of Main Street. A change in the zoning law would be more appropriate than issuing another variance, she said.

The planning board did not go along with Snell's request in February and voted not to make a recommendation to the trustees. Planning board chairman Paul Kuhn declined to discuss the proposed zoneing change Tuesday afternoon prior to the start of the planning board meeting.

Attorney John Lambert said Wednesday morning that he and his partner Michael Trossett had heard rumors about a possible rezone, but that given their unique situation as village attorneys, they had not taken a position on the issue.

"If it was rezoned, that would be wonderful," he said, "but we do not want to compromise our position as village attorneys."

Attorney Bob Schlather could not be reached for comment.

Waller said she wants to see the process move forward and believes the board of trustees may schedule a public hearing for the July meeting of the planning board.