The village planning board has scheduled a public hearing and a long form SEQRA review for a site plan proposal to build a new home in what had once been the backyard of a Pioneer Street house.

A new building lot was created earlier this year by Robert Schneider at 22 Pioneer Street by subdividing his property. The new lot fronts on Lake Street. The village zoning law requires a minimum of 5,000 square feet in the R2 and R3 districts. The minimum width required is 50 feet. The law does require that 50 feet be the frontage for the lot.

Schneider still owns the subdivided lot and builder Don Archer from Clinton, N.Y. plans to build a rental home on it.

Last week, following a complaint directed to village attorney John Lambert from Randel Scharf, who lives next to the lot proposed for the home, the planning board revoked the building permit issued to Archer and scheduled the hearing.

Scharf pointed out to Lambert that the planning board had failed to hold the public hearing on the site plan required by the zoning law.

The planning board first approved the site plan application in July, but after an initial complaint from Scharf citing concerns about drainage problems which may arise from the construction of the new house, a stop work order was issued to Archer.

On August 9, the planning board again reviewed the site plan and field changes Archer wanted to make to it. The board decided at that meeting to approve the modified site plan, again with no hearing, and rescinded the stop work order.

In his letter last week, Scharf asked Lambert to review the actions of the planning board in regard to 29 Lake Street.

"As a resident of the village of Cooperstown adversely affected by the illegal conduct of the village of Cooperstown planning board, I am asking you to intercede in this matter as soon as possible," he wrote.

Lambert faxed a copy of the letter to planning board chairman Teresa Drerup on Sept. 13 and later that day another stop work order was issued to Archer. That same day, the planning board set the public hearing for Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m. in the village meeting room.

Drerup said the planning will begin the meeting at 4:30 p.m. with the completion of the SEQRA long form which is required because the village is within a historic district.

Scharf said he believes more and more lots may be created by property owners in the R2 and R3 residential districts, who have 50 feet of width and an extra 5,000 square feet of land to create a new parcel.

"There's going to be homes going up all over the place," he said.

Drerup said she is aware of two other similar subdivisions of property since she became planning board chairman this spring - one on Irish Hill and one on Chestnut Street at the south end of the village.

Scharf said he is considering petitioning the village board to change the zoning law to increase the minimum width and size in the R2 and R3 districts to match the 20,000 square feet in the R1 district.

During Monday night's village board meeting, former trustee Milo Stewart said 5,000 square feet is "way too small."

Stewart said he wants the board to seriously consider what is happening because of the lot size requirement.

"I don't want to see a can of worms opened up," he said.