BULLVILLE – Nick Fitzpatrick, former owner of the Agway store in Pine Bush, appeared before the Town of Crawford Planning Board on September 23, seeking to amend the site plan for his property at 1289 Route 302, near Bullville.

His appearance brought an unusually large crowd to the meeting, and with it came an angry atmosphere.

Fitzpatrick's property covers a little more than two acres, has a house at the front, and behind it a garage. The property is zoned "Business Park" (BP), which means that the residential house does not conform to zoning laws, thus it has a special use permit. John Tarolli, of the surveying firm Mercurio, Norton & Tarolli, represented Fitzpatrick before the board. Tarolli described Fitzpatrick's business as, essentially, the retail sale of hay. To that end, Fitzpatrick buys hay from upstate farmers and then trucks it to the Bullville property. There, he sells it, usually right out of the trailer.

In doing so, Fitzpatrick has been in violation of the town code for a considerable time, as he has no permit for this business at the property in question. In fact, notices of violation were mailed to him by certified mail on the evening of September 28 from the office of Building Inspector John Calacca.

The planning board is questioning whether it is safe to use tractor trailers on that stretch of Route 302. Ben Gailey, the town attorney, also drew attention to the fact that under the BP zoning there must be a 50 foot buffer between not only a commercial building and a residential neighbor's property line, but also between a commercial usage and that property line.

Fitzpatrick had wanted to expand the parking area at the rear of the property to hold as many as six tractor trailers at one time. Ben Gailey said that it did not appear possible to park that amount of equipment on such a small site and stay within the buffer zones.

The first to speak during the public participation portion of the meeting was John Lee, owner of the Korean Christian Camp property adjacent to the Fitzpatrick property. He complained that Fitzpatrick was encroaching on his property and using it without an easement. He opposed any relaxation of the zoning to allow Fitzpatrick's business to continue at this site.

Lee was followed by Lou Roberson of 1285 Route 302, whose property also borders the Fitzpatrick site. He said that the tractor trailer traffic constituted a noise nuisance, with big vehicles coming and going at all times of the day and night. He also opposed any permit for Nick Fitzpatrick's business.

Planning Board Chairman Phil Jamison then read a letter from Robert Finnan, another neighbor, who reiterated the same complaints. The tractor trailers often stand idling — either on the site or on Route 302 — there are too many of them, and they come at all hours of the day. This use is not consistent with the permitted use of a small repair garage.

Herb Glass, a neighbor from the western side of Route 302 then spoke. He said that "the headaches will continue, because this applicant is in constant defiance of the town. I can't believe this can go any further."

"It's time for common sense to be applied here. It's a dangerous situation with these tractor trailers lined up on Route 302. There could be a fatal accident any day, and then who will take the blame for that?" Roberson said.

John Tarolli replied that the town board had decided to leave this property in the BP Zone. He asked the planning board for time so that Fitzpatrick could respond to the complaints.

Phil Jamison said that the property was in violation of town code rules. Ben Gailey said that it was legal for the planning board to act, but that only the town building inspector could enforce the law. The public hearing was closed and Henry DeVries of the planning board moved that the board deny the application. The vote was unanimous to deny.

"The garage business has a specific condition that no trailers enter the lot. We imposed that condition at the time of approval because we were aware that the driveway was not safe for trailer entry and exit," Jamison said after the meeting. "Nobody would have a problem with Nick and this business if it was on the right site, such as along Route 17K."

Supervisor Charles Carnes said, "Mr. Fitzpatrick is in violation of town laws and he must come into compliance. I believe he has been notified of that fact and the process will now move forward."