Shelter Island’s Comprehensive Plan review delayed — again

The updated draft of the Comprehensive Plan reached the Town Board July 10 and has been posted to the Town website for public review under “Recent News.” Plans called for the Town Board to begin chapter-by-chapter discussions at work sessions that were slated to begin on Tuesday, July 30.

But Councilman Benjamin Dyett, who was a member of the Comp Plan Advisory Committee until his resignation along with two other members in September 2023, said he has started reading through the latest draft, but needed more time before starting public discussions of the proposal.

Bowing to his request, Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams canceled Tuesday’s work session, agreeing the review will start Tuesday, Aug. 6.

However, she noted that to stay on course without running into the holiday period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s for a public hearing on the plan, it might become necessary to add an extra work session to complete the Board’s review.

A municipality’s Comprehensive Plan dictates policy on multiple fronts, including development, land use, transportation and housing. In 1994, a Comprehensive Plan was adopted by a Town Board resolution. A seven-month effort of discussion and research in 2008 produced an update to that plan, but the board rejected it.

The schedule currently is as follows:

• Aug. 6  — Chapter 1, Introduction and Vision Statement; Chapter 2, Growth, Change and Demographics.

• Aug. 13 — Chapter 3, Existing Built Environment, Land Use and Zoning; Chapter 4, Housing.

• Aug. 20 — Chapter 5, Economy; Chapter 6, Transportation.

• Aug. 27 — Chapter 7, Natural Resources and Water Quality; Chapter 8, Parks, Open Space and Waterways.

• Sept. 10— Chapter 9, Quality of Life, Historic, Cultural and Community Resources; Chapter 10, Utilities, Sustainability  and Resilience.

• Sept. 17 — Chapter 11, Implementation and Action Plan

If the Town Board can stay on schedule, there may be some changes members would like consultants from BFJ Planning  to tweak; the supervisor said that could take two or three weeks.

To be considered for a grant in 2025 to implement the Comprehensive Plan, the Town Board would have had to adopt the plan by Sept. 30 this year.

It doesn’t mean the plan can’t be adopted by the Town Board, but it means the state grant to pay for costs to implement the plan wouldn’t be available to the Town until 2026.