HANOVER — Things are looking up for the group Imagine Forestville, as a new grant sponsorship was approved in pursuit of the former village’s historic designation. Members turned out in record numbers to the latest Hanover Town Board workshop and meeting, where the hamlet of Forestville’s future was one of the primary topics of discussion.

Imagine Forestville member Nancy Adams provided a detailed update on where the merging of both municipalities’ zoning and planning laws stood during the workshop. “The planning board brought in Michael Langley and Don McCord from the county planning board last Thursday, along with Aimee (Rogers) from Imagine Forestville,” Adams said. “They offered their assistance to the town in incorporating the Forestville zoning and planning laws into the town laws.”

Adams went on to say, “Because they need a little more time, the timetable that we originally thought would be possible, they asked us to give them another month. So we would take our draft of the Forestville zoning laws to the planning board in April, and then with planning board review and recommendation, those zoning laws changes would come to the town board for review and public hearing.”

While the request for more time seemed to be fine with the Hanover Town Board, Adams stated that some Forestville residents aren’t as comfortable with that notion. “We were a little concerned about the prolonging of the planning process,” Adams stated, “since there is some feeling of urgency among residents …regarding a couple of issues.”

Adams then elaborated on the two glaring issues. “One is the worry about a big box store coming in and pulling down houses,” she said. “This has been something that has energized the community, and the other is a longstanding concern over bad conversions of single-family houses into multi-family houses.”

The two concerns were also heard by the planning board, to which they offered a solution Adams was eager to share. “The planning board suggested that we bring the town board the suggestion of a six-month moratorium on those two issues,” Adams stated. “This would give the planning board, Imagine Forestville and the town board six months to review zoning laws, do the public hearing and adopt whatever zoning law changes are necessary.”

Adams also informed the board that a draft of Forestville’s new zoning laws was developed, but still in progress. “We do have a very early draft,” she noted. “The county planning board is currently looking at the different zones that Forestville has now, which are five, and they’re happy to be involved and helping.”

In the process of combining, Adams also emphasized that definitions played an important role. “It all rests on the definitions. The definitions within the zoning law are the key to giving teeth to enforcement, giving teeth to a law,” she said. “The definitions are entirely different in Forestville and Hanover. Hanover’s are wiser, so we hope to modify the Forestville zoning laws so they reflect the Hanover definitions.”

In addition to better matching the definitions and making a uniform set of laws, a digital map was also constructed, which is a first for Forestville as well. “The county planners are also making a map,” Adams elaborated. “There’s never been a digitized map, and a map of the zones isn’t on the town assessor’s map either. There’s some real concrete help that they’re going to give us.”

Hanover Supervisor Todd Johnson gave some sage advice on watching the fine lines when it comes to zoning and planning. “There has to be some definition basically within the zoning laws that were up there prior,” Johnson stated. “As to what is residential, what is commercial and what is agricultural, there’s such a fine line.”

Town attorney Jeffrey Passafaro was more interested in the differences between the two municipalities and how they were finding common ground. “I’d be interested in where you’re deviating from what we have now,” Passafaro commented. “It’s all Hanover (now), so what I want to know is, where are you deviating from what residential zones are now in Hanover.”

Following a brief discussion further elaborating on the definitions, Imagine Forestville Representative Aimee Rogers read a letter from Imagine Forestville to the board, announcing a second grant opportunity has been made available to the group. An excerpt from the letter is as follows:

“On the basis of our Letter of Interest for funds to conduct a Historic Resources Survey, we have been invited by the NCCF (Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation) to advance to Phase 2 of their grant application process. We are requesting that the Hanover Town Board allow our Hamlet of Forestville, via ‘Imagine Forestville,’ to designate the Town of Hanover as our Municipality of Record for a grant opportunity. This grant, along with our application for a NYS Preservation Grant, we hope, would help us cover the cost of the Reconnaissance Level Survey, which will cost approximately $9,500. As we understand it, upon approval, the grant would be issued to the Town of Hanover and would be under the control of a Town of Hanover Board member. Mr. Louis Pelletter has graciously agreed to be that contact person on our behalf. If approved, this grant does not require any monetary commitment from us, so neither Imagine Forestville nor the Town of Hanover will be asked for any financial contribution to the project funded by this grant.”

After the first grant was sought last month, the second is a favorable update for the hamlet’s progress in seeking its desired historic district designation. “I know it seems like we’ve already done this, but this is a second grant,” Rogers noted, specifying that it was a brand new grant, and not the aforementioned NYS Preservation Grant. “We’re very excited to see that we got through Phase 1.”

Following the workshop, the town board approved the grant sponsorship request, but Adams’ request for a vote to consider a six-month moratorium for big box construction in Forestville was quickly turned down by Passafaro.

“That’s a local law; a moratorium of any sort would be by local law,” Passafaro stated. “Local law has to be drafted. You better get to me the uses that you want to use a moratorium on, well-defined. You need to get it to me because I have to draw the local law, it has to be on the board calendar and agenda prior to their next meeting, they then can call a public hearing posted and published, hold a public hearing and then it becomes an agenda matter.”

Adams expressed further concern over the time restraints, but Passafaro assured her the matter was not as complicated as it may seem. “It’s the adoption of a local law,” Passafaro emphasized. “But it is not that complicated because you have a very discrete topic here.”