Brocton Mayor Craig Miller will appoint members to a new Zoning Board of Appeals if a proposed local law is approved.

BROCTON — The Brocton Planning Board is one step away from dissolution. A public hearing will be held at the beginning of the next regular meeting of the Village Board of Trustees, Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m., on a local law to eliminate the Planning Board.

The proposed Local Law 1 of 2025 states that the existing Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals will be abolished, with a new Zoning Board of Appeals created to have the duties and powers of both the Planning and Zoning Boards as they currently stand.

The Village previously evaluated merging Planning and Zoning Boards with the Town of Portland two years ago, but Portland rallied enough support to maintain its own boards. That has not been the case in Brocton.

“We have an issue here in the Village that it’s hard to get members for both boards to step up,” Brocton Planning Board Chairman Bill Westin said two years ago. Now, Westin and his fellow members – William Maher, Steve Mawhir, and Terry Presto – are set to resign, effective Dec. 31. Only three members currently sit on the Zoning Board of Appeals – Donna Frost, Malinda Marsh, and Tammy Thompson.

Village Attorney Peter Clark recently explained to the Village Board of Trustees that the Village is not required by law to have a Planning Board, but it is required to have a Zoning Board of Appeals. Rather than try to rally enough support to fill the Planning Board with an entirely new group of members, or try to convince the Town of Portland to merge duties with Brocton, the Village is seeking to dissolve the Planning Board and pass all duties over to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Following the public hearing, the Village Board of Trustees will decide the fate of the local law, which states that the Mayor of Brocton would appoint the members of the new Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Zoning Board would consist of five members and two alternates, if enough members come forward with an interest to serve on the Board. One member will serve as Chairperson, selected by the Mayor with approval of the Village Board, with alternates eligible to serve on the Zoning Board if a member is absent. If the Chairperson is absent, the members of the Zoning Board in attendance will designate an acting Chairperson for the meeting.

Zoning Board appointments would be for varying term lengths to ensure that the members do not all have their terms expire at the same time. Terms would be five years in length after the Mayor’s initial appointment expires, commencing on July 1 of the year appointed, and ending on June 30 of the final year of the term.

Each member, including alternate members, will be required to complete at least four hours of training each year. Training and travel costs to perform the duties as required will be covered by the Village of Brocton.

Residents of Brocton who are interested in serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals are encouraged to contact the Village Clerk’s Office to express their interest in the role. Village Clerk Scott Jagoda can be reached at (716) 792-4160, extension 2.