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August 26, 2010

Your Opinion: August 26, 2010

Thank ‘ewe’ to all

The trial committee of the 15th Annual Leatherstocking Sheepdog Trials that were held August 13, 14, 15, would like to take this opportunity to thank the community, our sponsor Dog Wild Canine Supply, The Clark Foundation and especially employees Rudy Burkhart and Joe Miller, The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, all our advertisers and vendors for your support.

Also, thanks to the Fly Creek United Methodist Church and its volunteers for the great food, Bennett Motors for the farm utility vehicle,Dr. Fran Fassett for being our emergency vet on call, Cooperstown Natural Foods and Brier Street pottery for their donations.

We even had a thoughtful spectator that made dog biscuits for our canine friends to enjoy after a long day of sheep herding competition. Many ``wags’’ and thanks from all of us.

Linda Hotchkiss

Hartwick



Everyone should be held to same laws

How many of you know what the Cooperstown laws are for operating a Bed and Breakfast?

1. The operator of a B&B must own and live in the B&B house and be present whenever there are guests in the house.

2. The owner/operator has to have a parking space for each room that is rented. Each space has to be 9ft wide and 20ft long.

3.The owner/operator has to have TWO parking spaces for him/herself, even if he/she owns only one car… or none.

4. The property on which the parking spaces are located must be owned by the owner/operator of the B&B and must be no further from the B&B than 400 feet.

I know all of this because I applied for a permit in 2008 to reopen a two-bedroom B&B in my home. I attended three months of meetings with the Planning and Zoning Boards. The Planning Board approved my request, but the Zoning board denied it. The reason they cited: The lack of adequate parking. I was told my only recourse to having their decision overturned was to sue the Village.

I operated a two-bedroom B&B in this same house for thirteen years, between 1988 and 2001. These parking restrictions were made into law in 1989. There are two parking spaces in my driveway, which were used for guests, and I rented a space for myself in the parking lot owned by Leatherstocking Corporation, which is within 400 ft. I was ``Grandfathered’’ so did not need two parking spaces for myself, nor did I have to own the property on which the spaces were located.

This worked out satisfactorily for thirteen years, with absolutely no problems. This is what I intended to do this time around. I was willing to pay rent for two parking spaces, although I own only one car and one space would never be used. I consulted Judge John Lambert, who at that time was the Village Attorney, and he said, in his judgment, leasing the two spaces on a yearly basis would satisfy the law. However, the Zoning Board would not accept that judgment. They said I had to actually own the property. I had been out of business too long, due to my husband’s illness and subsequent death, to be ``Grandfathered,’’ so even though it worked for thirteen years, I was denied the permit.

Two years later, in January of this year, the rental apartment on the other side of my house became vacant. I again applied for a permit, this time for renting that apartment on a weekly basis for just three months of the year. As it would only be rented to one family each week, only one parking space would be needed in the driveway.

There would be room for my car next to it and I would clear out enough space in front of my car to satisfy the space requirement for another car, even though I do not own another car. Again, the Zoning Board turned me down for lack of adequate parking space. They said there could be no stacking of cars, which is what it is called if one car is parked behind another. Remember, there would be no car in that space.

I think that it is a stupid law, but it is the law, and obviously they had the right to make me adhere strictly to the letter of the law. However, my contention is that everyone should be held just as strictly to the same laws. From newspaper reports and other reports, I am aware of the fact that there are establishments in the Village that are not being held to the letter of the law as I was.

It is my belief that the Zoning officer should check every single B&B/short term rental in the Village to see that they are all in compliance with the parking regulations and see that they have been issued an official permit by the Zoning Board to operate their establishments. A ``shortterm’’ rental is anything under 30 days.

Everyone should be held to these same laws, or the laws should be changed. I opt for re-evaluating the laws and making some changes.

The Zoning Board of Appeals should be just that…a Board to which all citizens of Cooperstown can appeal and have their needs met with common sense and compassion.

Grace Kull

Cooperstown

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