Members of a special committee to develop marina regulations submitted their draft recommendations to the Santa Clara Town Board at its June 17 meeting. The recommendations include modifying the Land Use Code for special use permits and regulating the construction, expansion, and operations of marinas.
The town hired a professional planning services company, Chazen Company, to work with the special committee made up of the town’s Variance and Planning board members to develop draft regulations. In turn, the Santa Clara Board has forwarded the committee’s recommendations on to the Planning Board for review.
At the June meeting, both the Upper Saranac Foundation (USF) and the Upper Saranac Lake Association (USLA) requested to be participating partners in developing the marina regulations. Both organizations have participated in every special committee meeting and have provided written comments. The town board agreed to accept additional input from both organizations during the Planning Board review process.
After examining the committee’s recommendations and identifying opportunities for additional assurances to safeguard our natural resources, both the USF and USLA have provided additional input. USF’s remarks provide input to better protect water quality, focusing on AIS spread prevention, pollution control, and environmental impacts. USLA’s responses primarily focused on maintaining a balance of state, commercial, and residential property owners concerns, environmental impacts, and maintaining the natural Adirondack surroundings and purity. (Link)
In February, the Santa Clara Town Board adopted a moratorium on commercial development. At the June meeting, the board voted to extend the existing moratorium to conclude on Dec. 31, 2021.
The moratorium provides the town of Santa Clara with time to develop and enact new regulations governing commercial development. This moratorium will affect zoning districts that include four prominent properties in the watershed: Saranac Inn Golf and Country Club (currently for sale), the Point, Donaldson’s, and the newly purchased Upper Saranac Lake Marina (formerly Hickok’s).
The town will be providing opportunities for public comment on marina regulation at a future date. The USF encourages watershed users to provide their own input when that opportunity arrives.