By Buffy Calvert
Farmstands are welcome in Andes. Just check with Artie Short, the Code Enforcement Officer, if you’re erecting a shed or a sign for the regs about placement and fees. Ritchie Gabriel, whose neat farm stand just before the Liddle farm on NYS Route 28 sells fresh local produce, eggs and maple syrup, checked with the Planning Board to see if he needed a Special Use permit. The Board, with advice from Frank Winkler, Chairman, and Kirsten Janke-Schneider from the County Planning Board, who had been researching the matter, agreed that under the Right to Farm state law and lack of regulation by the Town, farmstands selling local farm products (not rummage) are in Artie’s purview alone. Dreaming of the 6 stands I’m remembering from last year on our roads, I can almost taste those succulent, summer tomatoes and sweet corn now!
The Planning Board set May 13th at 7:30 for a Public Hearing to review Skip Parcel’s application for a Special Use Permit to open Delaware House at 227 Delaware Avenue as an Inn.
On behalf of the Andes Fire Department, Dale Tait informed the Board that they were planning to install a lighted sign where the present sign is across from the firehouse to alert drivers of emergencies, upcoming events and warnings (like the current fire ban.) They want to be sensitive to community concerns as to brightness, size, etc. They are currently exploring their options: looking at signs erected by other towns, prices and possibilities. The Board suggested using solar power for economy and a timer so it would not run all night. ~