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The 'Osmica at Spring Trail Farm' Bed & Breakfast/events venue project came under more scrutiny Monday as the Lansing Planning Board began to consider neighborhood concerns about potential traffic, lighting, storm water drainage, and sound.  The discussion hinged on what business owners' Kurt Martin and Allison Trdan have proposed, town land use ordinances, and strong concerns raised by neighbors during the public hearing that concluded last month.

The meeting began with a lengthy summary of issues to be considered by planning board member Larry Sharpsteen.  Sharpsteen said the board would be considering hours of operation; the kinds of music that should be allowed outside the main events space in a large barn that is to be remodeled to serve as a reception venue; water usage, especially water from a spring on the property; lighting restrictions; the use of temporary tents; the amount of foliage to be added to create buffers between the venue and neighboring properties; and traffic.

The use of amplified music out of doors and temporary tents dominated the discussion.

"Amplified music should only be allowed in the barn, and only unamplified music should be allowed in the outside portions of the venue," Sharpsteen said. "We're talking about a singer, a violinist, a string quartet or something like that."

Martin said that during the up to two years the barn will be rennovated events will take place in tents outside, asking for some flexibility especially during that time.  And planning board member Al Fiorille said that some kinds of amplified music are appropriate outside, even after the indoor venue is completed.  he used a wedding procession music as an example.

"Amplified music outdoors is appropriate for some events," he said. "Not everybody can afford a string quartet.  So I think we have to somehow structure that to allow amplified music."

Planning Board Chairman Jerry Caward said, "In other words we want to find a way not to have a huge band making a lot of noise in the tent that may be used (for the wedding service).  if you were going to have a processional with the bride walking down the center aisle, and you didn't hire a band or string quartet, that would be amplified music, if somebody is playing their DVD?"

Sharpsteen allowed that the board could specify that light recorded music for the purpose of a processional, etc. may be played outside during site plan review.

The use of tents has been a major bone of contention for neighbors who spoke at the public hearing.  The planning board tried to get some clarification as to their intended use, as well as their jurisdiction over their use.  Trdan suggested that the board can not regulate tents unless they are kept in place for 180 or more days, according to Town law.

"It is our understanding that the tent sites do not need to be here at all, because they are not regulated by the Town," Martin added. "There isn't a tent permit in the Town of Lansing.  There is no regulation for tents.  (Town Planning consultant Michael Long) had asked early on that we put something on there that gives us an idea of where they're going to be... and it's taken on a life of its own.  We could just take the tent sites off the site plan."

But Town Attorney Guy Krogh said that it doesn't matter whether a business use is inside a temporary structure or just outside in a field.  He argued that while zoning does not regulate a temporary structure in this case, that the board does have the authority to consider the business use in its site plan deliberations.

"Exactly how the conditions might be written to accommodate those things might be open to discussion," Krogh said. "But to say that the Board has absolutely no site plan review authority because you're going to do it in a tent is wrong.  That would be my legal advice to this board."

The use of a spring was determined to be a non-issue after much discussion about the amount of water that can reasonably be expected to be drawn from it during peak periods had been oveestimated by more than 50%.

"We took the greatest water use we could imagine and doubled it to come up with 5,000," he said. "If we need to scale that back to 2,000 we can."

Sharpsteen pointed out that 5,000 gallons per day is the equivalent of water use by 33 single family homes with two residents, arguing that could be a problem for neighbors who use wells.  But as the discussion unfolded, the board agreed with the developers that even at peak use, water for the actual events would be coming from the municipal water system, not the local aquifer.

Caward has said that all concerns will be considered during site plan review, and had requested that all comments from the public hearing plus written comments be collated so the board may address each one methodically.  The next Planning Board meeting is May 13th.

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