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Facts and Comments on All Matters of Zoning in the Town of Sheldon
What is on the schedule?
- March 13, 2026, 6 pm: Planning Board Meeting
- February 18, 2026, 7 pm: Town Board Meeting
Also consult the Town of Sheldon website.
News
For news items more than 60 days old, please visit the News Archive.
News from the February 11 Planning Board meeting
The meeting was attended by Board members Deb Kirsch , Don Pawlak and Thomas Jorgenson and alternate member Kathy Roberts. Town Board member Jim Fontaine attended the meeting and Supervisor Brian Becker attended part of the meeting. The Board considered a permit matter, which was tabled.
The Board continued its review and amendment of the draft zoning law. The amendments made to date are shown in highlighted text on the copy of the draft law on this website under the tab labeled “laws” and also on the same copy of the draft law available on the home page of the Town website.
The Board decided to:
- delete Section 718 to eliminate the cluster residential development provisions,
- specify in Section 102(D) that buildings not specifically authorized by the Town’s Zoning Law or some other Town law are not permitted in the Town until the applicable law is amended,
- provide that no commercial building or structure may exceed 20,000 square feet except buildings devoted exclusively to agriculture,
- change Section 507 on camping units to require a permit for use of a camping unit on vacant land for more than 96 hours,
- change Section 508 on accessory units to simplify the requirements
- affirm the designation of zoning districts by the town’s zoning map as under the current law,
- amend Section 805(E) on site plan reviews to require notice to all property owners within 200 feet of the property under review,
The Board discussed changing the provisions of Section 500 of the draft law to deal with non-conforming structures in a way that is more fair to the owners of these very small parcels. The Board also discussed changes to Section 505 on non-conforming year-round dwellings and Section 506 on non-conforming seasonal dwellings to make the treatment of non-conforming structures consistent.
News from the January 7-14 Planning Board meeting
The Planning Board nominated Thomas Jorgensen to the vacancy created by the resignation of Jeff Nixon in July 2025. Mr. Jorgensen grew up in Strykersville, served in the Marine Corps, and is employed as an air traffic controller at the Buffalo Airport. During 2025, he regularly attended Planning Board meetings and Town Board meetings.
The Planning Board held a special meeting on January 7 to consolidate changes to the draft law. The Planning Board has substantially revised the draft law prepared by the County’s Zoning Office to delete the “percentage of lot” method of restricting buildings on individual lots and to substitute the “square footage on lot” method in the current Town zoning law. This eliminates the adverse effect that could substantially restrict what is currently allowed to be built on two-acre and smaller lots.
The Planning Board discussed again the potential problems in the cluster residential development provisions in the draft law. A proposal was discussed to revert to the seasonal dwelling provision in the current law.
The Planning Board discussed the provisions In the proposed draft law that decreased the road frontage requirements for some uses from 200 feet to 100 feet or 150 feet. The current law uses a standard requirement of 200 feet of road frontage for all uses.
The subcommittee chair, Deb Kirsch, also personally put in the substantial amount of time necessary to reorganize the proposed tables in the draft law to make them more readable and to correct minor mistakes in the County’s proposed draft.
News from the December 17 Town Board meeting
The meeting was attended by Supervisor Becker and all members except Mike Armbrust. The Board held a public meeting on the proposed special use permit for the new owners of Windy Brew located on 20A. This facility has been the subject of complaints about adequate parking because cars park on the shoulders of Rt. 20 causing a safety problem. Other complaints have focused on trash and litter blowing across neighboring properties and noise from outside speakers playing music. After the hearing, the Board voted to approve the special use permit.
The Board also approved a special use permit for the VFW project to build an activities hall in Strykersville on land that the VFW owns just outside of the hamlet.
What does the County Zoning Officer actually do for the Town?
The proposed new 157-page zoning law raises the questions:
- How much work does the Zoning Officer currently do for the residents of the Town? and
- Is there anything in the current work of Zoning Officer that shows a need for the new 157-page zoning law?
The answer to the first question on the work actually done by the Zoning Officer can be determined by looking at the Zoning Officer’s reports. Current law requires the Zoning Officer to issue a monthly report to the Town Board. Those reports must provide details on all actions of the Zoning Officer, all permits, all complaints, and all violations found. The data showing how many actions actually occurred are listed HERE.
Please note that there are no reports on any activity on the proposed new zoning law. and the proposed new zoning law eliminates entirely the requirement for monthly reports from the Zoning Officer.
- In the most recent 15 months, the Zoning Officer reported zero citizen complaints. According to the Zoning Officer’s official records, no one in the Town was worried enough about any problem to complain in writing.
- In the most recent 15 months, the Zoning Officer handled only one property maintenance violation.
- In the most recent 15 months, the Zoning Officer handled only one special use permit.
The current law allows the Zoning Officer to issue routine permits for common low-impact local activities like single family housing, standard ag buildings, fences, sheds and the like. In the first 3 months of this year, the Zoning Officer issued 4 of these. In all 12 months of 2024, the Zoning Officer issued 41 of these, an average of 3 to 4 per month. No permits were denied.
So that brings on the second question -- whether there is anything in the volume and type of work that the Zoning Officer is currently doing that requires a complete re-write of the Town’s zoning law. The Town’s residents apparently do not raise complaints; there appear to be no regular property maintenance violations that need attention; and the day-to-day workload of the Zoning Officer does not seem to highlight any urgent need for reform.
If a justification exists for an entirely new zoning law that justification must lie elsewhere.
HERE’S WHAT IS GOING ON:
- The Town’s Zoning Officer drafted a PROPOSED REPLACEMENT ZONING LAW which you can read HERE.
- The Town’s Planning Board considered what the Zoning Officer wanted to do and sent the proposed replacement law ahead to the Town Board for its decision.
- You can read the Town’s current zoning law HERE.
- HOW MIGHT THE NEW LAW AFFECT YOU? See examples HERE.