The Gallatin Town Board discussed potential zoning revisions at its Jan. 20 meeting, weighing how to protect forested land while directing new development toward specific areas of the town.
Gallatin’s current zoning plan, adopted in 2011, divides the town into four districts: Residential Agricultural with a two-acre minimum lot size, Residential Agricultural with a three-acre minimum, Low Density Residential with three-acre lots, and hamlet districts.
While Gallatin was once primarily agricultural, board members said land use has shifted over time as former farmland has reverted to forest. “We’re not really a farming town — we’re a forest town,” said board member Jeff Jorve, who questioned whether the existing zoning framework accurately reflects present conditions.
Large portions of Gallatin have been identified by the town’s Conservation Advisory Council, working with the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program, as an important migratory forest corridor linking the Berkshires and the Hudson River Valley. The area includes historically untilled soil. Jorve presented a slideshow outlining possible zoning changes, including the creation of a new district with limited density to protect the forested corridor.
“What we’re trying to signal to people who buy woodland lots in Gallatin is that we like the woodlands and that maybe we don’t want large agricultural operations on those woodlands,” Jorve said.
Board members generally agreed that higher-density development should be concentrated within hamlet districts and discussed whether those areas should be expanded. “The hamlets are pretty much maxed out under current zoning, lot sizes, and setbacks,” Jorve said. He suggested restoring Snyderville, an area in northwestern Gallatin that once housed mills and distilleries, to hamlet status.
Supervisor John Reilly raised the possibility of recognizing additional hamlet areas. “We can look at the private road clusters and consider hamlets for them,” Reilly said.
The board said it hopes to have a draft update to the zoning plan ready for discussion at its March meeting.
In other business, the board approved a resolution reorganizing town positions. Reilly noted the reappointment of Terry Porter as chair of the Planning Board for a five-year term and said there are two open volunteer seats on the Board of Assessment Review.
The board also discussed creating official town email addresses for municipal positions, rather than using private accounts, to ensure continuity and record preservation during personnel transitions.
A second resolution was approved to establish an investment policy allowing the supervisor to invest idle town funds in low-risk vehicles such as certificates of deposit and money market accounts. The town maintains an investment account with the Bank of Greene County and currently holds nearly $3 million.
The next Gallatin Town Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 24.
Thank You Gallatin Town Board! Hamlets should be restored. Part of heritage and history in the area. Unfortunately Milan has gotten rid of the protection of hamlets. Jackson Corners was a Hamlet in Milan but the town board got rid of it. Of all the hamlets in Milan, history shows that Jackson Corners was the most used and should be protected, even though we are wedged between two sides of Gallatin. It had a distillery, general store, blacksmith shop, mills on the Roejan to name a few. So good for you Gallatin – keep you hamlets, keep them safe, use them to your advantage and most of all, keep them forested!