RED HOOK — A proposed major expansion of the on Norton Road is facing scrutiny after a neighboring property owner’s attorney urged the Red Hook Planning Board to put the project on hold, citing conflicting official opinions about the site’s zoning status.
, representing the neighboring family, said the issue centers on two conflicting land use opinions from a town official regarding the Aerodrome property.
In September 2019, Red Hook Zoning Enforcement Officer Bob Fennell told Aerodrome representatives that the property was designated as a museum, not an airport facility, according to an email recently obtained by Stenger. Fennell wrote that the Aerodrome “is not an Airport Facility Use as described in Section 143-86 of the Zoning Law” and is instead “a Museum as described in the Definition Section 143-4.”
That determination classified the Aerodrome as a non-conforming use, meaning any expansion would have to follow requirements outlined in Section 143.125 of the zoning law.
The Aerodrome’s current application seeks a 60,000-square-foot expansion and references a 2020 ruling from Fennell that reclassified the site as an “Airport Facility Use” — a use not defined in the zoning law’s definitions. Stenger argues this contradicts Fennell’s earlier determination.
Plans also call for multiple overnight cabins to be built on the property.
Stenger has asked the Planning Board to suspend review of the application, stating in a letter that the board lacks the authority to decide which ruling should govern. He also expressed concern that the Aerodrome did not disclose the 2019 determination and said only the Zoning Enforcement Officer or Zoning Board of Appeals can resolve the question.
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