Webster Town Board set to vote on commercial development moratorium tonight

The Webster Town Board meets Thursday evening to vote on a six-month moratorium on commercial development approvals. A 6:30 p.m. workshop precedes the 7:30 p.m. meeting with presentations on the town's 2027 property revaluation and a proposal to convert wastewater plant digester gas into a revenue-generating renewable fuel. Both sessions are in the Town Board Room at 1002 Ridge Road (the building with the blue roof, behind main Town Hall).

Moratorium Vote

Item 12 on Thursday's agenda is the enactment vote for Local Law No. 2 of 2026, which would impose a six-month pause on commercial development approvals in Webster.

The moratorium applies to commercial zoning districts HC, MC, LC-1, LC-2, CO, and O-P. If enacted, the Town Board would halt new site plan approvals, special permits, rezoning applications, subdivisions of more than four parcels, large-scale solar installations, and data centers within those zones.

Routine repairs, single-family permits, interior work, and redevelopment of existing structures are exempt. Projects that already received preliminary site plan or special permit approval before the law's effective date are also exempt. Property owners facing financial hardship can apply for relief through the Town Clerk for $150; applicants must provide what the law calls "dollars and cents proof" of irreparable injury.

The law takes effect upon filing with the New York Department of State and runs six months, with two possible three-month extensions up to a 12-month maximum. The board introduced it at a public hearing on April 2, referred it to Monroe County for mandatory review on April 16, and is voting tonight on enactment. The stated purpose: time to complete a Comprehensive Plan update, the last one dating to 2008, with a draft expected this fall.

Tonight's vote has potential implications for at least one project already in the pipeline. Among the questions the vote would raise: pending applications like Dinks and Links, which the Planning Board tabled Tuesday without granting preliminary approval, would fall in a legal gray area under the moratorium's effective-date language, neither clearly exempt nor with any official town determination yet made. 7 Brew Coffee on Hard Road, which received preliminary site plan approval Tuesday, falls in the exempt category.

Workshop presentations

The 6:30 p.m. workshop opens with a presentation from Robert Koszarek of KLW on the town's 2027 property revaluation project. Data verification letters are expected to go out to Webster property owners in early June.

At 6:45 p.m., the workshop continues with a presentation from the Webster Department of Public Works and contractor Navitas on converting the Webster Water Pollution Control Facility's anaerobic digester gas to Renewable Natural Gas.

The wastewater plant's digesters currently produce gas that is 47 percent used for on-site heat and 53 percent flared off with no financial return. The proposed project would capture that gas, upgrade it to pipeline-quality RNG, and sell the environmental attributes into the market.

According to the Navitas and DPW presentation, projected annual output is 29,000 MMBTU, equivalent to roughly 300 homes' worth of natural gas. The projections show environmental attribute sales at $10 to $17 per MMBTU, generating $290,000 to $493,000 annually. Total capital cost is roughly $8.5 million, but the presentation estimates an Inflation Reduction Act tax credit (Section 48) of $6.8 million to $8.0 million via a direct Treasury payment, cutting the net cost to $500,000 to $1.7 million. The best-case payback period is 2.9 years (calculated against total 30-year debt service).

Thursday's presentation carries no vote. Before a contract can move forward, the board must finish SEQR review, choose an injection method (RG&E pipeline, tube truck, or third-party manager), and pass a bond resolution amendment.

Article 78 Defense

Item 11 has the board voting to retain DeMarco Taylor Law Group PLLC (attorney Kyle D. Taylor) to defend the town in an Article 78 proceeding filed in Monroe County Supreme Court, Index No. E2026010907. The retainer, dated June 2 and addressed to Supervisor Scialdone, describes the matter as the "Montante Solar Project." Rate: $250 per hour. The town is the respondent. The available documents do not identify who filed the suit or the specific grounds challenged.

Verizon Cell Tower Review

Item 10 authorizes hiring RF consultant William P. Johnson to review two proposed Verizon Wireless base stations: "Webster North" and a site near Lake Road and County Line Road. Verizon reimburses the town for the review cost.

SEQR Lead Agency

Item 9 formalizes the Town Board as SEQR lead agency for the Webster Transportation Improvement Project: roadway work and a multimodal trail near the Xerox campus in both the Town and Village of Webster.

The 7:30 p.m. meeting is open to the public. Speakers have five minutes; no advance sign-up is required.

AI tools were used in drafting and research.