Captain’s Cove gets county support to take down store, build new one in Carlton
CARLTON – The Orleans County Planning Board on Thursday voted in favor of the site plan and a special use permit for a new 2,200-square-foot pole barn for Captain’s Cove on Route 18, overlooking the Oak Orchard River in Carlton.
George Lacey, owner of the business, plans to demolish a building that is currently used for a store and replace it with a 55-by-40-foot pole barn that would be set farther away from Route 18.
Lacey said it will be an upgrade for the business, and also be safer for traffic and customers by creating more parking and moving those spaces farther from the road.
He modified the site plan for the new building since it was originally presented in November to now meet setback requirements for the town of Carlton. The setbacks include 75 feet in the front, 80 feet in rear, 80 feet on left and 240 feet on right.
Lacey plans to disturb half an acre of a 3-acre lot. The building will meet the state energy code requirements by having an updated heating system and some solar arrays, the Planning Board said.
Lacey, owner of Captain’s Cove since 2015, used to have the store down by the Oak Orchard River but that building was flooded and badly damaged in 2017 when the water levels were at all-time highs. Lacey took down that building and raised the parking area by the river. He relocated the store to a house that is more than a century old on the upper bank.
The former house isn’t well suited to be the store, which is why Lacey is taking it down and building a new structure.
“I see a lot of potential there,” he said about the Point Breeze area. “But we need to be forward-thinking. I’ve been trying for 18 months to build a simple pole barn.”
Lacey said he hopes to see others invest in the Point Breeze community.
“The area needs improvement,” he told members of the County Planning Board. “Small business feeds on small business.”
In other action, the Planning Board:
• Recommended the Town of Murray approve a special use permit and the site plan for a 27,500-square-foot building at 15631 Lynch Rd.
Sam and Son wants to use the building with nine truck bays and 33 parking spaces for employees, customers and guests. Sam and Son primarily works with constructing and expanding electrical substations and installing transmission line poles.
• Recommended the Town of Clarendon amend its zoning text to allow more than two travel trailers, campers and recreational vehicles on a private lot but only for special events – weddings, graduation parties, family gatherings. Those vehicles can be parked overnight for a period not to exceed 14 days in a calendar year.
• Voted in favor of a request from the Town of Gaines for a 6-month moratorium extension on the installation of freestanding and ground mounted solar energy systems.
