THROOP - The town of Throop's draft of its comprehensive plan led to spirited discussion of some thorny issues during a public hearing Wednesday night to address preliminary suggestions and objections from residents.

Philip and Lexie Simkin raised the issue of the nonconforming use of their body shop in a residential zone. The town board told them that their property was grandfathered in under a pre-existing nonconforming use clause, however, the Simkins remained confused about whether their property's nonconforming use was just commercial or whether it was more specifically limited to a body shop.

Simkins Body Shop is located at 1919 and 1921 Turnpike Road. The Simkins had tried to rent out their property earlier to a wood shop operator but received a lot of resistance from neighbors. Phil Simkins would have to apply for a use variance if he wanted to rent it, even though the use was still commercial. He was told it had to be a body shop. He eventually lost the customer to all the red tape.

Now the Simkins, thinking of selling their property, are spooked by the idea of prospective buyers having to go to the zoning board.

“I can only advertise it as a business for a body shop,” Simkins said. “It should be commercial. I have a commercial building.”

“We put a $100,000 office addition on,” Lexie Simkin said. “We've lived there 20 years. Everything we have is in that piece of property. Now you're telling me this building is worth nothing.”

William Tarby, town supervisor, told the Simkins that one option they might have is providing input to the zoning commission being formed by the town. It will modify the draft of the comprehensive plan to develop new zoning laws.

“If you decide to zone commercial, another public hearing would be held to change the law,” Tarby said.

Amy D'Angelo, former Cayuga County senior planner, is helping the town of Throop form its zoning commission. Town attorney Norman Chirco will provide her with an outline of who should be on the commission in order to start with a fair and balanced representation by the next town board meeting, Wednesday, April 9.

The zoning commission will use the comprehensive plan draft as an outline to develop new zoning laws, which still have to go through an environmental review, public hearing process and a vote before the town adopts them.

“There are other properties in the town of Throop that are zoned residential but it's commercial with a pre-existing nonconforming use. ” Simkins said. “One is Paul Vitale's.”

Chirco said the zoning commission would look at all the problem spots.

“There will be a new plan with new zoning, a public hearing, and a new law will put an end to it,” he said. “We can't get there unless we pass the comprehensive plan. When the zoning commission gets together, they put a map together. There's a public hearing and the town board either tells them to go back and do more work or it's adopted.”

D'Angelo will have regular meetings of the zoning commission scheduled and open to the public.

“I would like to have the comprehensive plan done by the end of the year,” she said.

“If I were you,” Chirco told Simkin, “I would make every one of those meetings.”

“I think there's a lot of other folk with similar problems,” Simkin said. “Let's clean it up the way it is, not the way we think it should be. My building is a commercial building. That's what it is.”

The town also looked at lot sizes, senior housing and controlling the town's water system in other sections of the plan.

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net