SARANAC LAKE – The public will be asked to weigh in on Saranac Lake’s new land-use code at a village Board of Trustees meeting next month.

The village board agreed Monday to schedule a public hearing on the draft development code at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 14. The hearing will be held in the village offices on the second floor of the Harrietstown Town Hall.

The 250-page code was drafted by a volunteer committee, then delivered to the board more than a year ago. In an exhaustive series of work sessions that followed, Mayor Clyde Rabideau and the rest of the board revised, tweaked and amended some parts of the document.

Among some of the biggest changes, the village Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board would be combined into a single “Development Board” under the new code. Village officials have said it’s hard to get volunteers on the separate, five-member boards. They also say the new arrangement would make the process more efficient for applicants.

“Rather than having to go to two different boards, they can go to one board that can look at zoning issues and variances and site plan review,” Trustee Paul Van Cott said last month.

In emailed comments to village officials over the last few weeks, however, two people have raised issues with combining the boards.

“I just do not think this is a good idea,” wrote Betsy Minehan, a former Planning Board member, in an email to Van Cott. “As you know a zoning board has appellate jurisdiction with respect to use setbacks, decisions; and planning boards are all about assisting developers understand and be guided by the master plan in their reviews of proposed development projects.”

Mineahan said the boards should be kept separate in the interest of fairness. She said she’s concerned that the proposed Development Board, in an effort to increase development, “will be pressured to ignore their zoning law mandate and rewrite the village of Saranac Lake land use regulations.

“It is difficult for local zoning boards to start their hearing with a ‘No’ to big, tax producing projects that do not comply with local zoning, and … that is their job,” Minehan wrote. “Zoning issues and planning issues will be difficult to separate with a combined board.”

Former ZBA member and chairman Shaun Boyer also raised concerns with the plan.

“I myself believe we need both boards,” he said. “Not everyone needs planning and not everyone needs zoning changes. Some are simple, and some are not. We need the (diverse) group of people to be on both boards as I believe if we combine these into one single board, the opinions can become matching and more regulative here in our village. We need the diverse opinions. That is healthy.”

The resolution the board approved Monday responded to Minehan’s and Boyer’s comments by saying “the board believes the advantages of merging the two boards outweigh any identified disadvantages.”

One of the other comments the village received came from village resident Peter Benson who backed provisions in the code that allow for the keeping of hen chickens, turkey, ducks and rabbits in the village under certain guidelines.

The new unified development code would also expand the downtown, Glenwood and Lake Street zoning districts, and create new zoning districts for the American Management Association campus and part of the Helen Hill neighborhood. It would allow the community development director to approve certain development proposals, create new architectural design standards and set regulations for everything from hosting weddings on residential properties to putting up solar and wind powered electric systems.

Village officials have encouraged residents to find their neighborhood in the draft code and look up the allowed uses in that area.

Copies of the code are available in the village offices, at the Saranac Lake Free Library and on the village’s website, www.saranaclakeny.gov.