The Maybrook Village Board will have to wait a bit to enact its draft law regulating moving/storage portable on demand (PODS).

At a public hearing on the POD draft law Monday, Village Attorney Kelly Naughton advised that since 30 days had not yet passed since the Orange County Planning Dept. received the draft for review, the Maybrook board could not officially approve it. That is expected to occur once the mandatory time period has passed.

There was no public discussion at the public hearing. Village Building Inspector Tim Ippolito asked for the draft law since Maybrook’s current zoning code does not address PODs nor regulate them.

The draft law would allow the siting of PODS on residential and non-residential property on a “limited basis” not to exceed 30 days a year. There would be a 30-day limit on the length of time a POD can consecutively be placed on a property. If the POD is there because of major damage to a residence, that limit goes to 180 days.No more than one unit would be permitted.

The PODs will have to be on paved off-street areas. There would be size limitations and restrictions on what you can put in a POD. You won’t be able to wire it or heat it or keep animals in one.

However, a POD that has been converted for use as an accessory building or shed would be permitted, if it complied with all village building codes and land use requirements.

There was a second public hearing Monday on the village’s plans to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to continue its sewer re-lining project. Again, there was no pubic comment. Block Grants are approved and administered by Orange County. Once Maybrook’s sewer lining project is completed, said Mayor Leahy, the village will again apply for annual grants to replace its sidewalks.

On a side note, Maybrook Public Works Superintendent Matthew Thorp said that Rich Mayfield, New York State Director of Rural Development, praised Maybrook’s use of Community Development grants as “the model for using the grants wisely”.