A rare planning board split decision broke in favor of those who want to sell Christmas trees at Villa Gaudio to benefit a youth sports program.

The board voted after fans of the Yuletide fundraiser dominated a public hearing and a hastily drawn site plan satisfied enough board members to approve it.

Even Lynda Rogers-Seely, the only member of the public to oppose the plan, retracted her objections after Stonehenge Farm Market representatives praised it. Rogers-Seely was standing up for Stonehenge, which she thought would be hurt by the competition. But Andy Justin, Stonehenge’s new owner, said he thought Villa Gaudio’s plan was wonderful. What’s more, said farm market manager Kate Loechner, Stonehenge hasn’t even sold Christmas trees in years.

Dean Ianazzi, vice president of Pine Bush Youth Football and Cheerleading, said the group will do all it could to help make the sale a success.

Despite the overwhelming support, there was still a matter of meeting the town’s zoning code. Villa Gaudio’s location wasn’t an issue: It’s in a business zone where the sales are permitted.

In October, when Frank Gaudio and Jennifer Besser first presented the plans, they were told they lacked a proper sketch to show where the trees would be set up and the locations of the restaurant, parking and lighting. Besser’s presentation before the public hearing still didn’t satisfy the board. Beyond the site plan map, board members wanted to know how much space the trees would take up, the duration of the sale, hours of operation and how it would be advertised.

Besser ticked off many of the points. The sale would start the day after Thanksgiving, she said, run seven days a week between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., and wrap up the day after Christmas. Social media, along with a sandwich board, would let folks know about the sale.

Board members still wanted a map, but waiting until the next board meeting in December would probably scuttle the project, said Board Chair Linda Zwart.

Board members shuffled through the paperwork Besser had passed around, and Zwart settled on a Google photo of the restaurant. Could Besser and Gaudio mark up the photo before the board adjourned, Zwart wanted to know? Joseph Gingras, the vice chairman, offered up a guesstimate of the space the trees would take up, the board attorney told them how many parking spaces they’d need.

Gaudio and Besser made everything fit, and, voila, the board had its site plan. Such a hasty solution wasn’t unprecedented, Gingras said, but board members Rich DeVries and Thomas Hoeffner thought the whole thing was too rushed. For one thing, nobody had taken traffic into account at the busy Five Corners intersection.

Besser said she had planned on selling just 65 trees, far fewer than the hundreds of trees Stonehenge used to sell each year just across the intersection.

In the end, Michael Holt, Zwart and Gingras voted to approve the project. DeVries and Hoeffner said no.

So, Christmas trees are returning to Bullville, but just for this year. Besser and Gaudio will have to come back to the board and do it all over for 2024.

O’Reilly passes environmental test

The board also determined that the O’Reilly Auto Parts project proposed for Route 52 in Pine Bush wouldn’t hurt the environment, in a ruling was needed to meet State Environmental Quality Review Act requirements. Prior to the decision, the board closed a public hearing on O’Reilly’s plan during which nobody spoke.

Site engineer Sam Burden updated the board on progress made for the 7,000-square-foot store that will be built on a subdivided parcel just east of the McDonald’s restaurant. Burden said he was still working out issues raised by the town’s planner, Adrianna Beltrani of the Leberge Group, and Scott Quinn, its engineer. While Zwart said issues regarding landscaping, stormwater runoff and lighting need to be resolved, both Beltrani and Quinn were comfortable with granting the negative declaration for SEQRA.

Burden also told the planning board that the zoning board of appeals had granted it a variance permitting it to put parking spaces in a buffer area in front of the building, and another allowing it to have a larger sign on the building than is normally allowed.