Calogero tapped to chair Jackson zoning board
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON — There is a new chairman heading up the Jackson Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Barry Calogero was elected the board's chairman during the annual reorganization meeting. He succeeds Vincent Scro, who chaired the panel for the past two years.

"I am honored to be elected chairman," Calogero said of the unanimous vote of his fellow board members.

Carmen Esposito was elected vice chair and William Santos will be the board's secretary. The other members of the zoning board are Steve Costanzo, Peter Maher, Sheldon Hofstein, John Burrows (alternate No. 1), John Suttles (alternate No. 2) and Scro.

Hofstein and Suttles are new to the board.

"We have a great board," Calogero said. "It's very dynamic and it's exactly what the zoning board should represent. There are board members who represent all the people in town, the active adults and those that represent all dynamics of politics including Democrats and Republicans and so on. It's a good combination."

The zoning board meets at the municipal building at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Meetings are open to the public.

"The zoning board has a new dynamic," Calogero said. "It used to be (applications for) fences, swimming pools and signs. Although we still hear fence and shed applications, we recently have been hearing more complex applications including subdivisions, office complexes, banks and more."

Calogero said the zoning board is seeing more commercial applications from applicants who are requesting different types variances.

Members of the zoning board have the responsibility to listen to testimony that is presented on behalf of the applicant, as well testimony from residents who may be impacted by an application, and then decide whether to allow an applicant to build something that deviates from municipal ordinances (i.e., to place a commercial use in a residential zone; to approve the height of a building that exceeds what is permitted in a certain zone; or to allow a smaller buffer area than what is required between properties).

Calogero said, "We are hearing variance requests that are critical to the future commercial growth of Jackson, while preserving the residential integrity of the community."

He said the board members visit the sites were applicants are proposing various projects in order to be better informed and better prepared to make a decision when it is time to vote on an application.

"I am humbled by the vote of confidence my fellow zoning board members have demonstrated in unanimously voting for me as chairman," Calogero said. "I am dedicated to the position and look forward to serving the residents of Jackson as it relates to Zoning Board of Adjustment matters."