The Clay Planning Board spent part of its May 14 meeting debating trees versus a fence at Pack Rat Storage on Wetzel Road — but the more unsettled question that night was what's actually being kept on the property. The case, an amended site plan for the self-storage business at 4717 Wetzel Road, has been before the board for months over landscaping along the road. Tim Coyer, representing applicant Richard Parks, told the board the vinyl fence requested along the full property line isn't feasible given the site's layout. Chairman Russ Mitchell repeated his preference for trees that would mature and improve the look of the road over time, and Mr. Palumbo sketched out a possible compromise: a double row of white spruce roughly 12 feet apart with deciduous trees and smaller shrubs mixed in to break up the line and soften the area near the fence. Mitchell then polled the board member by member. Six — Henty, Borton, Graves, Palumbo, McMahon and Mitchell himself — said trees. One, Karen Guinup, held out for the fence, saying she has not changed her opinion that the black mesh option is "abominable" and that she has no confidence it would be maintained. The more substantive issue surfaced when Chairman Mitchell opened the floor to the public. Resident Janet Rathburn asked what is actually stored at the site. Coyer answered RVs and boats. Rathburn said that's not what she's seen — she described pallets, construction trailers and a backhoe on the property. Coyer said he would provide the board a list of what's stored there. Interim Commissioner of Planning & Development Dave Tessier noted that the site's I1 zoning is for indoor storage, and that outdoor storage would require a special permit from the town board — a requirement the discussion did not resolve. The board also noted that any trees exceeding the height of an already-variance-approved fence would themselves need a variance. The case was adjourned to July 23, 7-0, with the storage question still open. Elsewhere, the board finished one of the few items that reached a final decision all night: the Sears Property subdivision at 9417 Horseshoe Island Road, where the board adopted a SEQR negative declaration and granted final plat approval, both 7-0, conditioned on the access easement being recorded before any building permit is issued. A public hearing on Goguen Drive Realty's proposal to store six empty fuel tanks — each tagged "DO NOT FILL" — at 7835 Goguen Drive drew the meeting's sharpest words. Mr. Henty said the property's history shows the applicant "cannot be trusted and truthful" and that he does not trust the site. Mr. Graves and Mr. Palumbo separately flagged that a proposed 1000-gallon refueling station could interfere with trucks entering the site. The case was adjourned to May 28, still needing a site sketch showing where tanks, equipment and materials are kept. At Charge Smart EV's project on Carling Road, Ms. Borton said the submitted site plan had been altered and read into the record the state requirement that an altered engineering document carry a corrected seal and the notation "altered by" and the responsible engineer's signature; the applicant's representative agreed to fix it. And Chairman Mitchell said the developer behind Inverness Gardens on West Taft Road is seeking other financing; the board voted to notify the applicant the case will be denied without prejudice if there's no response by the next meeting. The board also approved three routine sign permits and adjourned roughly a dozen other cases — including long-pending projects like Henry Clay Warehouse, Emerald Lawn Care and Amerco Real Estate — without discussion, pushing them to dates between May 28 and July 23. Pack Rat Storage's landscaping is settled for now; what's actually stored behind that fence line is not.