The Town of Clay Zoning Board of Appeals spent the better part of two hours on July 14, 2025 wrestling with a question it never actually answered: whether gasoline pumps belong inside a shopping center in the town's HC-1 Highway Commercial zone. When the debate ended, Chairperson Vivian Mason closed the hearing without a vote, leaving the matter, and a long-planned commercial project, in limbo. The request came from an unusual source — the town's own Planning Board. Chairman Russ Mitchell told the ZBA that the Planning Board did not believe the Clay zoning code's definition of "shopping center" gave applicants the right to add gas service stations in HC-1 zones, and asked the board to interpret the code section governing allowed uses there. The Planning Board had reached that conclusion, Mitchell said, while reviewing a proposed shopping center with drive-thrus for Dunkin' Donuts and an NBT Bank branch, plans that also showed a fueling canopy and gas pumps. Attorney Sarah Campbell of Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP, appearing for Mirabito, pushed back on two fronts. First, she argued the appeal was untimely: the town's Planning and Development Commissioner had already determined in June 2024 that gas pumps were a permitted part of a shopping center in HC-1, and state law gives only 60 days to challenge such a determination. Campbell walked the board through a procedural timeline stretching back to a June 2024 Town Board work session, through special permit applications that referenced a "gas fueling island," a January 2025 Planning Board presentation that mentioned gas pumps by her count at least five times, and a May 2025 site-plan hearing at which the Planning Board first said it needed the ZBA's interpretation. Second, she argued that even on the merits, a plain reading of the code permits gas pumps in a shopping center as of right. Mitchell countered that a definition cannot override a zoning code, and that the code's list of 28 permitted uses in the HC-1 district does not include gas service stations. Board member Ryan Frantzis noted that the definition exists to clarify the code, not expand it. Code Enforcement Commissioner Joseph Grispino told the board the code's use of the word "shall" led him to believe gas stations are not among the allowed HC-1 uses, and said a gas station has never been permitted on that parcel under its current zoning; he added that Regional Commercial (RC-1) zoning, unlike HC-1, allows a shopping center with a gas station under a special permit. Resident Jeff Isabell asked why the code would list other example businesses but omit gas stations if they were meant to be included. With no further discussion, Mason closed the hearing. The minutes record no interpretation, vote, or decision on Case #1979. The board's other business moved with far less friction. It unanimously approved an area variance for Pinecrest Apartments at 7300 Cedar Post Road, letting Rotem Evron's property manager, Melissa Waters, convert existing office and storage space into four apartments, bringing the complex from 382 to 390 units. Resident Tammy Isabell recalled a similar request from a prior owner around 2012 and raised concerns about an unmaintained tree line; Waters said the property is working on cleaning up the greenery, and the variance passed 3-0. The board also unanimously approved area variances letting Marc Lebiedzinski subdivide his Morgan Road property into two parcels, after his representative, Tim Coyer, explained the reductions were needed only because of the Highway Overlay Zone and a since-corrected Town Board rezoning misstep. The one case where neighbors' objections carried weight was Nicholas Grevelding's request to build a 30-by-50-foot garage on Riverside Road. Neighbor Kathy Brown objected to the requested side-yard setback reduction, citing stormwater drainage, loss of her river view and light, and privacy. A motion to approve Grevelding's front-yard setback reduction while denying the side-yard reduction drew a 2-1 roll call, with Porter and Mason in favor and Frantzis opposed, but was recorded as failed. A second motion to approve both setback reductions as requested was not seconded and also failed, leaving Grevelding with no variance granted in either direction. Grispino had noted the lot left roughly 125 feet of "wiggle room" and suggested the applicant try to comply with the code where possible. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.