CLIFTON PARK — The longtime Planning Board chair who quit in 2022 after a heated argument with Supervisor Phil Barrett has been reinstated to his leadership role. And with Rocco Ferraro’s return comes a restoration of public comment that was previously limited by his successor.
“We are going back to the public comment process we had in place before my resignation,” said Ferraro, who was reinstated on Jan. 6 by Democrats on the Town Board. “People can speak about their concerns for every project.”
Ferraro served 11 years as Planning Board chair. He left abruptly after a dispute with Barrett, a Republican, over a proposed drive-thru at Chick-fil-A, a structure not permitted without a special-use permit. At the time, Ferraro said that Chick-fil-A did not “adequately evaluate” alternatives.Barrett did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. But in 2022, he said things got heated when he approached Ferraro to discuss the length of the Planning Board meetings, which he said were running too long…