May 13, 1997

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT ZONING

BOARD OF APPEALS HELD AT THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, 215 SOUTH WORK STREET, FALC= ONER, NY 14733 ON JANUARY 25, 2010 AT 7:00 PM.

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PRESENT:= Chairman Steve Hoglin, John Merchant, Kathy Hedstrand, Angelo Cimo, Attorney

= William Wright, Code Enforcement Officer Randy Woodbury and Secretary Valerie

= Pierce

ABSENT: <= /span> Al Hendrickson, Phil P= ratt and Jean Holton

Chairman Hoglin opened= the meeting at 7:00 PM and led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ang Cimo = was welcomed back to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Motion m= ade by John Merchant, seconded by St= eve Hoglin to approve the minutes of the October 26, 2009 meeting. <= /span>

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Carried.= = Ayes – 4 = &nb= sp; Noes – 0 = = Absent – 3

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Those intending to give testimony at tonight’s meeting were sworn in by Attorney Wright.

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Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Robert Sischo for a side yard variance= to construct an addition to his home at 2185 Camp Street Ext., Jamestown, NY pursuant to Section 146-16 (A) of the Town of Ellicott Zoning and Planning Code.

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Mr. Sischo addressed the Board.

he wants to construct a two story addition that will be 20R= 17; X 24’. =
the required side yard set back is 15 feet – with the 20’ addition he will be only 5.9’ from the property line &= #8211; the current distance from the existing house is 25.9 feet
there be no attic space – it will be just floor and livi= ng space – it will come level with the other peek of the house=
the Sischos provided photos of the existing house and showed t= he Board where the addition will come off the house - the approximate hei= ght of the peek will be 20 feet
they have not decided if they will have a basement =
they want to keep the cost under $20,000
Kathy had concerns about fire access and asked about how far is was from any existing row of trees – there is brush within the 5= .9 foot setback and Mr. Sischo stated they would be able to get through t= here – he mows unto some of National Grid’s property
they did reduce the size of the addition from when they first brought it in for Randy’s approval – they originally wanted the addition to be 24 feet - they want to have it at least 20 feet in order to have two bedrooms upstairs and will have a living room down stairs
John asked if there would be any development on the National Grid property - some of the property is own= ed by National Grid and some of it is part of an easement<= /li>
there was no response to the notice sent to National Grid=
Attorney Wright explained that when the Board grants variances they try to make sure that the applicant does not get into a situation= of having to access the neighbors property – the rule that the Board has established is 1 foot of distance for every four feet of height pl= us two feet to access the ladder which in this case should be 7 feet and = they will have 5.9 feet
Mr. Sischo has not approached National Grid – he just fo= und out that the Blashaws lease that property to National Grid =
Mrs. Sischo told the Board that here are no power lines within= 10 feet of the property line

Kathy had a concern with the fact that National = Grid did not respond. Attorney Wri= ght stated the Town has not legal obligation to get a response – National Grid was properly notified as an adjacent owner

Attorney Wright stated that if the Board wants t= o be consistent with the rule that provides maintenance access the Sischos have three options:

they could get a maintenance agreement from National Grid
they could consider a smaller addition
or the Board does not have to apply the rule that provides for maintenance in this case

Randy said that if a problem would arise, Nation= al Grid would prevail on maintaining their rights – just because they ha= ve been silent concerning the property for a long time does not mean anything – they should make sure they do not raise any issues by using National Grid’s property and understand they do not own the property - Ang ask= ed if they will be on National Grid’s property during construction ̵= 1; Mr. Sischo said he did not think that would be a problem =

Attorney Wright reviewed section 146-16 of the T= own of Ellicott code (the bulk regulations for agriculture and residential areas that requires that any building line be set back at least 15 feet from the = side or rear property line) and 267 B of the Town Law (the balancing test that weights the benefit to the applicant against the detriment to health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood – there are five criteria<= /span>

There was no correspondence on this application = or neighbors present.

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Motion m= ade by Kathy Hedstrand, seconded by John Merchant to approve the area variance from the required 15 feet to 5.9 feet for the residence at 2185 Camp St Ext. own= ed by Robert Sischo.

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Attorney Wright stated that this application is exempt from SEQR.<= /b>

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Carried.=         =             &nb= sp;    Ayes – 4   &nb= sp;            =       Noes – 0        =              Absent – 3

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Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Zion Covenant Church for the renewal of their Special Use Permit for normal Church activities at= 520 Fairmount Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY pursuant to section 146-15 of the Town of Ellicott Zoni= ng and Planning code.

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Mr. Bruce Johnson, representing Zion Covenant Church, requested a renewal of their Special Use Permit. The Church has acquir= ed a vacant lot from the Goodell Home, which is approximately 81.6 feet by 400 f= eet. They would like to include th= at property in the Special Use Permit. He also requested that the renewal be approved for 5 to 10 years. The only activities they have outside are Church picnics and the play area for = the Day Care.

Randy explained the Church understands that this renewal is on a routine basis and that if they are to ever want to expand or use the acquired property they would come back in to the Board and modify t= he

Special Use Permit. They would also have to come back = to the Planning Board. He thanked Mr. Johnson for coming in for the renewal.<= /o:p>

There was no correspondence from the neighbors or neighbors present at the meeting.

The Board agreed that this permit should be renew= ed for five years.

Motion m= ade by John Merchant, seconded by Ang Cimo to approve the renewal of the Special U= se Permit for the Zion Covenant Church, 520 Fairmount Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY and to extend the permit to five years.

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The Town received a letter from the Chautauqua County Planning Board that stated this application was of local concern and= has no significant county-wide or inter-community impacts.

Carried.=            =      Ayes – 4        =             &nb= sp;            = Noes – 0        =              Absent – 3

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Chairman= Hoglin opened the public hearing for Constance Flowers, 220 Wembley Drive., Jamestown, NY for a variance to construct a se= cond detached garage pursuant to section 146-7 (A) of the Town of Ellicott Zoning and Planning code.

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Tom Flow= ers, representing Constance Flowers, addressed the Board

stated that she owns four tax parcels with a total of 3.6 acres of land           &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

he provided a survey for the Board

stated the existing garage is a two car garage - approximately 20’ by 25’ <= /o:p>

they plan to add a detached one car garage with a 10’ x 10’ garage door and a door that will be 6’ by 6’ for= a garden tractor - the new = garage will be approximately 25’ x 25’

there is no problem with water run off

Mr. Flowers talked to Rex McCray, the only neighbor that can s= ee the addition – he d= id not have any problem with the new garage

they feel this addition will be an improvement not a detriment= to the neighborhood

with the existing garage and the new garage they will have room for three motor vehicles=

he has no problem with the set backs

the property is completely surrounded by trees

Attorney Wright reviewed 146-7 (permitted uses i= n a residential districts) of the Town of Ellicott Zoning and Planning code and 267 B of the Town Law. In the permitted uses it allows an attached or a detached garage for the private storage of up to th= ree vehicles. Additionally it can= not exceed 1000 SF. The Board has often used the 1000 SF as a touch stone if it= did grant an area variance for a second garage as long as the combination of the square footage of both of the garages was less than the 1000SF. The variance the Board is looking at is a variance for a second garage. Section 267 B of= the Town Law is the balancing test with the five criteria, which the Board has reviewed. <= /p>

There were no neighbors present and the Town received no correspondence on this application.

Attorney Wright stated this application was exem= pt from SEQR.

Motion m= ade by Ang Cimo, seconded by John Merchant to approve the application of Constance Flowers, 220 Wembley Drive, Jamestown, NY for a second detached garage for a total of 1000 SF for the existing and new garage.

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Carried.=         =             &nb= sp;      Ayes – 4   &nb= sp;                 =    Noes – 0        =             &nb= sp;     Absent – 3

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Mr. Flowers asked for a clarification because he stated that a part of the existing garage is about 6 feet up so you could n= ot park a vehicle there. Attorney Wright stated that does constitute garage sp= ace because garages are for the storage of other things as well. He suggested that Mr. Flowers meas= ure the existing garage accurately and if it does present an issue he should co= me back in to the Board. Randy suggested that Mr. Flowers get the plans for the new garage and then measure the existing.

Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Gerry Homes for the renewal of their Special Use Permit for apartments, multiple dwellings and group housing on property on the southeast corner of Southwestern Drive pursuant to section = 146-9 of the Town of Ellicott Zoning and Planning code.

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Mr. Dave Smeltzer, representing the Gerry Homes, Inc., addressed the Board.

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Attorney Wright asked if they were requesting a renewal for exactly what was approved two years ago. Mr. Smeltzer stated they were aski= ng for a renewal on exactly what was approved instead of what they had originally asked for. That was why the application was different. The only additional information he could offer was that they were the recipient of a $5 million grant from HEAL NY (Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers). This was to help re= duce the number of skilled nursing beds in their system by 20 and to add three of the six units they had received approval for, 12 resident small house assis= ted living homes with an ALP designation (they can care for someone that needs a little more care than someone in assisted living but not as much as a skill= ed nursing facility). The benefi= t to the tax payers is about a $750,000 savings a year to the Medicare system. Everything else is the same; they are requesting a renewal of the duplex si= ngle family homes and the small house care facilities. They are also planning on plans to= build three of the small house care facilities and also some of the duplex and si= ngle family homes as well. They ar= e able to do those because of the grant to do the infer-structure to get the proje= ct started.

They are working on a Site Plan but have been he= ld up because of the snow. They = have had a preliminary wetlands study done and there were three or four small ar= eas of wetlands presented on the property.&nbs= p;

Kathy asked what was actually approved since they are requesting the Special Use Permit for the exact same things. Mr. Smeltzer told the Board that t= he only ones approved were the small-house facilities, the single and duplex homes. They left the other facilities on the plan in hopes of coming back in to ask for those.

Attorney Wright stated that this is a renewal and there will be no additional activity so it is not subject to SEQR.=

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The neighbors that were present did not want to = put anything on the record. They = just had a couple of questions for Mr. Smeltzer. Mr. Smeltzer said he would go on record to say he was asked “What they would do with the two spots that connect to Hunt Road?” He said their intention is to do nothing more than to run utilities in those areas.

There was no correspondence from other neighbors= on this application.

Phil Pra= tt entered the meeting at 8:15 PM.

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The Town received a letter from the Chautauqua County Planning Board that stated this application was of local interest and would not have any significant county-wide or inter-community impacts.=

Randy said that to be clear, Mr. Smeltzer was as= king for renewals on exactly what was granted on March 31, 2008.

Motion m= ade by John Merchant, seconded by Ang Cimo to approve the renewal for Special Use Permit for the Gerry Homes at 2000 Southwestern Drive, W.E., Jamestown, NY 14701 from January 2010 to January 2012.

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Carried.=         =             &nb= sp;   Ayes – 4        =              Noes – 1 (Hedstrand)        =    Absent – 2

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Motion m= ade by Phil Pratt, seconded by Kathy Hedstrand to adjourn the meeting at 8:18 PM.<= o:p>

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Carried.=         =             &nb= sp;   Ayes – 4   &nb= sp;            =      Noes – 0    &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp; Absent – 2

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&sh= y;__________________= __________        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;

Valerie Pierce, Secretary

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