MINUTES
OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS HELD AT
THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, 215 SOUTH WORK STREET, FALCONER, NY 14733 ON JUNE
26, 2006 AT 7:30 PM.
PRESENT: Chairman
Steve Hoglin, Dave Remington, John Merchant, Angelo Cimo, Richard Keefer
Kathy Hedstrand, Attorney William Wright, Code Enforcement Officer Randy
Woodbury
and Secretary Valerie Pierce.
ABSENT: Patricia Martonis
Chairman
Hoglin opened the meeting at 8:00 PM and Secretary Pierce called the roll.
Motion made by
Ang Cimo, seconded by Kathy Hedstrand to approve the minutes of the May 22,
2006 meeting.
Carried. Ayes – 6 Noes – 0 Absent – 1
Attorney
Wright swore in all present that would be giving testimony at this public
hearing.
Chairman
Hoglin reopened the public hearing for RSA No. 3 Cellular Partnership d/b/a as
Verizon Wireless for a Special Use Permit renewal for a wireless facility
originally granted January 7, 1991.
Mr. Hoglin said this
permit is still current until July.
Randy Woodbury said he
received a letter from Robert Burgdorf, Nixon Peabody LLP, dated June 20,
2006. He has looked over the items
provided by Verizon Wireless that the ZBA had requested. They did provide Landlord Contact
Information but this was the first that Randy received. It is important he
contact them because the ultimate solution to the drainage is to acquire a
piece of property from the owner. Verizon Wireless has offered to pay for the
engineering within that parcel for a storm water detention basin. Randy said he thought this should remain on
the table until he can make contact with the landlord.
Attorney Wright said that
the commitment for the engineering was to expire with the renewal of the
permit. Mr. Hoglin said he thought the
commitment was until November. Attorney
Wright said he would like Verizon to make a commitment that supplying the
landlord information does not relieve them of their commitment for engineering
because the drainage issue is not resolved.
Mr. Wright said the Wind
Loading Requirements were addressed. The Renewal Bond will be increased to
$70,000 since the cost of removal has increased over the last 15 years. Mr. Burgdorf
also addressed the FAA Lighting, which will be turned off during the day.
Verizon does need to address the water issues because they are responsible for
the drainage. Randy will contact the
landlord as soon as possible. Attorney
Wright said that Nixon Peabody should let the landlord know the severity of the
drainage problems. Nixon Peabody may need to extent the time of commitment for
the engineering.
Chairman
Hoglin reopened the Public Hearing for Lynn and Gail Terry, 3018 West Oak Hill
Rd., Jamestown, NY for an area variance for a 1600 SF detached garage.
The Town did receive a
letter from the County Planning Board stating they determined this proposed
project did not have any significant countywide or inter-community impacts and
the project would be a matter of local concern.
Attorney Wright said they
had asked the Terrys’ to provide justification on the size of the garage.
Mr. Terry told the Board:
1) they
have downsized the garage to 30’ x 40’ and it looks more like an old barn
- the Amish
will construct the garage so they have
no blueprints for the building but did provide photos
of a similar garage
2) they
will have some storage on the second floor
3) they
will not have utilities to the garage this year but plan to have water and
electric in the future - he will run
the electric from the house
4) they
will not use the building for a business - just for personal storage
5) they
will not have any septic to the building – Randy told Mr. Terry he would not be
able to have septic since only one dwelling is allowed on a piece of property
6) since
he has reduced the size of the building his request for a variance is only 200
SF over the square footage allowed
7) he
explained the drainage
8) they
will be painting the garage to match the house - it would be made out of planks
9) the
location of the building will not change – from the south property line it will
be 71 feet and from the east property line it will be 41 feet
10) he
has a ditch in the back that is 150 feet and another that runs the total 228
feet along his property line – he has 300 feet plus foot of frontage – he will
put drainage on both sides of the garage to channel it to the ditches
11) the
building is 24 feet high
12) they
will eventually have a cement floor
13) Mr.
Terry will not store a dump truck to be used for anything but personal use in
the garage
Gene Aversa,
owner of the sub-division adjoining this property, reviewed the plans and
photos.
Attorney
Wright reviewed Section 146-7, which allows one attached or detached garage for
storage for up to three vehicles. It is allowed to be 1000 SF. No occupation or
business for profit can be carried on. The Board is looking for a single area
variance for the size of the garage to be 1200 SF instead of the allowed 1000
SF. He reviewed 267 B of Town Law,
which is the balancing test for an area variance with the five criteria to be
considered.
The Board must
grant the minimum variance they deem necessary. That
is why they asked Mr. Terry to come back with the minimum variance he thought
would accomplish his purpose. Mr.
Terry did reduce the size of his proposed garage.
A letter addressed to Mr.
Woodbury was placed on file (see “Site Plan Review – Lynn and Gail Terry) from Gene Aversa and Todd Patric, owners of “The Back Nine” Real Estate
Development on West Oak Hill Rd., Jamestown, NY, stating
their concerns about this project and requesting information.
Mr. Aversa said that
Moonbrook recently bought property adjacent to both their properties and are
creating a very large pond. With all of
the excavating they will be doing it will impact run-off. They had to pay an engineer when they did
their development to do a water run-off study.
They have a retention pond that was a requirement. Mr. Aversa’s concern is that he does not
know how much water is going to run off of Mr. Terry’s roof and if the ditch
that was made will catch the water and not deteriorate the road they put in. If
the ditch will accommodate the run off he has no problem with this garage. Mr.
Aversa told the Board they have put $200,000 into their development and just
wanted some assurance there will be no water runoff onto his road.
Mr. Terry said he will
have gutters on the garage and will have underground drains to his current
ditch, which leads to a public ditch. Mr. Aversa said Mr. Terry’s ditch is fine
but his concern is the excess run off from Moonbrook’s property. Moonbrook does not need to come to the Town
of Ellicott for their pond but they need a permit from NYS DEC and the County. Attorney Wright said Moonbrook couldn’t
create a water problem onto the neighbor’s property.
Steve Hoglin said that
because “by right” Mr. Terry can build a 1000 SF garage, this should not be an
issue. Mr. Terry said the water would
be running to the side ditch. Randy said that would be important because the
water in the back ditch would have to make a 90% angle and the sooner they can
get the water to the ditch on West Oak Hill Road the better.
If this area variance is
approved and a problem develops down the road, Mr. Wright said it would be a
“civil cause of action” on one party against the other.
Randy said there had been
just one ditch and Mr. Terry now has two, which is a much better
situation. Mr. Terry said during heavy
rains there is about 3 inches of water in the ditch. He said the ditch is 2
feet wide and 2 feet deep and is all rock so the water does not take the dirt
along with it. The distance from the southwest corner of the garage to Mr.
Aversa’s driveway is approximately 71 feet. Any water from Mr. Terry’s property
goes into his ditch and into the ditch on West Oak Hill Road. Mr. Terry has
planted a roll of pine trees and other trees to help with the water run
off.
Kathy Hedstrand said the
Board appreciates the change in size of the garage. She said the Board had
asked for dimensions of other garages in the neighborhood. Randy said he could not tell the size of
some of garages in the photos he had but thought some were in the 40’ x 40’
range. The Board recently approved a
1200 SF garage for Mr. Bowers on West Oak Hill Road. Randy reviewed the photos he took with the Board members.
Attorney
Wright stated this project is exempt from SEQR as a permanent structure less than 4000 SF.
Motion made by
Kathy Hedstrand, seconded by Rick Keefer to approve the area variance for Lynn
and Gail Terry, 3018 West Oak Hill Rd., Jamestown, NY for a 1200 SF detached
garage.
Chairman
Hoglin reopened the Public Hearing for Nicholas Ferreri, 14 Merlin Ave., W.E.,
Jamestown, NY for a setback variance to move the proposed building 10 feet to
the north and be 5 foot from the residential district line.
A letter was
placed on file (see file “ZBA – Nicholas Ferreri – Variance for Adult Daycare
Center”) from David Stapleton, P.E., Attorney for Mr. Ferreri, requesting they
withdraw this application from the agenda.
The Town Board’s rezoning of the back lot has made
this application unnecessary. Mr.
Stapleton said the revised site plan is still pending in the Planning Board.
Chairman
Hoglin opened the Public Hearing for Nicholas Ferreri, 560 Fairmount Ave.,
W.E., Jamestown, NY for a perpetual renewal of their Special Use Permit for
Memory Garden.
Attorney Wright told the Board
members the Town Board passed a local law, which gives them the power to extend
the renewal periods beyond two years after the first two-year approval.
Mr. Stapleton
requested this application be adjourned until next month’s meeting since NYS
may not have yet confirmed the filing of the local law passed by the Town
Board.
Motion made by
Rick Keefer, seconded by John Merchant to table the request for a perpetual
renewal of the Special Use Permit of Nicholas Ferreri for Memory Garden.
Carried. Ayes –6 Noes – 0 Absent – 1
Chairman
Hoglin opened a Public Hearing for Sara M. Bastion, 65 Houston Ave., W.E.,
Jamestown, NY for a variance to construct a second 24’ x 24’ garage with 0 foot
setback from the road boundary.
Mr. Hoglin read a letter
from Karyn Okerlund, Deputy Town Clerk, stating that on this date, Sara Bastion
came into the Clerk’s Office and requested that her application to the ZBA be
withdrawn.
Randy said before that
withdrawal the Town had received a letter from the County Planning with some
very good insight. He said that because
of the notification to the neighbors, the neighbors got together and talked to
the applicant and also filed a letter of opposition to this project with the
Town Clerk.
Randy gave the Board
members a copy of a letter he sent to Roger
Penhollow, Real Estate Advantage, concerning a property owned by the Amvets on
Fluvanna Avenue Ext., Jamestown, NY. They may wish to appeal
the Code Enforcement Officer’s determination that the truck storage operation
is excluded in a Shopping Center District.
Attorney Wright told the Board that the application had come before the
Planning Board as a Sketch Plan Conference.
Mr. Wright told them there were zoning issues because it is prohibited
in a Shopping Center District. They
have not yet applied for the determination.
Motion made by
John Merchant, seconded by Rick Keefer to adjourn the meeting at 8:52 PM.
Carried. Ayes – 6 Noes – 0 Absent – 1
______________________________________
Valerie
Pierce, Secretary