.Village of
The meeting of the
Public
Comment
Brown moved to close the Public Comment portion
of the meeting as there was no one present who wished to speak. Seconded by Dankert.. All in favor.
Public
Hearing to Consider:
Special Permit #1521. Tony and Kim Hensel to construct a 750 sf
addition to their home at 82 Burdick Hill Road in the Low Density Residential
District, Tax Parcel Number 42.1-1-50.22.
A special permit is required pursuant to Section 202.12 of the
Halevy opened the Public Hearing. As no one wished to speak, Brown moved to close the Public Hearing. Seconded by Dankert. All in favor.
John Manuel, representing the contractor, was
present. Cross reviewed his visit to the
site today. He observed that in the
drawing of the lot the detail of the stream doesn't appear to be very accurate
or precise. There's no dimensioning as
far as drainage issues. The stream
actually meanders fairly significantly to the southwest corner of the lot. There are a few significant trees that are
part of some wild overgrowth in that same part of the lot that don't show up on
the drawing. It isn't a problem as long
as the excavated soil that comes out of the foundation area doesn't spill over
into it. He commented that the silt
fence that's shown on the drawing goes through the area that is already brush
and trees and that the silt fence would be more appropriately noted as located
along the downhill edge of the excavated material. Cross spoke to the contractor and the
contractor is aware of the problems.
There is an indication of a four inch footer drain but he wouldn't
expect a significant discharge out of the footer drains and it wouldn't have a
significant impact on the stream course.
Finally, it's not noted in the drawing but it should be pointed out to the
contractor that they would have to maintain the erosion controls throughout the
course of the construction. Cross said that it sounded like something the
Planning Board should know but he was
uncertain how precise the drawing must be.
Halevy asked the Village Attorney Marcus for any comments. Marcus replied that the survey map is incomplete. Curtis stated that the drawing was not remarkably dissimilar to the tax map which also shows the stream. Halevy asked if an overlay would help to give a better sense of the stream course. Curtis replied that he didn't have a particular concern about it other than it was just noticeably different than the drawing. He doesn't have a survey on file from '91 when the building was built. Now he requires a survey for all new buildings.
Cross said the center line of the stream could
be as much as 25-30' different than what it is on the drawing. Curtis agreed, he shows it going up and
actually the map shows it's flattening out more than the tax map. Tax maps are
not notoriously accurate. Cross
said he was just pointing it out as an observation. It wasn't significant to him. He didn't see that it has any impact on the
erosion or the storm water management plan for the property.
Curtis noted that they have a survey map from
when the property was purchased at the Village office. The situation is unusual because part of that
parcel is in the Town and part is in the Village. The map shows 276' in the Village. Curtis will print a copy and make that part
of this record. The map has been stamped
by a licensed surveyor. If there are
further questions down the road, the record will be accurate. Manuel asked if
Curtis planned to tell the owners to have it resurveyed. Curtis said no, the one Manuel provided is a
current survey for what the Village needs.
Discussion turned to whether this was an exempt
action under 617.5( c ) of SEQRA . Marcus suggested that this is an exemption
under 617.5-C-9 and the Board classified this as an exempt action. Halevy moved on to General Conditions
required for all special permits under
304.05 of the Zoning Law. A. It will not be detrimental or endanger the
public health safety or general welfare.
B. It will not be injuriously
used or affect the enjoyment of other property in the vicinity or
neighborhood. C. It will not impede orderly development in the
vicinity and is appropriate in appearance with the existing property in the
vicinity. D. The street system and off -street parking
facilities can handle the expected traffic in a safe and efficient manner. Curtis saw no problems with the construction
vehicles. Generally he puts a condition
in a special building permit about keeping the roads clean but doesn't
anticipate a problem in this case.
E. The natural surface waterway,
drainage way, will not be adversely affected. F. Water and sewer facilities are adequate. G. The
general environmental quality of the proposal in terms of site planning, architectural
design and landscaping are compatible with the character of the neighborhood.
H. Access parking and facilities are
sufficient for the proposed use. I. The requested
use of facilities conforms in all other respects with the regulations. J. Steps will be taken when necessary to meet
all performance standards and all other applicable general regulations. Brown moved to accept the action as meeting
the General Conditions. Seconded by
Dankert. All in favor.
Halevy said that now the Board had to consider
the Special Permit. Curtis noted that
approval would have to be conditioned on a 239 determination that there would
be no detrimental impact. Curtis said he
will stipulate on the building permit at the end of construction and they'll
provide us with a stamped survey. So
that will be part of the record. Halevy sought a motion to accept the special
permit. Moved by Dankert and seconded by
Brown. All in favor.
Tops
Lighting Plan:
Halevy had distributed a package containing background information. The Lighting Commissioners met on March 8th
and approved the Tops Lighting Plan. The
Superintendent of Public Works will monitor the construction site to make sure
the actual lighting conforms with the approved plans. In reviewing the plans the Planning Board
identified areas of concern that should be referred back to the Lighting
Commission before final approval of the plans. Further details are needed on
the lighting of the backside of the buildings.
The pole lights are included but there should be clarification about the
lightning on the building itself. The
pole lights are in a shoe box that points down but the wall lighting tends to
go horizontally. It was not clear that
the lighting plans address the needs of the delivery trucks that arrive in the
back early in the morning or when it's dark., or the delivery spot behind the restaurant and
the smaller outparcel building. The
Commission would like any additional plans there might be that pertain to these
issues This matter should be referred back to the Lighting Commission for
further information.
Dankert said he didn't want to slow the process
down and was assured that it wouldn't be a problem as the ground had not even
been totally cleared yet. Halevy stated
that Reinhart will go back and check everything out after the project has been
completed. Not only will he check the
intensity of the light, he's also going to check the location of the
light. If he feels that some lights are shining into
the eyes of drivers, then he will require they be changed. Halevy thought that the Planning Board should
work with the Lighting Commission to establish some kind of procedure that
identifies such concerns. For example, it's the Commission’s job to tell the
developer there's too much light and that it will have to be reduced. Reinhart
is talking about a sheet of paper that would
explain exactly what we needed. Halevy recommended that these issues
should be tabled for the time being.
<
Commercial
Low Traffic Study Update
Halevy reported that the comments on the updated
study were sent to Majestic but she never saw them, so Ben faxed another
copy. As of now, the Planning Board has
not gotten any response. Halevy
distributed a timeline from EDR, but suggested that the Board not discuss it
until Ned returns which will be the first meeting in April. Curtis sent Hickey the materials and he's
aware of everything. It is Hickey's
decision whether to schedule a meeting with EDR at a regular or a special meeting of the Planning
Board. He will set up a schedule based
on the availability of Board members and
include Fresinski to talk about the North Triphammer Development. Apparently
EDR is still not too clear about what the Board wants. The Board waiting for Majestic to respond to their comments and,
once the Board and EDR agree, EDR will credit the Village for wasted time. A letter dated March 2, 2000 was sent by Klepack
about two weeks ago. There's little
doubt that they have it now. So
hopefully by the last meeting of the
month they will provide a response.
APA
Conference
Halevy asked if anybody is interested in the APA
Conference scheduled for April 15th to 19th in New York City. Normally money is set aside for Planning
Board members to attend. Halevy reminded
the Board that in the past they had attended several Planning Federation conferences,
but have not been in three or four years.
He felt the Planning Federation programs did not change significantly
from year to year. Curtis stated that
information about the APAConference would be available in the Village Office.
Year
2000 Work Plan
Purchasing a clean fill site for for the Village
is still outstanding.. Clean fill can
include rubble, waste, asphalt and even old pipes. Dennis said he had heard
that Cayuga Heights was also in the same dilemma and had been using property
outside their Village. The Village has
not spent any time investigating this but it is something that could be
useful. Halevy said it should be brought
to attention of the
Apparently the City of Ithaca is also faced with
the same problem. They discovered that
this is complicated because the decision to use sites elsewhere in the County
could be viewed as encroaching on other Towns by the residents of those Towns
where the fill is being sent.
Curtis said that much of the land along the west
side of North Triphammer Road had been
built ip with fill. It was agreed that
the issue of landfill areas had not been explored sufficiently. For a variety
of purposes an inventory of vacant spaces in the Village of Lansing should be
developed. It could also be useful to
identify vacant land nearby which could
be purchased in the Town of Lansing.
Halevy introduced the topic of the property west
of the Pyramid Mall that abuts the Shannon Park property. It is near the town houses. There is a stream that goes through it and
some beautiful trees. Parts of it are
wetland. This property should be left as
it is, woods and open space. Clearly, it
should not be used as a parking lot or an area for the congregation of
teenagers. Initial discussions with
Scott Sutcliffe at the Ornithology Lab would indicate that it may be a
good site for a bird sanctuary. The
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is an excellent resource for determining if
and where good sites for bird sanctuaries exist in the Village. Several years ago the Village developed a
plan whereby it could buy the property which is currently part of Shannon Park
Planned Development Area. It could then
sell it to the Shannon Park Home Owners Association using a bond that would be
retired over some number of years through an assessment on their tax bills as a
special benefit district. In so doing, they would pay off the loan and their
payments would be tax deductible, and Homeowners Association would wind up
owning the land when the bond was retired. At the time the residents could not
agree to go forward with the plan.
Halevy
had a conversation with Scott Sutcliffe.
He thought it might make a good bird sanctuary. He said he could work with the Village to
develop a list of other undeveloped properties that would be suitable for this
purpose.
There was some concern that if the Village owns
it, there will be no way to preventing it's use as a hangout for teenagers from
the mall or to prevent people from going in after dark.. People will want to walk through it to enjoy
the birds, but in doing so may hamper its usefulness as a bird sanctuary. The Village could create a set of rules that
would be consistent with a bird sanctuary and discourage people going in after
dark. There are a number of the approaches for purchasing such property. Randy
could be asked if he still has his notes on that earlier deal. It might be worth digging them out and seeing
exactly how that was structured because that might be appropriate there and in
other places. Halevy will talk further
with Scott Sutcliffe.
Approval
of Minutes
There are two places where the name Mengel were
misspelled as Mingle. No other
corrections were noted. Dankert moved that the Minutes of February 14th should be accepted as amended.
Seconded by Brown. All in favor.
Other
Business
Halevy asked if anything happening with
Pyramid. And Curtis replied that he had
received nothing new.
Sutton is considering going through the BZA for
a variance and is reviewing the matter with his attorney. It's uncertain how they will proceed. Sutton
indicated that he'd like the record of the meetings, letters and so forth and
he and his attorney, Peter Walsh, will work things out. Sutton will continue
his in-house business pending resolution of the problem. Halevy asked if
the people who live in that neighborhood
have come back and complained about the traffic. Curtis replied that he had had no comments
from the neighbors.
Halevy reported he had been told that they're
ready to start working on the Marriott.
In the next week or two they will start laying out footings.
Halevy said that nothing has happened with
McDonalds. The sign "For Rent" or "Available" or something
is still there. Last week they had submitted a drainage plan that Cross had
reviewed and gave them a list of issues. With regard to sewer units where Cayuga
Heights is involved, Curtis understood
that the issue has been pretty much worked out.
With regard to the new McDonalds parcel, an
issue arose coincidentally in a discussion with Andy Sciarabba that, regardless
who owns or leases the land, apparently Sciarabba has, for the record, a right
of way across the property. Apparently it is undefined right of way across
Butler's property for access and gress to Triphammer Road. It was probably put in the title at the time
Andy bought his property from Butler originally.
Curtis reported that there was no activity at
the YMCA He got the impression they had
to finish fund raising. With regard to
a drainage plan, Curtis thought that Bob Tallman was at the meeting where
the Planning Board talked about drainage
and Curtis said he thought Tallman talked about there being something planned
in the back. He expects that as they
get closer to completion they will address the issue.
Halevy reported that there was a drainage
problem at the Village Office building.
The footer drains for the addition did
not appear to be working. Dennis dug it up and Halevy photographed it; the perimeter drain
was all smashed and crushed. For the
record, he took photographs when they were repairing it. However, they worked so quickly that he
didn't have an opportunity to takes shots of the completed project.
Halevy asked for any other business. Marcus mentioned that he did finish the
editorial work on the codification of the Village Laws and Regulations. So at some point over the next couple months
the revised code will be adopted.
Conversation turned to the Village's role in
protecting property through
purchase. It is well established that
the Village can acquire property for recreational purposes. Properties that should not be further
developed could be designated as recreational space, undisturbed open space,
and protected in that way. Marcus
explained that the reason the law exists is so that if property owner develops a
property or subdivides property they theoretically create a greater need for
recreation and so the Village can actually take
property for that purpose. The
rationale for it is not so much to promote acquisition of open space but the
designation of what's considered recreation space. This has been discussed at the Trustee's level when the Greenway Plan was
adopted about five years ago. The
Village has basically said one manner of recreation is to have untouched open
spaces available even if you can't use it for anything active. Marcus said if
the Village has an interest in acquiring development rights there are Federal
funds available but it is a complicated formula.
One specific area of concern was on the Cayuga
Hills property. A section of the Greemway goes from the end of Cayuga Hills Road on down to East Shore
Drive. They had walked through the
property when Park was doing the tree project.
There was a trail on the survey map but it wasn't marked on the property. The Village has talked about putting up signs
but the trail is not easy nor very safe to walk. And then there was a conversation about how
can this be improved to be a usable trail.
Ironically, about twenty feet down the way is a path that everybody
walks on. But that doesn't happen to
coincide with the easement and is on private property. The Village’s trail would really have to be
improved to be usable. Mr. Park was
supposed to clean any tree cutting debris off but Curtis has not checked to be
sure if he has or not. Ned was going to
talk to Dennis about how it could be improved.
You almost need a rope rail or something going up the area that is actually the easement.
The discussion became generalized about
identifying the appropriate properties and the role of the Village Trustees in
negotiating. The Planning Board makes
recommendations but they must be supported by the Trustees. Identification of particular properties that
would be good for the Village to acquire must be done cautiously and quietly.
You can go and check the assessment list and see what's available in the
Village, who owns it, whether it's even land that the Village would want.
Discussion turned to the new County Unique
Natural Areas list. Leopold explained it is difficult deciding what kind of
information belongs out in the public because it is sensitive information. When you are talking about people's property,
their reaction may be how do you know
there are natural areas on my land. It's
my business. People are very sensitive
about private property issues. Curtis reported that the issue has come up with
the Suttons 239 review from the County.
It cited that the back of this property was included in a Unique Natural
Area. When he checked with the County
they informed him of the changes in the Unique Natural Areas inventory and sent him that section of the map.
The County EMC is getting a copy to the Finger
Lakes Land Trust which is the most logical place to have a copy of the report
because their whole purpose in life is to protect such areas. But again, they have to be very careful, the EMC
is going to be releasing copies to a very few chosen folks, such as the
municipal offices, along with memorandum of understanding of how it should be
used and how it should not be used. In
other words, the municipality can not let it out of the office or let people
Xerox the entire book; they can copy particular pages.
Curtis noted that the Freedom of Information Law
may require a municipality to release all such information to the public on
request. The Village gets these sorts of
requests and knows how to handle them pretty well. Leopold said people want to
know, and County and local government
wants them to know. That's the
whole purpose of the Unique Natural Areas list
They want people to know in advance that this is a sensitive area next
to or on the land they are considering developing.
Brown asked how they gather the information.
Leopold replied they use a variety of means.
Historical records. The whole
thing started from a Masters Thesis by Craig Tufts, on the staff in the
'70s. He inventoried natural area in
Tompkins County based on historical records and anecdotal information. And from that, the first Unique Natural Areas
inventory was started and it was revised in 1990. But a lot of information was gathered on the
ground. The EMC hired experts in rare
plants to do surveys because they were finding it hard to do an adequate job in
areas such as Caroline and forests and unusual areas.
Halevy spoke with Scott Sutcliffe, stating that
we would like somebody from the Ornithology Lab to come and check out forested
areas for suitability as bird sanctuaries.
He said we don't have to do that because there are aerial maps. These photos are very useful because a lot of
times they can't go on private land and they use aerial maps instead. He added that he couldn't understand why
anybody, any land owner wouldn't take advantage of the aerial photos. In
developing the list of Unique Natural Areas, they also use check lists of animals, insects, things that are or have
been known to be in a particular area or that would likely to be there. There is
a lot of information on plants and a little on mammals. There is a bird check list of the birds
sighted in this area. Some migrate, some
don't. So it's very hard to put a list
together for all rare and endangered species.
Curtis believes that some of these sensitivities
might be somewhat similar to issues facing the Cayuga Trails Club which tries
to get landowners to give just a narrow strip of their lands for trails. Some of the dairy farmers and others don't
want this. Even though most try to be careful there's always going to be the
possibility that people might leave trash, damage fencing or trample sensitive
plants.
Halevy said that two or three years ago the
Smithsonian Magazine had a big article about plant rustlers and Brown said
there is one just in the latest Audubon.
People were rustling ginseng.
Leopold said that's exactly why
the Plantation is extremely careful about letting information out and
why we should also be cautious. And
then there is the whole private property
rights issue. People don't want anybody
telling them what they can do with their land.
If you identify a site on someone’s
land that is rare and needs to be protected, they are concerned that the
government will then tell them what they can do and can not do on their land.
Curtis said key areas of concern in the
Village’s Zoning Law are the impact of drainage and storm water runoff and the
rights of people down the hill or down the stream.
Leopold thought the wetlands are regulated by regulated by DEC but that doesn't mean they
are protected. She does not expect to
encounter a lot of negative reaction but the EMC does have to be
pro-active. The EMC will do training at
each Planning Board to show people what's new about the Unique Natural Areas
document. They have extra copies down at
County Planning which will be available at cost; they don't know what the cost
will be.
Halevy asked for a motion to adjourn. Dankert moved to adjourn at 10:00PM, second by Brown. All in favor.