Village of Lansing

 

MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, December 2, 2002, in the Village Office.

 

PRESENT: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Janet Beebe, Larry Fresinski, Lynn Leopold and Frank Moore; Ned Hickey Planning Board Chair, Bill Troy, Village Attorney.

 

Mayor Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:39P.M. He opened the public comment period. Tob DeBoer from the community party was present. The Community Party has organized residents to attend the Board of Trustee meetings and report on them. Mayor Hartill stated that we like to have the public attend our meetings. Frank added that many of the people who come to observe a meeting do not understand what is happening or what the issues are since they only come once. Frank informed Tob that the board is very open to interruptions if one does not understand what is being discussed. Tob understood that the minutes for the meetings are posted on the web and asked the Board if there was a way to get the draft minutes on the web. The Board feels, for legal reasons, the minutes should not go on the webpage until they are approved. Bill Troy stated that since he has been attending the board meetings the board has been very faithful to the published agenda.

 

Motion-To Close the Public Comment Period

 

Trustee Fresinski moved to close the public comment period. Trustee Beebe seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                   Trustee Frank Moore- Aye                                                       Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye                      Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

Motion-To Open The Public Hearing for Proposed Local Law to Amend the Zoning Law to Delete One Provision of the Uses Allowed in the Commercial Low Traffic District

 

Trustee Leopold moved to open the public hearing. Trustee  Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                   Trustee Frank Moore- Aye                                                       Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye                      Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

 Ned Hickey stated that the planning board has been reviewing the uses in the Commercial Low Traffic District (CLT). The Planning Board feels warehouses should be removed from CLT uses. It is permitted in the CHT District. There is nothing currently in the CLT District that would need to be grandfathered in. The board felt that storage is not appropriate next to a residential area.

 

Thomas Mullin, a commercial real estate broker, does a lot of site selection work. He has an interest in self-storage and wondered what went into this decision. Ned explained that Pyramid made a presentation showing pictures of allowable uses on the Butler property. The image of a building with fences around it was not the vision that the planning board had for an area next to a residential area. The purpose of a CLT area is to create a transition zone between CHT and residential. Tom stated that it sounds like this is a well thought out decision. He said the village has a reputation for spending a lot of time on how we plan out our village. He commended the village for this. Ned went on to say that we are experiencing developers wanting to use vacant CLT areas for light industrial uses. He gave an example of the one-man laser operation in the Deanco building. The Planning Board is trying to update uses to take advantage of the different opportunities. Ned stated that our zoning ordinance is not stagnant and changes with the times.

 

Motion-To Close The Public Hearing for Proposed Local Law to Amend the Zoning Law to Delete One Provision of the Uses Allowed in the Commercial Low Traffic District

 

Trustee Fresinski moved to close the public hearing. Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                   Trustee Frank Moore- Aye                                                       Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye                      Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

Resolution #3918-To Adopt Local Law #2 Amendment of Village of Lansing Zoning Law to delete therefrom section 202.07 (d)(4) referring to warehousing/storage/distribution.

 

Trustee Beebe moved to adopt Local Law 2. Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                   Trustee Frank Moore- Aye                                                       Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye                      Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

Ned Hickey stated that the planning board is looking at a series of changes to add to the CLT District. What has happened is that there have been uses that the planning board thought were appropriate but had to go to the BZA because they did not fit into the CLT guidelines. The following is a list of proposed changes presented by Hickey:

 

Proposed Changes to Article 145-42 Commercial Low Traffic District

1. A. Intent. Add after last sentence the following:
         Traffic generation of all proposed uses must not exceed the traffic generation figures of the

         existing commercial uses in this district. All proposed buildings must conform to the 

         architectural guidelines contained in the Commercial Low Traffic Design Guidelines.

2. D. Permitted with Special Permit
        (1) General Conditions

              Delete (g) Office/studio/service

  Add the following:
  Office/studio: such as: architect, insurance, lawyer, realtor, dentist, veterinarian,

                         Optometry, art/dance.
   Personal Service: such as: secretarial, printing, multi-copying, administrative, adult   

   education & training, photography, physical therapy, tailoring.
   Food Preparation/Restaurant: such as: Restaurant, employee cafeteria.

 

3. Add. New Permitted Use:
         Light Manufacturing /Technology: such as: Small scale manufacturing and technology 

         having few if any nuisance characteristics. The scale of operations utilizes primarily UPS,

         Postal Service, Fed Express with little or no tractor trailer traffic, does not require loading

         docks and employs seventy(70) or fewer employees.

 

Examples are:
(1) data-processing/computer centers
(2) laser technology applications
(3) communications equipment service & repair
(4) medical laboratories
(5) research, testing design & training applications
(6) custom small industry (production, assembly & packaging)

 

Proposed Changes To Article 145-43 Commercial High Traffic (CHT)

1. D. Permitted with Special Permit

(1.)  General conditions

       Delete (c) Office, studio, service
       Add the following:
       Personal Service: such as :laundromat, bank(drive-thru) and dry cleaners
       Food Preparation/Restaurant: such as: Drive-thru restaurant, Bar/tavern & drive-in
       carry out service.

This list still needs to be looked over by the village attorney. Bill Troy will add a reference to the trip generation handbook. Ned feels if we make the information more quantitative we will be better off. The village wishes to define criteria and make a strong statement as to how they envision the village. Frank had a problem with a sitdown restaurant being listed as a possible use in a CLT area. He used the example of a Red Lobster coming in which would create a tremendous amount of traffic. Ned explained that all uses in a commercial district must go through a special permit process. At this point they would look at the traffic generation and parking. One control would be the number of square feet. Ned will get together with Bill Troy to work on the language and, as suggested by the mayor, create an executive summary.

 

The next item on the agenda was to continue the public hearing on the cable franchise agreement. Tom Doney got back to Larry and told him that the attorney for Time Warner is unwilling to make any changes. The board was unhappy with the indemnity clause but was unsure if it was worth having a fight over. Bill Troy will call Time Warner Attorney regarding the indemnity clause. Hopefully we will be ready to take this issue off the table at the December 16th meeting.

 

Larry pointed out that the village still needs to decide on the charge for the franchise fee.  Presently it is at 1%. The Town of Lansing is currently at 2% but this may change at their public hearing on December 18th. Jodi will call Rich John, Town of Lansing Attorney, and find out what percentage the town will be charging. The Mayor would like to stay the same as them and earmark these funds for putting the N. Triphammer Road utilities underground.

 

Next on the agenda was the approval of minutes.

 

Motion-Approval of Minutes for November 13, 2002

 

Trustee Fresinski moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill-Abstain               Trustee Frank Moore-Aye                                            Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye                     Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

            Motion-Approval of Minutes for November 18, 2002

 

Trustee Fresinski moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Beebe seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye                                Trustee Frank Moore-Aye                                            Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye                     Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Abstain

 

The Mayor is trying to recruit a member for the Youth Board but is still unsuccessful.

 

Cayuga Heights Road is finished except for striping. Striping was suppose to be done on Wednesday but probably will not happen because it needs to be dry. There are bumps in Cayuga Heights Road, which seems to be more than just what the previous topcoat would have caused. The finish coat will go on next year once we find out where the sewer lines will be located.

 

There is another Joint Sewer Commission meeting on Thursday. At the last meeting Hartill insisted on the creation of a list of points to be dealt with to get an agreement. Hopefully this will help make some progress. Don will also write up a spreadsheet of the costs and hand it out at the next sewer meeting. There is still the economic viability concern of the Town of Lansing. There can be no construction of the Kline Road Bypass until late 2003 at the earliest. Dennis Reinhart is providing Mayor Hartill with flow meter reports and is finding a factor of 4 above the water consumption, which indicates a leak. The Mayor has asked Dennis to have these lines televised. Repairing leaks is our only hope of getting more sewer units.

 

There is a meeting with Rich Brauer of Fisher to start the design of N. Triphammer Road.

The Planning Board meeting for December 31 has been canceled. The village holiday party at Mayor Hartill’s is Thursday December 19th. Larry stated that this is also the village’s 28th anniversary. Lynn will not be present at the Wednesday noon meeting.

 

Ned Hickey reported that there is a meeting Thursday after the Home Builders Lunch with Pyramid to do a final punch list on roads. Ned also has a meeting Wednesday with Tompkins County to discuss open space and see what they can do for us and how much it will cost.

 

Frank brought up the letter that the sheriff sent to the mayor regarding deer hunting. Apparently there was a call from a resident, Christina Fenn, regarding hearing shots fired on Oakcrest Road. Upon investigation, Deputy St. Angelo found the gentleman who said he had permission to hunt there for the last few years. Deputy St. Angelo told the gentleman that it was not legal to hunt no less fire a weapon within the village limits. The gentleman asked where it was posted and the deputy told him it was not. The board was very upset that this gentleman was not cited. Jodi informed the board that both she and Ben had spoken with the Sheriff’s department regarding this issue and that a copy of the Village Hunting Law was faxed to the Sheriff Department. Mayor Hartill will send a letter to Peter Meskill regarding our concerns. It was suggested that in the newsletter that goes out in October we should have an article telling the residents that hunting is not allowed in the village and where to report incidents.

 

Motion- To Adjourn

 

Trustee Fresinski moved adjournment. Trustee Leopold seconded the motion.

 

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye                    Trustee Frank Moore- Aye

                        Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye                      Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:50pm.

 

                                                                                                            Jodi Dake

                                                                                                            Village Clerk