June 9, 2003

The meeting of the Village of Lansing Planning Board was called to order at 7:30 P.M. by Chairman Ned Hickey. Present at the meeting were Planning Board Members Doris Brown, Phil Dankert, Carol Klepack and Maria Stycos; Engineer Brent Cross; Attorney David Dubow; Trustee Liaison Lynn Leopold; and Code Enforcement Officer Ben Curtis.

Public Comment:

Hickey opened the Public Comment.

John O’Neill, 53 Janivar Drive, stated that residents in his area are becoming more and more aware of development and want to know if there could be another meeting where the Lansing Trails residents are present to discuss issues such as drainage, roads, etc. Hickey stated that when the Village receives a Preliminary Plat from Ivar Jonson there will be a public hearing and issues can be addressed. The Planning Board will receive comments at that time, but it is not a debate with either the developer or the Planning Board. It is an informational meeting. O’Neill feels this will meet the needs of the residents. Curtis stated that photocopies of the plan will be made available for review by the residents. Hickey stated it would also be possible to copy the sketch plan for review prior to the Preliminary Plat submission. Hickey stated that comments are always welcome and appreciated by the Planning Board.

There being no one else present who wished to speak, Stycos moved to close the Public Comment period. Seconded by Dankert. All aye.

SEQRA Procedures:

Hickey stated there are several administrative issues which must be handled tonight. Dubow began with SEQRA procedures. Dubow would like to see the process formalized and simplified for unlisted actions under SEQRA. Dubow has proposed a sample resolution which must be filled in and passed for a negative declaration. This would replace the negative declaration document provided as a sample with the SEQRA Law. Dubow has asked that the Board members receive a copy of SEQRA Section 617.7c criteria for determining significance prior to each meeting. Dankert asked to receive it once and then he would attach it to his files. Dubow suggested that the Planning Board make a motion to adopt a negative declaration resolution rather than simply signing the EAF. Basic information for this document will be filled in prior to each meeting and the rest will be completed at the meeting and made a part of the record. This then will get signed by the Clerk or Clerk Part-Time of the Village and would be filed by Curtis along with the SEQRA paperwork.

CLT Zoning Amendments:

Hickey has met with Dubow regarding proposed amendments to the CLT District zoning requirements. Dubow stated the proposed changes are to Article 145-42 (Zoning Law 202.07) of the CLT District. Dubow recommended that the language regarding traffic generation proposed for the “Intent” paragraph of Section 202.07 might be better located in section 304.05d. Hickey feels the CLT District is the only area where traffic generation numbers are relevant. Klepack feels the language belongs in Section 202.07 which is about the CLT District. Hickey would like to see traffic generation become a part of General Conditions. The sentence on traffic generation will be removed as the issue has already been dealt with elsewhere. The “Intent” will include the sentence that all proposed buildings should conform to the applicable architectural and design guidelines. Curtis stated it is important to reference specific guidelines where applicable. The reference to specific guidelines can be included on the building permit application form as well as to the “Intent” Section 202.07 of the Zoning Law.

The next item was uses permitted with a Special Permit. There are specific uses listed for the use “office/studio/service” and this is not consistent with other sections of the Zoning Law where specific uses are not listed. The Zoning Law Section 603 definition for office/studio/service is very broad. The Board felt it would clarify the permitted uses to remove restaurant uses from office/studio/service. Hickey recommended making specific categories for them in both the CLT and CHT Districts, as well as in the B & T Park with additional conditions. Zoning Law Section 202.07 would include restaurant as a new permitted use. There was much discussion of the different types of restaurants. Restaurants such as Pizza Hut and the Chinese restaurants would be considered sit-down restaurants even though they have provision for call-in orders. Curtis noted that the percentage of area for sit-down eating would be higher in a sit-down restaurant than that of a carry-out restaurant like Rogans which only has limited seating and is more directed toward call-in, carry-out and delivery business. Only sit-down restaurants would be permitted in the CLT district and all restaurant types (sit-downs, carry-outs, and drive-throughs) would be permitted in CHT. Curtis will do more research on this topic. In summary, office/studio/service will be defined in Section 603 and the two levels of restaurants will be removed from the office/studio/service category and designated as a separate categories of use.

The next section discussed was light manufacturing/technology. Dubow has reviewed Sections 603 and 202.07 of the Zoning Law. There is reference to light manufacturing type uses in Sections 603.32, 603.33 and 603.34. He is confused as to how to blend or differentiate the sections. Curtis suggested removing scientific instruments from Section 603.32. The Board is interested in recognizing as a separate category some of the new high technology businesses that have fewer employees and require little or no tractor trailer traffic. Hickey recommended the title be low-impact technology rather than light manufacturing. Klepack feels the number of employees should be proportional to the lot size or area of the building. Curtis stated the law already allows for limiting the number of parking spaces per a set amount of building area based on occupancy. The Board chose to eliminate the provision limiting number of employees and rely instead on limiting parking spaces based on size of building. Curtis recommended the low-impact technology be added to Section 203.04 as a use requiring one parking space for each 300 sf of gross floor area.

Hickey noted that Section 202.10 is the University Research/Design District and would only include the Ornithology Lab. Section 603.34 defining University Research/Design simply refers back to Section 202.10. It should at least indicate that Ornithology Lab is a permitted use.

Hickey stated there are problems with the Design Guildelines for N. Triphammer Road 25 ft. build-to line. The questionable part of the guideline is when a building is parallel to the road but part of it is recessed, can there be parking in the recessed area? Hickey feels there is no parking in the front yard so therefore there can not be parking in the recessed area. Curtis stated that if the guidelines were changed to state that on the side where the building has frontage there could be no parking between the building and the road right-of-way which would clear up the issue – no parking would be permitted in front of the building whether it was in the required front yard or not. Dubow stated this would also need to be changed in the Zoning Law as well as the Design Guidelines. Curtis will send recommended changes to Dubow.

Regarding the permitted height of signs in the CLT, the Board discussed changing the size to 15 feet rather than 20 feet for the CLT District. There are currently no signs higher than 15 feet in the District.

The Board then discussed the minimum distance between driveways. The Design Guidelines state the minimum distance between driveways should be 30 feet and the Zoning Law states 20 feet. The Zoning Law will remain at 20 feet.

Lansing Trails Tour:

Hickey reminded Board members that Larry Fabronni and Ivar Jonson would be available to provide an informational trip to tour the proposed Lansing Trails II property. The tour will be leaving from the west end of Bomax Drive on June 10^th. There is to be no discussion between Board members.

Revised Subdivision and Zoning Laws:

Hickey stated that Clerk Dake has provided Board members with all new Subdivision Regulations adopted since 1996, as well as a listing of all the Zoning Law changes since 1995. Dubow stated that Clerk Dake has made the list of all laws since 1998 when the last changes were made to the last printed versions of the laws and regulations. Hickey stated that Dubow has recommended to the Board of Trustees that codification be completed by September. Hickey will tell Dake to wait until the Codification is completed before providing members with any of the laws. Leopold stated the Codification will be in a loose leaf notebook and will employ a numbering system that permits affected pages to be simply added, removed or replaced as the laws are amended.

Squeaky Clean Update:

Curtis reported that the BZA did not grant the variance requests. There were 2 parking variances as well as one for front yard setback on Catherwood Road and for side yard setback to the west. Curtis stated the BZA concluded that the applicant was trying to fit too much onto the lot. Gary Sloan, owner of Squeaky Clean, has since called the office to suggest ways the number of variances requested could be reduced. Hickey did state that drainage could have been improved by placing a drainage pipe in this area to clean up the area between Squeaky Clean and Lansing Village Place. Dubow stated the Board might want to think about the manner in which they would like to handle matters which involve both variances and special permits and therefore must go before both the BZA and the Planning Board. Dubow feels it may in some cases be more appropriate that the BZA make a decision first.

Reports:

Trustees: Hickey attended the short meeting. Proposed Local Law B regarding Cluster Subdivisions was passed and will be in effect in 10 days. Bolton Point Water Plant gave a presentation on the proposed addition to its East Shore Drive plant and received the support of the Village. The minutes were not approved as there was not a quorum of those present. Signature cards for Tompkins Trust Company were updated.

Approval of Minutes – April 29:

Klepack moved to accept the April 29^th minutes as revised. Seconded by Stycos. All aye.

Other Business as Time Permits:

Klepack will check with residents in her area for recommended names for the road from the west boundary of Northwood Apartments to Coventry Walk.

Adjournment:

Kleapck moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 P.M. Seconded by Dankert. All aye.