The meeting of the Village of Lansing Planning Board was called to order by Chairman Hickey. Present at the meeting were Planning Board Members Brown, Halevy, Klepack, Village Attorney Marcus, Village Engineer Cross and Code Enforcement Officer Curtis.

Brown moved to close the Public Comment portion of the meeting as there was no one present who wished to speak. Seconded by Klepack. All in favor.

A second curb cut at 2540 N. Triphammer Road in the Medium Density Residential District, Tax Parcel No 43.1-1-24. Mr. Mormile explained that his property is on the corner of Burdick Hill and N. Triphammer Roads and he is requesting a Special Permit to put in a second driveway on Burdick Hill Road. One reason is the danger that the existing driveway on N. Triphammer Road poses. The 40 mph speed limit is often not observed and it's very difficult to pull in and out of the driveway. They want to put in a driveway that wraps around in a U or L shaped manner so they could put a garage in the southwest corner. Mr. Mormile stated that this is a dangerous part of Triphammer Road. He has lost a dog there and learned that before he moved in an accident on that corner caused a car to stop within feet of his house. He has trouble getting out of the uphill driveway in the winter, and he has to stop traffic in both directions to get his large boat into and out of the driveway.

The farm on the corner, Murray Hill Estates, has a right-of-way through the Mormile's Triphammer Road driveway to a garage door that is located on the north side of the barn. Their only access is through that right-of-way so that part of the property has to stay open as a right-of-way for them.

Hickey opened the Public Hearing. As no one wished to speak, Klepack moved to close the Public Hearing. Seconded by Halevy. All in favor.

Hickey stated that according to the Zoning Law, the two items that the Board needs to address are the safety issue and the requirement that the requested driveway be well defined. This does represent a serious safety problem. The proposed driveway will be placed on Burdick Hill road and will not exceed 24 feet. The curb cut on Triphammer must remain because it's a right-of-way for Murray Hill Estates but it would not be used as a main entrance to the Mormile property anymore. Marcus stated for the record that this is under Section 104.17 of the Zoning Law which has been amended since. The statement is "if there is to be a second curb cut it must be located to provide safe access without interfering with traffic on a public street. " This is an exempt action under the SEQRA law.

The Board reviewed the General Conditions Required for all Special Permits, per Section 304.05 A-J of the Zoning Law. Halevy moved that the Board find that the applicant has met the conditions. Brown seconded. All in favor. Brown moved to approve Special Permit #1468. Seconded by Klepack. All in favor.

Renovate and enlarge an existing shopping mall at 40 Catherwood Road in the Commercial High Traffic District, Tax Parcel No. 45.1-1-22.

Eric Goetzmann and Jim Tull from Pyramid Mall presented a synopsis of the proposal. They propose to recycle and expand the existing 600,000 s.f. mall by adding 442,000 s.f. to accommodate additional retail operations. They are attempting to increase the draw from this area by giving people the opportunity to shop at more stores when they come to the mall. They want to increase the mix at the mall in order to bring the mall up to speed.

Hickey opened the Public Hearing. Mr. Mormile stated that he felt this would be good for the area. He drives to Syracuse once a month to shop because the malls are bigger and he shops at Home Depot. Mr. Mormile said that he has his own business as a general contractor and he does not feel that the presence of a "big box" business such as Home Depot will wipe out the smaller businesses in the area. In his own business he works with one local business for lumber, another for doors and windows, etc. He shops at Home Depot for gardening supplies and he feels it would benefit the Village to have such a retail operation here that would let people stay in the area to shop.

Mary Sirois asked which direction the mall would be expanding and how the berm on the south end would be affected. The expansion will be mostly northwards toward the YMCA end and a second level will be added above the area of the old Montgomery Ward building but the additional level will not exceed the Village's height limitation. The berm on the south will be pushed back in order to increase the parking area at that end to accommodate the relocation of the cinema entrance. However, noise barriers will be recreated, and the number of trees removed will be replaced.

Lou Gentch said that in the 10-11 years that he has lived adjacent to the mall, they have been an excellent neighbor. He also noted that he has observed that malls that do not keep up with the times have regressed and put in cheaper stores which attracted a less desirable clientele. He said that the public information presentation showed him that there is a logic to this proposal and he has no objections to it.

Another question was raised about the effect on the stream which goes through that area. Hickey said that the stream is part of the drainage system and the drainage system will not be permitted to be damaged.

As no one else wished to speak, Halevy moved that the Public Hearing be closed. Seconded by Klepack. All in favor.

The Board made a preliminary review of the Long Environmental Assessment Form and noted corrections and areas that needed to be clarified.

A. Site Description

No. 2: Hickey questioned the total acreage of the project. Figures for before and after completion will be rechecked. In the "Other" category, the 14.45 acres under Presently is the 9.16 lawns plus the 5.29 retainage. But the After Completion total is only 5.49. The engineer explained that this is due to factoring in underground drainage. Halevy asked why Forested acreage will go from 3 to 1.7 acres. This is in part due to adding the parking in the southwest corner . Hickey added that the number of trees removed will be replaced in another location, and Board will need a diagram of how far down they plan to go into the southwest corner of the property.

B. Project Description

No. 1.d: Project acreage to be developed. Marcus pointed out that this section indicates that 2.3 acres are to be developed, but on the first page it was indicated that possibly 11 acres of additional impervious surface would be added. Eric explained that this is because part of the parking lots and buildings will be recycled. 11.26 acres is the difference between the total of 51.7 after completion and 40.44 before completion. The 2.3 acre figure includes forested area, ground cover and berms. Hickey felt this was unclear and asked that the site plan demonstrate how these numbers were calculated.

No. 1.e.: Hickey said that without a site plan it's difficult to grasp how they measure a plus or minus 4.2% expansion and requested a full-scale diagram with shadowing so that the Board can see dimensions both before and after completion.

No. 1.f.: Existing parking spaces = 2717 and proposed = 3700. Additional parking spaces are needed because the Zoning Law requires a certain amount of spaces per square footage. In addition, the individual stores have their own parking requirements. Pyramid Mall would like to reduce that number requested and will request the 20% reduction allowed by the Zoning Law if they can negotiate a lower ratio of parking spaces with the stores. This should be included on the plan.

No. 1.i: Height limitation is 35 feet so cannot be plus or minus 35 feet.

No. 9: Halevy asked about jobs. During peak retail season they have approximately 1,000 jobs

No. 23: Cross said that the number used (20,730 gallons/day) reflects a direct proportional increase based on square footage and he did not feel that was the best way to calculate that figure. It could also be calculated by the number of stores. The most recent water consumption was in the low 80's for individual units and the current occupancy is roughly 70 stores. That number should be refined, and other methods of calculating that number should be reviewed.

C. Zoning and Planning Information

No. 12: The Planning Board that day received a traffic report from Mr. Napolean. Napolean has reservations as to whether the existing road network is adequate to handle the increased traffic. Brown asked if steps can be taken to get fewer cars there, perhaps based on Cornell's model or other incentive packages for mass transit. The response was that the first step is to increase bus traffic to the mall and once that happens it becomes more efficient. Initiatives have been made in the past to offer incentives, but it is difficult to wean people away from their cars. They continue to try however, and will continue to work with TCAT in the future.

No. 1, Impact on land. Yes, potentially large impact because of construction of a paved parking area for 1000 or more vehicles. Can be mitigated by reducing the number of parking spaces from 1000 to 800 and by the encouragement of public transportation. Marcus noted that a 20% reduction in parking spaces has never been requested for Pyramid Mall in the past. The 20% reduction could be applied on the total mall parking, which would result in a reduction of 740 spaces.

No. 5, Impact on water. Small to moderate impact on surface and ground water because proposed action will use water in excess of 20,000 gallons

No. 6, Impact on drainage flow patterns or surface runoff. Yes, because increased impervious surfaces will create additional runoff. Hickey noted that the Board needs to focus on the drainage coming off the site because the Zoning Law states that there cannot be any more runoff after development than before. Engineers will have to calculate what the runoff is and whether the existing drainage system is working properly and whether it can handle the additional runoff. It could be a potentially large impact, but it can be mitigated by a drainage plan approved by the Village Engineer.

No. 11, Impact on aesthetic resources. Yes, due to alterations in screening on the south side, not only as a noise barrier but also as a screening from mall lights shining over to the south side of Rt. 13. It's important that this is developed in the landscaping plan.

No. 13, Impact on open space and recreation. Removal of screening at south end of mall impacts residential areas south of Rt. 13, but it can be mitigated.

No. 14, Impact on transportation. Yes, a potentially large impact (43%) on transportation which can be mitigated. Cross pointed out that the 43% future traffic volume figure is strictly a book number that corresponds to additional square footage. The traffic analysis submitted by Mr. Napolean states that traffic problems can be mitigated by implementing the recommendations on his traffic report regarding changing the light on the bridge. Hickey felt that it was the Village's responsibility to request permission to change it and Pyramid Mall ought to pay for it. Hickey will notify the Mayor regarding this.

No. 15, Impact on energy. Proposed action will not cause a greater than 5% increase in energy for the whole municipality. Eric reported that NYSEG is aware of the proposal and are making plans to accommodate the additional square footage usage.

No. 16, Impact on noise and odor. Yes, small to moderate impact on noise due to the removal of natural screening barriers. Can be mitigated by establishment of new barriers. Trees will be installed at the south end of the mall to replace those taken down.

No. 18, Impact on growth and character of the community. Hickey is reading the definition of community in the narrow sense of the Village of Lansing. Employment will be created. Marcus said this issue has to be evaluated in context with the conformity to the zoning. What is being proposed will not generally change what is there or what is permitted to be there. It's not something unexpected or a modification of the Village plans or intent for the development of that area. Hickey added that this is a beneficial type of development as it does not require the expansion of the Commercial District but is proposed within the boundaries of already developed property and is in that sense consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and the community goals. The Board will not reach a conclusion on this until they have reviewed the traffic analysis, drainage plan, and other unanswered questions when they review the site plan at the July 27th meeting.

Another Public Hearing will be held on this proposal at the next Board meting on July 27th.

Trustee Meeting: Halevy reported that at the last meeting the Trustees reduced the Janivar Drive Extension Letter of Credit to $1,000 due to special circumstances. The road is subject to a building permit which the Village requires. John Bailey was appointed as an active Alternate to the BZA to replace Bob Batterman for the July meeting. Mr. Cooke's deposit for his landscaping plan was released. Lynn Leopold has been appointed as Trustee Representative to theLighting Commission and Halevy has been designated as the Planning Board representative to the Lighting Commission. At the request of the Planning Board, the Lighting Commission will look at any new developments and make recommendations. The Trustees asked the Planning Board to begin thinking about a Planned Sign Area for Triphammer Road.

• Hickey reported that four RFQs have now been received and he has invited Joan Jurkowich to attend the Board meeting on the 27th to lead the Board through the process of examining them

• Hickey reported that David Fernandez will be happy to come in and do a workshop in August or September.

• Lynne Leopold will give an In-Service Training session on the EMC in October.

Halevy moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:56 p.m. Seconded by Klepack. All in favor.