MINUTES
OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT PLANNING BOARD HELD AT THE
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, 215 SOUTH WORK STREET, FALCONER, NY 14733 ON JULY 18,
2007 AT 7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Chairman Dan Evans, Gary Swanson,
Ron Calanni, Phyllis Belin, Paul Shanahan, Steven Peterson, Attorney William
Wright, Code Enforcement Officer Randy Woodbury and Secretary Valerie Pierce
ABSENT: Dave Carlberg
Chairman Evans opened the meeting at 7:00 PM.
Motion made by Gary Swanson, seconded by Paul
Shanahan to approve the minutes of the June 13, 2007 meeting.
Carried. Ayes – 6 Noes – 0 Absent - 1
Chairman Evans reopened the Public Hearing for a request
from the Town Board for a recommendation for rezoning approximately 55 acres of
Residential zoned land easterly of the Mercantile Zone on North Main Street
Ext., Jamestown, NY.
Chairman Evans stated that this matter has been before the
Board for several months. He noted that
at the last meeting the Planning Board members went to visit the site. Randy Woodbury had made a map and marked the
zones before the field trip.
Mr. Evans asked the residents to limit their
comments to two minutes and if they have additional comments to please keep
those to ones they had not discussed before.
Attorney Wright review section 146-78 B and
explained that this is a request for a recommendation on rezoning from the Town
Board.
Carol Olson, Palm Road, spoke in opposition to the
rezoning and asked that Pat Lefford be able to read a letter from her daughter,
Sue Dykstra. Mrs. Dykstra lives
on Palm Road and expressed her opposition to the rezoning. She had
concerns about water that runs off into the stream, traffic, air pollution,
noise and changes in the character of the neighborhood.
Raymond and Carol Olson also sent a letter to the
Town in opposition to the rezoning because of the additional traffic, which
might cause safety issues, and the rezoning could be detrimental to the
property values.
Mary Danson, Palm Road, spoke in opposition to the
rezoning. She noted that traffic was
already bad at the McDonald’s and other businesses on Route 60. She feels that the traffic will only get
worse if the rezoning is approved.
Clifford Carlson, a resident of Horton Road, spoke in opposition to the
rezoning. He has concerns about water
runoff, noise and the fact that the property is now a buffer for the residents
on Horton and Palm Roads.
Vicky Matteson, a resident of Palm Road, spoke in
opposition to the rezoning for similar reasons. However,
her real concerns regard the character of the neighborhood and quality of
life. She suggested the Fluvanna area
would be a better place for the project.
Judy White, West Oak Hill Road, spoke in opposition to the
rezoning and also felt the Fluvanna area would be better for development.
Chairman Evans reminded the neighbors that North
Main Street Extension was already zoned mercantile and might be developed.
Patricia Nordsiek Lefford, Palm Road, read a prepared
statement. She and her husband are
adamantly opposed to the rezoning because of diminished property values,
increased traffic, noise, view changes and watershed concerns. She asked if any
developer had addressed the Board and if not why would the Town proceed with
the rezoning. Mrs. Lefford said they were not notified when the rezoning was
done eight years ago. She thinks the
Fluvanna corridor offers a much more favorable area for retail development as
is the Airport Industrial Park. She
stated that she came before the Planning Board several years ago in opposition
to the Truck Stop because she was concerned about it’s sustainability. She noted that the business is now in
foreclosure.
Andrew Jochum, a resident of Horton Road, stated the reasons he and
his wife were opposed to the rezoning.
He would like to see the Board reconsider the rezoning that had been
done previously. He suggested that a
nursing home might be a good project for that area.
Susan Carlson, a resident of Horton Road, stated she was not against
development but with no project before the Board the rezoning should not be
considered.
Chairman Evans reinforced the fact that the Board
was looking at no specific project but just at rezoning.
Christine Hiller, North Main Street Extension, stated her opposition to the
rezoning. She feels it would change the
character of the neighborhood. She
suggested that they might consider a neighborhood friendly business. She stated that she recently contacted a
real estate agent and was told that her property value might go down. She also noted that her property assessment
has doubled in the last few years. She
also had concerns about the traffic.
Dan Keefe, a resident of Horton Road, was opposed to the rezoning
without a developers plan. He has
concerns about the traffic and asked if this would be considered spot
zoning.
Mr. Evans said this an extension of the zoning that
is currently there.
There was discussion on whether this was zoned as a
flood plain. Chairman Evans said it is
not zoned as a flood plain. Randy
Woodbury explained that the property is mapped as a flood plain; however, it
could be mitigated to use the portion that is mapped as flood plain. Pat Lefford asked how long ago it was that
the property was mapped.
Ms. Lefford told the Board that Wessley Abbey, a
resident of Horton Rd., was unable to be at this meeting and is opposed to
the rezoning. She also asked the Board
if they received a letter from the Conewango Creek Watershed Association. The Board members had been given copies of
that letter.
Mr. Clifford Carlson said he would also recommend
the Fluvanna area. He asked the Board
not to sacrifice the neighborhood they have.
Mr. Jochum said that he would also ask the Board not
to recommend the rezoning.
Larry Strait, 2414 Horton Road, told the Board that he did
want to loose his agricultural-residential zoning. He also wanted to know what would prevent certain “undesirable”
businesses from coming in. Chairman
Evans explained that there were only certain zones in the Town where those
types of businesses would be allowed and they were in Industrial zones.
Mark Hiller, North Main Street Extension and owner
of property on Fluvanna Avenue Extension, told the Board members that there was
a lot of area on Fluvanna Avenue and he would like to have sewer and water in
the Fluvanna Avenue area.
Attorney Wright explained that the infrastructure is
very costly. The owners in that area
have voted down the sewer and water extension.
There was discussion on the expansion of North Main Street
Extension. Mr. Evans explained that it
is a State road and they would have to approve it.
Vicky Matteson asked when the Town Board would be
making their decision. Attorney Wright
said he thought the decision would be made at the August 6th
meeting.
Cindy Hodges, a resident of Horton Road, stated she was opposed to
the rezoning for all of the reasons that had been previously mentioned. She told the Board that assessments in the
area are going up and the value of the properties could go down if they
rezoned.
Chairman Evans asked if there were any more comments
from the residents. Attorney Wright
stated the Board could close the Public Hearing or leave it open and let the
residents speak. Mr. Evans said he
would like to leave the Public Hearing open but asked the residents to speak
only if they had any new concerns.
Mr. Evans then asked the Board for any comments on
this rezoning or the field trip they took last month.
Phyllis Belin, stated that she supports development but is
opposed to the rezoning without a plan since it was rezoned just a few years
ago. The Town is working on a
comprehensive plan and without any plan the Town should maintain the
residential property zones. She has concerns with the water and could not
support rezoning.
Paul Shanahan is opposed to the rezoning for the following
reasons:
1)
there
is already a sufficient amount of property along Route 60 zoned mercantile
2)
he
sees the wisdom in the previous rezoning using the creek as natural barrier
3)
the
stream is a natural resource
4)
he
is not in favor of placing a moratorium on rezoning but feels it should not be
done if no specific commercial development plan has been presented
5)
if
the Town decides to rezone it could be costly for the tax payers to do an
environmental study
Ron Calanni said he would not support the rezoning without a
plan to show the need for rezoning.
Steve Peterson said he thought that the 750 feet was
adequate for any stores that would want to go in the area so he would be
opposed to the rezoning.
Chairman Evans entered letters concerning
rezoning. He received letters from:
Mark Squicquero, DDS, owner of a vacation home on Palm Road, expressed his adamant opposition to the rezoning.
Joseph Galati, a Palm Road
resident, stated
he is opposed to any rezoning until the Town conducts a comprehensive study of
the watershed.
Attorney Wright suggested the Board make a motion to
have Chairman Evans draft a letter with their decision based on the findings to
the Town Board.
The Board discussed and noted the following
concerns:
1)
the
750 feet of mercantile zoned property on the east side is adequate
2)
there
is a need to protect the flood plain – it is a natural resource – the stream
provides a natural buffer - the property on the east side beyond the mercantile
zone goes up a steep hill
3)
there
is 450 acres of available property that is zoned mercantile on North Main
Street Ext.
4)
the
rezoning of the property will change the character of the neighborhoods on Palm
Rd. & Horton Road
5)
if
this rezoning requires an environmental study it would be done at the taxpayers
expense since there is no developer involved
6)
they
should maintain the value of the residential properties – there will be
additional traffic, noise, etc
Paul Shanahan wanted to stress that there is no
moratorium on development in the Town of Ellicott.
Randy Woodbury updated the Board members on an
enforcement issue with Calvert Baker.
Mr. Baker is harboring a dog-wolf hybrid and has promised the Court that
he would be moving from his home on Buffalo Street Ext. He has now decided to appeal Randy’s
decision and is going before the Zoning Board of Appeals. If the ZBA grants his
appeal Mr. Baker would have to come before the Planning Board for a site plan
for the fence. The fence is required by the Federal authorities to be higher
than the allowable 6 feet.
Mr. Woodbury also updated the members on the
Starbucks site plan. They have put a
fence around their cooler that is not shown on the site plan. Discussion followed.
Attorney Wright suggested that Starbucks apply for a
minor modification to their site plan and include the fence. The Board members agreed.
Motion made by Gary Swanson, seconded by Ron Calanni
to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 PM.
Carried. Ayes – 6 Noes – 0 Absent – 1
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