MINUTES
OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS HELD AT
THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, 215 SOUTH WORK STREET, FALCONER, NY 14733 ON MARCH
29, 2004 AT 7:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Chairman Steve Hoglin, John
Merchant, Ang Cimo, Pat Martonis, Attorney William
Wright and Code Enforcement Officer Randy Woodbury.
ABSENT: Dave Remington, Kevin Saff
and Rick Keefer.
Chairman Hoglin called the meeting to order at 7:10
P.M. Secretary Pierce called the roll.
Attorney Wright swore in everyone that would be testifying at this public hearing.
Chairman
Hoglin reopened the public hearing for Donna Heintzman, 575 Hunt Rd., W.E.,
Jamestown, NY for a special use permit for a tax services office in her home.
Attorney
Arthur Bailey told the Board Ms. Heintzman had already filed the
application and the short form EAF. She
will not be expanding the business or building. Ms. Heintzman stated that she does have her daughter work for her
during the busy season. Her hours are 9
AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday. John Merchant asked if Ms. Heintzman if she
bought this business. She told the Board members she had purchased the house in
1991 and her previous employer had owned the house and ran an accounting
business. Ms. Heintzman said that during
her busy time she has 15 to 20 people weekly and that she can park up to 10 or
11 cars in her driveway. Attorney
Bailey stated there has been no appearance or input from neighbors.
Attorney Wright reviewed
Sections 146-5 and 146-7 of the Code.
The office space is 11% (336 SF) of the overall square
footage. Her daughter works for her 5
or 6 weeks out of the year during tax season.
Ms Heintzman works year round.
Steve Hoglin asked if she planned to expand. She does not. Attorney
Bailey told the Board she does not have any signs. Ms. Heintzman does advertise
in the Penny Saver. They provided a
sketch of the layout of the house and office.
Dave Remington
entered the meeting at 7:23 PM.
Attorney Wright said this
is subject to SEQR review. Attorney
Bailey had faxed a copy to Mr. Wright for review.
Mr. Woodbury asked if the
office is the same since before 1984.
Ms. Heintzman stated it was. Mr. Woodbury told the Board he has no
jurisdiction over it because it was prior to the uniform state building and
fire code.
MARCH 29, 2004
PAGE TWO
Rick Keefer
entered the meeting at 7:23 PM.
Mr. Wright told the Board
this action does not exceed any type 1 threshold in 6 NYCRR Part 717.4 and will
not receive coordinated review. The
Board continued with Part II C noting that this action would not result in any
adverse effects and there were no public appearances in opposition to this
project.
Motion made by
John Merchant, seconded by Angelo Cimo declaring there will not be a significant
adverse environmental impact and authorizing Chairman Hoglin to sign the EAF on
behalf of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Carried. Ayes-6 Noes-0 Absent-1
Pat Martonis stated she
had a concern with Ms. Heintzman’s employee since a home occupation does not
allow for any employees other than the homeowner. John Merchant asked if she
paid her daughter. She is not a paid
employee and does not engage in the business.
Motion made by
Pat Martonis, seconded by Ang Cimo to approve the special use permit for Donna
Heintzman, 575 Hunt Rd., W.E., Jamestown, NY for an accounting and tax
preparation business in her home with Ms. Heintzman being the sole
employee.
Carried. Ayes-6 Noes-0
Absent-1
Chairman Hoglin reminded
Ms. Heintzman she would need to renew this special use permit every two years.
Mr. Woodbury thanked Ms. Heintzman and Attorney Bailey for their cooperation.
Kevin Saff
entered the meeting at 7:30 PM.
Chairman Hoglin opened the
pubic hearing for James Stanford and Mike
Fiorella. Mr. Stanford would like to place a mobile home on property on Dow
Street. He asked the Board to review Mr. Woodbury’s decision on what was
considered a new mobile home and asked the Board to grant a variance to allow a
14-foot rather than a 20-foot wide mobile home. He provided photos of the mobile home and the
property.
Mr. Woodbury told the
Board members that the property is in an area that allows mobile homes but
restricts mobile homes to new mobile homes that are at least 20 feet wide.
Attorney Wright said that
he did not think this should be considered as an area variance but an appeal
from Mr. Woodbury’s decision. Mr.
Woodbury said it was a request for a variance and an interpretation. Mr. Wright
said it would have to be considered as a use variance not an area variance.
MARCH 29, 2004
PAGE THREE
The criteria that the
mobile home must be new and titled are not subject to interpretation.
Mr. Wright reviewed
section 146-13F concerning the interpretation issue. Chairman Hoglin asked the Board members if Mr. Woodbury made the
correct determination. All the members
said he did.
David and Lisa
Mauro, 2416 Dow Street, Jamestown, NY, said they thought the
mobile home would depreciate their property.
The Town received a letter
from Deborah A. Sweeney, 2444 Dow Street, Jamestown, NY, stating
she thought placing a mobile home on this property would devalue the
neighborhood.
Attorney Wright said once
the Board determined Mr. Woodbury made the correct determination and are
looking at varying the code it could be done only by a use variance. One criteria of a use variance is that it is
not self-created. He would have to
prove the property could not be used for any other use. He suggested Mr.
Stanford hire an attorney. Pat Martonis said another criteria would be that it
does not alter the character of the neighborhood. He should talk to the neighbors.
Mr. Stanford stated he
would like to table this application.
Motion made by
Pat Martonis, seconded by Rick Keefer to table this application until the next
meeting.
Carried. Ayes-7 Noes-0 Absent-0
Chairman Hoglin opened the
public hearing for Sheila Eaglesome, 510 Hunt
Rd., Jamestown, NY for a second garage.
Mrs.
Eaglesome’s daughter, Melissa Uber explained to the members
there is an existing detached garage that holds 2 cars and the proposed
attached garage would be a 1-car garage.
She provided photos for the Board.
It will be 11 feet from
the property line and has a circular drive. The attached carport will be
demolished. The new garage will be 20’ by 24’.
The total vehicle parking for the two garages will be for three vehicles.
No neighbors appeared.
There will be a new neighbor on the side of the new garage. Mr. Wright said that the notice was
published and the old owner was notified. He reviewed section 146-7-A of the
Town Code and Section 267B of Town Law.
He told the Board this project is exempt from SEQR as a Type II action.
Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Evangel
Christian Fellowship for a special use permit for a church on land at route 60
and Route 380.
Rev. Jeffrey Ekstrom told the Board they have a
contract to purchase 35 acres from Mr. Thomas Anderson contingent on the
approval of this special use permit. 13
acres of this land is zoned mercantile.
Mr. Woodbury showed the Board the property on the
tax maps. They would like an entrance
on both Route 60 and 380. He provided a
photo of the proposed building. There
is only one building proposed at this time.
Attorney Wright told the Board a place of worship
needs a special use permit in a mercantile zone.
Motion made by Kevin Saff, seconded by John Merchant
authorizing this is sent to the County Planning for review.
Dave Remington asked Rev. Ekstrom if he has considered other locations. Rev. Ekstrom said this is the site they want. It has great exposure.
Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Michael
F. Cokl, 3519 Lake Street, Jamestown, NY, to replace a garage that is
preexisting non-conforming with a larger garage with same setbacks.
Mr. Cokl explained to the Board members the existing
garage will be replaced. The setback
that is only 1 foot is next to a vacant lot.
The old garage is 18’ by 20’ and the new garage will be 24’ by 24’. He said that all the garages in that area
come out to the road. He provided a
sketch of the lot. The sides that do
not meet the set backs will not change.
The additional building will be on sides that meet setbacks.
Sylvia Lord Armstrong, 7495 Ferguson Rd., Kent, Ohio,
sent a
letter to the Board stating she is opposed to the variance. They own property next to Mr. Cokl. She stated there are underground drains that
they maintain that may be damaged.
Mr. Cokl will install French drains to the
lake. That should improve the drainage.
MARCH 29, 2004
PAGE FIVE
Mr. Woodbury explained why Mr. Cokl is before the
Board. If he did not want to increase
the size of the garage he would not need a variance but because he wants to
increase the size he needs a variance.
Discussion followed on the drainage and the
construction of the garage. Kevin Saff asked what variances were needed and if
they are looking at this as a new structure or an addition to the old
structure. Attorney Wright said they
needed to treat this as a new structure.
They would need to grant two area variances, one variance from the
sideline of 4.1 feet and one along the street of 24.1 feet. Mr. Wright reviewed
the code. This area variance is exempt
from SEQR.
Motion made by John Merchant, seconded by Kevin Saff
to approve a variance for Michael Cokl, 2519 Lake Street, Jamestown, NY for a
24 foot variance from the street side and a 4 foot variance from the property
line because of the uniqueness of the property
Carried.
Ayes-7 Noes-0 Absent-0
Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Bruce
Battler, 15 Abbey Rd., W.E., Jamestown, NY, to expand an existing attached
2-car garage to an attached 4-car garage.
Mr. Battler said he needs
storage space and the new garage will meet all setbacks requirements. Mr. Battler has canvassed the neighbors and
there is no problem. He had a letter from Joyce and Ron
Spitzer, 85 Westminster Dr., W.E., Jamestown, NY. They
are across the road from Mr. Battler and have no objection to Mr. Battler
expanding his garage.
The new garage will be 30’
x 32’ with a 12 ’ ceiling. The current
garage is 24’ x 28’. Mr. Battler had photos to show the Board.
Attorney Wright reviewed
section 146-7-A. The code allows a
garage for up to 3 vehicles with a total square footage of 1000 SF. There is no
height requirement. Mr. Wright said Mr.
Battler needs three variances, one for the number of garages, one for the
number of vehicles and one for the square footage.
Pat Martonis asked if this
was the minimum size that Mr. Battler could build. Mr. Battler said he needs this size because of the snowmobile
trailer he has.
Ang Cimo said this is in
character for the neighborhood. Trees buffer his property. Discussion followed on the total square
footage. John Merchant said this
variance is excessive but the apportionment to the existing house is good.
Kevin Saff said the Board received no objections to the variance from
neighbors.
Mr. Hoglin asked if Mr.
Battler wanted the Board to table the application until the next meeting so he
can see if he can build this garage any smaller. Mr. Battler did not want to table this application.
MARCH 29, 2004
PAGE SIX
Attorney
Wright stated this project is exempt from SEQR.
Mr. Craker withdrew the variance for the side yard setback. Mr. Ray Yanick, contractor for Mr. Craker explained to the Board how they changed the addition to meet the 5-foot setback.
The Town received a letter from Nancy Taylor, 174
S. Butts Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY stating her opposition to the addition being
any closer to the side lot property line.
Chris
Rodgers, 16 Sycamore Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY sent a letter that stated
the setback that concerned him was the side yard setback. He would be opposed to allowing a variance
for less than the allowed 5 feet.
Since Mr. Craker has revised plans eliminating the need for the side
yard setback variance he has no problem with the addition.
Attorney Wright told the Board this is an area
variance and the allowed setback in a residential zone is 5 feet from the side
property line and 25 feet from the front property line and 15 feet from the
back property line. He reviewed the
criteria for the variance. Mr. Wright
told the Board members this project is exempt from SEQR as an individual lot
line setback.
Mr. Craker said they would be going from a
2-bedroom, one bath to a 3-bedroom, 2 bath home.
Mr. Woodbury said that the 5-foot side yard setback
would be enforced. The porch is already within the front year setback.
Dave Remington made a motion, seconded by John
Merchant to approve the variance for James Craker, 10 Sycamore St., Jamestown,
NY for a 25-foot allowable down to a 20-foot front yard set back.
Carried. Ayes-6 Noes-1(Hoglin) Absent-0
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
MARCH 29, 2004
PAGE SEVEN
Chairman Hoglin opened the public hearing for Kevin
A. Saff, 2261 Swanson Rd., Jamestown, NY for a detached second garage. Mr. Hoglin swore in Mr. Saff.
Mr. Saff provided photos of the garage and property
and examples of second garages within ¼ mile of his property. Mr. Saff’s
property is Residential-agricultural. He has approximately 2.4 acres with a
frontage of 490 feet and the property is 185 feet deep. The proposed garage is 24’ by 28’. He explained the construction of the garage.
The garage is 20 feet from the back property line.
Mr. Saff has talked to his neighbors and they had no
opposition.
Mr. Hoglin asked the intended use of the
garage. It will be used for storage.
Attorney Wright told the Board members they need to
approve an area variance for a second garage, from 3 to 4 vehicles and the
square footage from 1000 SF to 1200 SF. This area variance is exempt from SEQR.
Chairman Hoglin asked Mr. Woodbury if he had any
comments. He did not.
John Merchant made a motion, seconded by Pat
Martonis to approve the variance for Kevin Saff, 2261 Swanson Rd., Jamestown,
NY, for a second garage with dimensions of 24’ x 28’
Carried. Ayes-7 Noes-0 Absent-1
Motion made by John Merchant, seconded by Dave
Remington to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 PM.
Carried. Ayes-7
Noes-0 Absent-0
_________________________________________
Valerie Pierce, Secretary