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 JULY 26,
2004 AT 7:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Vice Chairman David Remington,
Kevin Saff, Ang Cimo, Pat Martonis, Richard Keefer, Attorney William Wright and
Code Enforcement Officer Randy Woodbury, Secretary Karyn Okerlund.
ABSENT: Steve Hoglin and John
Merchant
Vice Chairman Remington called the meeting to order
at 7:30 P.M. Secretary Okerlund called
the roll.
Attorney
Wright swore in everyone that would be testifying at this public hearing.
Mr. Remington reopened the
public hearing for Thomas Pudelski for a
variance for a side yard setback reduction from 5 feet to 2.7 feet to build a
10-foot addition to the existing house at 2746 Denslow Ave., Jamestown, NY.
Randy Woodbury informed
the Board members that Mr. Pudelski’s contractor called and Mr. Pudelski is
going to revise his plans to be fully compliant with the code and withdrew his
application.
Chairman
Remington opened the public hearing for New York RSA No 3 Cellular Partnership
d/b/a Verizon Wireless to renew their special use permit for the wireless tower
west of Jamestwon between Idlewood Drive and Orchard Road.
Mr. Woodbury said the
applicant called and is expected to be here but is coming from Rochester. Mr.
Remington said the Board would move on to the next application and allow the
representatives some time to get here.
Mr. Remington
opened the public hearing for Lawrence F. Pastorchik, c/o of Arthur Bailey,
Esquire, for a renewal of a special use permit for a four-unit apartment house
at 663 Fairmount Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY.
Randy Woodbury stated there has been an unlicensed vehicle near
the garage. Mr. Pastorchick said it is
his intent to remove it to the garage that belongs to the tenant no later that
tomorrow. Randy also asked about the dumpster and said he feels it is too
small. Mr. Pastorchick said he has
requested a larger one and would like it to be closer the house.
Mr. Woodbury asked for the
contact address and phone number for this property. Mr. Pastorchick is the
owner of the property and Mr. Bailey is his attorney. He gave Mr. Woodbury his
address and phone number. Mr. Woodbury is required to inspect the apartment
house.
JULY 26, 2004
PAGE TWO
There have been no
complaints to the Town Clerk’s Office but Mr. Woodbury has had additional
complaints concerning parking and feels there is room for more parking. Randy also asked about the dumpster and
said that he feels it is too small.
Alan
Hendrickson, owner of property at 641 Fairmount Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY, stated
there is enough parking for the tenants but not for guests. His residence is on Winsor and sometimes
cars are in the way. There are
currently 7 parking spaces.
Mr. Woodbury would like
the input of the Planning Board members and suggested Mr. Pastorchick appear
before the Planning Board for a sketch plan conference. Attorney David Crispell
was in attendance to represent Mr. Pastorchick.
Mr. Hendrickson said that
parking and garbage are both issues.
The dumpster overflows. Mr.
Pastorchick said he will have a larger dumpster before the end of the
week.
Attorney Wright asked if
Mr. Woodbury would like to wait for the input of the Planning Board before the
Zoning Board renewed this application.
He stated he would like to see this tabled and have the Planning Board
take an informal look at it. Mr.
Pastorchick said the only problem is that he is out of town quite often and can
not promise he will be here for the meeting.
Mr. Hendrickson told the
Board he has a court case against Mr. Pastorchick. Attorney Crispell said the
Board should not get into other court cases. He said this property has had four
units for a long time and was purchased as a four-unit property. It should not
affect the renewal of the variance. The
parking and dumpster should be addressed by the code enforcement officer and
they should not have to come back for another meeting. Randy Woodbury said the Board has to
consider the changes in parking and the dumpster before they can renew the
application.
Motion made by
Rick Keefer, seconded by Pat Martonis to table this application until the next
meeting.
Carried. Ayes-5 Noes-0 Absent-2
Attorney Wright suggested
that Mr. Woodbury meet with the Chairman of the Planning Board and not have Mr.
Pastorchick appear at the Planning Board meeting.
Attorney Wright swore in John Penna, Esquire, attorney for Verizon Wireless and Sandra Brooks,
project manager.
JULY 26, 2004
PAGE THREE
Mr. Penna reviewed the
history of the tower for the Zoning Board.
The permit was issued in 1991 and they have renewed the permit every two
years. There have been no issues since
1991. He said Verizon was recently made
aware of some drainage issues and they have been trying to assemble a team to
address the issues. Sandra Brooks is
the project manager and they have hired Costich Engineering to identify and
resolve the drainage problems. They
would invite the Town to meet with their engineers and the County in
August.
Attorney asked Mr.
Woodbury if the Town has the original 1991 site plan. The Town has the revised
site plan and they are in compliance with the site plan.
Nancy Loewenheim,
434 Orchard Rd., Jamestown, NY, said she does not want too
see the tower go any higher. She would like them to provide a maintenance
schedule and proof the tower is secure. She would like to see the permit
renewed with no changes. She is concerned with the high winds and ice. Ms. Brooks told Mrs. Loewenheim that they
have a routine maintenance schedule and they have someone on call 24 hours a
day.
Vincent
Gerace, 381 Hunt Rd., W.E., Jamestown, NY, told the Board
members they are affected by the water problems. They have complained about this for over a decade and is
surprised that Verizon is not aware of the problem. The County engineer came to
look at the property about 4 or 5 years ago and agreed that the tower disrupted
the water flow. Mr. Gerace said the Town put in 18-inch pipes partially along
their property line, which flowed out to Hunt and Idlewood. This has aggravated
the water problem. Now when the pipe
gets plugged up they get water in the garage and their yard has been
ruined. He said that putting in the
18-inch pipes has aggravated the problem.
Mr. Gerace said the highway proposed that a ditch be dug to the next
ravine to handle the water. It has not
been done. The next proposal was to build a retention pond. Mr. Gerace stated he thought the pipes
should be bigger. Mr. Gerace said that
it has flooded out other neighbors. Discussion followed on the pipes and the
flow of the water. Mr. Woodbury said that they have to work out the problems of
the pipes with Highway Superintendent Shellhouse and the Chautauqua County.
Mr. Gerace said he does
not want to complain without suggesting some solutions to the problem. He listed: 1) route water to the ravine
2) build a retention pond
3) replace the pipes and put in debris guards
Mr. Gerace submitted a
photo of the pipes that are plugged to the Board.
Marilyn Gerace
stated that they were getting flooding in the back and into the garage
before the pipes were put in and now the water is coming right down into the
driveway and into the garage.
Everything coming from Idlewood is plugging their drainage so they have
had a lot of damage, which the insurance company will not cover. The garage and driveway are not useable. The
Geraces’ have not contacted Verizon because they contacted the Town. Ms. Gerace
also stated that the Clarks’ that live on the other side of Hunt Road get flooded out.
JULY 26, 2004
PAGE FOUR
Attorney Wright asked the
Geraces’ if they had any problems before the tower was built. They did not. Mr. Hendrickson told the Board
members the original flow went to the ravine and was diverted when Idlewood was
extended.
Attorney Penna said
Verizon has just been made aware of the problems and are purposing that the
Town and County get together and collectively come to a resolution as soon as
possible. He believes the renewing of the permit is a separate issue.
Chautauqua County is interested in turning this site into a
key site for the fire department relays and have an existing use on the
tower. The county is upgrading the
drainage and access on this site and has an application in for additional
antennas.
Mr. Penna said he would
like the permit renewed with the contingency that the problem be resolved.
Mrs.
Loewenheim asked if the new antennas would be any higher. Ms. Brooks stated there would be no height
changes. Mr. Gerace asked
the Board to hold off on the granting of the renewal of this permit until the
problem is resolved. They would have more leverage.
Pat Martonis said under
Section 146-22 if stated that an inspection must be done every two years. Pat asked if that had been done and she
interpreted the inspection needed done before the Board could renew the permit.
Mr. Woodbury said that was
done two years and if there were changes it would have to be done again. Ms. Brooks said she could provide the site
inspection and Verizon will also provide the drainage. Verizon’s contact at the County is Matt
Trusso. Mrs. Gerace asked if they could
be included on any meetings.
Attorney Wright said if
this is tabled until the next meeting there will be no enforcement action taken
for the lapse in the permit pending further review of the water issues and the
receipt of the two year structural inspection and the radio remissions test.
Verizon will not be able to be prepared for the August Planning Board meeting.
Attorney Wright said they might not be required to attend the Planning Board
meeting.
Motion made by
Rick Keefer, seconded by Pat Martonis to table this application.
Carried. Ayes-5 Noes-0 Absent-0
Motion made by
Kevin Saff, seconded by Dave Remington to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 P.M.
Carried. Ayes-5 Noes-0 Absent-0
_________________________________________
Karyn Okerlund, Secretary