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
SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 AT 6:30 PM.
PRESENT: Chairman
Steve Hoglin, John
Merchant, Angelo Cimo, Pat Martonis, Kathy Hedstrand
Attorney William Wright, Code Enforcement Officer Randy Woodbury, and
Secretary
Valerie Pierce
ABSENT: David Remington and Richard
Keefer
Chairman
Hoglin opened the meeting at 6:30 PM and Secretary Pierce called the roll.
Motion made by
Kathy Hedstrand, seconded by Ang Cimo to approve the minutes of the July 31,
2006 meeting.
Carried. Ayes 5 Noes 0 Absent 2
Attorney
Wright swore in all present that would be giving testimony at this public
hearing.
Chairman
Hoglin reopened the public hearing for RSA No. 3 Cellular Partnership d/b/a as
Verizon Wireless for a Special Use Permit renewal for a wireless facility
originally granted January 7, 1991.
The applicant requested this application continue to be tabled until the September 25, 2006 meeting.
Chairman Hoglin reopened the Public Hearing for Valeo,
2258 Allen Street Ext., Jamestown, NY, for a variance for a 10-foot fence.
Attorney Wright questioned if this was a continuance. He stated that it is important because this Board has a commitment to make a decision within 62 days of the first hearing. Valeo had made application for the variance for the July 31, 2006 meeting and did not appear.
Mr. Woodbury told the Board the Town had received a response from County Planning on this project. All the applications made for Valeo including the variance and the site plan for the truck dock were sent to the County as a package. Randy said this was not a continuance because Valeo had not been heard on the fence issue until this meeting.
Mr. Todd Anderson, Plant Manager for Valeo, presented plans for a 10-foot fence. He explained they needed it for security. Initially everyone had signed off on a 6-foot fence but when it was up they decided it needed to be higher. They were concerned about theft. After talking to Randy and applying for the variance, they added the extension on the fence. They considered barbed wire but Randy told them they could not put that up. They are now asking that the extension be permanent. They do have a guard at the gate from approximately 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM.
Mr. Anderson provided a drawing of the chain link fence on a survey map. The 6-foot fence was put in about 3 months ago. Randy said this fence meets all the other requirements except for the height.
Randy reminded the Board that Kingsview has a 10-foot fence across the street. Mr. Anderson said he thought that Kingsview had barbed wire on of their fence. Randy will check on Kingsviews fence.
Attorney Wright told the Board area variances are covered by 267 B of Town Law and are the balancing test between the benefits to the applicant if granted against the detriment to the neighborhood.
There were no neighbors present and no correspondence concerning this application.
Motion made by John Merchant
to approve the area variance for Valeo Engine Cooling Inc. at 2258 Allen Street
Ext., Jamestown, NY for a variance of 4 feet in addition to the 6-foot
permitted fence allowed in the code for a total of 10 feet.
Pat Martonis wanted to add
the condition that barbed wire is not added to the fence. Randy said he would
not allow any barbed wire on top of a fence unless the applicant comes before
the Zoning Board.
John Merchant amended his
motion to add that condition. Pat
Martonis seconded the motion.
Carried. Ayes 5 Noes 0
Absent 2
Chairman Hoglin reopened the
Public Hearing for Donald and Debra Balla, 3519 Lake St., Jamestown, NY for
sideline setback variance for a deck.
The Zoning Board received a letter on August 28, 2006 from Attorney Mark Bargar withdrawing this application. The members of the Board received a copy of this letter referenced on the agenda.
Mr. Woodbury said administratively there is procedure in the code that if the applicant is in violation the permit fee is twice the amount. This applicant did modify the deck so it is fully compliant and did pay twice the fee.
Chairman Hoglin reopened the
Public Hearing for Dawn Thompson, 3710 Ross Mills Road, Falconer, NY for a
Special Use Permit to operate a kennel for dog care.
The Zoning Board gave Mrs. Thompson until September 25, 2006 for course of action and to present plans.
Pat Martonis told the Board that Mrs. Thompson did call her and she referred her to the SPCA about what is needed for this plan and she keep the meeting with the SPCA.
Chairman Hoglin opened the
Public Hearing for Thomas and Debra DiDomenico, 2304 Lewis St., Jamestown, NY,
for an area variance to expand their garage.
Mr. DiDomenico provided a plan for the garage, an overview of his property and photos of the property. The Board reviewed the garage with Mr. DiDomenico noting:
1) the garage will be 42 by 36 for a total of 1512 SF
2) he owns the adjacent lot that is 1.3 acres - he originally wanted to clear that off and put a structure on Mr. Woodbury told him that was not allowed
3) he will use the additional space to refurbish a personal vehicle and for storage
4) he originally wanted to extend the garage 22 feet but did drop it back to 18 feet
5) he told the Board he takes care of his property and is in the process of siding his house
6) the Town of Ellicott has a right-of-way for a waterline through his property
7) he has no intention of running a business
8) there have been other variances granted in his neighborhood some with two buildings Mr. DiDomenico talked to Kevin Saff and Kevin said that he could use him as an example he has two buildings and the total is 1296 SF also Rick DePietro has a 28 by 40 garage
Mr. Woodbury said he took additional pictures to show the professional work that Mr., DiDomenico has done.
Attorney Wright told the Board this is a residential area and under the code a garage is allowed to be 1000 SF. This would be an area variance and is covered by Section 267 B of the Town Law. It is the balancing test where the Board looks at the benefit to the applicant if granted vs. the detriment to the neighborhood.
A petition was filed with eleven neighbors signatures that were in favor of this variance for Mr. DiDomenicos garage. They did not feel a well-built garage would hurt their property values.
Victor Anderson, 2280 Summit Blvd., Jamestown, NY, spoke in favor of the granting of this variance.
Nancy Peterson, 2281 Summit Blvd., Jamestown, NY stated she had no problem with this variance.
Sue Zentz, 2303 Lewis St., Jamestown, NY, spoke in favor of this variance.
Attorney Wright stated this
is exempt from SEQR as an expansion of a residential pertinent accessory
structure.
Motion made by Ang Cimo,
seconded by John Merchant to approve the area variance for Thomas and Debra DiDomenico,
2305 Lewis St., Jamestown, NY to expand their existing garage an additional 600
SF for a total of 1512 SF.
Carried. Ayes 5 Noes 0 Absent 2
Chairman Hoglin opened the
Public Hearing for Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy for setback and sign
variances on Fluvanna Avenue Ext., Jamestown, NY.
John Jablonski, Executive
Director for the Watershed Conservancy, and Rex Tolman, P.E. were sworn
in.
Mr. Jablonski, Executive Director, reviewed this project for the Board noting:
1) the Watershed Conservancy closed on this property last year and were able to purchase a 50 foot strip into the wet land area
2) they are trying to place a parking lot for nine cars
3) some of the property was illegally filled by the tenant before they purchased the property there is still construction materials and gravel that was left by the person that had filled
4) there is a 50 foot easement between the Conservancy and the adjoining neighbor (Russell Cederquist) - the tenant, Marker Electric, uses that area for access a letter was placed on file from Craig Marker stating he is not opposed to the variance from the setback requirements for the Conservancy
5) they want to build an entrance drive in and fill an area for the 9 car parking lot
6) they are requesting a 30 foot variance on the west side and a 5 foot variance on the east side Mr. Tolman told the Board they are going to the property line on the west side
7) there are wetlands they can not destroy
8) they are requesting they be allowed to have a gravel parking lot which will allow the water to soak in and create a concentrated run off
9) they have to get an occupancy permit from NYS DOT for access to the State road Mr. Tolman said they have a good line of sight and do not anticipate any problem getting the permit
10) Mr. Jablonski does not know if they will be able to purchase more property the wetland area they are interested in protecting sets back about 100 feet
Dave Remington entered the meeting at 7:15.
Mr. Tolman reviewed the drainage with the Board members.
Mr. Hoglin asked if just people that are coming to visit the Conservancy would have access to the parking. Mr. Jablonski said there is no way to police it but that is what they would want. The adjoining owners have right to the 25-foot easement area.
Attorney Wright asked if they could make the parking spaces 20 feet instead of 25 feet. They could ask for a 25-foot variance instead of the 30-foot variance on the westerly side. There will be no designation for the parking spaces but would be marked for parking.
There could be overflow parking if the Preserve becomes busier. The parking could overflow unto the neighbors area and if the neighbors have over flow parking that would overflow unto the Conservancy. This plan would improve the ability to park for both parties.
Mr. Woodbury told the Board this is a neglected and poorly treated environmental area and for the Conservancy to take it over, clean it up and share it with the public is a good thing. He feels it is just the beginning of a project and knows Mr. Jablonski would like to see the entire area cleaned up and to have more room available for the Preserve. He would imagine, seeing things like this in other States, they will eventually get school students coming in. Mr. Jablonski said if they can get permission for this and get this area improved they would hope to get school buses within a year or two for field trips.
Attorney Wright reviewed the Section 146-36 D of the Town Code and 267 B of the Town Law. He stated under SEQR individual lot line variances are exempt.
There was no correspondence on this project and no neighbors present to address the Board.
Motion made by Kathy
Hedstrand, seconded by John Merchant to approve the area variance for
Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy adjacent to 3085 Fluvanna Avenue Ext.,
Jamestown, NY for setbacks variances from 30 feet to 5 feet on the west side
and from 30 feet to 25 feet on the east side for gravel parking area.
Carried. Ayes 5
Noes 0 Abstain 1
(Hoglin) Absent 1
Mr. Tolman and Mr. Jablonski reviewed the sign variances needed by the Conservancy. Discussion followed on the requested signs. Photos and an actual sign were shown to the Board. They discussed:
1) the applicant wants to place a kiosk on the property and a sign as you enter the property the kiosk could be considered an informational sign
2) the Board may be able to consider the NYS Bond Act sign as a governmental sign because it is a requirement of the grant -
3) the applicant will put a plywood platform on some structural lumber and pile it with stones it would float they would use treated lumber that should be good for 20 to 30 years they will anchor the sign because it does flood in that area
4) this property is zoned mercantile most of these signs are informational but oversized
5) they are requesting four informational signs and the kiosk there is a 4 by 8 sign area on the kiosk half of that would be permanent and half would be changeable
6) informational signs can be 4 SF
7) the applicant was not aware that the kiosk would be considered a sign because it is a structure with print on it Attorney Wright read the definition of a sign from the code - he did not think the kiosk would be considered a sign he also read the definition of an informational sign the print on the kiosk is educational Randy said he thought the kiosk is a structure but it has signage on the structure it may be designed to attract public attention to an activity it does have changeable face signs it has a roof and seats
Attorney Wright reviewed what the signs were:
1) the first variance they need is a two foot variance for the NYS Bond Act sign that sign falls under 146-67 A, which is a category of permanent exempt signs that are allowed to be 6 SF and the sign presented to the Conservancy by the State is 8 SF the State does not offer any other size signs
2) the second variance they need is a variance for the number of signs but not the square footage - there are 3 signs that will be 3 by 4-one at the street and two at the water - the post do not have to be included since they are not decorative in nature and are not intended to be part of the overall emblematic sign - they do not need any setback variance for the sign at the street, which has to be setback 10 feet
3) the third issue is if the kiosk is a sign under Section 146-67 A of the Town code a two sided sign is considered one face in the code the Board decided it would be considered a sign so the Conservancy would need a third area variance for a 4 by 8 sign that would change the variance for the number of signs from the one allowed to four they would still not exceed the total allowable 100 square feet
No neighbors were present for this application. The Town did not receive any correspondence.
Mr. Jablonski said they would like to have more informational signs in the future.
Attorney Wright reviewed Section 146-67 A and B of the code and Section 267 B of the Town Law with the Board members. He stated this is exempt from SEQR.
Pat Martonis made a motion, seconded by Dave Remington, to approve the governmental sign for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, at Fluvanna Avenue Ext., Jamestown, NY that is 2 feet over the allowable 6 SF. The sign is a total of 8 SF.
Carried. Ayes 6 Noes 0 Absent 1
Attorney Wright reviewed Section 146-67.4 E 1 of the Town of Ellicott code. The applicant is requesting four signs instead of the one allowed. The total square footage does not exceed what is allowed in the code.
Motion made by John
Merchant, seconded by Ang Cimo to approve the variance for Chautauqua Watershed
Conservancy for a total of four signs vs. the one allowable sign. The total
square footage will not exceed 100 SF.
Carried. Ayes 4 Noes 2 (Martonis and
Remington) Absent 1
Chairman Hoglin opened the
Public Hearing for Kenneth Crooks for a variance to replace an old garage with
a new larger garage on a different location on property at 1 Longview Court,
Jamestown, NY.
Mr. Kenneth Crooks, 66 Willow Ave., Jamestown, NY, told the Board he wanted to build a garage at 1 Longview Court. He provided photos of the property.
Mr. Crooks told the Board there is no residence on the property. He would use the garage for storage. This property is approximately 500 feet from his residence.
Attorney Wright said this comes to the Board as an appeal of a determination made by the Code Enforcement Officer. His determination was that pursuant to the code this is a prior non-conforming use that cannot be demolished and rebuilt.
Mr. Woodbury stated it is a pre-existing non-conforming use because it is an accessory structure without any main structure and it does not meet the setbacks. The current garage could be maintained and used for residential purposes and could slowly be rebuilt because it is grandfathered. Randy denied a building permit to demolish the existing garage and build a different garage in a different location on the property. This parcel is large enough to build a house on. Mr. Crooks agreed with the issues as Randy had stated.
Attorney Wright stated the determination for the Board would be whether or not to support the determination of the Code Enforcement Officer. He reviewed Section 146-7 of the Town of Ellicott code. A garage is a permitted structure only as an accessory structure to a one or two family dwelling. The property is zoned residential.
There was no correspondence to the Town concerning this application.
Mrs. Jane Anderson, 22 Summit Blvd., Jamestown, NY, provided photos of the property. She stated she would not like to see a commercial garage on a residential lot or a garage without a residence.
Mr. Crooks stated it would not be a commercial garage. Mr. Crooks was told he would have to build a house in order to build a garage. Mr. DiDomenico also had been told he could not build a garage on his vacant lot.
Tom and Debra DiDomenico, 2304 Lewis St., Jamestown, NY, had no objections to the garage.
Mr. Crooks asked if this application had to come before the Zoning Board. Randy said the Zoning Board needed to finalize his decision and this could not have been done with shorter process.
Motion made by Pat Martonis,
seconded by Dave Remington to approve the finding of Mr. Woodbury that this
could not be considered for a variance because it is a non-conforming use that
was grandfathered.
Carried. Ayes - 6
Noes 0 Absent 1
Randy told Mr. Crooks that he would work with him to make improvements to what he already has so he can use it as is and make it look better.
Chairman Hoglin opened the
Public Hearing for Daniel A. Evans for setback variances for an addition at 986
Fairmount Ave., W.E., Jamestown, NY.
Mr. Evans provided plans and photos of the property. He discussed the project with the Board noting:
1) he wants to beautify the corner
2) he wants to enclose the coolers
3) signage will be removed
4) no parking would be disturbed Attorney Wright said he submitted plans that have 8 feet in the roadway - Mr. Evans stated that would not change because it has been that way
5) he did have plans to put a structured patio out there but they could not do that because it would be too close to the road
6) he is not asking for a variance for the concrete pad or the awning that already exist
7) this property is zoned mercantile
8) he is requesting a setback variance of 5 feet from Fairmount Ave. and a variance of 4 feet from Wilcox Avenue
9) this use is completely conforming only portions of the building have been rendered non-conforming
Attorney Wright said this area variance criteria is covered under 267 B of the Town Law and the variances needed by Mr. Evans. He needs a setback from 50 to 386 in the front and from 20 to 10 4 on the side.
The County Planning Board has not reviewed this project. Randy said he was sure he could get a response from them before Wednesday night when Mr. Evans will appear before the Planning Board for Site Plan.
Attorney Wright said the Board couldnt take action on this application without the County Planning comments.
The Board had questions on the plumbing and drainage and Randy explained those would be issues for the Planning Board. The application would not have to be changed as long as the Board considers the correct variances.
Motion made by Pat Martonis,
seconded by Kathy Hedstrand to table this application until the September 25, 2006
meeting.
Carried. Ayes 6 Noes 0 Absent 1
Motion made by Kathy
Hedstrand, seconded by John Merchant to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 PM.
Carried. Ayes 6 Noes 0 Absent 1
______________________________
Valerie Pierce, Secretary