HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-4-PB
TOWN OF ULYSSES
PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES
10/04/11
APPROVED 01/03/12
Attending: Members - Rod Hawkes, John Wertis, Peter Fry, Rebecca Schneider, Ken Zeserson (Robin
unavoidably delayed due to her corollary responsibilities.); Staff - Darby Kiley, Alex Rachun
1. The Board considered the subdivision requested by Attorney Mark Wheeler representing Irene
Kohlberg. A variance sanctioning the subdivision was granted by the BZA in Sept. Mr. Wertis MADE the
MOTION, Mr. Zeserson SECONDED the MOTION,
Whereas, tthe Town of Ulysses Planning Board has reviewed the subdivision of tax parcel 24.-3-11.1
depicted on an Aug. 17, 2011 survey by TG Miller of lands belonging to Irene Kohlberg; and Whereas,
the Planning Board recognizes an area variance for said subdivision which was approved by the Ulysses
ZBZ on Sept. 21, 2011.
Therefore be it resolved, the Town of Ulysses approves the subdivision of tax parcel number 24.-3-11.1.
The vote was taken, ALL IN FAVOR, Subdivision approved.
2. Architect Jason Demarest presented a detailed plan for a new office building to be constructed by
Architecture Technology Corporation (ATC) as described below:
The owner, Ken Thurber, has commissioned an office building for the Architecture Technology
Corporation, a software development business. The new building is predominantly two stories with
approximately 9695 SF on the first floor, which includes ~1300 SF of garage space, and an open office
area of 9510 SF on the second floor that is reserved for future expansion of the office. There is also 560
SF of conference space on a small third level. Gross area of the project is 19,765 SF. The function of the
building will exclusively be office use without any light industrial activity even though the project is
being built in a light industrial zoning district. The majority of the building will contain typical office
building spaces as well as conference rooms/software demonstration areas and typical accessory
spaces. The conference rooms are small and the nature of the business will not produce events with a
large number of visitors. There is an attached storage and garage space for executive parking and typical
office storage needs. The project is intended to replace an existing office in the Ithaca area. Currently
there are approximately 25 employees, but the new building is designed to accommodate 50+
employees as operations expand. Some of these employees already live in the Trumansburg area and
currently commute past the site. The hours of operation will roughly follow a typical work day; i.e. 9am-
6pm, but employees are also free to make their own schedules to some degree. The traffic impact on
Route 96 due to vehicles entering and leaving the site will be very minimal. The worst-case future traffic
load affecting daily flows on Route 96 will be +/-50 vehicular trips. It is unlikely that all vehicles entering
or leaving the site will occur within the same hour or during the peak hourly period for Route 96 traffic
flows.
It should be noted a very similar plan was approved by the PB in the 4th Quarter of 2008 but the project
was discontinued. The resubmitted proposal calls for a modestly larger footprint than the original
proposal and changes to stormwater facilities, but other aspects are similar.
The Board reviewed the proposed storm water plan in some detail and seems assured it will be
sufficient for the structure as proposed. Angel Dybas (Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation
District) will review and sign off on the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, per town stormwater local
law.
Peter Fry noted that while the site plan calls for native and non-invasive species to be used in
landscaping the actual specs call for non-native trees. Demarest agreed to confer with Fry to determine
more suitable foliage.
A new water line will be extended from the public water system on Route 96 to the new structure which
will have a sprinkler system. The Board was assured water pressure would be sufficient for that purpose.
Demarest will verify any wells on the Alpine Machine’s property is of sufficient distance from the
proposed septic system. Demarest will also resubmit the septic systems plans to the County Health
Department for approval.
Proposed signage and lighting conform to existing design criteria in the Ulysses Zoning Code.
The Board decided to hold a Public Hearing on this proposal on Oct. 18th, 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall.
Demarest will deliver site plan materials reflecting changes suggested in the Oct. 4th discussion to the
Board one week prior to the PH.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM.
--Ken Zeserson, Oct. 5, 2011