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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 9, 2011 Resident Statments.PDF Vittage of Capup joe%gbt� tb Kathryn D.Supron,Mayor MARCHAM HALL Mar E. Mills,Clerk 836 HANSHAW ROAD y `. ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850 Jeffrey A.Silber,Treasurer •• i: i��. ,.; �� Brent A.Cross, Engineer =r :r .__ .._ '- •. (607)257-1238 fax(607)257-4910 Please PRINT your name and address for the Record. Thank You. Board of Trustees May 9, 2011 Village of Cayuga Heights,N6ti-Residents " Name ,c Address r c3, a j k,4,e. ` Police Dept.&Village Administration OFFICE HOURS 9 AM—4:30 PM http.Y/www.cayuga-heights.ny.us ,. Vittage of (fapuga 30eig1)t!5 Kathryn D.Supron, Mayor MARCHAM HALL Ma E. Mills,Clerk Mary 836 HANSHAW ROAD Jeffrey A. Silber,Treasurer a ITHACA,NEW YORK 14850 Brent A.Cross, Engineer ---41 `^ (607)257-1238 fax(607)257-4910 Please PRINT your name and address for the Record. Thank You. Board of Trustees May 9, 2011 Village of Cayuga Heights Residents Name 31, Address `�-�- ��r�� Tics C;2/ i ex Q F/ '-j t w—tL, 7 1 � l2 { 4% Police Dept.&Village Administration OFFICE HOURS 9 AM—4:30 PM http.//www.cayuga-heights.ny.us VCH, 2 MIN, May 9, 2011: Elizabeth Mount Briefly, What a glorious day! Is there anyone here who hasn't enjoyed these marvelous spring blooms? Then you must also know that of all the blooms you have seen, only the daffodils can be reliably grown in any of these Northeast States without some kind of protection or barrier. And if you want to walk, drive, cycle, or in any other way, pass by and enjoy these blooms your self, then part of that barrier has to be in the gardener's front yard where you can see it. And if that gardener has a small, corner, or oddly shaped lot - something this Village excels in - then that front yard barrier has to be on the front property line. Finally, if the barrier can't be in the front, then the garden will be a private, back yard garden for the benefit of the gardener alone. Thank you Fence Ordinance-Yahoo!Mail http:tlus.mc1133.maii-yah(- ).cczni/me/she wMessage?sMid=€l fi... A IE4001' MAIL Giassic Fence Ordinance Monday, May 9,2011 3:58 PM From. "Ron Bors" <ronbors@yahoo.com> To: "Ron Bors" <ronbors@yahoo.com> To the Mayor and Board of Trustees- The issue of deer fences has been difficult for you.You have been attempting to find a balance between individual property rights, and the rights of the Village as a whole. It is rare for you to be able to discern the will of the people that elected you to represent us, However, in the present issue of the fence ordinance, the people have clearly stated the will of the majority. Three hundred fifty two Villagers have signed their names in a petition to you, to leave the fence ordinance as is. Their desire is clear. Will you represent the majority tonight? Ronald Bars 1 Of 1 5191113:59 PM May 9, 2011 Cayuga Heights Trustees meeting Privilege of the Floor First, I would like to congratulate you for the new stop signs that have been erected at the Northway Rd/Parkway Junction at the back entrance to Cayuga Heights Elementary School. This is a great improvement to safety and will go a long way towards mitigating the negative impact of all the vehicle traffic, Cars as well as busses, around 8 AM in the morning during school days. Second, I have already sent you comments on the enforcability of the proposed new fencing ordinance. These concern the lack of any definition of temporary fencing,the need for permits for ALL fences regardless of height or location, and finally the color of fencing materials that must be used. Despite these negatives I hope you will vote for 8ft high rear and side yard fences as outline in the ordinance. I also hope you will add 8ft high deer fencing on front property lines to the list of approved fences. We are all concerned) about the look of the Village and anyone who has had a shrub, or tree, or deer resistant plant become a tasty treat for even just one deer, will understand why we urge you to let us put up good looking lift high deer fencing on our property lines. 'rwVA\���� 1 ` To the Trustees `1(( Qr Proposed Fencing Ordindance OL> I am making these comments in the interest of moving forward successfully to achieve a revised fencing ordinance that provides Village property owners with the means to protect their property, children, pets and privacy with fences, without infringing the rights of villagers who wish to maintain an open, attractive and parklike Village. My understanding is that Trustees now agree that property owners should have to right to erect fences up to 8ft in height to protect their property from deer, but do not support these fences on front property lines. They do however wish gardeners to be able to protect their front yard plants. I believe the intention of the new ordinance is to allow this. Assuming none of the Trustees change their views on front yard fences, it is likely this draft ordinance will be adopted. However, to make it enforceable I believe a number of changes need to be made first. Please understand that these comments refer to the way the ordinance is written, not whether or not front yard fences should be legal. I will address this point separately. 1. The ordinance is very clear on the definition of a fence which includes exclosures but does not make any mention of temporary fencing. 2. It requires ALL fences to have a permit regardless of where they are, whether or not they are over 4 ft in height, and whether they are exclusures or fences round the property. Do you seriously believe that our Zoning Officer is going to have the time to review the property of every home own who puts up fencing of any height anywhere on their property? It appears that no-one has thought this through. To comply with this ordinance I must get a (permit if I plant a tree and put protective fencing round it even if this tree is in the middle of my back yard well away from the property line and the fence is only 4 feet. I will also have to apply for a permit if I fence off a small area of my back yard to plant vegetables and to keep my dog of the plot. This will not be a good use of Brent Cross's time and property owners are unlikely to apply for permits for this sort of fencing. Remember ALL fencing is included in this requirement particularly as there is NO definition of a temporary fence nor whether temporary fencing is included or excluded from the terms of the ordinance. 3. 1 strongly recommend that permits are only required for fences over 4ft in height, and permits for exclosures are only required for those on front yards that are between the property line and the 25 ft set back line. 4. You are concerned about the look of fences and require that fencing materials for the part of fences over 4ft in height that are outside the set back zone, must be 90% ope all be of the same color. This will be very difficult to achieve. Most material that is 90% open is black plastic and most posts required to support this are either brown (wood) or green. I recommend you change the ordinance to stipulate the colors that may not be used. 5. By only including requirements for fences that are extended to 8 ft and leaving out requirements for newly constructed fences you exclude the possibility of putting up very good looking fences. Do you seriously want to exclude the construction of fences such as the one on Trustee Zekerly's property that recently received a variance? This does not comply with the new ordinance and I can't believe that is your intention. I recommend you as a landscape designer such as David Fernandez of Cayuga Landscape to give you examples of good looking, open fencing the description of which could be included in the ordinance. I believe, that without these suggested changes, you will introduce a new ordinance, the purpose for which hundreds of villagers fully support, that is unenforceable. Front Yard Fencing — Comments unrelated to enforceability of proposed ordinance The following comments are not related to the proposed new ordinance, but are my personal preferences regarding front yard fencing. I would like it to be possible to have deer fencing on front property lines provided that this fencing is made of neutral color material and any part of it over 4ft in height is 90% open. We are already allowed to have high hedges that totally obscure the view on front property lines. We are already allowed to have 4ft high fences on front property lines. Exclosures dotted all over front yards looks awful (my own front yard, all of which is legal) looks awful and would look much better with a fence either on or closer to the property line even iif that fence extended to 8ft in height. Villagers who are opposed to 8ft high deer fencing on property lines forget that we can already have 8ft high fencing within the property set back lines. Deer are already denied access to some yards. There will be no increase in the foraging of deer, deer running across roads, or deer car accidents just because a few property owners put up fencing on their property lines. There are few if any open park like vistas left in the Village. Most of the Villagers who want to put up deer fencing have small yards and want to grow gardens and do not have open park-like yards to be hidden. Please reconsider allowing us to protect our front yards in an attractive way as well as our rear and side yards. o� Qo�' A Note From ECiz Beth Root � f �l }f EQEIINE �� ,Proud to Support v� r y c. f) CL ' J i 4-1 ,)' r � zt � - .. i CT Cf) bovC� V , 0 V_S t S July 21, 1997 Dear friends, - . Because of the ever-increasing number of deer in the Village of Cayuga Heights, we are contemplating erecting a barrier around our back yard to keep them from decimating our shrubs, potted plants and perennial border. Our plan is to construct this barrier with the same materials we have used in the past to enclose individual beds, namely black plastic netting strung between metal poles. We have found the netting to be almost invisible, and the poles to be strong and equally inoffensive. Most of the barrier will be within the natural brush that already exists along the edges of our property. It will be about 6' high, and while technically the deer could leap over it or even crash through, it has not happened yet. We trust: that this will not inconvenience you in any way, and that, in fact, it will restrict the deer traffic through all of our yards. We would appreciate your signing this to indicate that you know about our plans and do not object. Many thanks, Sincerely, Tim and Elizabeth Mount, 303 E. Upland Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 Leonard Elkins 305 E. Upland Road Sue Sc eapfer 106 Sheldon Road 7yiii-ig-an 819 Tripharnmer Road Holly/Phil Tavelli 817 Tri ha nil er Road