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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1979-05-07 ii I , �l i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS I COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS I I CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK May 7 , 1979 TABLE OF CONTENTS MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA, I j NEW YORK - MAY 711 1979 Page APPEAL NO. 1258 David & Seymour Turk 1 323- 329 College Avenue I APPEAL NO. 1258 Executive Session 8 i APPEAL NO. 5-1- 79 Bronsnick $ Jupiter 9 I 407 W. Seneca Street I I APPEAL NO. 5-1- 79 Executive Session 13 CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY 14 i I i I I i f I I I i, 1� li 1� !I li BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK MAY 7 , 1979 I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Let me call to order the May meeting of the Ithaca Board of Zoning Appeals. The Board operates under the provisions of the Ithaca City Charter, the Ithaca Zoning Ordi- nance and the Ithaca Sign Ordinance. Present this evening are all members of the Board except one. Those present include : Ms . Natalie DeCombray Dr. Martin Greenberg Mr. William Wilcox Mr. Joseph Gainey Chairman Peter Martin Thomas D . Hoard, Building Comm. Secy to the Board Barbara Ruane, Recording Secy ABSENT: Mr. Morris Angell The Board' s procedure is simple and I ' ll just outline it very quickly since I think you are familiar with it. We hear the appeals , we hear all evidence in support of the requested vari- ance or other action of the Board and then we invite anyone else present to speak on the case, firstiaufavor and then against. We ask that all who speak come to the front of the room and iden- tify themself by name and address . We have two cases tonight - I see appellant - and only one of them here, so we ' ll reverse the order and take the one that is here , first . SECRETARY HOARD: The appeal we are about to hear is appeal no. 1258 : Appeal of Davis $ Seymour Turk for an area variance under Section 30 . 25 , Columns 4 , 5 , 10, 13 and 14 to permit construction of a one-story retail building at 323-329 College Avenue in a B- 2 (business) , use district. The proposed building would exceed the maximum permitted lot coverage , one side yard and rear yard would be deficient, and no off-street parking or loading would be available on the property. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Mr. Turk before you begin let me interject one technical point. I 've just received a note from Jon Meigs of the City Planning & Development office giving the following information. As we all know the City Council has amended the City Zoning Ordi- - 2 - 1 nance, on the 26th of April. The final step in making those amendment official have not yet occurred and that ' s , I guess - publication. In any event that will take place and they will formally come into effect in a few days so that we will be operating tonight in anti- cipation of that event. And so, technically to do things right, w shouldcondition any actions that we take, any grant of variance on the coming into full effect of those amendments , when they do. But we will be operating tonight on the assumption that that ' s just a technicality and will occur - and so we will treat, I would say, treat your case as though those amendments were in effect . Which means that we don' t have any problem with off-street parking? MR. DAVID TURK: Right, so . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: The only problem is with the rear yard, as I understand it? MR. DAVID TURK: The rear yard, full lot coverage if possible. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Would you sketch for us the building as you now are proposing to do it and why the rear yard requirements can' t be complied with and why you need the variance? MR. DAVID TURK: We are trying to fill up an area of 70 foot front on College Avenue and 60 foot deep on Dryden Road. The reason we have to go the full lot coverage - we are trying to put in some retail stores - the larger the area, of course, the easier it would be for rent and of course that would cover the cost of the new construction. We will be leaving three foot on the Dryden Roa side for exits . We have a seven foot set back from the property o College Avenue which would give us seven foot access between our property and the present building that is there right now. There is a rear yard on Dryden Road which is approximately 15 foot be- tween our property and the existing property that is there . We 've been before you twice before with the same variance except that th s time we scaled it back and all we are coming in with is a one-story tax payer. That' s it actually. At the present time we have no intentions of going ahead and building any apartments on top . We I will be building a one-story structure and that ' s all we are going for right now. - 3 - (CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Reviewing thebbilding now - there will � be a 7' separation between the side of your building and the liquor store? MR. DAVID TURK: Right. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And you will go to the property line in the rear? �MR. DAVID TURK: No, we will be setting back approximately three feet off the property line in the rear in order to get our exits for the stores. We ' ll have an alleyway actually. MR. SEYMOUR TURK: There will be an alleyway in the building in order to make our rear entrance - because I can' t make a rear entrance on that retaining wall . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. MR. DAVID TURK: So it will be set back approximately three feet - at least three feet from the property line. MR. SEYMOUR TURK: Passed out the plans? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I think we do have copies of the plans . MR. SEYMOUR TURK: This will be our retaining wall (pointing to the plans) here . We are going to leave that retaining wall instead of digging it out and go along side of it with cinder - cement blocks also. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. MR. DAVID TURK: Approximately three feet off that retaining wall . MR. SEYMOUR TURK: Plus then you will have an exit. This door cannot open (_pointing) on this man' s property. SECY HOARD: That' s your side door? MR. SEYMOUR TURK: Right. That will be his property so it will have to come with an exit back here. CHAIR MAN MARTIN: So your rear wall will not be where it is drawn there, it will be three feet back? MR. SEYMOUR TURK: I will still have a rear wall here - it will be built along-side and go up but I also will have doors leading out here (pointing) like an entrance in here (pointing) going all the way back to this door. . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I guess I 'm still not following completely. There will be - it ' ll be sort of a covered alleyway? Is that what 4 - �M I� you are telling me? MR. SEYMOUR TURK: Right . Because I don' t want any bottles , and igarbage being thrown in there from the Liquor store and bars . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, and you will not have this side. . . IMR. SEYMOUR TURK: That door also - that' s right , whatever store I ' put in there - one store door will be coming out in the back, here (pointing) . It will be anywhere from 3 feet or 4 feet and it will come out to this door here. (pointing) . But that is his property, that' s the way we decided. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. We are still getting used to these new requirements - the amended zoning requires 10 feet rear yard, so you will need a variance in connection with that. MR. SEYMOUR TURK: I think that is all that we need right now. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: That 's the only thing? ` R. SEYMOUR TURK: Right . R. GAINEY: There is a 15 foot alleyway, though . . that is . . . R. SEYMOUR TURK: Yes . . . there is an alleyway . . . R. DAVID TURK: Dryden Road. R. SEYMOUR TURK: Where the retaining wall is right now. R. GAINEY: That' s owned by the . . . ? R. DAVID TURK: Next party. R. SEYMOUR TURK: We have a retaining wall in there now and I think that the intentions are to build up along side of it and keep it that way. Of course it does - if I don't have completely finished basements I don't have to tear it out. That will be a of less expensive too . Of course, my money problem is a big problem right now with interest rates and everything else that ' s hooting up. HAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay now, of course , when you were here before he zoning change hadn' t occurred. R. SEYMOUR TURK: Right. HAIRMAN MARTIN: And, I ' ll just raise the question -- one of the reasons I presume you scaled it down was so that , you know, the arking impact, etc. , would be reduced. Now that parking is no Longer a problem for you, would you want the two story building? 5 - lMR. SEYMOUR TURK: Right now - I don' t think I could make it right I snow. With the interest rates but we definitely do need the extra room, because like I said, I 'm going to lose room here (pointing) ' I lost a half angle off on the corner - I ' ll have to - by the time Iwe put another wall in here (pointing) it will be 5 feet . You have to have it closed in up there because it will only be a place for refuse to be dumped. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. You are going to have some kind of closure ! here to - on the space between you and the liquor store? MR. DAVID TURK: No , that' s going to be open. MR. SEYMOUR TURK: That' s his . IMR. DAVID TURK: That' s his . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, so for the moment your request and all that we are considering is a one-story building? . SEYMOUR TURK: Right now. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Right and you would have to come back for another variance presumably if you wanted to put on a second story to it and the only zoning problem now is the rear yard? R. DAVID TURK: Right. ISECY HOARD: And off-street loading. HAIRMAN MARTIN: Off-street loading, too? Alright. SECY HOARD: You would still require it. HAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. R. SEYMOUR TURK: I 'm within the 5001 , am I not? SECY HOARD: Well for off-street loading - for delivery vehicles . . R. SEYMOUR TURK: Well most of ours is parcel post that comes in. We don't have any big shipments so it will either be most of it - 0% of it is parcel post - UPS. �SECY HOARD: There is also the requirement of you going before the Design Review Board, you understand that? . SEYMOUR TURK: Yes - well , I 'm not going to design it myself, you understand. SECY HOARD: No, I know. HAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Off-street loading -- what is the thing required now? I i - 6 - SECY HOARD: Well it is the same as it was before . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Same as it was , okay. SECY HOARD: Which was one space per use. MR. GAINEY: What are his yard dimensions? ` CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well that was before the change. MR. GAINEY: That no longer is in effect? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: That' s right - there are no front yard require- ents , no side yard requirements you can cover 100% except for the rear yard requirement. Any idea what the other stores will be - ou speak of your own business , say largely using parcel post . . . ? R. SEYMOUR TURK: They will be small retail shops - nothing big, because we won' t have enough footage for anything big over there . HAIRMAN MARTIN: How much footage will you be using and how much ill you be renting? R. SEYMOUR TURK: I 'd say approximately about half. R. DAVID TURK: About half of it. R. GAINEY: What ' s the total? R. SEYMOUR TURK: 2 ,000 feet , I ' d say approximately, maybe less - ore or less . HAIRMAN MARTIN: And you' ll be covering all the lot then with the xception that you cut the corner for visibility? R. SEYMOUR TURK: That' s right. R. DAVID TURK: And an alleyway in the back. iR. SEYMOUR TURK: An alleyway in the back - right on the side of t too, plus all your other buildings right there - right up to the building lot, too - right smack up there. HAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there questions? SECY HOARD: Let me correct something - on the loading space . It says retail store , one space for each use for 3, 000 to 10 ,000 squar eet of floor space plus one space for each additional 15 ,000 squar eet so you don' t have the use that ' s over 33.000 square feet, so yo re off the hook on that . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So they need not meet off-street loading require- ents . ECY HOARD: Right. f� 7 i� CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So the rear yard is the only thing. No questions ? Anything either of you want to add? MR. DAVID TURK: I think you know what it is by now. i' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, thank you. MR. DAVID TURK: Thank you. ; CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there anyone else here who would like to be I 1heard on the requested variance of the Turk Brothers? Our next case, our last case? I I i - 8 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS !� COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS ' CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK r MAY 71, 1979 EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1258 MR. GAINEY: I move that the Board approve the area variance requested in appeal No . 1258 CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I second the motion. VOTE: 5 Yes; 0 No ; 1 Absent FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The appellants have cut the size of the building down to conform to the Board' s requests - as far as the back alleyway and the corner cut , which we requested, are concerned. 2) There will not be as great an impact on the neighborhood with a one-story building and no apartments . I 3) With the recent amendments to the Ordinance the only aspect in which the proposed building does not comply with zoning is the I absence of a rear yard. There will be access to the building from the rear and full cover- age of the lot is , according to the testimony I presented, necessary to give a building large enough to support itself economically. Area variance granted. f I i' - 9 - i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS MAY 7 , 1979 I i SECY HOARD: The next case Mr. Chairman is Appeal No. 5-1-79 : Appeal of Bronsnick and Jupiter for a variance of Section 34. 6A of the City of Ithaca Sign Ordi- nance, to permit the placing of sign on the east wall of the building at 407 West . Seneca Street, in a B-2 (business) use district . The proposed sign would be on the side of the building; the Sign Ordinance permits signs only on the front of buildings in this district . MR. BRONSNICK: I am Ted Bronsnick, partner in this business , of 616 N. Cayuga Street. Do you all have drawings? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: No , I don't think we do . . . . . . . yes we do . MR. BRONSNICK: Here are some photographs . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are you going to leave them with us or are you just going to show them around tonight? MR. BRONSNICK: Whatever you need. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You can leave them? Okay would you mark them with the number on the back with the number of this case? MR. WILCOX: Yes I will . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . MR. BRONSNICK: We occupy the second floor of the old bottling works building, 407 W. Seneca and we've been there a little over two years . Now we see the necessity of having a sign and it seem much more sensible to have the sign on the side of the building facing the on-coming traffic. The situation is such that our building is set back from the curb 21 feet and the adjoining building is set back from the curb 52 feet, as the photographs indicate. That spot right there - the photograph you are just handling is the location of the sign. The sign would conform g g m in other ways in that it would be one and one-half times the frontag in square foot total and on the bottom right, there is an exampl of the type-face that we have in mind which would also fit the building that it is. In addition we intend to light it incandes- cently which is a soft kind of lighting. Are there any other i i - lo - questions? l CHAIRMAN MARTIN: If you didn't get the variance what would you do? 1 MR. BRONSNICK: We would put a window in that side of the building and hang the sign on the inside and back light it. MR. GAINEY: I thought you were going to say you were going to pu one of those shades . What is the exact dimension of this sign? MR. BRONSNICK: Well by rights we can have something around 51 square feet. It will most likely be 32 square feet . i MR. GAINEY: 32 square feet. MR. BRONSNICK: Somewhere in that neighborhood. MR. GAINEY: Do you have any idea of the colors? i MR. BRONSNICK: Yes , beige with blue or brown lettering. The building now is a beige with brown trim. You can pick out what i beige and what is brown from the photographs. MR. WILCOX: You are going to light the sign? MR. BRONSNICK: Yes we are going to light the sign. MR. WILCOX: With incandescent lighting? MR. BRONSNICK: Right, what we have in mind is a three or four enameled shades which also is typical for an old building. MR. GAINEY: Is there a specification on the size of the bulb and light, etc. ? MR. BRONSNICK: No . SECY HOARD: It just can' t be flashing, rotating and it can' t cau e glare that would be objectionable to neighboring properties. DR. GREENBERG: Will this conform to the new sign ordinance? SECY HOARD: In all respects except that it is on the side of the building and not on the front. DR. GREENBERG: But the size will conform? SECY HOARD: Yes . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So in all respects it will conform with the Ordinance except for the location? It will be on the side and th t is what requires the variance. And the reason you want it on the side is that it is a one- way street and because of the peculiar relationship of this building visna-vis the next building which h s I. i I all the set back - that ' s a ver convenient spot to put it. If i� Y P �I you put it on the front of the building, as the Ordinance required , i people will miss it. MR. BRONSNICK: I believe that ' s true . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any questions? DR. GREENBERG: The Bottle Works sign is no longer valid _is it? fl MR. BRONSNICK: We intend to leave that just because it is a landmark in some ways. It was a building that operated for 40 or , yy ars 50 /as the Bottling Works and . . . MR. GAINEY: They used to have good root beer. MR. BRONSNICK: When we mention that we are in the Bottling Works building not everybody knows where it is . Some people do but we Just felt that . . . it was important to leave it . SECY HOARD: The Bottling Works sign is one that will become illegal as of August 31 , 1979 . MR. BRONSNICK: Oh it will because of its square footage? I SECY HOARD: Yes and location. MR. BRONSNICK: You can paint .it over. For sure that doesn' t pro- trude past the building 18" because its only painted on. I SECY HOARD: It is still a sign on the side of the building? MR. BRONSNICK: Yes. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there any further questions? Anything you want to add? MR. BRONSNICK: No . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Seeing no one else who looks like they want to speak on this case . . . SECY HOARD: We have three responses from the neighboring properties . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, yes . . . before we close the public hearing let me note the three letters we have received on this case: "Seneca Printing, 409 W. Seneca Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. "We have no objections to a sign on the building located at 407 W. Seneca Street . Re: other side of letter, applied for by Bronsnick & Jupiter. " Signed by Mrs . A. Johns , A. Johns . " "Ithaca Glass Co . , 415 Seneca St. , Ithaca, NY ( I 12 - I I "We have no objection on the application by Bronsnick & Jupiter for a sign variance at the above address . Ithaca Glass Company, Inc. Signed by Joseph Johns , President" .I "I have no objection to a sign on the side of the 407 West Seneca ) Street building. Mrs . J. P. Klein, 434 Winthrop Drive , Ithaca New York. Property: Tioga Auto Parts" CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, the Board will go into Executive Session to consider these cases . We will have to ask you to move outside and we will reconvene in public session shortly when we have reached our decision. I I i i - 13 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS II CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS I MAY 731 1979 EXECUTIVE SESSION ii APPEAL NO . 5-1- 79 : ` CHAIRMAN MARTIN : I move that the variance requested in case 5-1-79 be granted. i MR. GAINEY: I second the motion. VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The sign will comply with all requirements of the Sign Ordinance with the exception of that requirement that the sign be on the front of the building. 2) West Seneca Street is a one-way street and a sign on the front of the building will be less visible than one on the side . Given the location of the adjacent build- ing, a sign on the side does not have a detrimental effect on the neighborhood. Sign variance granted. i I� ,1 - 14 - Ij i' � I , Barbara Ruane , Do Certify that I took the minutes of the Board lof Zoning Appeals, City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals numbered 1258 and 5-1-79 at City Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; that I have transcribed same, and the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the minutes of the meeting and the Executive Session of the Board of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, on the above date, and the whole thereof to the best of my ability. -'/" Barbara C . Ruane Recording Secretary I Sworn to before me this 7 day of 1979 I Notary Public JEAN J. HANKINSON TARY PUBLIC, STATE OF NEW YOF' No, 55.1660800 QUALIFIED IN TOMPKINS COUNTY MY COMMISSION EXPIRES MO.RCH 30,�7�