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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1979-06-04 I i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS !I COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JUNE 4 , 1979 TABLE OF CONTENTS MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS , ITHACA, NEW YORK - JUNE 4, 1979 Page APPEAL NO. 1252 Albert D. Kelly 1 Kelly' s Dockside Kafe ! 319 Taughannock Blvd. APPEAL NO. 1252 Executive Session g iAPPEAL NO. 1257 Tioga & Buffalo Building Corp. 9 (Withdrawn by appellants) (APPEAL NO. 1259 Ken Butler & Mark Kielman 9 503 Chestnut Street !� (no one showed to present case) APPEAL NO. 1260 Carmen L. & Virginia Canestaro 9 205 Linn Street APPEAL NO. 1260 Executive Session 15 CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY 16 I 1 i ! �I i i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS i! COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY HALL , ITHACA, N.Y. JUNE 4 , 1979 CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Let me call to order the June meeting of the Ithaca City Board of Zoning Appeals . The Board operates under the provisions of the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and the City Charter. Our proceedings , for those of you who are not familiar with them, take the following form. The Board hears cases in the order in which the appeals have been filed. We ask all who present testi- mony to come to the front of the room and to identify themselves first by name and address and then limit their remarks to the issues that are before the Board. We hear those who speak in favor of an appeal first and then we invite anyone who wants to speak in opposition to present their views. After we have heard all the cases we then go into executive session and deliberate on what we've heard and then we reconvene in public session to an- nounce the results. We have only four members of the Board present this evening; that is a quorum, barely a quorum. Four votes are required for any affirmative action, so that that means that you will have to achieve unanimity from those present this evening. PRESENT: Ms . Natalie DeCombray Mr. Morris Angell Mr . William Wilcox Mr. Thomas Hoard, Secy to the Board and Building Commissioner Mrs. Barbara Ruane, Recording Secy Chairman Peter Martin ABSENT: Mr. Joseph Gainey Dr. Martin Greenberg What is our first case Mr. Secretary? SECRETARY HOARD: The first case Mr. Chairman is Appeal No . 1252 : Appeal of Albert D. Kelly for an area variance under Section 30 . 25 , Columns 4 , 12 and 13 to permit use of the second story deck at 319 Taughannock Blvd. (Kelly' s Dockside Kafe) for additional restaurant dining space . The property is located in an M-1 (Marine) use district , and is deficient in both side yards and has no off-stre t parking. This appeal was originally scheduled to be heard at the April 2 , 1979 public hearing, but was held over at the request of the Planning and De- velopment Board until a recommendation could be made regarding off-street parking requirements . f - 2 - �I � MR. KELLY: My name is Albert Kelly and I own Kelly' s Dockside iKafe at 319 Taughannock Blvd. I 've forgotten what I 'm supposed to ! do anymore. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Why don' t you outline what you are proposing to do and why it requires a variance and respond to any questions of the Board? f MR. KELLY: Alright. I 'm taking my upstairs living quarters and I 'm dividing it and using it for a bar and cocktail lounge upstairs so I can serve dinners at night time to help my dinner business out. Without a license it is almost useless to open up at night. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright - this is the upstairs that you built i with a variance . . . ? R.. KELLY: Right. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: What , about a year ago? MR. KELLY: A year ago. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: A year ago - and you live upstairs , is that right? MR. KELLY: Right. i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And how much - what are the living quarters now in terms of . . . ? MR. KELLY: Well it ' s cut in - it took about a third of it, maybe a little bit over a third of my living quarters, but that' s , you know . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN What rooms are in the living quarters now? MR. KELLY: I have my bedrooms and bathroom and that' s it . I used to have a kitchen and living room, which - I never even finished the kitchen because I knew I was never going to use it. I have a full kitchen downstairs - it' s a restaurant now - everything is laccessible there. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So it' s an incomplete apartment upstairs? MR. KELLY: Right. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And so what you want to do , is you want to take some of this space - you want to leave the living quarters upstairs to a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom? MR. KELLY: Right. ; CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And have the balance of it be a serving area? I, (+ - 3 - MR. KELLY: Right. It' s just a cocktail lounge . Downstairs is the serving area - it ' s mostly, you know, I don' t have any room down- stairs to put a bar or any thing else so I have to put it upstairs i where I have the excess room and its not for dining. In the winte time it' s - you see I ' ll only be able to hold 28 seats up there - 26 seats and downstairs we are limited - I took out eight seats because I needed it for the stairwell going up - so I am not gaining that much more space. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay and the zoning problems are off-street parking and lot size? MR. KELLY: Right. And the Planning Board already accepted it all - there is plenty of parking down there, it' s just that they wanted to make sure there was. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, well we have their recommendation on the case. Questions from members of the Board? ,MR. WILCOX: What are you going to do with these back two rooms? MR. KELLY: That ' s my living quarters. MR. WILCOX: You are going to - oh you are going to stay there? i MR. KELLY: Yes . It is really pretty big, you see it was a 28 x 40 house upstairs . MR. WILCOX: Yes , I saw it , I just wondered what you were going to do. MR. ANGELL : My only question is bathroom facilities . Are you going to allow the public to use your bathroom facilities here? MR. KELLY: No , I have facilities downstairs that have been adquat right along and nobody has ever . . . it 's my own private facilities - that' s locked off. You see a wall in there. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Now how did your mind change , I mean, as I remem- ber when you were in here before, when you wanted to put that in o top of your building, you were talking about the need for living quarters there, the desirability of having living quarters on top. MR. KELLY: You see the whole thing is, my place has been robbed - well last year it was robbed seven times before I moved into it. lIt hasn' t been robbed since. ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Yes , I remember that, that' s why it seemed to ma e ,Isense. 4 - I MR. KELLY: So I 'm just utilizing the space I 've got, you know, fo the business. They are building the west end up a lot, down there the place is coming - it looks a helluva lot better then it did. I I don' t know if you have ever seen it? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Of course I 've seen it. But this wasn' t in your mind when you were asking for the variance a year ago? MR. KELLY: No, no way. Every year I think of something different and I just keep growing . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Now you actually were using that space for awhil right? MR. KELLY: Upstairs , living? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Pardon? MR. KELLY: For living space? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: No for cocktail lounge and for service? MR. KELLY: Well the upper deck - you know, I built the upper deck and we were serving upstairs and they told us not to use it so we haven't used it at all this year, you know. But it doesn' t create any parking problem or anything else down there in the west end. The only time I ever use it is like on a nice warm day. When it is cold in the winter time you can never use this thing. MR. ANGELL: This is open? MR. KELLY: This is open on the back. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: It' s the porch area. MR. KELLY: The porch, you want me to show you? MR. ANGELL : This front area is all open then? MR. KELLY: (pointing to plans) Yes , this is all open area - this is outdoors . MR. ANGELL: (pointing) But this is enclosed in here? MR. KELLY: This is enclosed (pointing) this is all glass wall her and this is the only area you' ve taken up in through here. MR. ANGELL : But this is in existence at the present time and in u e at the present time? iMR. KELLY: No. No, this is the outdoor deck. You see, I have a Idownstairs outdoor deck and I built an upstairs outdoor deck and they i told me I had to get a variance to use it because it wasn' t in the I - 5 - I plans last year the deck was there but they told me to use it as customer use I would have to get a variance for it . i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And the reason for that was that when you got th variance before you talked about living upstairs and you . . . MR. KELLY: Right, but not on the outside. The outdoor deck didn' have anything to do with the inside of the building or the busine s I was doing or anything like that. CHAIRMANMARTIN: Okay, so how much seating capacity will this add for you? MR. KELLY: It adds 26 seats - not really 26 but that' s crowding them in. That ' s for fire code and everything else that' s allowable. MR. ANGELL: These add up to 29 . MR. KELLY: Yes but right here it says 26 people, allowable people MR. ANGELL : It seats 29 . MR. KELLY: This is what the - the maximum capacity we can put in there . . . I MR. ANGELL : What? MR. KELLY: This is the maximum capacity we can put in this area but . . . MR. ANGELL : Well , its nitpicking but its 29 on your plan and you say 26 - it doesn' t make any difference one way or another. MS . DE COMBRAY: He means there are 29 seats showing. MR. KELLY: Well, that' s where we slipped - the architect drew that because that is what ' s legal up there but that is not what is going to be used because there is not even that many seats up ther - MR. ANGELL : Okay. MR. KELLY: Okay? MS. DE COMBRAY: What about the deck - you still can' t use the dec ? MR. KELLY: I 'm not using it now, no . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: That ' s part of the variance. MR. KELLY: Right. You see my place is only a - the only time it really does a good business is in the summer time. In the winter time it is useless - all the outside - so everybody is inside and it' s only 76 seats inside. MR. ANGELL : So you would have with the deck and with this you - 6 - i would be able to put in, well it looks like 32 - so you would have about 60 additional seats up there, in total . �IMR. KELLY: No, that ' s not . . . ' MR. ANGELL : 26 and say 30 - say 50 some . . . I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Where are the 30 coming in - I 'm missing the addition here. i IMR. ANGELL: On the deck. ' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well that ' s the 26 as I understand it. MR. KELLY: No that' s inside. SMR. ANGELL: No the 26 is inside . I ( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, alright. How many on the deck? � MR. KELLY: Well we never even figured that out - just maybe 20 I amore . It' s not that big of a deck up there. You see , my business �iis - if they areinside they are inside. If they are outside , they tare all outside. When you go in my place, the whole inside may be empty, they will be outside because if it is a nice day they want to sit outside . If it is a bad day they are inside and we don' t fill the capacity ever. It ' s just like in . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So you think maybe 20 seats out on the porch? � MR. KELLY: Right . MR. ANGELL: Well I 'd say you could put more out there than this - Ibut regardless of that it looks like its dam near as big as the inside area but . . . iMR. KELLY: I think it sketched a little bit bigger than it is I lout there. It ' s not that big out there - its probably the widest his, I think, it ' s 12 ' by 26 . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well how did you have it set up when you were ; using it? i MR. KELLY: We just had it - Like five tables up there and that was 120 people. But we never we only filled it maybe once a week - on i Sunday was the only time we really used it because it is too much traffic up and down. We are not going to serve dinners up there at all because we can' t go up and down stairs with your food. ! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any more questions? ! SECRETARY HOARD: Does the management give you a pretty good deal I on meals? - 7 - i MR. KELLY: Does the management . . . ? SECRETARY HOARD: Give you a good deal on meals? I MR. KELLY: Who is the management? MR. ANGELL : Without a kitchen in your apartment . . . MR. KELLY: Oh, yes . If I cook it myself. MR. WILCOX: If you keep expanding, then you are going to get a night watchman, then you won' t live there at all, right? SECRETARY HOARD: Then you will have to give him . . . i MR. KELLY: Hey, I 'm the night watchman. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any more questions? i MR. KELLY: We've got to build the west end somehow. CHAIR MAN MARTIN: Mr. Kelly, anything you want to add? MR. KELLY: No. I I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Thank you. MR. KELLY: Are there any questions? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: We've exhausted them. Is there anyone else who would like to speak on this case? We 'll move on to the next . II i I i 8 BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY HALL, ITHACA, N.Y. II JUNE 4, 1979 EXECUTIVE SESSION i APPEAL NO. 1252 : CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I move that the Board grant the area variance requested in appeal no . 1252 . MS. DE COMBRAY I second the motion. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) According to the recommendation from the Planning Board there is adequate off-street parking to meet the needs of the expanded facility. 2) There is no other way to achieve addi- tional space for the restaurant within the requirements of the zoning ordinance. 3) The proposed expansion of restaurant space does not require any enlargement of the building . i VOTE: 4 Yes ; 0 No ; 2 Absent. Area variance granted. t I I I i 9 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS ICITY HALL, ITHACA, N.Y. JUNE 4 , 1979 SECRETARY HOARD: The next case, appeal no . 1257 , appeal of Tioga f and Buffalo Building Corporation has been withdrawn, at the request of the appellants . Appeal No. 1259 , the appeal of Ken Butler and Mark Kielman for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , - I don' t see them here, so we' ll go on to the next one. APPEAL NO. 1260 : Appeal of Carmen L. & Virginia Canesta o for an area variance under Section 30 . 25 Columns 7 , 11 and 13 to permit construc- tion of a 32 ' x 12' addition to the rear of the dwelling at 205 Linn Street. The property is located in an R-3b (residen- tial) use district, and is deficient i minimum required frontage, front yard set back, and one side yard set back. I think that I picked up that front yard deficiency on your diagram but I guess it' s . . . MR. TAUBE : I thought it was 10 feet . ( SECRETARY HOARD: Well your line showed it going to the other side lof the sidewalk. I guess you didn't intend to do that. MR. TAUBE: I 'm David Taube with O'Brien & Taube Architects , 106 E. Court Street and I am going to speak on behalf of the Canestaros . Are the drawings included with the packages there? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Yes. MR. TAUBE: Yes, okay. Well, we are talking about the one side yard - then on the front yard, not just the - you mentioned three column numbers . . . SECRETARY HOARD: Yes, I 'm not sure about your diagram here on the - it looks like it is saying 13' from the front of the building to the outside of the sidewalk. MR. TAUBE: At that point it' s inside? SECRETARY HOARD: It would have to be measured from inside . MR. TAUBE: Okay. The sidewalk I believe was 5' so that means the setback would be 8 at that point . I think the front yard was 10 Iso it would be 2 ' shy there. The r one other correction - the north wall which is shown right now contiguous with the property line is, - 10 - in fact, about a foot south of that line. So it tends to lessen the problem slightly. The written text which was presented, des- cribes the problem at hand. The house is existing prior to the portions of the zoning ordinance which it now is in conflict with. The Canestaro ' s have owned the building for about twenty-two years They live in the house next door which is the house just shown to the right of 205 Linn Street to the south. So the two parking i ; areas are both owned by the Canestaros . The building itself right now has five bedrooms , a bathroom, kitchen, living room, dining room and a storage room which is not possible as a habitable space, it has a 6' ceiling at one end and is , in fact, is used as storage and always has been. The proposed addition which is to the rear o the structure - and I 'd like to just possibly pass this around - we took three photographs just before the building - there was a shed in the back of the building. There is a photograph of the front of the building and two photographs of the rear. The base o the hill that runs from Linn Street up to University Avenue and there has , of course, always been a run-off problem - considerable (water, and over the past few years it has created a great deal of problem with the rear of the building. It was a wood foundation grade being resting on a half dozen or less concrete piers and it , has rotted out and the shed itself was removed - it had really totally rotted away. So the foundation itself had to be replaced or actually the foundation had to be put in and all the rotten beams removed and a permit was granted for this work to be performed and at the same time we had desired to put on the addition which would include a second bathroom, a new kitchen and a bedroom. The five students - as I understand it, the five students that have been renting the space have signed a new lease in anticipation of the space that would be added and again, it is just five students that lare renting it next year - although a bedroom is being added, the intent was , by the students , to use one of the bedrooms existing upstairs or downstairs and convert that into a study space since right now all they have is the one living room shown down stairs and they don' t really have sufficient study space. The kitchen I, I� Ijitself will be a major improvement to the house since the existing ( kitchen is in itself, probably forty years old and also in very ba condition and the second bathroom will provide the additional ser- vice needed in the house to complement the bathroom upstairs . The addition goes the width of the existing structure and back 816" on the north side which would be approximately 12 ' on the south side Of the house - there is a 32' jog. The additional revenue antici- pated from the improved facilities and that is the only way the additional income is coming from - is simply the improvements - again the number of students does not change. Although I should point out that the ordinance would allow six or more actually in this particular case - there is parking for three cars and again the ordinance calls for two spaces or one space for every two roomers so that is also adequate . But the additional income as anticipated - would be used to make other improvements in the house itself. The house has been greatly maintained by the Canestaros and certainly it would be expected to be maintained because it is next door to their own residence which has been certainly better than average maintenance - excellent maintenance - they've recently put quite la bit of money into their own home so if there is a concern here I think it is an important consideration. The precedent - I don' t think, you know, the precedent certainly has been set in the city before regarding the small lot sizes . It is only 491-,' wide and is certainly an obstacle in making any improvements onto this house given the existing lot size - the house having pre-existed. The addition itself will not encroach any further towards the property lines except towards the south or towards the east where there is , I suppose approximately 901 . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any questions? To repeat - the intent is not to increase the occupancy of the building but to improve the space , for those who do rent it. You have an additional bedroom but that will be related to the creation of a study area out of one of the bedrooms . IMR. TAUBE: That 's right, that ' s correct, and correct me if I 'm wrong the lease itself is for five students so that the intent I 11 H I 12 - i' j 1has been put in writing at least for next year. As I said the 11 intent is for five, I don' t think the ordinance would restrict six I1Ibut part of the problem did crop up when it became evident there was not enough study and living space at the same time that there was thought than an extra bathroom would certainly be helpful and the kitchen needed to be replaced. There was thought , when I first looked at it with the Canestaros that we would, in fact , use the existing kitchen area to simply renovate within it but the space i , far from being level - about 3" out of true and plum in every ( direction and it would be extremely costly and it is also as Mr . � Canestaro said, extremely small because of the traffic zone through I it. The thought here is that that space , as small as it is , they are going to install simply closets to have it as a coat closet - there is no coat closet there right now at all . MR. ANGELL : Where are the three parking spaces? MR. TAUBE: The parking spaces are simply stacked up in the drive- way. The driveway is about 58 ' long. IMR. ANGELL : You mean it goes out to that tree out there? MR. TAUBE: The parking area stops short of the back line of the property but the building adjacent comes out right there. MR. CANESTARO: May I say something? You can get four cars in Ithere. � MR. TAUBE: Four, alright. IMR. ANGELL : What is it two cars in tandem? MR. HOARD: You can have two cars in line . MR. ANGELL: Two cars in line so there is only two parking spaces . i JMR. TAUBE: You mean allowed? Two allowed? ( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Two countable parking spaces. MR. TAUBE: Two countable? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Yes . MR. ANGELL: What is that tree out there, is that tree a valuable tree that couldn' t be removed? MR. TAUBE; The hillside starts right at that point. That ' s been ( part of the problem. The slope of the hill is right at this point and it drops fairly quickly. The intent here is that some of that I� I� i 13 i, I ! earth will be leveled out . We have shown in - with the Canestaros - that what has to be done is place drainage tile around the back of I `Ithe building to simply keep the water from running off in a hazar- dous fashion. �IMR. ANGELL: No , what I was getting at is could there be a parking area . . . MR. TAUBE: Around the back? MR. ANGELL: Yes. MR. TAUBE: I think it would be tricky because of the slope. Then we are getting into a fairly high and sizeable retaining wall . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any Questions? SECRETARY HOARD: There is an error on this work sheet - my error. Column 7 - width in feet at street line - 40 feet is required in that zone, not 50 feet. So it would be in compliance there with 49?. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So the deficiencies are the side yard which is 1 foot. MR. TAUBE: One foot, right. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And front which is eight. MR. TAUBE: - And which should be ten. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And what else - is there anything else? SECRETARY HOARD: That' s it. R. ANGELL: Parking? If legal parking - there ' s only two . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Two spaces for five bedrooms is all that is re- quired. R. ANGELL : But he ' s got six - eventually in there. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well he' s got five bedrooms . R. TAUBE: Five bedrooms . RS. CANESTARO: May I say something? HAIRMAN MARTIN: Yes . Would you come forward though, if you are going to do it so we can get it as part of th-e record? The tape ecorder is up here and . . . S. CANESTARO: I 'm Virginia Canestaro. The thing with the parkin ost of the boys don' t even drive their cars . They are parked and they walk up and down to Cornell - so itis not a matter of the cars I� i i, 14 - li ,i .' getting in and out if - you know - parking three cars in a drivewa . fI don' t know if that means anything. The kids park - and not all I ljof the kids have cars . Now this year out of five there may be two cars - all of the boys don' t have cars for the year. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. What we are thinking about is what the I 1ordinance requires for so many bedrooms and what you are saying is that given your tenants and the way they own cars and use them, it ' s not a problem. ' MRS. CANESTARO: Yes - it' s never been a problem with us . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. MR. TAUBE: Any other questions? ( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any other questions? Thank you. MR. TAUBE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any other questions? I don' t see anybody else here who would like to speak on this case nor do I see anyone representing the case that we haven' t heard from this evening so we will now go into executive session, inviting you all to step back beyond the door while we deliberate and we will reconvene to announce the results . I I f I it I is - i; BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA,NEW YORK j( JUNE 4, 1979 I' EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1260 CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I move that the area variance requested i in appeal 1260 be granted. MS. DE COMBRAY: I second the motion. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The addition permits a use that is allowed in the district . It does not add to the lot deficiencies which are in the front and side. 2) Addition is not possible on the lot which was laid out before current zoning requirements were established, without a variance. 3) So long as only five bedrooms are oc- cupied as bedrooms, the occupancy of the building will not be increased and the off-street parking requirements of the Ordinance will be meta Unless additional legal off-street parking spaces are established only five bed- rooms can be occupied in the building and it is on that understanding that the variance is granted. VOTE: 4 Yes ; 0 No; 2 Absent. Area variance granted. I I I l - 16 - i F i I , Barbara Ruane, Do Certify that I took the minutes of the Board i� of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals numbered 1252 and 1260 at City Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; i that I have transcribed same, and the foregoing is a true copy of I� 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. -ale. LIC - Barbara C. Ruane Recording Secretary i I i i Sworn to before me this 7 t' day of1979 L=:t, I . j j-4 Notary Public I -'LAN J. HA:vtii,i i0N ! !JTARY PUBLIC, STATE OF NEW YOE No. 55.1630800 QUALIFIED IN TOMPKINS COUNT': my '_)MMiSSION EXPIRES MARCH 30,fill I I