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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1979-11-05 Ij I� �1 j BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS �! COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK 1 NOVEMBER 53, 1979 I i� TABLE OF CONTENTS MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 5 , 1979 Page APPEAL NO. 11-1- 79 Victory Liquor Store 2 1 303 Taughannock Blvd. �1APPEAL NO. 11-1--79 Executive Session 4 APPEAL NO. 1285 Jean & Germaine Mauboussin 5 574 Spencer Road APPEAL NO. 1285 Executive Session 8 1APPEAL NO. 1286 William J. Sullivan Jr 9 113 Utica Street I APPEAL NO. 1286 Executive Session 14 APPEAL NO. 1269 William R. Freund & 15 Beatrice N. Dennis 1023-1025 N. Tioga Street APPEAL NO. 1269 Executive Session 33 ! CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY 34 I NOTE : Appeal No. 11- 2- 79 held over by the Planning & Development Board until the December meeting. I Appeal No. 1273 regarding 159-165 Crescent Place has been ii withdrawn by the applicants . 1 a i i I I II i� IIIA BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS j CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK ` NOVEMBER 52 1979 ACTING CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Let me call the meeting to order. This is the November 5th meeting of the Ithaca Board of Zoning Appeals . We operate under the provisions of the charter of the City of Ithaca and the Codes of the City and, although we are not bound by strict rules of evidence we do determine our cases by sufficien legal evidence as if it were strict legal evidence. I ' d like to introduce the members of the Board of Zoning Appeals ; Professor Alfred Aman Ms . Natalie DeCombray Dr. Martin Greenberg Mr. William Wilcox Mr. Thomas Hoard, Building Commissioner and Secretary to the Board Mrs. Barbara Ruane, Recording Secretary ABSENT: Mr. Joseph Gainey, Jr. Mr. Morris Angell � We will have an open meeting first, a public meeting and when all the testimony is given we will go into executive session. Now we do reconvene in a public meeting after the executive session so anyone that would like to stick around until we are finished may do so. Generally it is fairly lengthy but tonight may not be too long. When we call the cases forward, if you would please come forward, state your name and address and please be as brief as possible and pertinent to the facts so that we don' t waste a lot of time , we would appreciate - it . I might mention that there is exactly a quorum here tonight - four, which means that it will require four vote$ by the members present, myself and the three members out here to get a favorable ruling. If these is anyone Iwho would like to withdraw their petition now, they may do so. We do expect one other member, Mr. Morris Angell , to show up but he is not here yet so let me repeat, it will take four votes in the affirmative for anything to pass, so if anybody would like to withdraw you may do so, But I do expect Mr. Angell to be here, Could we have the first case please? SECRETARY HOARD: The first case Mr. Chairman is Appeal 11-1- 79: ►i �I i II - 2 - Appeal of Victory Liquor Store for a !i sign variance under Section 34. 4B (Pro- jecting Signs) of the Sign Ordinance to �i permit the retention of the existing sig at 303 Taughannock Blvd. The property is located in an M-1 (Marine) use district . The sign has been approved by the Land- marks Preservation Commission as a his- toric sign. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, is there someone here representing - Mrs . Smith: Would you come forward please to the microphone and state your name and address? IMRS. SMITH: Certainly. I 'm Leona Smith and I live at 211 Willow Avenue and the store is at 303 Taughannock Blvd. where the sign is in question. I am asking for a variance on the - by the Board. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: And I guess the Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated that as a historic sign? MRS. SMITH: YES, true. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: About how old is the sign? MRS. SMITH: About thirty-five (.35) years . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: About thirty-five years . And I guess that' s a regular - what they call a neon sign? MRS. SMITH: Yes. CHAIRMAN WILCOX; - I understand - I guess they don' t make those anymore, regular neon signs? SECRETARY HOARD: Well they�do but there are very few people . . . MRS. SMITH: I have been thinking about possibly changing the sign if it is approved, CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Oh, yes? MRS. SMITH: Having it spot-lighted or something rather than the Boon, I don't known CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Oh., Okay, I think the neon though, does come under the Historic designation? SECRETARY HOARD: Yes. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: If you change the character of the sign, you may have to come before the Board again, Are you aware that if you change the character of the sign, you may have to petition the Board again, that ' s . . . MRS. SMITH: Well it doesn't matter, I just it would be simpler I - 3 - i9 to go on as it is - with the neon. " CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well at one time the neon seemed to be very ;! prevalent - now - they are an art form I guess . Are there any I ( other questions from the Board? (none) No, I guess we don' t need to know anything else. MRS. SMITH: Okay, thank you. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Is there anyone else here who would like to Ispeak in favor of this application? (none) Anyone here who would like to speak in opposition? (none) If there is no other discus- sion we will go to the next case please . l I I I I i i I 4 - I� BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 'I COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK NOVEMBER 5 , 1979 EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 11-1- 79 : CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I move that the Board grant the sign I variance requested in 11-1779 . MS. DE COMBRAY: I second the motion. 'j FINDINGS OF FACT: 1 . The sign has been approved as an "his- toric sign" by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 2 . There has been no objection from the neighborhood, 3. The sign will not adversely affect the character of the neighborhood. VOTE: 4 Yes ; 0 No; 2 Absent, Sign variance granted. I I i I I� I( I' I i 5 j BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS j; CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i! NOVEMBER 5 , 1979 11 �i SECRETARY HOARD : The next case is appeal number 11-2-79 which was i the appeal of three fraternities for a variance from the Sign Ordi nance - as I understand it, the Planning Board has asked that this be held over until the next meeting, so it will be heard by this Board at the December meeting. Then the next case that was on the agenda, is appeal number 1273 which involved the property at 159-165 Crescent Place has been withdrawn by the appellants. , Appeal no. 1285 : Appeal of Jean & Germain Mauboussin for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Column 11 (minimum front yard) to permit construction of a carport at the property located at 574 Spencer Road. The proper- ty is located in an R-2a (residential) use district and is deficient in require front yard. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Would you like to come forward please? MR. MAUBOUSSIN: I am Jean Mauboussin and I live at 574 Spencer Road. i CHAIRMAN WILCOX: And you apparently - let's see it ' s a minimum front yard is the only problem with this? I I MR. MAUBOUSSIN: Yes. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Do you have any photographs at all? fMR. MAUBOUSSIN: No . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: There is a diagram attached, MR. MAUBOUSSIN: The only question is - the driveway is too steep for my wife - my wife is on the wheelchair - that' s why I have to build a little bit closer to be on the flat land . , thats it . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: You' ve lived here a number of years? MR. MAUBOUSSIN: Pardon? CHAIRMAN WILCOX: You've lived at this location? MR. MAUBOUSSIN: For twenty years. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Twenty years . Let 's see, I can' t read this too well. This is the carport here (pointing ? i SECRETARY HOARD: Yes , the carport is shown R I guess your copies the Board member" s copies are not very clear. As you look at the i' �I 6 - �I I sheet, the carport is down in the lower left and it is thirty-seve !! feet from the middle of the road which would mean that it would be i �f twelve feet back from the property line. A twenty-five foot set ii back is required for the R-2a zone in which the property is locatel. II The problem here is that the property topography starts dropping off rapidly at about the area of the house and so the driveway becomes quite steep at that point and it is difficult to get some- body in a wheelchair from the front door of the house around and down that steep driveway. MR. MAUBOUSSIN: Right, iSECRETARY HOARD: So, what he would like to do is to build this carport so that he could have a line directly to it . MR. MAUBOUSSIN, It would be closer. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, so you don' t have once the car goes in the carport you don' t have the same - you don't have as bad a grad going to the house , is that it? SECRETARY HOARD: Right, it is fairly level back to the front of i the house. MR. MAUBOUSSIN: Front of the house, right. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, the back part of the driveway - is that so steep in the back? SECRETARY HOARD; Okay - this is Spencer Road (pointing) and so they would came in the driveway here (pointing) . . . MR. MAUBOUSSIN: If you go any farther there is a big incline . SECRETARY HOARD ; And then it just starts dropping off. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: And this is a one car carport? MR. MAUBOUSSIN: For one auto , one . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Have we received anything from neighbors or . . . ? SECRETARY HOARD; We have received no written communications from neighbors CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Okay, so primarily this is for your wife' s dis- ability that you like this? Anything else that you would like to say? Any questions from the Board? IDR. GREENBERG; Yes I understand the place you want the carport is because of your wife 's disability, is the carport itself desired i i� I � 7 - f jfor that reason because you have no garage or carport prior to this? MR. MAUBOUSSIN: Yes. 11DR. GREENBERG: So the carport itself you want to build because of I' i1her wheelchair? MR. MAUBOUSSIN: Right. And for the weather - the winter. f 'DR. GREENBERG: And the winter. So you want her prot ected when she . . . . MR. MAUBOUSSIN: That ' s right - when she gets in and out of the car pit takes her quite a while so in the winter it will be terrible. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Anybody else? No other questions? Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to speak in favor of this application? (none) Is there anyone in opposition? May we have the next case please? I i I' 'I 1 i 8 BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA., NEW YORK NOVEMBER 5 , 1979 EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1285 : MS. DE COMBRAY: I move that the Board grant the area variance requested in appeal no. 1285. DR. GREENBERG: I second the motion. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) Practical difficulties in locating the carport within the required setbacks have been demonstrated due to the steep slope of the terrain on the property. 2) The carport is necessary for the con- venience of the person who needs to use a wheelchair. 3 No objections by neighbors were received. 4) This would not change the character of the neighborhood to grant this variance. 1JVOTE- 4 Yes ; 0 No; 2 Absent. I Area variance granted. I� i 9 - I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS II CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK ii j NOVEMBER 5, 1979 SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal number 1286 : I I Appeal of William J. Sullivan, Jr. for a Special Permit under Sections 30 . 25 , Column 3 and 30. 25-C, to permit operatio of a small shop for the purpose of selli g games and miniature figurines as a home occupation at 113 Utica Street. The property is located in an R-2b (residen- tial) use district in which a special permit is required for a home occupation. MR. SULLIVAN: I am Bill Sullivan and I live at 113 Utica Street. I specifically didn' t put "retail" in there because I guess it is a dirty word but when I appeared before the Planning Board I ex jplained to them that what I have in mind isn' t really a retail operation that would be noticed at all - it ' s just a sort of a hobby for the purpose of just making a few games and miniatures that are not available in any of the stores around, so that I would have them to - get to - basically high school students who live around the area. It' s nothing that you would find at Wool- worths or Jamesway or anything like that. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well what' s the parking situation there as far a driveway or is there a parking lot there? MR. SULLIVAN: No, I have a driveway - it ' s a two car driveway. I have just one car but, as I said, most of these would be high school students who - I live pretty close to the high school I would imagine they would walk. That ' s what we are looking for - hours right after high school would let out . MS. DE COMBRAY: What kind of miniatures are they? MR. SULLIVAN; Well, I 'm sure everybody has heard of dungeons and dragons in reference to the case where that kid was lost, Well ( these are miniatures which fit in with that game - they are little goblins and things like that and, like I say, they are not avail- able around here and there is also other games that go on with it . Everybody has heard of if you look through the games in the stores the Battle of the bulge - or something like that but nobody has seen the creature that ate Shebogin. And that ' s what I 'm going to stock. �I I� - 10 - I� t' MS. DE COMBRAY: You couldn' t use another outlet downtown? I MR. SULLIVAN: I don' t - you see there isn' t any money in this and si jlany other outlet downtown I would have to pay rent. That would be counter-productive. I figure if I can sell a little bit of this stuff, at least I can make up for the money that I will have in- vested in stock and the interest I would lose if I just put it in the bank but the only other way to get this stuff is by ordering through the mails and so I figured that I would make it available if I kept it on hand. MS. DE COMBRAY: But do you make it or do you have to order it by �I mail? IMR. SULLIVAN: I have to order it by mail , yes . I would be per- fectly glad, as I said to the planning Board, to not use any signs or not use any outward changes in my house. With the kind of re- sponse I'm expecting for this I highly doubt if anybody would notice that there is a difference between anybody coming into my house for that purpose or just visiting. MR. AMAN: How many miniatures do you plan to mak.e or plan to sell MR. SULLIVAN: I dont really know, It all depends on what kind of a response z' get. I have some of my own. I was into napoleons miniatures - with soldiers and I 've had them now for five years at I least and from the people who have come and played games at my I house using these, maybe a half a dozen have actually ordered any of their own, so I don' t really know. I don' t believe I would be i sinking a lot of money into this . CHAIRMAN WILCOX; How many people occupy the house? MR. SULLIVAN: Okay, right now there is my wife and myself and my daughter and this would be run entirely by us n there would be nobody outside. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: if - what about the possibility that you might actually conduct these games there w ,th. the students so that maybe groups of students would stop by after school and - well . . . . I MR. SULLIVAN: I do that right now- but it wouldn't be after school } by any means. That' s something that I do on weekends . i. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: It' s not the timing so much but the congestion in case it was . . . it MR. SULLIVAN: Well, okay - well we 've never really had too much o a problem. Actually it is easier though in cases where other people have these things, to get a room at the high school or something I I dike that to have the game, then at my house. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , have you read the Municipal Code in regard to the . . . ? iMR. SULLIVAN: Yes. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: So that Home Occupation will not generate traffic in any greater volumne than would normally be expected in a residen- tial neighborhood and any need for parking generated by the occupa tion shall be met off the street and in accordance with regulation lof Section 30.. 37. I think that ' s the most pertinent paragraph, Ithat' s all, because that' s where you would get complaints from the neighbors. If you start to generate some traffic , . . MR. SULLIVAN: Well , like I say, the only I figure that it' s mostly high school students anyhow and I am within easy walking distance from the high school . I highly doubt that there would be much traffic - any kind of a parking problem created. But I don' t know for sure, I ( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: So you would call it more a hobby than anything else? MR. SULLIVAN: Yes that ' s - it' s not by any means R that ' s why I left the word "retail business" out of it because it' s not going to be anything like that, MS. DE COMBRAY: So you send away to some other place for these things . . , ? MR. SULLIVAN: Right. MS. DE COMBRAY : And they come to your house and then you sell them? IMR,. SULLIVAN: Right, I just have DR, GREENBERG: They come by mail? MR. SULLIVAN: Yes. And I would just s . . MS. DE COMBRAY: And it ' s not just drive in and (unintelligible) MR. SULLIVAN: Basically science faction, It doesn' t make any I i I j �I 12 i j� sense to try and compete with games that are already in the area. MS. DE COMBRAY: So what ' s the advantage of buying them from you �I and not sending away? MR. SULLIVAN: There is no wait and there would be no shipping (i charges . Because if I stock them and then I would get a break on I shipping charges which I can pass along. But the biggest thing I that I found myself, when I want something, it' s much nicer just I to be able to buy it than to send away for it and wait . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , I take it you approached the Building Department to find out about this? MR. SULLIVAN: Yes. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: How did you happen to do that? MR. SULLIVAN: Well I was thinking about starting this out and it wouldn' t be for some time so I wanted to find out if it was alright before I did it. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: That' s good, I like to encourage that in the community. Okay, any other questions? DR. GREENBERG: Approximately what kind of layout where is the room that you refer to , would you be agreeable to limit your activities in regard to this hobby, to that one room that you specify? MR. SULLIVAN: Absolutely. We have just one room in our house that - we are expecting a young one shortly. We have one extra room now and there is no way in the world that it could get out of that room because we need all the others. But I would be willing to put anything in writing as far as limiting anything like that that would be agreeable to you because - like I say - it just isn' t going to be that big of an operation - I just wanted to be able to stock a few things and sell them to people who are interested. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Did he have to send out a notice to neighbors? SECRETARY HOARD: Yes. I MR. SULLIVAN: Yes I did. i i SECRETARY HOARD: It was sent out. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any response? SECRETARY HOARD: No letters . I� i I - 13 - I' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Anything else? MS. DE COMBRAY: What is the law about going into busines , for instance, if you were to go into the high school hawking - for i instance at (,unintelligible) - or it' s not hawking but taking i orders and delivering them . . . . MR. SULLIVAN: I don' t see any sense in doing that - it ' s one of those deals where, if I carry these things its something that I have and nobody else has - they will come to me - I mean, I don' t believe I have to go out and drum up business . MS. DE COMBRAY: Because I know it is very popular and I know many people who play and I just have a feeling it really would generate a lot of interest and a lot of profit and it would be really hard to keep , I think you would be mobbed. MR. SULLIVAN: I don't know. Of course, like 1 say, I 'm moving towards miniatures whereas I don' t know if you are familiar with the game but it' s played with paper and pencil . Those idiots out west that played in tunnels or whatever that - that ' s not the way its done. It' s something that you sit down at a table for. It' s been out for some time so practically everybody has the rule book, I or whatever that' s necessary and there won' t be that much. of an interest in that sort of thing at all , And like I say, only the few people who are interested in doing things with miniatures would, you know, be stopping in to pick up something like that - like twenty sided dice or something like that . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Anything else? Okay, thanks , Bill . Anyone else like to speak in favor of this application? Cnone) Anybody like to speak in opposition? (none) We' ll go on to the next case. i I I; i I 14 - I I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK NOVEMBER 5 , 1979 EXECUTIVE SESSION i APPEAL NO. 1286 : DR. GREENBERG: I move that the Board grant the special permit requested in Appeal number 1286 with the following provisions : 1) that the appel- lant limits the space used to one room only for the sale of games and miniature figurines 2) that this "hobby" doesn' t increase traffic 3) that no other activity takes place relative to this special permit; and 4) that no employees are hired, other than immediate family. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I second the motion. VOTE : 3 Yes ; 1 No; 2 Absent.. Special Permit request denied for lack of 4 votes . FINDING OF FACT: 1) The potential for increased traffic generation was great. 2) This "hobby" is more in the line of a retail sales outlet than the home occupations des- crbed in the Ordinance. 3) This might create a precedent in granting similar variances, i i i i I I� 15 - I I' BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS !j COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK I NOVEMBER 53, 1979 li SECRETARY HOARD: The final case is the reconsideration of I Appeal Number 1269 : Appeal of William R. Freund and Beatric N. Dennis for a use variance under Secti n 30. 25, Column 2 (permitted primary uses) to permit the use of the property at 1023-1025 N. Tioga Street for profession 1 offices and residential use. The property ! is located in an R-2b (residential) use district in which professional offices are not a permitted use. MR. FREUND: Good evening. My name is Bill Freund, I live in apar - ment 2-C, Village Green in Budd Lake , New Jersey. My partner who is here tonight is Beatrice Dennis and she is at 221 S. Geneva Street . The property concerned that we are asking a variance on i located at 10.23-1025 N. Tioga Street.. I believe you have photos and a map or a plan showing the layout of the property in your fila. The property consists of an upstairs apartment. At present there is an elderly couple living in the upstairs apartment. There is a main floor apartment which has a kitchen and a living room and an office on the main floor and it has two bedrooms upstairs and a ( bath. Then there is a commercial section that borders on Lincoln Street - as you see in the diagram is approximately 15 x 45 feet long. This property historically has been commercial since prior to 1867 . I have a whole list of people that were here. Starting in 1867 as a stage coach stop; from 1867 to 1968 a restaurant owned by Gray Pardon; from 1872 to 1880 a grocery owned by Norton and Kingsbury; from 1880 to 1883 a grocery owned by Stillwell and i! iI King; from 1883 to 1885 a saloon owned by A. Norton; from 1885 to it 1889 a saloon owned by J. Kingsbury; from 1889 to 1912 the Catarac Hotel owned by C. Loveless ; from 1913 to 1919 a saloon owned by J. Loveless; from 1919 to 1920 a restaurant owned by J. B. Harris ; from 1921 to 1925 a Confectionary Store and Billiard room; 1926 a restaurant owned by A. Roskelly and Ben Brown; from 1927 to 1937 a Confectionary Store owned by Harry Brewer and James Georgiou; I from 1937 to 1954 a grocery store owned by Fred & Beatrice Dennis ; I i� H �I 16 - from 1954 to 1970 a laundromat owned by Fletcher Cleaners ; from i 11971 to 1972 a beauty shop and from 1972 to 1978 used as profes- �Isional office space. Now, there is a lot of years . This thing - just would like to point - when I was remodelling it , I tore open �I walls of the old section of the building and I found a book that was i a record of the Board of Supervisors meeting in the year 1865 - so that part - it ' s construction, that front part, is such that I don' t think you ever see it - it 's called the old horizontal and vertical board construction. No studs or anything - just took planks 22 to ' 3 inches wide or thick and maybe twelve to fourteen inches wide an they laid them horizontally and then vertically on the outside and nailed them together to get their support.. They are still in my building by the way T with 2 x 4 stud units around them. I iICHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well what you are trying to say is commercial use is pretty well established? SMR. FREUND: I would say - I hope. Now, you've got the history - now the character of that area ever since I moved to Ithaca and obviously long before that , has been a combination of residential and commercial . Commercial - there ' s a laundromat up at the corner ion Aurora Street, there is a restaurant and a business office in between there is one house in between - right next door in between the restaurant and our property, there is a business across the street but I can never remember the man' s name but I 've got it written down , here somewhere yes, Earrell ' s Appliance Store there is a fire house down on Tioga Street and up at the corner the City is - some qday I think - I don' t know- what progress is being made - is going Ito build a YMCA. So generally speaking it still is commercial and i jthere are some homes in there but it has always been that mixture of commercial and so on, The people that live there are elderly, generally speaking, and they appreciate those services because they can walk - they can't always sometimes take a bus and they really appreciate th-e services, You'd have to almost say that the char- acter of the area has been that general mixture for - since the lbeginning of time, Now - in our property it has been suggested at times that why can' t we convert it to another apartment? As I 17 - i �I { pointed out the last time you can' t convert this area into an lapartment for one major reason - the City of Ithaca says we can' t , jlbecause we would violate the regulations in the City Zoning Ordi- nance. In addition to that, it would cost a fortune because I would have to build a bathroom, kitchen and do all the plumbing, including a stack up to the roof and it is just not worth - it' s impractical . It would be something that we just could not accom- plish. I would have to say that it would cost somewhere between $5, 000 and $10, 000 to make that apartment. At our age I don't think we' d ever live to see the day when that $10, 000 was paid off - 1 with the type of rent you might be able to get for it. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: That' s about how large a piece of property? MR. FREUND : The total piece of property or just the commercial? + CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , the total piece. i , MR. FREUND. The total piece? I have to think now is somewhere about 50 feet. CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Well this says 48 x 89. MR. FREUND: 89 -x 48. ( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: About a tenth- of an acre, MR. FREUND; About a tenth- of an acre. If you want to refer back there was a decision on April 9 , 1975. , City of Ithaca -- where we went before the Board to apply for a variance and Item 2 they voted yes that they did grant the variance and no , nobody objected to it but Item 2 in that said the space in question could not be convertEd to a residential unit without violating density requirements of th Zoning Ordinance. I might point out too , Item 3 of that - the proposed use does not seriously disturb the neighborhood and has less serious impact than some of the prey ious commercialized activities in the building like a hotel or a restaurant or whateve that they have hard. Okay, now - Mrs. Dennis talked with some of our neighbors and she secured petitions from six people - I ' d like to submit as evidence please, l CHAIRMAN WI'LCQX; Okay, If I may, I will read these into the record? l i IMR. FREUND : Alright, fine . I l� i ! - 18 - i! CHAIRMAN WILCOX: "We , the undersigned would like to make it known I to the Zoning Board that we have no objection to a variance being �1. issued for professional office space at 1025 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, New York. We are certain it will not greatly change the ( character of the area, and available parking is our greatest con- cern. . . . . . Signed by: Ethel P. Wiedmaier, 208 E. Lincoln, Mr. $ Mrs . Julian D. Hagin, 206 E. Lincoln St. , Mr. & Mrs . Ivar Durling, 1106 N. Tioga St. , Mr. & Mrs.. John Baker , 1107 N. Tioga Street and I Gladys E. & Albert M. Rich, 1013 N. Tioga Street. Also, Susie G. Hatt, 304 E. Lincoln Street. Well , as you know, the intent of i Common Council is more stringent zoning laws are to protect the quality of the neighborhoods and to see that things are not change , that rapidly and easily without some control , but, of course, that is what the Board of Zoning Appeals is for, too , to take care of t e problems that come up when there is hardship or unusual circum- stances so that' s what we are here for, MR. FREUND: Well I appreciate it. Finally, talking about hardshi , Idenial of this petition for the petitioners would create a really isevere hardship - may 1 distribute these or CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Sure. MR. FREUND: You notice these are just a statement of our monthly income and monthly expenses . Income for the two apartments right now is $400, 00. The expenses on a monthly basis total $549, 02 so we are losing roughly $150, 00 a month on this apartment right now. Believe me, I can' t afford it and neither can Mrs . Dennis , In addition to that, this building right now needs a new roof, it nee s a paint job , it has a garage that needs vast and extensive repairs there are some other things that we estimate that somewhere betwee five n maybe $8 , 000., repairs are needed so that this building does 1t ! start to deteriorate and, if you go down there right now, we 've go i some soffit hanging down, We put new soffit on about a year and one-half ago and it is starting to fall down because it was i.mprop r- ly put on, I donit know whether I can get the man to come back in ) and e so`t replace P �, w are gong to have to Faire somebody before winter, even to do that . It ' s another couple of hundred or hundred i I - 19 - ;I i; fifty dollars but it' s one of those things that are not - aren' t shown on this particular type of history of our expenses . These are I the ordinary, everyday expenses that we have to meet every month, i regardless and its been coming out of Mrs . Dennis' and my pocket s that we can meet them and that' s - that means that you don' t go t lballgames or you don' t go to the theatre or you don' t do many things on the side, at least with the money that I make. So , I think I have a couple more major repairs . The last thing I was going to point bout in that zoning hearing on April 9th - that six members of a Board did meet and they did agree that we were not changing the character of the area and they did agree that it was a hardship case, etc. and I would certainly hope that you people could see that - you know, in just four years that things really haven' t changed that much down in that area, really. It is still Fall I Creek and God bless it , I hope it still remains an area where you could have business and you can have residents living together Ithey have done it for years and they've enjoyed it really, it make it very convenient to them. ! CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , I think your two major points are estab- �Ilished. The use pattern and also the financial hardship, I don' t think there is any problem with recognizing those two things . Do you have any are there any plans as far as doing anything with t e property externally, painting or . , . ? I haven' t looked at it recently. MR. FREUND: We have to put on a roof sometime within the next yea because I had a man do sage temporary patching on it last year. When the guy did the soffit . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: We talking about any external repairs that might be done . Anything that might improve the neighborhood. I 'm not saying the building doesn' t look good, I haven' t seen it in a i long time . MR. FREUND: We are going to paint it because the siding we put on in today' s market you get something and expect it to be guaranteed and it is not holding up as well as we thought it would and so we are going to have to paint it . Ii ii it - 20 - il �i CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, well , I was just thinking of your neighbor ;they might be interested to know, I would like to have it in the j record that' s all. 1MR. FREUND: We are going to have to do work on the garage - we are going to paint it, I 've got to put some new front on it, etc . We 've always - I don' t know of any - I wish I had brought a picture Il of this building - oh, in 1970 and you could have seen - I remember i �Ithe first time I ever came before the Board here - Hunna Johns had just lost the position as Mayor but he stood up and he said "Ladies $ Gentlemen, I watched this man for four years do his own Urban Renewal project on that apartment or that building and it never cost the government a dime and he said I would certainly recommend highly that he be given this variance. " and I appreciated that and we go i our variance. But it was - it was hard work and we took an area - a building that was deteriorated - that nobody would do anything because our building looked so lousy and after we did it , the people around started remodelling their own places and painting and you know perking up the whole area but it wasn't until we got our place done that they really started doing it. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay but there were some petitions signed by neighbors who were not favorably disposed at the time . MR. FREUND: We have talked with some of. those and if the Board would like to, Mrs. Dennis went around and talked with them, and a Elot of those people didn' t really realize at the time, what was going on. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay. Before you leave, any questions? DR. GREENBE'RG; Do you have the same tenants in mind, Mr. Hollande ? MR. FREUND: No. Mr. Hollander - again he was going to buy the building eventually and we lost them. . But I have another man that is in the same block now he' s an Insurance 'Man and he has given lindication n again, I would like to have this zoned as professional , for a reason. If we lose a tenant and then we advertise and we get somebody and we have to go before the Zoning Board - in the month. or two that it takes to get before the Board to get approval ithe guy goes somewhere else, and . . . ,I li I' j 21 - s CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , of course you understand, we can' t rezone i the area - you need a variance from the zoning . . . � MR. FREUND: No, I know that but if you can zone ours just for Professional Offices even if you want to limit it to doctors , in- surance and accounting, or whatever, that is fine - but that type where it isn' t going to be a great big - with that space, it isn' t going to be a big enterprise anyway. It can' t be, but the insur- ance man now - we had one objection in the petition the person sign it because she was afraid that if this man moved up I, wouldn' t out of the present building that he is in he is in the restauran building - that if - she wouldn' t object to him being in our place Ibut she thought it would give the restaurant area people, room to ! expand the restaurant , which. would really increase the problem. The problem right now is the restaurant, it is not the businesses around them. That restaurant gets traffic all day long. When these people drive up they could care less where they park. That' on Lincoln. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I 'm one of them, I go down there. MR. FREUND: But they just pull in and its a lot of business it ' i trucks and utilities , etc, that are down there and they go in they and they spend an hour over coffee - I don't know where they . , . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: That is a high traffic generator IMR. FREUND: That' s a very high traffic area but it ' s by the res- taurant. CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Okay, any DR. GREENBERG: As a hatter of policy, do we give a variance for specific tenants or do we give a general - because professional means nothing - you know � as far as I know, There is no designa, tion such as that . SECRETARY HOARD: Well, what happened, as I understand it in look . g in the history of this case that there had been a series of office uses but the last tenant had been out of there for more than twelve (consecutive months and so the variance that had been . . . MR. FREUND: And the only reason that was so was because we couldn' t ( every, time we' got a tenant , it had to go before the Zoning Board I I i I - 22 we were defeated and that is the only reason. We had tenants �I (; lined - we have tenants - it' s not hard to rent that place but a man �I that wants to move in just gives up, you know - once he finds out he has to go to the Zoning Board - it ' s going to be a month or two months by the time - you know - if its in the middle of this month and you can' t get everything ready for the following zoning meetin , I you have to wait for the following month and they go some place i I� else . These people are anxious to be in business and make money s E . . . . . if some type of a variance were if we kept it strictly off ce I I small offices, whatever - the designation was so that we could, if we lose a tenant we could get somebody in and not have to come be- fore this Board each time . And if it was an you know, I could ( always maybe let the Building Inspector, somebody know what it was and if you thought it was a critical area then we would know then we could - it just seems to me that because of the character of the area anyhow we are not going to put a - I wouldn' t calla fortune ( teller or somebody a professional, when I talk about professional 111m talking about business you understand? DR. GREENBERG: You understand, Mr. Freund, just to clarify legally in case there comes a question of whether - you know - what that terminology means I don' t know if we have that terminology on the books. 'MR. FREUND: Mrs . Dennis and I are both born again Christians and vre do not tolerate any type of fears or whatever type of thing that , people might want to be in there. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Insurance Company is it a general line insurance company r not life insurance but fire? MR. FREUND: No it ' s a general line it' s Cliff Todd right over across the street. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions? DR. GREENBERG: A Agayn the question is to our resource person. In Iregard to the density in reference to the apartment, what is the exact reference, what would be out of code if an apartment was put Ithere in relation to the density that Mr. Freund speaks of? I SECRETARY HOARD: It would be a third unit and this is an R-2 zone jand only two units are allowed. II ip j - 23 - I I �jDR. GREENBERG: Thank you. I CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you, we appreciate it. 'MR. FREUND: Thank you. i CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Is there anyone else who would like to speak in favor of the application? (none) Is there anyone here who would Alike to speak in opposition to the application? Would you come forward please and state your name and address? MR. BANFIELD: My name is Dave Banfield, I 'm an insurance agent an I 'm not afraid of competition. I live at 312 E. Fall Street which his a block over from the existing building in question. I 've been asked to speak tonight on behalf of a couple of the property owners who could not be here this evening. I would like to first state t Mr. Freund that the people that I have spoken with are not upset Ilwith. the possibility of an apartment occupancy and would support that, however they are all opposed to the continuing existence of ' commercial venture even a professional one. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well, do you have something signed by the group of people? jMR. BANFIELD: 'des. ( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, fine, MR. BANFIELD: I would like to submit a petition signed by all but , one of the property owners on Lincoln Street who live adjacent to the proposed property. The non-signer was at one point opposed to the , variance but repeated attempts have been requested that she remain off the petition. This person is elderly and perhaps feels intimi- dated so I would like to submit the names of these people . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: For the record: "The Board of Zoning Appeals , Ithaca, New- York. The Folluwing List of signatures is being submitted to the Board of Zoning Appeals , to show our concern over the pro- 1Ie t located at 1023-1025 N. Tio a Street. W posed use of the property rg urge the Board to deny the variance, This area in Fall Creek is designated an R2b zone now and is already occupied by a laundromat, insurance office, diner and appliance store, all within a one bloc jradius, There is also a fire station, tavern and school in the near area. The vehicle situation is presently heavy and at times j - 24 - �I I+ i hazardous. The property concerned has off street parking for two vehicles , one space of which is presently occupied by a tenant of i that property. We feel any additional vehicles would only increas the traffic problem. The laundromat provides parking for customer only and it is clearly stated. The insurance office has no off (` street parking. The diner has a driveway for two vehicles . The !� appliance store has no off street parking, We launching no personal attacks on the property owners or the proposed tenants . ! This is our neighborhood in which to raise our children, enjoy our ( homes and relax in retirement. We hope the Board will understand our position and deny the zoning variance, Thank you. Signed by Marian Knapp, 312 E. Lincoln Street, Leotta Gengo, 306 E. Lincoln Street, Pamela Gainey, 308 E. Lincoln Street, Barbara Huddle, 302 E Lincoln Street , Mary and Don Smith, 210 E. Lincoln Street and Debra Marion, 305 E. Lincoln Street. Please note : These signatures are those of property owners who lave in the 'immediate area, " These are property owners as opposed to tenants? MR. BANFTELD: That is correct, CHAIRMAN WILCOX: That is for the record, thank you, 'I MR. BANFTELD: T have some photographs which 1 would like to pass around as 1 relay the comments on them, The first set of three Il , photographs shows the 300 block of W. Lincoln Street looking east I it shows an existing laundry and restaurant have created unusual traffic congestion. Residents have repeatedly had to call the police for parking violators in front of their driveway and the sign, As you can see in picture number 2 , the middle picture , there is a city staff car parked beyond the no parking from hereto the corner sign as violating that. This is a common occurance, not necessarily by the city vehicles but , , The prime reason that the street light was installed at this intersection was through movement of the neighbors because of the traffic coming to that i intersection and having to proceed out into the intersection to get through it and that caused some Iaccidents and that is why we peti- tioned for a street light I submit that set of photos, The next photo that l have is a view of the proposed building and it shows I � I� I ' 25 - I what an excellent job they have done in the maintenance but it sho s facing the building from across the street you can see a city bus stop shelter and a "no parking here to the corner" sign. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Let me just state also that we had a telephone communication from Mrs. Gangl. MR. BANFIELD: The next picture that I have - two pictures , one is showing the photograph looking south on Tioga Street and another looking north on Tioga Street both north and south of the building. A city bus stop station and a "no parking from here to the corner" sign. Between the sign and the existing driveway there is room fo one car. Then there is two private drives - one of which services the existing residence and the other the Rich family which lives o the corner of Tioga and Queen Street. The next photograph I have is a photograph taken from the intersection of Tioga and Lincoln Street looking south., facing the washer - Farrell ' s Washer & Service - which is across the street. In front of the Farrell ' s is a "no parking' sign. There is room for one car to park between the sig and the next private driveway which serves as a rented two-family dwelling. Available space in those parking spots are usually filled with. employees of the Washer Service and residents of the fire station, The lastphotograph I have is a picture of Lincoln Streit looking west and this is from the corner of the building that is requesting the variance, looking down Lincoln Street. There is a "no parking" sign on the south side of W. Lincoln Street . There is room to park one car behind that sign and that is usually where Farrell' s Washer & Dryer Service park their service vehicle. Across the street is an apartment house on the northwest corner an a two-family unit next to it , going west, All residents of these houses have vehicles , I 'd like to point out that the cross walk i this particular area, at this intersection, services the children who meet the bus at the Baptist Church which is on the corner of Utica and W, Lincoln and also the kids from the northern north- western part of the neighborhood cross at this intersection, because there is a light to go to Fall Creek School , I can point out on these photographs that the petition signatures in favor of granting I� i 26 - i the variance are not immediate. The people closest, other than I the Richs , I have signed by property owners closer than the other ones . I ' d like to also submit this drawing which shows here the N. Tioga Street, Lincoln Street - the proposed property. Okay Here is a one-family unit, two cars - one space, owned by Mrs . Marian - who has signed the petition to deny it . There is a drive - way riveway where she uses . The next driveway which is available for two cars is owned by the restaurant and used by owners of the restaurant to park there. The Diner, the insurance office, apartments - three cars, two motorcycles , no off-street parking for insurance office and the back is a private dwelling, private driveway - two cars . Then the Laundromat on the corner. Across the street, Mrs . Knapp, one car - shares the driveway. Gaineys - one-family unit, two car3 , ' share driveway. Mrs . Gangl , one-family - one car. And on the I corner , one family with a private drive and they have a garage on the Tioga Street side. Knapps , Gaineys and Gangl and Huddle - which is the corner house - all have signed the petition asking for a denyance of the variance and I submit that to you, Up until thi point we were unable to determine some of the things that have bee presented here tonight but one of the major reasons in granting a variance is to show financial hardship. To this point none of the people have been aware of any financial statement provided to support this statement . We - or the neighbors have suggested that perhaps an additional rental unit would increase the income R gener- ate enough income to make it profitable and I note that in his sub mission to you of an operating statement that the difference is $150. 00 a month. and i am sure that most of us are aware that $150. 00 a month for an apartment is pretty reasonable . Again until tonight i' I was unaware of the specific office occupancy that was going into the building. The application indicated that an accountant, Mr. Hollander, was going in there and he currently has an office in his garage in the 400 block. of W. Lincoln Street - E. Lincoln Street, excuse me . I talked with Mr, Hollander today and he indi- cated that he is moving his offices to the second floor of a loca- tion on E. State Street. What they are concerned about is a certain i� - 27 - it i ' professional offices that generate traffic and parking. In view lof the map and pictures that I presented here tonight you can understand, hopefully, our concern for not wanting more parking or ; more vehicles in this particular area. Another concern is , if an i (loffice is put in, what kind of identification would be used? Do 0 we have to put up with a sign that is further going to promote the �linfringement on the residential neighborhood? It has been indicat d +lin the testimony tonight by previous hearings the neighbors are con- cerned o -cerned about what takes place in and around their houses . They ar 11concerned with the traffic problem.. If you go down there in the I morning and, unfortunately, I wasn' t able to get there this mornin , to see the traffic - that whole blocks are just blocked in with people. I Question where the office would provide parking not onl for the tenant but for his staff and also for his customers . Again, if you look at the photos there is no place available for more park- ing. Concerns are , taxpayers are going to contribute - are going to continue to be inconvenienced by being unable to park in front of their homes or able to negotiate out of their own driveways or where can their guests find adequate parking.? The entire area around this building is on-street parking and an office of any type would further increase the already existing deplorable conditions . The neighborhood has shown a concern in the past that we want to keep it and maintain it residential, We have , in the past, there was a ice cream shop on my block., l appeared here a number of years ago, opposed to the issuing of a variance to put another commercial occu- pancy in there and it has been turned into residential. The neigh - bors in the area would like to have this done to this same buildin . Again, I want to tell Mr. Freund that we are not opposed in any wa i to the use of this property as residential, okay? And when the Freunds lived there they were excellent neighbors and they are 1000 i correct in saying what they have done to their building. They have !� made an excellent job of rehabilitating a run-down building. We want them to know that we want to continue to live with them in �) harmony but we also want thein to know that our homes are here, we s.! are raising ,our children hers and we want to voice these opinions . f I - 28 - 1In turn, one of the statements made was - most of the neighbors ar elderly. Well, I question the term of elderly. On the corner - 1which would be the north west corner, is an apartment house of which I there are two children residing. And Lincoln Street , there is a house with one small child across the street - is an apartment with two children next to that is also another house with. young ( student tenants. In terms of an insurance agency, I am an insurance agency - I am concerned about the cause of problems that I have finding room for my customers to park and I have my office in a I� metered area. You have people coming in to pay bills , you have pe ple coming in who have photographs of their car, if any of you have changed cars lately you have to have a photograph taken of your automobile - so there will be that kind of traffic generated. In the morning there is absolutely and - at noon - and noon, I speak of a period from 11 : 00 to 2 : 00, and then they come there for coffe breaks . There just is not room for that type of occupancy. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Let me ask you - the people that signed in favor at 208 E. Lincoln, 1106 N. Tioga, - how far are they from the property? I iMR. BANFIELD: 208 E. Lincoln would be Hagens and Weidmeyers? (( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well it doesn' t matter the name, I just . . . are i they relatively close or far? I MR. BANFIELD: No - well close - I can, - this house here with the porch on it (pointing to photo) is Weidmeyers and the house that you can just see the front of it is Hagens , okay? This house here (pointing) is a tenant house - a duplex and then this corner house and then there is another house on the corner which is an apartment 1house. Richs signed the petititon in favor of it and they live here (pointing) . Okay - it would be on the same block with them. iI don' t have a photograph that shows this side of the street but primarily we have blanketed this side plus the lady who owns the re- sidence in here (pointing) . The lady that lives here (pointing) has llsigned our petition and this is the elderly. DR. GREENBERG: Where is your office by the way? IIMR. BANFIELD: 413 N. Tioga Street I 'm a partner in the firm of �I I� !I 1 � l 29 - ,! Weaver, Banfield, F, McNeil. Across the street you've had a . . . ! DR. GREENBERG: That' s an area that is in contention now isn' t it? IMR. BANFIELD: That is correct. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Is there anything else you want to add? MR. BANFIELD: No, I do you have any questions? CHAIRMAN WILCOX: There will be a chance to respond. Well it seems , to me like an awful lot of the traffic is generated by that diner though. That is really the big problem for the neighborhood. SMR. BANFIELD: No question, that' s right. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: But being in the insurance business you are certain that this is going to generate more traffic than people think? MR. BANFIELD: Well, the traffic that is - you know - he already has his office there . Is this the same guy? I think it ' s the same man who is on the other side of the restaurant, which further com- plicates the problem. Now he is going to move there and are we going to have somebody come in and fill in that office which is ,going to bring in more traffic? We are not sure? I ask you, re- gardless of the outcome to drive down there sometime in the morning Ion your way to work, you will find the 1100 block, the 1000 block of Tioga Street, the 1000 block of N. Aurora Street, Lincoln Streets is totally blocked in - it' s just a shame and these people have complained, they have people come down people actually get upset with them for having called somebody to remove their car in front of their own driveway. CHAIRMAN WILCOX If a convenience food store was applying for a l variance do you think the reaction would be the same? iMR. BANFIELD; I think anything down there of any commercial ventur the people want Fall Creek to remain and to go back to residential . CHAIRMAN WILCOX; There is a Fall Creek CivicAssociation9, IMR. BANFIELD: Yes there is. (CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Is there anyone from the Civic Association - are zany of you members? .MR. BANFIELD: I'm a member of the Civic Association - I think the f;Gaineys are and Mrs. Knapp is , I know of, I think the Richs are - iwho signed their petition. i I i 30 - CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions? IMR. BANFIELD: Thank you very much. H CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to speak in favor first? (none) Anyone in opposition? Are there i any others in opposition? (none) Okay, is there anyone who would i like to speak in rebuttal or clarification? CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, just state your name and address again? MR. FREUND: My name is Bill Freund, I live at apartment 2-C, Village Green, at Budd Lake, New Jersey. These people who have signed this petition would like to go back to residential area again - they have to go back well over a century. One point. The point is that if Cliff Todd moves his office from the middle of that horrible mess around the corner to my place he is not going to change the char- acter of the area a bit. He is going to pick up - or the City is or all of these neighbors - are going to have the use of four off- street , parking spaces . I have two spaces in a garage and we have two spaces, minimum, outside the garage with a possibility of even making one or two spaces if we want to give up a little lawn area. I don' t know whether this would be possible under the building cod or not - but at least we have four spaces off-street that would really - we got Mr. Todd around the corner off Lincoln Street whet the mess is - got him in there - it would alleviate a lot of that problem. He sits in an office that is over-crowded right now. What he wants to do is give his people room to breath a little bit CHAIRMAN WILCOX: You mention the restaurant was going to expand dor they might expand? SMR. FREUND: I don' t know. One of the people we asked said that sl ie was afraid that if - you see she didn' t have an objection to him Y � Y 7 moving into our place her objection was that if Todd moved out of that space that the restaurant might expand. This was just suppos - �' tion on her part. CHAIRMAN WILCOX And if the restaurant did expand it seems ap, Jparent that - well it is apparent that the restaurant causes a lot of the traffic problem so the future expansion of that would cer- tainly li 11 I i - 31 - MR. FREUND: One thing, we have been there for over a hundred yearsnot us personally but we've been there for a long, long time and w are a part of that . . . by the way, that traffic light that was brought up, my wife - when she was Ward Chairman down in that dis- I itrict was the person who worked for about three or four years to get that light finally placed for the proteetion of children. You know I ended up having eight children, four adopted and four of my own and I am very very concerned about children. Also, we used to go to the Baptist church down there on the corner, and believe it cr not, I don' t know whether it is because old - the older people are the people who go to church today, but you go to that church and the vast majority of those people are the elderly people that live in that area. There are very few younger people that go. So - I mean, the character of the area - the fact that we are releaving traffic to a degree of four parking spaces around the corner and we are no changing the character. The man has a sign that ' s facing these I people on Lincoln Street right now. His sign - if any sign that has to be put up today has to be approved by the Board anyhow and if h only put a sign in his window its going to be facing Farrell ' s across the street so that the people across the street are actuall going to get a better view - the ones on Lincoln are going to have a better view and they, won' t be looking at an insurance sign along with all the rest of the . . . CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well the diner generates traffic at breakfast an at noon as well? MR, FREUND: Yes . CHAIRMAN WILCOX; How about the evening? MRS. DENNIS: I think they close at 4 : 30.. CHAIRMAN W'ILCOX; Well I 've parked there myself fox breakfast , I will say there is a lot of cars there. MR. FREUND: Well if they park in front of the place on Tioga Street R they park. in front of our place when there is nobody parked � in that area so - they've parked in any driveway - all from the restaurant. Thank you. ' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Thank you. Any otherquestions? (none) Alright I i i - 32 - I; is there anyone else who would like to speak either in favor or �I (, opposition to this application? Any other questions by the Board? I. H Any other discussion? That concludes the public meeting, the Boar i! twill now go into executive session. I ' ll repeat that we do go bac ii into public session again when we have finished with our delibera- tions so anyone who wants to know the outcome - they can come back in awhile. Again, there are four members here, it will take four votes in favor to pass any application. I l �I i i i I ii l� i .I i, 'i I{ 33 it BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS ii COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS i CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK ii NOVEMBER 5 , 1979 i ,I EXECUTIVE SESSION i� APPEAL NO. 1269 : DR. GREENBERG: I move that the Board grant the use variance I requested in appeal number 1269. MR. AMAN: I second the motion. FINDfiNGS OF FACT: 1) Not having this property rented as a profes- sional office is a clear hardship to the property. 2) The prospective tenant would move from a location within the immediate neighborhood and therefore would not change the character of the neighborhood, 3) There are other enterprises that would ad- I versely impact the neighborhood more than an Insurance Company. f 4) The property has a long history of commercial use, 51 Conversion to a dwelling unit would be exhor- bitant in cost. VOTE: 4 Yes; 0 No ; 2 Absent. Use variance granted upon reconsideration. I I I� � i 34 - i i I , BARBARA RUANE, DO CERTIFY that I took the minutes of the Board j of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals 1numbered 11-1-79, 1285 , 1286 and reconsideration of 1269 on 11INovember 3, 1979 at City Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; that I have transcribed same , and the foregoing is a true copy of the litranscript of the minutes of the meeting and the Executive Session jlof the Board of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca and the whole there f to the best of my ability. I Barbara C. Ruane Recording Secretar Sworn to before me this I day of � �., 1979 Notary Public ^ PT_TTTTANN BRMV�7 Nota: F::h;i�; State of X,c York oo..-33 I County I II