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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1981-01-08 BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS 'i COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JANUARY 8 , 1981 {I MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA, NEW YORK - JANUARY 8 , 1981 ; TABLE OF CONTENTS Page i j APPEAL NO. 10-1-80 Ithaca Diner 2 114 W. State Street APPEAL NO. 10-1-80 Executive Session 7 APPEAL NO. 1327 Don Robertson 8 I� 606 Cascadilla Street. I ' APPEAL NO. 1327 Executive Session APPEAL NO. 1331 Charles A. Fritschler (Postponed) I 801 E. State Street i ,! APPEAL NO. 1332 Triangle Steel , Inc. (no one showed) 726 W. Clinton Street I ; j`, APPEAL NO. 1-1-81 Bill Zikakis Trust (no one showed) l 381 Elmira Road �i ljAPPEAL NO. 1333 William Borra (no one showed) 316 Third Street I� i� APPEAL NO. 1334 Cornell Radio Guild (no one showed) 227-231 Linden Avenue !j jAPPEAL NO. 1335 J.D. & L.A. Olds & E.O. Kimble 10 ,, 207 East Court Street i ( APPEAL NO. 1335 Executive session 15 +4 !! APPEAL NO. 1336 Arthur Garbett 16 �i 201 South Aurora Street APPEAL NO. 1336 Executive Session 17 i � ! APPEAL NO. 1337 Larry F. Baum 18 507 Willow Avenue APPEAL NO. 1337 Executive Session 20 f !' CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY 21 i i I i i, A i I I is i, .I li j. .i ij BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS j j CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK j i I� JANUARY 8 , 1981 �i (, SECRETARY HOARD: I 'd like to call to order the January meeting of ', lithe Board of Zoning Appeals. The reason that I am opening the 1meeting is that at the first meeting of the year, the Board elects ; 11a new chairman, a new vice-chairman and adopts its rules and regu ii O ations for the year. On the rules and regulations question, I ii ; would suggest that since I didn' t remind all of you about that and jsince we have two new members, we would hold that off until the iinexlj t month and give the two new members copies of the rules and � ! procedures . This is the Janaury 8th, 1981 meeting of the Board ofj �iZoning Appeals tonight. Present are: ALFRED ARAN I PEGGY HAINE I i! CHARLES WEAVER i WILLIAM WILCOX l MORRIS ANGELL PETER WALSH !; THOMAS HOARD, Bldg Comm Secy to this Board BARBARA RUANE, Recording ! Secreta�y �i !' The first order of business would be to elect a new chairman for j lithe 1981 year. ,; MR. WALSH: Mr. Secretary, I move the nomination of Alfred C. Aman ias chairman for 1981 . 1 Ii MR. ANGELL: I second the motion. ! SECRETARY HOARD: Do I hear any other nominations? (none) MR. WALSH: I would move that the nominations be closed and that toe lSecretary be directed to cast one ballot. SECRETARY HOARD: All in favor say aye . �i VOTE: 6 Aye; 0 Opposed. ,' SECRETARY HOARD: Mr. Aman. j( CHAIRMAN AMAN: I guess the second order of business is to nominate Mand elect a vice chairman, or the acting chairman in the event than 11I am absent for a meeting. Are there any nominations? 11MR. ANGELL: I nominate Bill Wilcox as acting chairman. MR. WALSH: I would second that. ! CHAIRMAN AMAN: Are there any other nominations? (none) li � I i i i, 2 - II !i hMR. WALSH: Then I would move the nominations be closed and that ;, the secretary be directed to cast a single ballot for Mr. Wilcox. MR. ANGELL: I second that. 11CHAIRMAN AMAN: All in favor? �NOTE : 6 Aye; 0 Opposed. I CHAIRMAN AMAN: Now that we have leadership installed we can go on ', �1with the meeting. Let me for those of you who have not been Ibefore the Board before , let me briefly explain our procedures . We', I ; operate under the Ithaca City Charter and the Ithaca Zoning Ordi- nance and the Ithaca Sign Ordinance. As you can see there are six members on the Board. It takes four affirmative votes for a vari- �jance request to carry. So you must have four out of six members of the Board for your request to carry - for your variance to carry. The way we operate is , we call the cases up in order, based on the I agenda that we have out and we ask that those seeking the variance i jcome up and speak first state your case succinctly, tell us what �it is that you are requesting and the reasons why you are requesting i Oahe variance. There may, and often are , questions that Board members jjwill have for you and ask that you respond to those questions . After *e have heard your presentation I will then ask whether there is I! lanyone else in the audience who wishes to speak on behalf or for the variance request and we will hear all of those people and then T will ask whether there is anyone out there who wishes to oppose i !�lour request and we will hear the opposition. We will hear all of I he cases in order, as T say, and after we have heard the cases we djorn into executive session where we deliberate and make our de- iI tisions . We will then announce those decisions we are not obli- i (i. ated under law to make all of them - but if we do decide all the gases - we will announce the cases that we decide when we reconvene; I ith that as background then, Mr. Secretary, if you will call the first case? �ECRETARY HOARD: The first appeal is appeal number 10-1-80 : II� Appeal of the Ithaca Diner for a variance !I under Section 34 .4B to permit the reten- tion of the existing sign at 114 W. State j Street in a B-3 (business) use district' The existing non-conforming sign projects more than eighteen (18) inches from the ', face of the building. I i, 3 - i '; CHAIRMAN AMAN: I neglected to add one thing. We would appreciate it � . it if you would speak from this podium. This is a quasi-judicial I ii 1proceeding and, although we do not adhere to strict rules of evi- 11dence - or court room rules of evidence - we do base our decision on the record and we have a tape recording device up here which is flhooked up to this podium and it is easier for us to get everything ; I, ion tape if you are at this podium. Similarly if anyone has any I llcomments to make from the audience, we ask that you refrain and then `lyou will have a chance to speak and then come up and make your lcomments here. That way we can keep the record orderly and intact MR. BOWMAN: Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen of the Board of e Zoning Appeals, my name is Stephen Bowman, I 'm an attorney and I 11represent Steve and Loreen Kotsides , the owners of the Ithaca Diner ii located at 114 W. State Street in Ithaca. As was pointed out , this !I ( appeal has to do with a sign variance for the neon sign which pro- j J ects from the front of the diner at 114 W. State Street . I am sure ' that the members of the Board are familiar with the recommendation ' i { of the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission and Planning Depart- ` ment recommendation which passed 4 - 0. Over the signature of I; ; Jon Meigs, has pointed out the Planning Department looked to see �i 1whether they could document historic status for this sign. Apparent- f Ily after an extensive search they were unable to come up with the 1inecessary 30 year period for this sign. There is still some ques- 11tion in my mind and in Mr. Kotsides mind that perhaps this sign Idoes fall within this 30 year category - older than 30 year category. �I (! However, according to the recommendation of the Planning Board, s ! because of the neon signs type and technology that is no longer hcommon in use and of its simple design and modest size - I don' t i ; know whether you are familiar or not with - it' s a small sign and it I says "diner" with two arrows - it' s a neon. They recommend that ai, variance be granted so that Mr. Kotsides can maintain the sign. Fpr lihim it is not of such historic value as a commercial value. Be- 1� cause of its small size and just modest presentation I don' t think, ,, it is necessarily a . . . �lCHAIRMAN AMAN: How much more than 18" does it project? II I - 4 - i MR. BOWMAN: I don' t have a measurement. The sign itself is proba ly 'ithree feet long. It is on a trianglar shaped standard. It probab y �I !! comes out, altogether four or five feet from the side of the I i ; building. SECRETARY HOARD: Mr. Chairman, the sign inspector measured it as i jlleight feet from the building ' s face. There is a little projection ] ! from the building and it makes it look less than that but it . . . i '1MR. BOWMAN: If I might just take a look at that picture? SECRETARY HOARD: Yes . IMR. BOWMAN: For the record, you will notice there is a sign which, II believe did receive historic status, right next door at the ; Asiatic Gardens that projects approximately the same distance . Consonant with the idea that we are trying to bring the Commons i ! area and this West State Street area up for aesthetic purposes , Mr. Kotsides has assured me that whatever steps the Board would like i Ihim to take as far as painting or bing the sign up, would definitely i � be taken. It' s a condition of the variance - he would definitely 40 1 whatever it is to maintain or paint to take care of the sign. Havo it checked out to make sure it is not going to fall off the wall , i ! etc. If any members of the Baord have any questions i MR. ANGELL; How long has Mr. Kotsides owned the business? �i I� MR. BOWMAN: Just over a year, T believe . Prior to that it was ' James Poulos who had it for a period of eighteen years. MR. ANGELL: Was the sign a consideration in the purchase of the business? ,i MR. BOWMAN: It was one of the - it was part of the equipment. I14 I �lsure he would have bought it without the sign but . . . j ' MR. ANGELL: Wouldn' t have bought it , or would have? I! ! MR. BOWMAN: I 'm sure he would have bought it. MR. KOTSIDES: I would have but the sign has been there for many (` years . I !IMR. BOWMAN: Considering the location of the diner, which is in th6 h 11middle of the block, its not particularly visible. 1I 1SECRETARY HOARD: Sir, could you step up to the podium and identify i i yourself so that you are part of the record? �I - i IMR. KOTSIDES: I am Steve Kotsides , the owner of the Ithaca Diner !land I have been there a little better than a year. I bought it ! !last November and like I said, the store is in the middle of the � I block and I woudl appreciate it if it could stay - the sign could I `'stay there because it means a great deal to us . It gives us our bread and butter and I 'd like to see it stay. IMR. BOWMAN: I could point out that the sign is visible from the + Commons which provides a lot more traffic than we would get on ! State Street. �I !CHAIRMAN AMAN: What if it were flat against the building? IIR. KOTSIDES: There is one against the building already but this done is the only one that lights . It shows that there is a diner, fIthat is all. ,CHAIRMAN AMAN: You mean the one that projects out, you are saying. !. . .1 IR. KOTSIDES: Yes, it only says "Diner" that is all . It doesn't I say Ithaca or anything else. Just "Diner" and it has the arrow that i oints into the center of the block. And it measn a great deal to 1( Ce because , you know, a lot of people from both corners , they can ee it. i NR. WALSH: Mr. Kotsides , can you indicate, or estimate for us , what j1ercentage of your trade is people who come to you on a repeated j�- asis , day in and day out and how many people are simply . . . IR. KOTSIDES : Well I can't say off hand like that , I mean, there is i I4uite a few people that they see the sign and come in. Like , for �nstance, when they have graduations or when they have anything at I�11 at Cornell or Ithaca College or Cornell. You' d be surprised ow many parents see the sign and come down. It' s like anything 11else, people usually look at signs before they go to the stores. I (think that sign would help us a lot, if it could stay there. f�f II! +MR. BOWMAN: As far as taking care of the sign, would you do . . . R. KOTSIDES: I'd be more than glad if they want to paint it, Ij would be more than glad to but - if that is what they want - I wou14 6e more than glad to paint it. I E R. WILCOX: That is in the peripheral street section isnot it, of tYe !Community Development program? Has the Planning Department, have they Ii f I; I! I i - 6 !made any any comments about it do you know? I see the Landmarks Com- mission made some remarks , I wondered about actual Planning Board? �iSECRETARY HOARD: Well the Planning Board, on 12/26/80 said the i jIthaca Landmarks Preservation Commission, along with the Planning i and Development staff has determined that the sign is not historic # however, it' s basic design character is such that it merits reten- i i tion on that basis. Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Holmes , moved toy firecommend denial of this sign appeal but before a vote was taken arty amendment was added to the motion stating that the owner be notified of his right to retain the sign as an interior sign, which I guessi i ;! means if they put it in the front window. SMR. BOWMAN: That doesn't make too much sense to me . !� MR. KOTSIDES: No, because its against the window, against the walk. , ! there is one now already. And there is one against the left side �f 1window which says texas hots - there is a light there also. But this one stands in the - a wide distance away from the building an4 �Iit really does help the business a lot. j MR. BOWMAN: I think we would ask that the variance be granted for ' i lithe sign as it is where it is at this point and then we would do �1what would be necessary to maintain it. �! MR. KOTSIDES: It is a very strong sign, if that is what you peopl �lorder but it ' s stable and very strong and we can always check it lif that' s the matter. If it needs painting I would be more than i ,Iglad to do it. CHAIRMAN AMAN: It' s not so much the strength, it ' s the projection ' from the building that causes the problem. Is there any way - it ( projects eight feet now - is there any way perhaps of lessening � the . . . j MR. BOWMAN: I hadn't looked into that - I mean that is something jthat could be investigated. 1MR. KOTSIDES: This is only one floor building it is not a high i� iibuilding that we have to worry about - pulling anything from the ( top - it ' s against the wall and it ' s very low building. MR. BOWMAN: At least from taking a look at the picture it would 11appear that the sign could be moved in somewhat closer to the f '� i f - 7 - I I building and it would still project perpendicular to the building. j IICHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions from the Board? (none) 'Thank you very much. IiMR. KOTSIDES: Thank you. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone here wishing to speak on behalf of the re- quested variance? (no one) We ' ll move on to the next case . i I I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i JANUARY 8 , 1981 I i EXECUTIVE SESSION The Board considered your appeal for a variance under Section 34. 01 , of the Sign Ordinance to permit the retention of the existing sign li at 114 West State Street. The property is located in a B-3 use dis- i trict and the existing non-conforming sign projects more than eight- een (18) inches from the face of the building. The decision of the! Board was as follows : R. WALSH: I move that the Board deny the sign variance requested) i in appeal number 10-1-80. R. WILCOX: I second the motion. I OTE: 5 Yes ; 1 No Request denied. i FINDINGS OF FACT: 1 . The sign, as it exists, has not been shown to have a history that would automatically qualify it for historical status . i 2. There has been no showing of extraordinary need for the sign ash it exists. It is substantially in excess of the maximum project tion permitted by the Ordinance. 3. There is no compelling reason shown to make an exception on any other ground within the intent of the Ordinance. I i I I 1' t 1 ij E� i 1 - 8 S ii i !; BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS i CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK I� JANUARY 8 , 1981 Ii SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1327 : Appeal of Don Robertson for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns j 11 and 13 and Section 30. 49 to permit the addition of two bedrooms to the ;j second floor of the building at 606 Cascadilla Street. The property is located in an R-3b use district and is , I� deficient in minimum required front and I� side yards . 'MR. ROBERTSON: My name is Don Robertson and we own the property ori ICascadilla Street. This is exactly what we want to do. There is j i 'Ian existing efficiency apartment on the second floor. We want to 11add two bedrooms to it and we also want to fix the exterior of thei i jlbuilding - a new roof, reside it and fix it up. It needs it. (f CHAIRMAN AMAN: Perhaps you could describe the plan to the full bo4rd MR. ROBERTSON: What we want to do - right now there is a room on i the second floor - it is illegal for a bedroom. It is being used . for that anyway. We've tried to keep the people from using it - every time it gets rented that 's the way we end up. And that section liis what we are going to build over - put the two bedrooms on and not really changing the exterior of the building, size-wise. We are just going to remove that section and put two bedrooms there. I ; CHAIRMAN ARAN: So this is all interior changes? You are knocking ] I� some walls down or you MR. ROBERTSON; We are going to actually - right now there is a roof I Il there and what we are going to do is put walls up and then have a t i ] regular room there. Right now the roof comes down to - I don't i know maybe maybe two and one-half feet from the floor and the headroom in there on the outside of the room is very low. CHAIRMAN AMAN; So it slants down and you are dust going to . . . MR. ROBERTSON: That 's right �ICHAIRMAN AMAN: Put it up straight? I SMR. ROBERTSON: That ' s right, right. i II CHAIRMAN AMAN: Square it off? 1 I II { - 9 - i i� IMR. ROBERTSON: Tie into the roof line that exists on the main part II I Hof the building. SMR. WEAVER: Question. On the proposed addition, the new ridge i �1will coincide with the existing roof? MR. ROBERTSON: Yes . iMR. WEAVER: Same height? MR. ROBERTSON: Yes . i CHAIRMAN AMAN: Do you presently reside at the house? MR. ROBERTSON: No we don' t . CHAIRMAN AMAN: It' s rented? IMR. ROBERTSON: Yes . 11CHAIRMAN AMAN: Will this increase the number - how many occupants ,' i;are there? i; I!MR. ROBERTSON: There is just one person there now. 4 I�CHAIRMAN AMAN: So this will increase the occupancy to? !MR. ROBERTSON: I don' t know. Maybe when we re-rent, if we do , ( the guy seems to be very happy there but the property itself, it `fneeds work and I 'd just like to make a decent apartment out of it, l really, that is all we are trying to do. I. SMR. ANGELL: Is this going to be a separate apartment upstairs from) lathe downstairs? �iMR. ROBERTSON: Yes - it is now. It is an efficiency apartment on +the second floor and that is what we are adding on to . SMR. ANGELL: How much. parking do you have there? i� JMR. ROBERTSON: We own a pretty good size lot there and there is a ! �1driveway - there is enough room for four cars in there. 'SECRETARY HOARD: The problem on this is just that its - the build i { �' ing, the existing structure is too close to the street and one side i�yard is too narrow. Those are the two problems it ' s not a use 11problem or a density problem. 1 'IMR. WALSH: Mr. Robertson, I understand you intend to reface the dbuilding or put new siding on? I JAR. ROBERTSON: We are going to put new siding on. MR. WALSH: And there is an external steel stairway coming down the i { {jside? I' I! E 10 - I I i MR. ROBERTSON: Yes , well it' s wood now, but there is an exterior I staircase, yes . MR. WALSH: Will that remain an exterior staircase then? 1 � MR. ROBERTSON: Yes it will . What we want to do is to extend thel I roof on this new structure out to cover that because right now thea I stairs are out in the weather and actually the building itself ! won' t come over those but the roof will. i fl MR. WALSH: Okay. MR. ROBERTSON: More or less a cantilever , really, just to proteci� I them. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions? (none) Thank you sir. MR. ROBERTSON; Thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone else wishing to speak on behalf of the pro-j �I posed variance? (no one) Anyone here wishing to speak in opposi� tion? (no one) Hearing nothing further we will move to the next case . I+! li f� I I I i #t i I� ,i i I r! jlllf BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS �j COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS i' CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JANUARY 8 , 1981 �i EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1327 ') The Board considered the appeal for an area variance under Section i1 30. 25, Columns 11 and 13 and Section 30. 49 to permit the addition ' i j of two bedrooms to the second floor of the building at 606 Casca I I I� dilla Street. The property is located in an R-3b use district and �i is deficient in minimum required front and side yards . The decision of the Board was as follows : i !l CHAIRMAN AMAN: I move that the Board grant the area variance requested in appeal number 1327 . MR. WILCOX: I second the motion. I I VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 No Area variance granted. ii FINDINGS OF FACT: ii 1) Doesn' t change the character of the neighborhood. I 2) Does not exacerbate the deficiencies that presently exist in i. the property. ii 3) The proposed changes will improve the premises . f1 4) Practical difficulties have been shown by the appellant. i �f I i I,I ;i j 1i ,i i I" �I i i i� i i' �I H BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS j' CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JANUARY 8 , 1981 ( SECRETARY HOARD: The next case on the agenda, Mr. Chairman, is ! appeal number 1331 : Appeal of Charles A. Fritschler for an �I area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns 6, 11 and 13 to permit the con- tinued use of 801 East State Street as a multiple dwelling. The property, 11 which is located in an R-3a use district Il in which multiple dwellings are permitted; however,. the property is deificent in minimum required lot size , and required ! front and side yard setback. The property had been converted to a multiple by a previous owner , in violation of zoning, building and housing code requirements . An earlier appeal was denied by the Board on August 4, 1980 ; the applicant has re- turned with a new appeal in which he proposes to provide the required off- street parking. I That appeal was postponed at the request of the appellant so that they could prepare architect 's drawings . Appeal 1332 is next : Appeal of Triangle Steel , Inc . for an j area variance under Section 30. 25 , Column 11 to permit the construction ofi an addition to the building at 726 West Clinton Street. The proposed addition ' would extend into the front yard requir d in the 1R1 (industrial) use district in which the property is located. i This appeal was held over from last month because no one appeared. ; i 1 don' t see anyone here tonight. Is there anyone here for the i Triangle Steel appeal? (no one appeared) The next appeal is appeal number 1--1-81 : Appeal of Bill Zikakis Trust for a vari- ance under Section 34 .6B (permitted signs in a. B-5 use district) to permit the erec- tion of three new signs at 381 Elmira Road (Bill Zikakis Imports) in a B-5 (business) use district. The requested signs would increase the number of signs to four; district regulations permit only two signs on this property. A previous app al for additional signs for this property was denied by the Board in April 1980. is there anyone here for the Zikakis appeal? (no one appeared) The next appeal is appeal number 1333 : 1 Appeal of William Borra for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Column 11 to permit conversion of the existing one- family dwelling at 316 Third Street to two-family dwelling. The property is located in an R-3b use district and is deficient in required front yard setback. Ii l j - 10 - ' SECRETARY HOARD: Is there anyone here for appeal number 1333? (no one appeared) Next appeal is 1334 : Appeal of Cornell Radio Guild, Inc. for a use variance under ii Section 30. 25 , Columns 2 , 3 and 4 to perjmit rental of a portion of the building at 227-231 Linden Avenue for retail storage',. The property is located in an R-3b use j district in which commercial storage is not permitted, and the property is defi-i cient in required off-street parking. i� l;Is there anyone here for this appeal? (no one showed) Appeal f {Inumber 1335 : Appeal of J. David Olds , Leon A. Olds , I( and Eris 0. Kimble for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns 4 , 6 , 11 , 13 and 14 to permit the conversion of the one-family dwelling at 207 East Court Street to office use. The property is located in a B-la (business) use district where offices are permitted; however the property is non-conforming in that it is, deficient in required lot size , front, side and rear yard set backs , and will be de ficient in off-street parking for the proposed use. �lIs there anyone here to represent this case? MR. STUMBAR: My name is Richard Stumbar, I 'm one of the prospective buyers of the premises at 207 Court. The situation is that my law i (partner, Elizabeth Yanoff and myself are proposing to buy this parti- iicular parcel of property to use as law offices . I think the real focus here is the character of the neighborhood. It is essentially, (�a professional office neighborhood, I noticed when we sent out the notices to the neighbors within the 200 foot radius I believe there are nine other lawyers offices in that area. Right across the street there is an optometrist office. This area is essentially office type area. We are only 100 feet or so from the Court House , : ewe are the second house right behind the LoPinto office on the south side of Court Street. Consequently, I believe having this lbuilding as law offices would not change the character of the neighborhood at all , and in fact, it would fit in more with the character. There is nobody residing there at the present time. +The family who lived there and built the house were the only peopleli, ho occupied the house prior to this sale - was the Olds family. It, he elder Mr. Olds got too old to keep up the place, basically, and' e has left. Consequently the owners are left with either selling ! this as a residential house, at a very large economic loss , or selling it in conformity with the general character of the area - I I that is as a professional office. There are two types of variances that we are asking for. The one is the parking space variance. If ,you see the photographs - those photographs are both taken from i' IjCourt Street looking generally south, I believe, looking at the i front of the house. On either side of the house there is a drive- i lway. The one driveway belongs to the LoPinto property on the corner of Court and Tioga Street and the other driveway belongs to this property that we propose to buy. The driveway is 14 ' wide and we i could probably put five or six automobiles there if we stack them. ; ,l There is really only - realistically speaking, there is only room ffor two automobiles , not stacked, which doesn' t comply with the parking requirements, I believe that this building is on the peri-j t �Iphery of the downtown area - there is on-street parking in this I I Ilarea and it' s not that close to the Commons actually, where we ii would be getting a lot of Commons overflow traffic. I don' t think sparking would be a big problem. There is a problem with the set I toff variances the measurement on the west side of the building ha's almost zero clearance - in fact we are going to have to get a surv�y. IThat' s very close to the LoPinto line there - that' s non-complying1 i The total surface area R there is only 10 . 6 percent of unused space i jin the back there , rather than 15% and there is very little set-off i �iin the front part of the house. There is nothing that can be done ' labout those distances , of course, there is - this house has been like this since 1937 or something like that and we are not going tc be able to do anything about the area variances. I think it wouldl be a big hardship for the owners to not be able to sell this as a commercial area. The trend in that area is to warrant commercial uses , particularl�y Professional buildings . As you know, that par- 1 �� ticular block on Tioga Street was recently changed and I believe that ,; our proposal is basically in compliance with the character and the �I jnature of the neighborhood, ; CHAIRMAN AMAN; How many parking spaces would there have to be fore,; � ,lit to be in compliance? I � i, I I! i - 12 - I I MR. STUMBAR: I believe seven. I was just doing the calculations i but that was a rough estimate. There is a map there. The map is somewhat misleading. The back space there - that little back corner that 818" x 12 feet, that is just a cinder block storage room and !, I ithe next room there - that 1516" is a garage. The actual office space we' ll have there, two partners , Elizabeth and myself and we I will have a law clerk and there are two secretarial people and I another part time secretarial person. Right now there are four I i bedrooms upstairs and downstairs there is a large living room and two other rooms so there would be a maximum of five offices plus the secretarial waiting room but right now we have three lawyers who will be using it. We might rent to other professionals - the other two extra offices , although we haven' t decided if that' s I true yet. MR. WALSH: Is it possible to use any portion of the property not j i now a driveway, for parking? JMR. STUMBAR: There is really not anything - the only possibility I take it would be the little jag in the back of the property on the south end and I think that would be very difficult , it ' s barel i wide enough - I think it ' s only a few feet wide, past the garage there. I MR. WALSH: Do you have any arrangement - does the property to the i west of you, there, owned by or occupied by LoPinto , have room for parking or is there any arrangement possible that would give you a guarantee of off-street parking above what is on the property which you propose to purchase? MR. STUMBAR: We didn' t pursue the matter with Mr. LoPinto. That is a fairly large lot back there, you are right, there is a large open area between - on the west side of this building at 207 E. Court Street but in all honesty we haven' t pursued the matter of purchas- ing parking space from Mr. LoPinto. I personally feel that it would not be productive but we haven' t pursued it. i MS. HAINE: Who or what occupies the building on the east side? IMR. STUMBAR: Is that the old Cancer Society building? The next one 11`.is the Cancer Society building? 11 i it 13 - I,i?MR. WEAVER: I 'd like to correct that, that ' s a duplex next door I ' east. i� I �IMR. STUMBAR: Oh, I 'm sorry, I just made a - more or less an i , (unintelligible) . . . I ,JMR. WEAVER: There is an apartment up and an apartment down. Ques-1 jltion. Do you propose to use the garage for some purpose other than ( storing an automobile? I SMR. STUMBAR: Probably not even for storing an automobile. What wet I1propose right now is to use it for file storage. We are in the DeWitt building now and we have no storage area at all for all our , ` files . I have twenty boxes of them, or something like that, in fact 1we are planning on moving them if we do get the variance. But that I ;;our proposal right now for the garage area - storage . 1MR. WEAVER: So you are not asking us to accept the property as it with its already deficient parking, but also to give up that �ispace too? I MR. STUMBAR: Well , you know, if that' s needed. The only problem Il with using the garage is that we would be parking that car in all lithe time. I mean that is just another stacked car. I think we cold jpark more cars by using the area right in front of the garage for two I ' small cars parked side by side rather than having a car parked in ; the garage and then having to move that. We can park two cars side; I1by side in that area up there on the far south side and then park ianother two or three cars coming down the driveway, The only structural change we would propose to make is the ramp along that !, eastern side of the building from the garage back to that front I' ' porch where that seven foot jog is. That ' s actually a porch you 11can see it on the photograph - we would propose to ramp that area -i II ia ramp from the garage to that back area and, in fact, we might ran p ; through the garage also. The clerk we have is a handicapped indi- I� ' IIvidual and we are planning to make this building accessible to I handicapped individuals. You know, assuming we are able to purchase flit, Eventually it might be required to use the garage since the �Igarage is covered to go through the garage , a ramp through the Ilgarage and up to the back side of the building. I! I j' I; I - 14 - I I� I I IiMR. WALSH: Do your plans envision anything upstairs at that point?ji IMR. STUMBAR: Yes . That' s wehre the main offices will be. There are four bedrooms upstairs and right now at least two of those wily I i The offices . Elizabeth and I will have our offices up there. The -i our law clerk who is in a wheelchair will have an office downstairs . �' It would be not feasible to have an upstairs accessibility and we ';would also have a waiting room and library downstairs. One office .' i , downstairs and as many as four and as few as two offices upstairs . ! Right now we have our office in the DeWitt building and, of course, f liwe have no parking at all there for our clients . There is no off J ii + street DeWitt parking nor do any of the lawyers or the secretaries lin our office have parking. I think we tend to congest the midtown ! area more in the DeWitt building than we could ever do here on ! Court Street. I �I CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions? (none) Thank you. Is there Ii anyone here who wishes to speak on behalf of the variance request? ', I; i (no one) Anyone here who wishes to speak in opposition? (no one) ' i Hearing nothing further we will take the next case . I� I i'. �I 'i i) it !I I l 4 li II � � I i! i ji ii �1 j II i - 15 - I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS I COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK �I JANUARY 8, 1981 li EXECUTIVE SESSION i APPEAL NO. 1335 i �iThe Board considered the appeal for an area variance under Section ) 30 . 253, Columns 4 , 6 , 11 , 13 and 14 to permit the conversion of the one-family dwelling at 207 East Court Street to office use . The �1property is located in a B-la use district where offices are per- imitted; however the property is non-conforming in that it is defi- cient in required lot size, front, side and rear yard set backs , l and will be deficient in off-street parking for the proposed use. The decision of the Board was as follows : i�MR. WALSH: I move that the application for an area variance in appeal number 1335 be denied. MS. HAINE: I second the motion. VOTE : 4 Yes; 1 No ; 1 Abstention Area variance denied. ( FINDINGS OF FACT: � 1) It is substantially short of the number of parking spaces re- quired for the proposed use. 2) There was no showing that the difficulties associated with they I proposed use are unique to this particular property. � 3) The area of the lot is scarcely over half of what would be required in that zone. I I I E E I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS �I COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JANUARY 8 , 1981 i ii! SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1336 : li j Appeal of Arthur Garbett for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns 4 , 11, 12 and 14 to permit conversion of the :i single-family house at 201 South Auroral Street to a cooperative dwelling for five !' unrelated persons . The property is to cated in an R-3b use district in which such occupancy is permitted; however they property has no off-street parking, and ; is deficient in minimum front yards and minimum rear yard. !;MR. ANAGNOST: My name is Chris Anagnost, I 'm a realtor and my I '!office is at 304 College Avenue. I am here tonight with my client,; i Arthur Garbett, : who is purchasing a house located at 201 S. Aurora 11,Street which is on the corner of Aurora and Hudson, just over the Ii Abridge from downtown. Mr. Garbett is requesting to be allowed to have five unrelated persons occupying this house which is in an R-alb zone, which permits its use as a cooperative household. The house iisits on the corner lot and because of that it has two front yards . It is deficient in front and side yard and rear yard. It is also �deficient in the required parking spaces since there is no off-street j �lparking. And the way the house sits on the hill and the way the yaird ` goes up hill it would be impractical to provide off-street parking.'i IISince the house has an Aurora Street address , if you will look on i �Ithe map, the side yard becomes the one or the rear yard becomes the !I ' one which is right next to 108-110 Hudson Street. If the house had' I• Ila Hudson Street address then the stairway going in was used as access :!to to the house , then the rear yard would not be deficient. The side ;yard - you would only have one side yard deficiency and the front �Iyard would be deficient by one foot at that point. Mr. Garbett has '`solved the problem of the off-street parking. He is required under u the zoning to provide three off-street parking spaces . The neighbo�- jhood right now is primarily across the street is multiple dwellings . '! I '11Most of the houses are two or more per dwelling. In fact I don't b�- jilieve there are any single family residences within 200 feet of this i' I� i I I I 16 - I� , !property. Are there any questions? NR. WALSH: Mr. Anagnost , do you have any indications from Mr.11;firm of a parking arrangement? I I i HMR. ANAGNOST: Mr. Burns would not commit himeself to more than a ; year because of the zoning they are not allowed to use the lot for i 11anything other than a neighborhood parking lot. Bob Burns said that I !ithey have no plans at this point to change it to other than a park-i: Jing lot. But he would not commit himself for more than a year. s MR. WALSH: Is it Burns or Parks? MR. ANAGNOST: They've owned it for five years . I don' t know why abut I 'm sure, being a landlord, he doesn' t want to commit himself I Ito more than one year at a time. NOTE: THE TAPE DID NOT PICK UP THE DISCUSSION ANYMORE AT THIS POINT - IT RAN TOO FAST AND EVERYTHING IS UNINTELLIGIBLE, I� j FOR THE REST OF THIS APPEAL, (Executive session was on another tape) I i� i it I M' �i i fl 1 f � �G I i' �I i i I j I it I I� i i I� ?i li r i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS i; CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JANUARY 8 , 1981 I !� EXECUTIVE SESSION I APPEAL NO. 1336: The Board considered the appeal for an area variance under Section) 4 30. 25, Columns 4 , 11 , 12 and 14 to permit conversion of the singlet, family house at 201 South Aurora Street to a cooperative dwelling i for five unrelated persons . The property is located in an R-3b use district in which such occupancy is permitted; however the property has no off-street parking, and is deficient in minimum I I ( front yard and minimum rear yard. The decision of the Board was a� follows: MR. WALSH: I' move that the variance requested in appeal number i 1336 be granted with the condition that a Certificate I II of Compliance be issued annually only, on a showing by i the landlord that he has a lease for at least three (3 off-street parking spaces within 500 ' of the property, demonstrating that the use of a leased parking spaces Ls part of the commitment to at least three (3) residents thereof. CHAIRMAN AMAN: I second the motion. VOTE: 4 Yes; 2 No Area variance granted w/condition FINDINGS OF FACT: 11) The deficiencies as to front and rear yards are endemic in the � I neighborhood and unable to be overcome . ! 2) The change from three to five unrelated persons at that dwelling would not in any material way later the character of .the neigh- borhood eighborhood which i,s already largely rental. 3) The extremely limited parking in the neighborhood dictates ad- herence to the requirement of furnishing at least some off- street parking. i - 18 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS ! COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK JANUARY 8 , 1981 ; SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1337 : �I i Appeal of Larry F. Baum for a special permit under Section 30. 26 (standards i for special conditions and special II permits) to permit a home occupation of ! a computer timesharing business at 507 'i Willow Avenue. The property is located in an R-2b (residential) use district in which home occupations require a special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals. �i IMR. BAUM: My name is Larry Baum, I live at 507 Willow Avenue . . . . NOTE: The firstart of this appellant ' s testimony resentatil�n 11 P PP Y P R was not recorded on the previous tape which was faulty. ', MR. BAUM: What was the question Pete? I MR. WALSH: I was asking about exactly what was detailed in the II building? SMR. WILCOX: Do you do commercial computer work or research or i I r what? `! MR. BAUM: Mostly commercial computer work, there is some research ! 11being done. Mostly its business applications . The client - our i i clients will have terminals and printers in their offices and the 11access to the computer will be a telephone line. They, essenti- I� ally, will call the computer. We have lines set up that they can ! dial and . . . . I MR. WILCOX: And bookkeeping services . . . ? 1MR. BAUM: Yes, bookkeeping, payroll , things like that. i ICHAIRMAN AMAN: Do you reside at this address? I I MR. BAUM: Yes . ICHAtRMAN AMAN: You live there as well? MR. BAUM: Yes . i , CHAIRMAN AMAN: And your partner? jiMR. BAUM: My partner lives in Danby. I� MR. WALSH: So your partner would be the only additional person ,i coming to the property, other than those living there now? 11MR. BAUM: Right. Other than an occasional UPS delivery there li i i� - 19 - would be no increase in traffic in the area. j MR. WEAVER: Tom, what' s the deficiency that requires this to come! I before this Board? SECRETARY HOARD: It requires a special permit. fi MR. WEAVER: For any home occupation? SECRETARY HOARD: For a home occupation in an R-2b zone . MR. WEAVER: An R-2b zone . MR. WALSH: Do we have any special standards for that? i SECRETARY HOARD: Basically the same test as for a home occupation. I That there be no external activities , that it be contained within the dwelling unit, that it be conducted by someone living in the i unit and no more than two unrelated people and not be a disturbance and not create excessive traffic. +l MR. WEAVER: Further qualification - the appellant is asking per !I mission to comply with paragraph 48 in 30. 7 , as I understand it. SECRETARY HOARD: Yes . CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions? Thank you sir. Anyone I else wishing to speak on behalf of the variance or the special l jl permit request? (no one) Anyone here wishing to speak in oppo- I I sition? (no one) I, � I I I I i ,i i i I l( I i l I. i i I 'i � - 20 - I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS If COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS �I CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK I JANUARY 83, 1981 i EXECUTIVE SESSION j `! APPEAL NO. 1337 : j I The Board considered the appeal for a special permit under Sectio 30. 26 to permit a home occupation of a computer timesharing busi- i ness at 507 Willow Avenue. The property is located in an R-2b use; I district in which home occupations require a special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals . The decision of the Board was as follows : i i MS. HAINE : I move that the Board grant the request for a special i permit requested in appeal number 1337 . CHAIRMAN AMAN: I second the motion. VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 No. Granted i FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The proposed use meets the requirements of a home occupation, I 2) Does not change the character of the neighborhood, and i I 3) Only two persons are employed, one of whom will live on the j i premises. i i 1 i i I i f I I� I i i I i i - 21 - i I , BARBARA RUANE, DO CERTIFY that I took the minutes of the Board ' ii of Zoning Appeals, City of Ithaca, New York in the matters of ii Appeals numbered 10-1-80 , 1327 , 1335 , 1336 and 1337 on January 8 , � I 11981 at City Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; that I have trans- cribed same and the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of I. ' the minutes of the meeting and the Executive Session of the Board of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca and the whole thereof to the best i of my ability. I I Barbara C. Rua4e �I Recording Secretary I ISworn to before me this I ' i day. of 1981 i� Notary Public JEAN :E HANKINSON NOTARY.PUBLIC, STATE OF NEW YORK No. 55-1660800 i QUALIFIED IN TOMPKINS COUN, . MY COMMISSION EXPIRES MARCH 30,19 i �I I �I I li II I it Ii I I i �I f It i� i' I i I I II li I i !I