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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1976-07-12 ii l j` BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA ;i CITY HALL, ITHACA, NEW YORK JULY 12, 1976 f I1 1 ;;Secretary Jones announced the next case to be heard. 11APPEAL NO. 1121: A ' Appeal of George R. Pfann Jr. for O'Connor, E Sovocool, Pfann for use variance and area variance under section 30.22, 30.249 30.25 Col. 2, and 30.27 (A) (4) at 403 N. Tioga Street, 202 E. Court Street in a R-3 use district and Mr. Pfann is here to present ! `! the case. (did I loose Mr. Pfann) j ! MR. KASPRZAK: He doesn't look like Mr. Pfann pMR. JONES: Not hardly. 'I !!MR. ROBERTS: No, E. F. Roberts for the purposes of the record, e; representing the property owners Matthew McHugh, Roger Sovocool, i and George R. Pfann, Jr. and Mr. Chairman can you educate me on , your procedures since I want to put on Mr. Pfann, Real Estate Broker and an Architect with a number of exhibits. i I • `MR. MARTIN: Customarily in that sort of case we have a brief ; statement of the case and then your investigation of your witnesse . " MR. ROBERTS: It would save time perhaps to start with Roger 1 Sovocool and let him fill you in the background rather than listen I to me. jMR. MARTIN: Fine. ! IIMR. SOVOCOOL: I am an attorney, a member of the partnership of °! O'Connor, Sovocool-, Pfann and Greenburg. I am engaged in the ; general practice of law. We now have our offices on the second f i j; floor of the Savings and Loan Building. Also, George R. Pfann, Jr.� E � land myself are officers of the Tompkins and Watkins Abstract Corp epthat runs an abstracting business which is tied in closely with i ; the law office. That is, we supervise the operation of that business. For the ones here who perhaps do not know too much p I liabout abstracts, it is a method of compaing from courthouse record I i11a short summary of all matters pertaining to the title. These I 11abstracts are then used by attorneys to summarize and to look over ; ' i Lithe title so they will not have to go to the courthouse and compil� { ;; these records. The clients are the attorneys. There is very litt]e �I ; foot traffic back and forth from the general public back and forth pito the Abstract Company so that primarily it is a matter of the I 11 1 -2- i i ,[personnel at the Abstract Co. going from the law office over to Ahe courthouse, taking off records, coming back to the office, i typing out these records, compiling them, putting them together, 11going back, proofreading the records at the courthouse and then I I Hthese services are purchased by attorneys to use in title closings.1 This Abstract Co. is a sort of specialized business and is used 11by all of the attorneys in Tompkins County. In fact, it is the only one preparing abstracts in Tompkins County as compared with some areas where there are 4 or 5 companies. Our request is to i ( move this office comprising a law office with 4 partners and 1 'associate And their secretaries together with the Abstract Co. fro 1jthe Savings and Loan building down to a building which is located 11at the corner of Court and Tioga Street. I would like to take I I this opportunity to acquaint you a little bit with the area. MR. MARTIN: Could I ask you the composition of the abstract company? �iYou've talked of 4 partners and 1 associate, will there be ' additional personnel associated with the Abstract Company? I�CMR. SOVOCOOL: Yes, there is. The Abstract Company itself, there are approximately 8-10 people involved in the Abstract Company. i { Some of these are full-time and some of them are part-time. We j Ido have an office manager - one Penny Kramer, and the others are ! ( essentially what we call searchers or typists. Some of them have I been engaged in this work for some time and they do not all work lin the Abstract Company office at any one time. That is, the court_ ii '[house, by arrangement with our firm, does maintain a desk, one 11table and desk for its use in the courthouse since so much of their '( time is spent going back and forth from the office to the court- j �1house. That would be the number of people who are engaged by the I ! Abstract Company. We do not need, however, at this site 8 or 10 1, individual desks, telephones, that type of a station for each one i of these people. I would say we have in fact, you will see by I , the architect's plan the layout which we feel is ample and will I 11 1fshow you the amount of room which we feel will be needed by the ii IiAbstract Company. Our office is tied in with the Abstract Company. �y tWe find to maintain the Abstract Company at a different site is , very difficult. There are day-to-day questions which the Abstracters H i' I I! -3- !i for searchers ask us - therefore, we have always considered it !,essential to keep the Abstract Company at the same location where 11we are because it is too difficult running back and forth 4 or 5 ''times a day trying to supervise this type of operation. The build-i Jing in question is a large double 3-story wood frame and brick l�house and it was constructed probably around 1900. We have here . as Exhibit No. 1 sort of a large map on which we have tried to !!color in some of these uses. I know all of you are familiar with f11this corner. This building is diagonally across from the court- ' !!�Ihouse. On one corner of course, is the courthouse and the north- west corner is the Temple Beth E1, this property is on the north- y east corner. �i 11MR. GASTEIGER: Could you point to these properties? ,IMR. SOVOCOOL: Yes, let me move this chair a little bit. The one !outlined in black is the subdect property. This property diagonal"Hy llacross, of course, is the courthouse, the jail and the Sheriff' s !(office, the old courthouse, Presbyterian Church. As we go down ;this way this is the courthouse, county parking, Wiggins Law Offic land the Savings and Loan where we are presently located. As you move across the street of course, you have the Y.M.C.A. , insurance !!offices, interior decorator, law offices here in the Thaler and V !Thaler building. This building is owned by the Wiggins firm whichl, �!is presently used for apartments, Family and Children's Service, i (;Williamson and Mazza and Clune law offices, Larkin insurance office, i (LoPinto-LoPinto law offices in the old brick building on the corner, ( if you look up here is the building in question again, you have ! 'i �Ithe First Methodist parsonage, the First Methodist Church. At Ione time they did own this corner - they were the ones who sold iti !I !Ito O'Connor, McHugh previously. They found that they had no use ! for the building, or any church associated purpose and didn't wishl to hold on to it any longer. Over on this side we have the Temple ;Beth E1, a 1-family home here, a 1-family home here, Mrs. Irma ii !! Freeman, an attorney secured a variance I believe for this one. 'IThere are some apartments here. The First Presbyterian Church i !town both of these homes and I believe here is the Bank of Newburg "building on this corner, which has a variance. As we move down E -4- ,I this street we have what is essentially a 1-family home occupied I 1by 2 families - 1 upstairs and 1 down. Mrs. Hassan lived there � i from, I believe she told me 39 or 49 years in that area - all her ; �IIlife. This is Dr. Baker's complex here with parking and dental _ E ,office; a 1-family home, Dr. McCauley's mother lives there now and iapartments formerly owned by Dr. McCauley which he sold to Dr. i Baker. On this side, we have dental offices over here, we have Dr.p i�Baldini, and in here we have the Real Estate office of Weaver, f ISchempp and McNeill, we have a 10-family home owned by Mrs. Randolrh, 41we have a 1-family home here owned by Mrs. Hall and this building. ;I �iThis will show you the makeup and complexion of this area. iMR. MARTIN: One other feature you have not mentioned I take it, i I lidentifies the zoning districts. I � MR. SOVOCOOL: Yes. i IMR. MARTIN: The slash marks in red are the B-1 district; the subject property is in a R-3. i � MR. SOVOCOOL: Everything north of Court Street is in a R-3 zone. i Everything to the south is B-1 zone. MR. ROBERTS: Mr. Pfann, what is the nature of this house? There i are always two addresses given with this creature. MR. SOVOCOOL: It is a large double house - it is a duplex house. 3 � It was built around the turn of the century for a duplex. It 1 appears to be 1 house but it has a common fire wall in the 11building. It does have 2 entrances - 1 on Court Street and the 6 ; other on Tioga Street. �I j MR. ROBERTS: What is the building's use? MR. SOVOCOOL: The property is presently occupied as a multiple s i' residence house except for Hewitt Real Estate which does have an office on the ground floor on the Tioga Street side of the buildin4. �! MR. MARTIN: Was a variance obtained for this, or on what basis 1Idoes that exist? it I 11MR. SOVOCOOL: I am not sure of the history myself because when J� we bought it he was there. We have checked some with the Building ! lCommissioner and the most information I have is that it was by . variance or pre-existing use by the study submitted to the Common ( Council. I have Exhibit 8, an area map which is variances given I I �i i in the area and that does indicate that it is by variance or pre- ! existing use, but I do not have a copy of that. MR. ROBERTS: You made that report? ,1MR. SOVOCOOL: This is a report made by the Planning Board, I i '; believe, for submission to the Common Council. As you gentlemen may know, there was a study made as to whether this area should !! be rezoned. There was a finding made by the Planning Board - no, that there is ample office space, they felt in the Commons area, , and therefore they didn't want to rezone it. Letme point out, however, in that study they are not talking about this small area E� ( shown on this map. They were talking about the area from Aurora I Street over to Tioga, over to Sears, over to Cayuga and the whole iblock down to the creek on Cayuga Street. It was a much larger ` area than we are talking about at this point. �iMR. ROBERTS: Could you explain how you acquired this building? MR. SOVOCOOL: What happened was - my father, George Pfann and myself were in law partnership and occupied J of the second floor of the Savings and Loan building as tenant and O'Connor-McHugh occupied the other half of the building. They purchased in two (! separate purchases the subject property and then George Pfann and If� myself consolidated with their firm and merged with our firm. It i �Iwas felt only fair that we take a capital interest in this buildin 0 ! too, so therefore we bought in an interest so now there are 3 ,1parties - namely Pfann, myself and McHugh as owners of the buildin . MR. ROBERTS: Why are you in the process of applying for a use variance for this building at this time? MR. SOVOCOOL: We have been notified by the Savings and Loan that �j we are to move. They wish to expand into the second floor of thea# building due to their merger with the First Federal Savings and Loan at Rochester. Of course, with changes in the law there may be a law for additional services so they have asked us to move and �! terminated our lease so that is why we are looking for other space I at this time. I; 11MR. ROBERTS: Anticipating a question immediately, is there going Zito be a parking problem involved along with everything else? it i -6- ''MR. SOVOCOOL: I am assuming and I believe I have been advised by Mr. Jones in planning for it that this building would not meet „ '!the parking requirements and therefore I believe there is a requesd. ,i iifor variance also. Let me speak to parking for just a moment. i I?There is a small strip of yard on both the east side and north jsides of this house. There are two small driveways, i 'e. , a small I i Ijdriveway going in from Court Street and then there is a small 1-cars I 11garage. There is also a small parking strip going in from Tioga , (Street. Now, both of those strips of parking, if we utilize the i Hentire lot, you might get 4 or 5 cars in there. We are not interested 11from our standpoint we would rather preserve the character of the ;building and so we have left it up to the architect to come back ilto us with a recommendation as to what would best tie in with the ;hooks of the property and general appearance of the building rather? �I : than pressing to maximize the parking at the site. We do have, 1Ihowever, a letter and assurance from Dr. Baker who has opened up '1a large parking area almost immediately across the street that we f ,1would have available any number of parking spaces that we would i ;!need in that area for our needs. 11MR. ROBERTS: What is the nature of your clientele? Is this a 1 1� carriage trade? 1 i�MR. SOVOCOOL: Let me speak of the abstract company and get that Tout of the way. There is virtually no traffic, by people coming down to the Abstract Company, and parking and walking in asking for'! (fan abstract. It is almost, I would say, 99%. lawyer-oriented i which I think attorneys send their secretaries down, pick up the II ii abstract, and go back to their own offices. As far as the law (! office is concerned, one of our major clients, of course, is the ;'; Savings and Loan. Any closings that we would probably have with them we would be having in the Savings and Loan building so any '( traffic generated by Savings and Loan closing and transactions {would not require parking at our site. Also, I am attorney for lithe Village of Cayuga Heights and Richard Greenburg is attorney i for the Town of Newfield. We have other municipal clients and most Hof that work is done at the municipality or back and forth between ; 3 ourselves which occasions our going to that site. The general I I ► I fday-to-day traffic, we have found from being in the Savings and c{Loan, has not necessitated any real parking problem. We do not ! I � ( picture that as a problem generating a lot of traffic. In fact, e the doctor's offices generate a lot more traffic because in a i typical lawyers office a client will come in and give you a 10- f E ++ minute problem or a 15-minute problem. You might work a half ) day on it but it is something that when he comes in he leaves and I! �1when the work is done the next client comes in and you do something ; for him, he leaves and that work is done. The other thing is that � we have not - there is no parking provided for any of the abstract jpeople here, for any of our personnel in the Savings and Loan lot. I ? We are moving only a block away so in examining the parking habits a � of each of the employees I cannot see how there is going to be ; any change in that 1-block move than at presently situate where we I #are now. We would be glad to comply with any concerns or requests E of the neighbors. I did also go to the neighbors - I will speak to that in a few minutes to see whether there was a great concern about the parking, whether they thought that people would be movin down into the residential area parking in front of their homes and l it would pose a problem. We found generally that was not considered. f has a problem. MR. ROBERTS: Just to make the record very clear - 1) you sent a letter summarizing your case to the Planning Board. Right? i iMR. SOVOCOOL: Yes we did. MR. ROBERTS: Do you have copies of that? E SMR. SOVOCOOL: Yes I have given them to you as Exhibit 7. You have that for a record. MR. MARTIN: We have the recommendation of the Planning Board. i MR. ROBERTS: No, it was an earlier letter they sent. Then I was going to to ask him the next obvious question - how well did they do � e with that argument so we make the record very clear. How persuasive was this argument at that level? IMR. SOVOCOOL: We will pass around copies. This material that I ami i ' handing out now we have marked as Exhibit 7 - it is a compilation l(of some of the material that I gave you but in more detail. The I IIS ! same we gave to the Planning Board to show location, ownership and w -V- `L 1 , I ;present use. 1MR. ROBERTS: It is a summary of the argument. The next question i jis obviously how persuasive was your argument at the Planning I ! Board? 11MR. SOVOCOOL: We presented this to the Planning Board and the Planning Board turned us down on a 3-2 vote and we have just f i received their memorandum which I know you have in front of you. I do wish to point out that one of the votes from a Mr. Stein Iwho voted against this variance - I noted on the record that he felt obligated to vote against it but with reservations, feeling I that it was, I believe, as I understood it, in view of the report I to the Common Council as a planning device he didn't feel this cou d 1 b recommended in line with the plan for that neighborhood. � MR. ROBERTS: As part of this process did you make some effort to gauge neighborhood sentiment? i (� MR. SOVOCOOL: Yes I did. First of all I was more concerned with i Ithe immediate neighbors and so I have tried to contact most, if ; not all, of them and first I talked with a Mrs. Hassen who is i probably the oldest living resident - she has been there the long- est in the neighborhood and she indicated she would be in favor f Iof this change because she did live in this red house - Dr. I Sweetland' s next door, formerly used for student housing and this Board gave a variance so that could be developed for a professiona office space. It is a kind of handsome addition to the neighborhood. She is afraid that this other complex, unless something is done, I she feels it would be a definite addition and attraction to have I professional offices. I didn't speak with Mrs. Hall but I under- j E stand from George Pfann that she has indicated she would be in Pfavor also and I believe she may be here now. Mrs. Reynolds the next door, is a very nice 1-family home and we talked with her and she has given us a letter indicating the noise is what disturbs her because of the loud singing and radios from the property. It has been very difficult to control because it is occupied by some ; young people whose life style is not compatible with older people n the it neighborhood. She definitely says yes, she would prefer to �! have this developed p as professional office space. In the I i I I II I� I I -9 1 �1 f ;;presentation before the Planning Board there was some concern about the pedestrian concept, i.e. , as people walk through this I' ;;neighborhood that it may appear to be if you take out people out if l� of these homes and turn them into professional office that at 5 jor 6 o'clock when the lights go out and the house is dark therefore , , you will have a dark corridor and people go home which poses !! somewhat of a threat to the ladies in the neighborhood who are I! 'iwalking back and forth between the Commons and the library and lJother sources, so in order to explore that a little further I ! moved down the block to the 400 block because I know there are i I a number of elderly, or not so elderly, women who do walk and ladies use this neighborhood. I talked with Mrs. Manning who owns ! a large house here and she has a letter she sent me; she is a ! widow. She regularly walks back and forth and says the area is i i well lighted; she doesn't consider it any detriment whatsoever. She would be in favor`of it. Also we got the same response and we have here a petition which we didn't pass around - it was passed 1 around by one of the area residents and we will hand that in as ► Exhibit No. 9. It has, as you can see, a great number of names � on it. They are persons who live in the 400 blocl�. I think I scan say there is only 1 of that whole group, whether tenants or 11andlords or whatever that lived in that area, that felt it might jlnot be an addition to the neighborhood. Everyone else unanimously ) ii i !! agreed that professional office space wbuld be a handsome addition ! � Ito help� p preserve this neighborhood as a quiet, well ordered neighborhood. They felt much safer in that use than they would ( as a multiple residents. MR. ROBERTS: Do you have some pictures? MR. SOVOCOOL: I have some pictures marked Exhibit 2 thru 6 inclus ve. I will hold them up first; then George Pfann can g pass them over to ! you, identifying them. Exhibit 2 and 3 are two views of the house ! l� itself. Exhibit 4 is the Temple Beth E1, which you all can r recognize. Exhibit 5 is the LoPinto building on the other corner. The last Exhibit is the courthouse on the other corner. These i �1pictures show the buildings on all four corners. I will give you j lI i lgentlemen a chance to read the report. If you have any questions !t j j ix -10- i I II ji will be glad to answer them. 'MR. MARTIN: In talking about your reason to want to bring profes- sional offices to that building you have spoken about the characteristics of your law office and Abstract Company and the "!desirability of moving and our need to move right now. You have Y 8 Y 8 � t� 1 (not described the difficulty of using that building for the use prescribed by the ordinance. �s �MR. SOVOCOOL: We have further testimony on that. I believe other �ipeople better suited to talk to that. So I will excuse myself. IMR. ROBERTS: State your' name for the record. i IMR. ANAGNOST: My name is Chris Anagnost and I am a licensed real i ` estate broker with Dick Wilson Real Estate. I am here to give an I analysis of the physical character of the house and an economic j ; analysis also. The property we describe as being a double house ( located on two tax parcels - 75' frontage on Court Street, 100' 11deep on N. Tioga Street consists of two houses with a common wall, ] each side carrying 3 units, one on - each floor. The second floor Ilof the Court Street side is actually two efficient apartments �� Y Y P but for economic purposes it produces the rent of 1 unit. We have ! " Isome photographs of the interior - large spacious rooms, quite I typical of the turn of the century construction, very attractive I Doak wood detailing, fireplaces, skylights, stairways - perhaps ' Mr. Pfann would like to pass some of those pictures around. The i it 'jfirst showed the interior of the downstairs and hallways. It is I ' !� a neo plastic revival building and has many attractive features. !. It is located within what is now a National Historic Register I� i� District around DeWitt Park but not included in the present DeWitt , I� Park Historic District. They plan at some time to include this house at a future date. It has an antiquated double heating " system, antiquated antiquated plumbing, the wiring has been updated b}t not completely replaced replaced - to include new electric service and the fire idetection system, and Mr. Pfann will give you pictures,:that better ! 1show the interior - some of the plumbing fixtures, some of the �lbathrooms and the basement - to give you an idea of the heating ! plant and the pipes. ii MR. ROBERTS: What happens when you go upstairs into the living I units? -11- i !� I i 1MR. ANAGNOST: The living units are very poorly arranged. There j are bathrooms in hallways, one of the units has a bathroom in the i 11kitchen which you will see from one of the photographs. Its !; attractiveness has decreased by the time you have reached the top i ;! floor except for the hall skylight. �IMR. ROBERTS: First of all you have done an economic analysis of ;fits current. . . . . . . I i IJ�MR. ANAGNOST: Under zoning the following uses are permitted. It (lis in a R-3 zone. A 1-family dwelling, 2-family dwelling, multiple) i dwelling, a fraternity or cooperative house, rooming house, nursery, 11school, tourist home, dormitory, artist' s studio or a medical j� facility. 11MR. ROBERTS: You have done an economic analysis of the current E� EEincome. Could I ask you a couple of questions? What was the rent ; 1 paid? t ;iMR. ANAGNOST: The purchase price of the property was $71,829.20. 1MR. ROBERTS: The second question is what is its present value? '' I !MR. ANAGNOST: Based on my appraisal and my professional opinion its present market value is $609000. iMR. ROBERTS: What are the maintenance expenses? ! MR. ANAGNOST: Maintenance for 1975 was $2,455.26 which represents ' jlminimal maintenance on a temporary measure. ! MR. ROBERTS: How about taxes and insurance? I j�MR. ANAGNOST: $3,218.30 for 1975. �IMR. ROBERTS: Mortgage? f t. 11MR. ANAGNOST: Mortgage expenditures for the year - $49500. !MR. ROBERTS: And then we end up with income? j�MR. ANAGNOST: The income for the year of 1975 was $12,909. l;MR. ROBERTS: You have with you a letter in which you give your °opinion as an expert that its current value was $60,000. Can you !! explain how you arrived at that calculation? ii 1IMR. ANAGNOST: I have had several years of experience in income property and worked with a lot of income buyers since I have been !working with Dick Wilson Real Estate. To determine the market I; ;;value of a piece of property you have to first find what price a :;willing buyer would pay a willing seller, both parties being �� i -12- ,f ;;familiar with the property and its optimum occupancy and use under ,f }the present zoning conditions. The availability of mortage money is an important consideration in this case and we are assuming that ! mortgage funds are readily available for a qualified buyer, and ;I under the present banking situation (I am sorry Mr. Gesslein has 1! ltft) but interest rates at a minimum 9. 96 with a minimum down 1payment of 30% on 15-year term on a mortgage investment and we shave to realize that this house, although it is a double house, I' ' is no longer a 2-family dwelling but consists of 7 rental units. ! So it is past the point where it is a 2-family home, although there are 7 bathrooms and 7 kitchens. An investor who is going to look ! € at this property will look at the cold facts as to what his cash 1flow is going to be after he takes his $18,000 or $20,000 to inves in this property, he wants to know how much he will have back at the end of the year. He could take that $20,000 and put it in the bank for a long-term investment with certificates and achieve =1perhaps 7 or 7496 interest. So a investor who is buying a piece of ; income property will look at a minimum of a 10% return. For an older property you grant a higher rent because the upkeep is going !Ito be higher over a longer period of time. There are several guidelines besides in an income analysis just by taking the figure i ' and finding out what the expenses were and finding out what your , cash flow is going to be. The other way is to look at the gross income of the property, and use multipliers. In this case we used j� anywhere from 4J-5 times the gross. Property in a much better I i� condition without need of major renovations, and this property doe j' need major renovations. { MR. ROBERTS: Are you familiar with any comparable property? Duplex ! house? ¢I MR. ANAGNOST: There are two I have to compare with this. The one which was just sold which is on the corner of Parker Street I Gland East Buffalo - 110-112 Parker Place which belonged to Judge i HCasey and was part of his estate which is a double house with Si jidouble furnaces; it had antiquated wiring, old bathrooms, old i� ;! fixtures. It appraised for $65,000 and sold for $63,000 - a much 11larger lot - it has 6 garages. There is another double house ! 3 i -13- ` I "!down at 618-620 North Aurora Street which sold for $40,000 with ' 1' k3 garages. Based strictly on income we have a 6-apartment house lion south hill which sold for $62,000. iIMR. ROBERTS: If I happened to be an owner of that building and I Mask you as a troperty adviser what about other uses you could put that building to or make a reasonable return within the perimeters of the current zoning. Forget the apartments. jIMR ANAGNOST: You could always convert it back to 1-family if you were so inclined to do that, or 2-family, but I don't think it jlwould be feasible, based on the changes that have been made in the building to date. There are 7 kitchens and 7 bathrooms which woul shave to be removed. !f MR. ROBERTS: Could I increase my rental on the apartment units? i i�Why can't I charge $2,000 or $3,000 a year more rent? lMR. ANAGNOST: We have a rental schedule. The rent gross right noI�w is 1 100 per month and I think with the resent conditions (you i $ � P P can tell by the pictures the situation) and 1 bathroom is in the kitchen and the other one where you have to go down the hall. I don't think we could put much more than $100-$150 per month additional rent without doing major renovations. Whatever was " done to the house to-date has been only temporary i Y P I`Y maintenance and I nothing has been done to create a living unit that is attractive i i l enough to warrant the kind of rent you would need to justify a Ii higher purchase price. MR. ROBERTS: What about any other : use? �iMR. ANAGNOST: Well, it could be used for a fraternity or cooperative ,1house - I am not sure that is compatible with the neighborhood. Al 11 �Irooming house or a tourist home - I think 2 or 3 which were down- !' 9Itown have closed up - it is neither the neighborhood nor the times " j� where people w1ll share bathrooms, going down the hall and use a i 1property for a rooming house or a tourist home. Nursery school i i1I don't think that is a good location for a nursery school but than its an allowed use. It is a busy corner with very little rear yard i! i' A dormitory - it could be used for this; an artist's studio - most ! �i lartists do not have the funds to pay that kind of rent, and it I "I ` could also be used for a medical facility. I� -14- i MR. ROBERTS: What is the current status of the home? jMR. ANAGNOST: I made analysis of the past two years. In 1974 11they made a 6% return on the equity, and in 1975 they had a loss 11of $1,117. lMR. ROBERTS: If you have those calculations with you, would you { be willing to give them to the Board? �MR. GASTEIGER: Is that $4,000 on the mortgage principle and inter st? �1MR. ANAGNOST: Yes it is, $49500. I would like to give you Exhibits 1109 12 and 13 which are the appraisal that I did and the twq years'! income analysis. No. 11 is the present rent schedule. { !MR. MARTIN: Are there questions from members of. the Board? I�MR. VAN MARTER: Yes, particularly as this might differ from other ; ' properties in the neighborhood. Maybe I could start by asking the I depiction of colors here - the red and yellow. MR. ANAGNOST: The yellow is the churches, and the properties 1 gowned by the Presbyterian Church; red id the commercial uses in 1 !; the R-3 district such as real estate offices, dental offices. lIMR. VAN MARTER: Is it true that the 2 larger red ones are permittd uses? ! MR. 0 MR. ANAGNOST: Dr. Baker' s complex was approved by variance; he is ! !f !1 ; allowed a medical facility but the other offices there were approved �1 --by variances and this building here - Gallagher - they have been , there so many years I am not sure. } 1MR. JONES: They are there by variance. I! I i I� MR. ANAGNOST: The Bank of Newburgh was granted a variance primarily I, ! because of the extensive restoration that was going to be done, anc i =INorm Freeman' s office, I understand, was by variance also. 1 9 � MR. VAN MARTER: The second question is how does this property �lvary from the others? H • 'IMR. ANAGNOST: It is a unique building because it is such a large structure. It is more than a duplex and yet if' it were separated ;! into 2 distinct parcels I think it would be very saleable, but it i alis joined together and the fact that its use is limited I think 1pretty much to a multiple dwelling and yet its return based on its ! ;! size is going to be a lot less than it would be on a smaller I } ;; building with the same number of units. You could take a house j ii -15- 2/3 that size, or perhaps 1/2 that size, with 6 units which produce Ialmost the same income and obviously costs much less to maintain ;;and it is going to be costly in the next few years. s IMR. VAN MARTER: Is the possibility of divided ownership - could itf i be done legally? ' '� I (IMR. ANAGNOST: I imagine so since the house was originally owned 11b two different (when it was first build I I ;{ y guess it was owned by �I II1 person) but it has been divided many, many years into two parcels :.and then it was purchased again at the time the church owned part i! 1of it and somebody else owned the other part. When the lawyers ,;purchased it, it was joined again but it has been many times two ij lldistinct deeds and two distinct tax parcels. 1 � MR. VAN MARTER: Are you familiar with numerous cases where there ,would be divided ownership where it might be desirable or possible. 11MR. ANAGNOST: On such a building where there is a common wall? 1IRight off-hand I don't - yes I do - I don't know if there has been 11 zoning question but there is a building on College Avenue where I�Pop' s Place is, 1/3 1 owner and 2/3 belongs to another owner. �' MR. VAN MARTER: I mean downtown - a building similar to this. IIMR. ANAGNOST: No, I don't know any. j�MR. MARTIN: Is there any difficulty renting the apartments? jMR. ANAGNOST: I don't know because I don't handle the rentals. I i Cfthink Roger could answer that. Are there difficulties renting lithe apartments? j'MR. SOVOCOOL: Yes, in this way, we have had some difficulty in i n h sense that we had hoped that what we could secure . renting i the p o for the property would be families who would want to be on the premises for more than 9 or 10 months of any one year. We have Mifound that on the ground floor, of course, Hewitt has been there jfor some time, on the other ground floor we secure graduate students. II I ,Ion the second and third floor, due to the layout of the type of I apartment that we have, it does not attract a settled tenant. We have incurred Hullett whom we have tried to use help with up- Ii dating the building and the tenants that we attract but he has jindicated that generally he has not been able to find tenants who I will move in there and be there two or three years - the family- type or tenants that would combine 2 or 3 rooms together and try E� -16- j . I � I ? to make an apartment out of it. The layout of this building is ;;such it is essentially 1-room apartments that are really not I attractive to the average tenant unless it is some young person who just wants to have a place to live during the school year at iHa low rent. It has not been attractive from a rental standpoint. f iMR. MARTIN: But you have not had significant vacancies, have you? SMR. SOVOCOOL: No, we have not had a number of vacancies. We have ° had vacancies possibly for 2 or 3 months at a time in the summer when they would only want a 10-month lease instead of a 12-month i lease but as long as we have been willing to take the young people I in we have not had vacancies. We have had to reduce the rent. ijOne apartment did run $125 and we did reduce it to $80 but that shows �jup in the rental schedule. We were able to rent it at that price. MR. MARTIN: Are there any questions? ; MR. KASPRZAK: Are the utilities being paid in one lump sum? I IMR. ANAGNOST: By the owner - it is on two meters - 1 for each IlIside of the house. The owner pays all utilities. I IMR. ROBERTS: We have 1 more witness. We should have an architect. IMR. ROBERTS: Your name, associations and qualifications. j i MR. BRELLOCHS: My name is Peter Brellochs. I am an officer with 1, the firm of Fred H. Thomas Assoc. , Corp. I live at 1405 Ellis ( Hollow Road. IMR. ROBERTS: Are you familiar with this building? I 11MR. BRELLOCHS: Yes, at the request of our client we have looked flat the building, looked at its possibilities for architectural ( development, possibly into law offices, and on that basis have (prepared a set of floor plans which essentially describe the floor plans that the client has developed for us. (MR. ROBERTS: First of all, what about the exterior of this building? What does the program do to the facade? i � MR. BRELLOCHS. We feel that the exterior building facade is very 1pleasantly designed-building facade, that at this � g point, and I ( don't think in the future, there would be no intent on the part I of our client to change the appearance of that other than to 'fireplace possibly windows that are in need of additional window I� stripping, pobbibl the y painting decor might change the appearance ) E i Ii I' I jof the building in terms of the trim and the proportions of the i 'Ihouse, certainly no additions are implied. I think our intent i! 'would be to reinforce the existing appearance of the building. I i M. ROBERTS: What about the inside? Are there features in the ! dinside that are architecturally worth preserving and which within ' I 1 flyour scheme you would preserve? IMR. BRELLOCHS: Yes, the first floor is much more successful than j I the second floor as far as type of space that is provided. The first floor in the bygone era was the living or dining area and Lias such had received a lot of attention in terms of wood floors, i Iwood trim, wood doors, find hardware for the time, a ceiling height it 91' , so that in the sense, as well as the fireplaces and there f mare 3 of them and they would be retained as part of this. The i I�second floor, however, did not receive that kind of care and it i 11would be the intent of our client to try to complement the first jfloor interior and carry it to the second floor, as well as what- i Ilever occupancies might take place on the third floor to reinforce the interior appeal of that building. And as far as the space i program is concerned, the first floor and second floor occupancies i i9 11we were able to reconcile with most of the interior partition �g 7 jplacements so that from a standpoint of structural renovation there i ` would be very little, if any. Primarily moving doors, and our j ,jintent would be to retain all of the old interior moldings and lltrimmings. Spaces, as they are now, are found on these plans, !!may reflect generous-size offices but this was the intent of the } i f 'Iclient and it happened to coincide with both the major living �E Hand dining areas that are existing in this house. j 11MR ROBERTS: What about upstairs? What would have to be done �i S I there? I.IMR. BRELLOCHS: The decor would have to be reconciled with what- ever is lacking and with what is shown on the first floor. That ! 1e I 11would be a design challenge to carry that through. j jIMR. ROBERTS: Then it is your intent to try to blend the second ±pfloor with the first floor, whether it be law library or abstract ;,company, to be consistent with this refurbished decor of the 1900s ;ion the first floor. i i i a -18- i %r ! JIMR. BRELLOCHS: We would like to think the exterior appeal of the 'building is faithfully carried through on the interior and as such I our client apparently is willing to carry that motif through. 1 E IMR. ROBERTS: There may be a parking problem. Let's say that the 111 ([ garage ought to go in order to create parking places. Is the 1 ! garage really an integral part of that architectural scene? Is } i it necessary? MR. BRELLOCHS: Well, if you study very carefully, the photographs 'land floor plans that you have you will find that the strength of �Ithe building in terms of its facade appeal is on the two sides facing the main streets. The sides and the backs, although the a flat proportions are pretty decent, are nevertheless r rather p lains , f a ! except for the third floor where the roof slopes; we intend to i1create some better spacial proportions. The garage - the building I oof course when it was built the car was not a mode of transportati Originally there was no garage on that lot, I would presume. It was added at the later time when that became an addiction and as Il such was not carried forth in the style of the old residence. (Actually I think the building could stand some breathing room from its adjacent building if that garage were removed. It is a 1-story i building. MR. ROBERTS: These are your working models at the moment of what [! could be done with the interior? f IMR. BRELLOCHS: Yes, it carries forth a number of offices and secretarial areas as well as maintains two existing building i entrances on the first floor. And then going to the second floor, I simply opens up that area which is not divided into additional office space and you can see from the relative scale that this endl is the abstract company's program requirements and this end is a I large complex of library as well as map room. The plans themselve fare not carried forward to the point where we could perhaps say it I "will look like the downstairs. It will require further study. I jAnd the third floor the level of single and double rooms for apart (finent use similarly would be developed possibly as apartments or ;! whatever tendency the client desires. That is undefined at this point. However, I am sure that the intent would be to try to come ` -19- 41 up with the better spacial arrangement of those spaces to make a i 11reasonable succession of bedroom to living area to bathroom and ! kitchen facility. �IMR. ROBERTS: You have been in the building? #IMR. BRELLOCHS: Yes, I have toured the building. i found it ! interesting in the sense that very few apartments have furniture. I 1 i Apparently tenants living on a very tight budget sleep on a mattress Ionthe floor. iMR. ROBERTS: Have you had any experience with adapting this? Have 1Iyou had any experience with an old building like this in trying to 1 refurbish it? MR. BRELLOCHS: We did assist WTKO radio studios in their renovation plans and developed floor plans and interior design direction for their use in devsloping - I have a picture here and itis marked I ! Exhibit 15 for your use and I think it is a very handsome small building that has retained its original character, the exterior ; facade other than painting and some minor modifications to the 11entrance portion is retained in its original state. The interior, I jdue to the nature of the broadcasting business, however, took on a different character. I think you will find it much more to the fmodern way of solving problems than the original, an old residence, in this case our clients intent would be in the law office. Unless j�you have some questions, I will be available. . . . . . MR. MARTIN: I have a s i que tion - I don't know if it is for you: or your clkent, and that is, can you give us a rough feel now of th� proposed mix of use if the variance is granted. As I look at your drawings I see offices on the first and second floors, housing the I law office and abstract company, furnishing office space to how i manypeople? Lawyers, a) p p le? office managers, secretaries, etc. . lMR. BRELLOCHS: I think there are a certain number of offices shown � on the drawing, secretarial area - you would almost match up the jdesign of 7 offices for the law offices - 7 offices and secretaries II i �lmaking 14 people. Would you attempt to staff the map room? ' s I�MR. SOVOCOOL: I know you can't see it but I will give you a little Hof concept of it - first off, this is the entrance on Tioga Street Hof � i Hand this is the entrance on Court Street. The plan is not to use I I� i -20- !!the entrance on Tioga Street, but to concentrate instead on coming #toff Court Street which is your more commercial area because you are right next to the so-called commercial B-1 district. So the plan would be to come into this porch for the first floor; also I i ! this porch would be used to come in and go upstairs to the second I floor to the abstract company and also it would be used to go up i I1to the third floor for 2 apartments. So all your entrances would ? i 11be from this porch area. The plan is, as you can see, to have I 119 29 39 49 5 offices on the ground floor with a secretarial space E alongside or immediately adjacent to each office, and also maintain i what we call a conference room so if there is a larger group, a meeting in which clients where you have 5, 6, 7 people you want to ! j ljmeet together, they cannot be accommodated in these offices but i lIthey could meet in the so-called conference room. That would be 'I 'Ithe first floor. In direct answer we are talking about 5 offices !' f , plus secretarial on the first floor. 0n the second floor again we are coming in off Court Street with the offices here being for they !! abstract company. You can see here we have - you can consider thi 1! the office for the officer manager - that would be a separate 11 I1office - this area here is a reception room - a couple of chairs, ? ;maybe some file cabinets in that office. The third one would be ! 3 typing stands in which we could have typists in this area. We Aare talking 5 people - we have 8 employees but these people axe ,II ! !Inot all in the office at one time. They are over at the Court '!E i House, they have duties there, they are back and forth regularly 11but we do not plan on maintaining an office sir stand or place for I i ileach of them. We have a separate room here we call records. This I1might be 1 large room, if that worked out better, but essentially, Ii ! ; !as you can readily see, if you are running any title business there! I are voluminous records so we do need a large area for records. hThere is maintained a lunch room, a coffee room; we thought we EIwould put to use one of the kitchens which is already in the building and maintain that as sort of a coffee area. The restroomsl !i I1would be for both the abstract company and the law office and are I ,Ion second floor. We want to move up to second floor all the uses j that we can. Here we have on the second floor what we call a map i? I I I i -21- E4 ! room and a library. We have the need for a large library which we now have in the Savings and Loan building. That would be Breached directly from the law office. So the law office downstair '!would have access up to the north end of the building but the ; people coming into the abstract company would not generally be ` coming through into this area. We would not plan on maintaining I personnel on the second floor in the law office part of the second ;i floor. Where we call map room we do a lot of title work so we �Ido, have to maintain a large map system - we are always trying to jimprove on that and we also have a lot of need for storage files, documents, storage of records, etc. So this area will be more use for that on the second floor. On the third floor, in order to 1� help carry this building, I have generally figured that we would jhave to have tenants attracted to that third floor - even to ( maintain them at the present rent that we have. In fact, to move I; down to this office and renovate it in this sense - we would be paying many more dollars than we are presently paying now in the Savings and Loan building so we hope that we can maintain 2 apartmis din the third floor which would require some renovating in order i ,Ito attract a good client. We wish to have, for security problems, we want to be sure we have good tenants on the third floor so we don't have any problem of security in the law office where we 'i rmaintain wills and other papers and records. And, so we feel whether it is a law office, medical facility or whatever, it is i that the second and third floors would have to be renovated at considerable cost in order to upgrade whatever areas are used for residential purposes. Generally, too, I am sure you gentlemen would find if you examine the building, that I think without qualification that we can say that these apartments are not in good condition,condition, they are not in fair condition, I am sure you woul � j; all agree with me that they are in poor condition. j ! j�MR. MARTIN: Are there further ! questions by members of the Board? � i ` MR. GASTEIGER: How is access to the second and third floor obtain ? } You said something about Court Street. 1MR. SOVOCOOL: I don't want to skip over that. Let me tell you ho e! !lit is maintained now. As of now this is entirely two separate I -22- j s buildings. It is a duplex, which Mr. Van Marter said there are a 11number, I know Dr. Greenberg knows about, a number of these duplexes II ;;are in Ithaca. They are separated by a fire wall. They have two ii Ilentrances - right? And this stairwell goes up through on both 11sides. What we intend to do, however, is to not use the Tioga Street entrance. You will come into the law office on the Court IStreet entrance which will give you - go right on through and connect the two sides of the building so you have 1 entrance for the entire first floor. If you intend to go to the law office. The ( attorneys though will be able to go from their office interiorally � lup into the stairway onto the second floor so that you get to their map room, library, restrooms. Also though, if a person want Ito come in off Court Street and go up to the abstract company then ithey can use the stairway on the Court Street side and will go on up the stairs and into the abstract part. Now also, we have got ! the same problem with the tenants on the third floor. Now each tenant comes down their own side. What we would have to do would be to break through the common wall and provide access so that 6 i the person coming off Court Street could go up to third floor and reach both apartments. We certainly don't want the tenants on the i I third floor having to come down through the law office to go in and out. That would not be s*tisfactory. Any other questions i� labout the layout of the building? MR. ROBERTS: I saved time by not making an opening, and I will make one of the quickest, I think, summations in history, as well. ! It is pretty much, I think, common knowledge with a variance, there , are 3 problems, particularly with a use variance, and it is going I to require us to have the burden of persuasion that there is a t ( failure to yield a reasonable return under any of the permitted uses. And that the land owners' circumstances are unique and if I the variance is granted it will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood. I think we have enough financial data in �s ; writing and that you can see that the building is not now yielding a reasonable return. I think with a little Judicial notice or common sense if you reflected what would you pay to buy that ;building to put it to one of the other permitted uses, I think you I -23- !run into a problem of figuring out something that is going to give Iyou a reasonable return as a practical matter and I fear very i r: 'Imuch that the building would fail to give you that reasonable retu 'Ibecause it is unique - I think you could say it is unique because i`it is a white elephant in its current condition - a white elephant 1 '!that very few people would want to touch with one of the permitted I ! uses. What worries me about the building is that it is on the i jNational Register, it is a corner building that fits with the Court !;House so that the use fits into the character of the neighborhood, " :and the proposed use of the building, rather than altering the iessential character of the neighborhood, I suspect would be an jjexcellent hold wall along that R-3 district and will f isnot actually begin to interfere with, but would rather set a s� I 'Ibeautiful wall along that whole of Court Street and also might, (since the owner has proposed to put it to an adaptive use, might i Ibe a magnificent illustration for the behavior for the rest of the Ijlawyers in the community in what they do to their buildings on ' Tioga Street if and when we were to think of expanding that Histori6 ;District. Now, I dread to think of mixing questions of His ;District with consideration of variances. I think it is becoming ii increasingly relevant with what is going on on East Hill that ;!Historic Preservation factors are not irrelevant to the law of I`• i ';zoning. I think the real problem in anyone' s mind is going to be ;!whether this variance sets a precedent so that we will then have a Pj i I=series of lawyers scattered all over the R-3 district intrigues ;!to have a law office in their house or building. This is why I ;!have been trying to be careful to show you the pictures of that i lbuilding to show you the financial strengths, to try to show you ;;that you could make a finding. That building is almost unlike any ! !'other building in that area. The damn thing at the moment is a !unique building as a financial proposition and further I think it itis a unique building, remarkable unique and not a precedent for i i{j{anything else. I think if you give the variance the only precedent II !;that you have is that you can give a variance and should give a j variance where we have a white elephant building which doesn't j ilyield a reasonable return. The building is unique because it is a I( ! -24- ,11900 building, not really adaptive to any of its current uses, and il lit is a building kitty corner across from a courthouse where lawyers belong. It fits into the general topography of how law is 1practiced in this community. Also, there is a public benefit or da cost problem. The notion of locating the title plan elsewhere Jpresents problems because - notice the title abstract company - !pardon me, I use my Philadelphia background - the abstract company,! 1,lNew Yorkers call it, is mainly research in the court house. The it I Ijfurther you remove that abstract company from the court house the j 'Imore you put a cost of doing business on that whole operation, ` the more you slow it down. Therefore, I say that there is apublic ;E y Y !detriment really to be accomplished by trying to locate this I1business elsewhere. What I am really suggesting is that the '!building is unique - you could, I think, find it unique and so E jlimit your findings of fact, particularly when it is kitty corner , to the court house, that you do not create any precedent for any { '!other cases, and the last thing I have to say is simply this. I i' s 11think you create no precedent in any case if you are as sure that i1youare right in this case and cognizant of your own character to {;know that you will not be buffalo'd in the next one. Thank you. SMR. VAN MARTER: Individu&ll I have tried to i E y, ignore historic A !I reservation for two and one-half ears without success. As a i!P y ! member of this Board and to hear this fairly I would like to reject ! those suggestions. It is not going a to be precedent in my mind. !Second, I would like to refect the location as being pertinent. I 1have heard it all and I can appreciate part of it. The other thing , is in showing hardship and showing dollar and cents proof if it is i Iso, then I think the other two things required there would be ! i .nothingthat if you know of anything that would I � Y Yt g prohibit the !!granting. i f� HMR. ROBERTS: What I have done is, and this is where you and I i }might disagree, I could have I think, particularly in the third '6 department, simply come in with a dollars and cents case and argued .I jlthat we are entitled to the variance without regard to whether the jrbuilding is unique at all. What I tried to do was do it the hard i way - showing the lack of a reasonable return, show the uniqueness i -�5- i jjaspect of it, and show the compatibility aspect of it - simply s ! n order to be sure in my own mind that regardless of how stern jyou were I was not being party to creating precedent for other situations. GASTEIGER: The hardship is somewhat dependent upon the state 19 �lof the building? Is it our responsibility to correct an error of $11,800 in purchase price or were conditions different at the time?� IMR. ROBERTS: If you go back in history I think at the time that lithe firm bought that building it might have made sense for what they paid for it for convenience - they were getting it in lawyers crow as an insurance policy. At the time they had office space in the bank. At the time, indays gone past, I think there may have been a less stern look at variances generally and that was proved when the real estate office went in there. It was bought I think ;las a long range insurance policy. Then, as part of the merger of Ithe firms, in order to balance their books they ended up in order 'Jto buy out and buy in, they ended up with $71,000 in this. I think !I shouldn't get my client mad, my personal opinion was it was that j'it was not the greatest investment I have ever seen but I think it i fwas done with the insurance aspect of a place to go if they ever !lost their lease, and as a place to go near the courthouse that (probably was a viable figure. Other people have done it, paid j i�much more than a commercial investor would pay for property for !(that insurance aspect of the situation. It is a rational judgment, o l�not one I would necessarily have made myself. IMR. GASTEIGER: What was the purchase year? What year did they ' buy the property? i IMR. SOVOCOOL: One half was bought in late 1972 and the other half was bought in early 1976. i jMR. MARTIN: Any further questions? f I+MRS. CARLSON: My name is Pat Carlson and I reside at 407 N. Aurora j�which is about a block and one half from the building under ij , discussion. I am concerned about the residential area near the s � ;(downtown business district. Right now it is a very nice place to I I1 live and to raise a family. There is a strong demand for houses i 11the neighborhood from home owners and tenants alike and I am ,I � -26- .worried about any changes that might lead to a less residential I 1character for the neighborhood. I feel that more large business muses, particularly a variance which would allow a group as large I Has this, to go into the area would be rather damaging to the � �i 11residential character, and I am worried also as has been suggested ;' about the possible precedent. If these people can do it, then s f� 4why can't a lot of others as well? Part of my concern is based on the B-1 report which Mr. Sovocool referred to and I believe tha jiyour group is probably familiar with this. It suggests that 1� allowing more business uses in this particular area which includes Hboth my home and the building in question will be detrimental not 5only to the residential quality of our area, but also to the !j Central Business District. Now, one of the nice things about j r I �9living where we are now is that we are close to a healthy downtown Harea and I feel that I would like to keep it healthy and lively i� as it is. I think we will all suffer if any damage is done to theP !, downtown area and obviously decreasing the demand for office space i. ; there would be very bad. There are just a few other points I 11would like to make. One is about student tenants, I certainly ;, agree there is a real problem to have noisy tenants next door but e Iit seems to me that the answer to this is not to change all studen g iIresidences to law offices, but to start enforcing our noise 3 11ordinance and like that. It doesn't seem to be a relevant point to ; this particular case. I also wondered listening to the presentation here whether it might not be true that perhaps a little more money ! i might be made if other than minimal maintenance were done. It f , ( seems to me that $12,000 per year for apartments in poor condition ) I 1 is perhaps not all that bad and that if some investment were made to make them more attractive, or perhaps convert it to 2-family again or something like this, there might be ways to do this. I ;lam also no expert on this but I understand sometimes it is ii ?! advantageous from a tax point of view for people to have a loss ilon it and I don't know if these figures are entered along with ithe rest. I guess what I am suggesting perhaps owners 8'u ggestin is that i 1with other incentives might be able to do a little bit better as , ,,; far as that goes. I know from my own experience that there is a -27- E i ;'strong demand for housing in this area, both from people who want 3 [i to live there as home owners and from tenants. Another worry is ;that even if this building is unique in some sense, I feel it will ! Ireduce the residential value of buildings around it as residences. ' lIf there is already, according to the B-1 Report, a very slack Imarket for offices and then in addition the residential value of I� the homes in the area is decreased then it seems to me that there ; �Iwill be no willing buyers at all for people who want it for officel I IIspace or people who want it for residences. And I think going 1 along with this it seems to me that some thing bought as insurance ` � I ,� or as a speculation, whatever you want to call it, that it is i 'jreally not the job of the City of Ithaca to make sure that everyone it ;, gets what they expect when they buy something. One final point, I j!was at the meeting of the joint committees of the Planning & ; Development of Common Council and Codes and Ordinances when they ;1considered the B-1 Report in which the recommendation to be very Istrict in the application of zoning ordinances was recommended. I 'Jwould like to say that at this time Mr. Pfann did make a statement,] the lawmakers were aware of this particular project when they i pivoted to accept the B-1 Report. One Council member, after hearin4- the way it worked is there *as about 2 hrs. or more of Mr. Sulliva� �f I� supporting it and then Mr. Pfann made a much better and nicer � L instatement which was very brief, one of the Council members suggested that they should send this report back for further consideration Mand perhaps to soften the requirements for cases like this particu ar case. The motion was made; it was not seconded and subsequently j Council voted voted unanimously to accept the report as it stands and to accept the recommendation to be very strict in finding any varianceis, i etc. of this area in addition to many other things. That is all I iI have to say unless you have questions. IMR. VAN MARTER: The Board operates under the rules and regulations 1of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Ithaca which is within 1the perimeters of the zoning laws of the State which quite clearly jldescribe those conditions which must be shown in order for a ilvariance to be granted. It also, by the same token, describes +! those things which if they fail to be shown, it cannot be granted. !f ii -28- `!The result of the study, any action by the Common Council, the �lintent of any kind of a survey, does not alter that which is prescribed. If this Board, in fact, does what it is supposed to do las its duties are described, it is a lot less difficult than we ( seem to make it and a lot less difficult than the applicants and 11those supporting and those opposing seem to make it. The duties fare quite clear, the parameters that have to be shown are quite clear. Many, many times the conditions exist but the evidence is not presented. That is why there is a difference in things that are granted and things that are not granted. It might be identical but if it is not presented properly or completely or as prescribed that cannot be considered in the same light. MRS. CARLSON: I understand that. IiMR. MARTIN: Are there any further questions? Thank you Mrs. Carlson. , MR. MARTIN: Are there others here tonight who would like to speak i in opposition to the variance? MRS. HALL: I am Mrs. Nancy Hall, I live at 405 N. Tioga Street, directly adjacent to this building. I would like to speak in favor of it if I may. I had not planned to speak but I think in ! (view of the fact that someone else has spoken in opposition I i ! would like to register the fact that I am very much in favor bf it. I am a widow. I would not want to be termed elderly and I have somewhat bridged the generation gap because I am employed full- time but I am also a student. The problem of the student occupant who are now there and the noise that Mrs. Reynolds, I believe, ! referred to, is really tremendous. When I come home from work at I 5 o'clock and have to study until 9 to 11 or whatever I find it very disturbing. I think that the presence of lawyers and an abstract title company would be a definite asset. I think there i would be less traffic ooming and going, I would feel safer on the streets at night, and I see absolutely no problem. I am also obviously involved with Historic Ithaca and Landmark Preservation I 1fbecause my house was built prior to 1830. I don't care for Dr. lllBaker's complex at all. I will start by saying that. But I have fl 11seen that house when it was, at least on the Tioga Street side, H3 apartments lived in by 3 elderly ladies - a very different id ii -29- i 10ituation than it has been the last 2 years. I definitely am in ;I { avor. GASTEIGER: You feel that something could not be accomplished s there by better regulations, better maintenance as a residence? I S. HALL: I prefer the idea of its being used as office space - f jthe first 2 floors as I understand it and 2 apartments on the third= i ,floor. I am confused as to just how many apartments are now on the third floor. When students are climbing out on the roof and have IParties playing music it is very hard for me to estimate sometimes, iIsitting on the fire escape at night, how many people really live Hon that third floor. I have no idea. But if I understand Mr. Pf 's plans, it would be simply 2 apartments on the third floor, both of 1which would have the entrance on the Court Street side. I didn't �1know that. That had no influence on me. I do find that an added i� !attraction, of course, that the Tioga Street entrance will not be � I Fused. The privacy of my home has been considerably decreased by ,the student occupancy. The third floor can look through into my j'house - the second floor can't. IMR. GASTEIGER: Perhaps I can ask if it is a pattern of things. Some of us are concerned with that, it isn't a question of precedence. �jYou view this as a pattern for preservation - some of these old I 11places - if you view your own place, will it eventually become `f I I1business? MRS. HALL: Over my dead body is what I have always said - I hope, i IQ jat least, not in my lifetime. I don't know why there seems to be Ja prejudice in Ithaca against lawyers as tenants. I think lawyers make excellent tenants. I would far rather see a law firm than , doctors as someone mentioned, I think patients coming or going, andl 1lwith its proximity to the Courthouse is reasonable and perfectly `valid use for it. I hope I will not have to sell my house - if I 4 Ido, I expect to find a residential buyer - I know of 2 buyers now - ( family - an older couple whose children are grown, a young couple. � I I disagree with tke lady who spoke before. I do not feel that `would spoil the character of the neighborhood at all. In fact, !!I feel it would create sort of a natural barrier. j `i f 11MR. KASPRZAK: Aren't you going to have the same problem as you i' -30- j i have now since there are going to be 2 apartments on the third I `floor? MRS. HALL: No, I don't see how 2 apartments could be comparable l Ito 6, I believe it is now. Heavens knows how many people are j i jliving there. i �IMR. KASPRZAK: By decreasing the number of apartments it might =decrease the noise and inconvenience that you might be having now I but you might still have some problem. i ;;MRS. HALL: Well, I am a reasonable person, I can stand 2 apartmen s. �, MR. KASPRZAK: I would like to correct something. We are not against lawyers - please. I am houtspoken. ! MRS. HALL. I am a newcomer here and rather 9 MR. KASPRZAK: Quite allright. MR. MARTIN: Any further questions. Is there anyone else who would like to be heard on this case? In favor of the variance or in opposition? If not that concludes our hearing on this case. 'a i� f I i i i t� �� j -31- i ii BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS CITY OF ITHACA l JULY 129 1976 f y ;f APPEAL NO. 1121 !MR. VAN MARTER: I move that the requested use variance be denied. I' MR. KASPRZAK: I second that. FINDINGS OF FACT: ;I1) While the evidence presented tended to show limited profitability j�of the building in its present form and condition based on the I acquisition price paid in 1972-1973, there was not sufficient !evidence that the building could not continue to be used as reside ti.* I property, further the acquisition price on which the profitability i figures were based, was a fairly recent one and may well have reflected the hope that the building might be later used for a non residential use. i2) The R-3 designation of that area has recently been examined by Ithe Planning Board and Council and reaffirmed. In view of that it would be difficult to find that the proposed use did not conflict with the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance. �!NOTE: E Yes - 4 No - 1 Application denied. ! E I !� E I I i� i if I� ii I `t I i i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS JULY 12, 1976 &r. Jones announced the next case to be heard: ,APPEAL NO. 1123 The appeal of Cornell Radio Guild, Inc. ; I' for area variance and use variance under! Section 30 . 25, Columns 2 and 4 at 227 - � !� 229 Linden Avenue in an R-3 use district. !Mr. Larry Epstein is here, he is president and general manager, to present this case. ! LARRY EPSTEIN: I 'd like to pass out additional documents before I start . . . . . . from here. I MR. EPSTEIN: Mr. Chairman, my name is Larry Epstein, I 'm the president of the Cornell Radio Guild, Inc. which is the owner of i the premises at 227 - 229 Linden Avenue. I am also the general !,manager of WVBR-FM which is the principal business of the Cornell IlRadio Guild as well as being the current tenant of the second floor H '{ of the premises . The Cornell Radio Guild is applying for a variance i � to the zoning ordinance which requires that the premises be leased ! � as residential. You have the appeal papers in front of you - I ' ll = l�briefly summarize the arguments in the addendum to the appeal . The! 1WVBR building is located in an R-3 residential district. It is ,f +'however, in no way suited to residential occupancy. I am told that! +the history of the building goes back to before a variance would have been required for its construction. The building was origin- j Tally built as an automobile agency, subsequently it was used as a laundry and then purchased by WVBR which rented part of the space to the Card and Cue Club which has since gone out of business. I lIMost recently the first floor of the building housed Give Us A Chance, Inc. , a teenage recreation center. They were evicted in December of 175 as a result of - probably vandalism. When WVBR bought the building the Board of Zoning Appeals stipulated that, in ,granting the variance for the use as a commercial business , the I i�stipulation was that the owner appear before the zoning board with I�the prospective tenant to apply for variance for use so regardless I i � II � - 2 - I II j lof whether or not this variance - we were contemplating rental to al business or to a residence we 'd be here in any event because of i 11that stipulation.. The present variance is sought in order to permijt ; the Cornell Radio Guild to lease a substantial portion of the first 11floor of the premises to the Cornell Sunday Post, a student organi it I °zation which intends to use the space for business and editorial offices of the Sunday newspaper. Like WVBR the Post is a student i managed media service which operates without machine noise. All �I 'printing will be done at another location. The area that the Post I I �lintends to rent is located almost entirely below ground, rendering jthe installation of windows and doors necessary for most residen- tial uses impossible. The Guild feels that strict application of the ordinance would produce undue hardship because of the unsuita- bility of the building for residential space. The entire area 11surrounding the building is residential - all other buildings are Ilsuitable for residential use and therefore the hardship which striclt i application of the ordinance would produce is unique andisnot I ? shared by all properties alike in the immediate vicinity of the building. The Cornell Sunday Post is possibly the only conceivable i �itenant which would observe the spirit of the ordinance and not ! change the character of the district. It is identical, as I said, � to WVBR in concept in that it is a student owned and operated i medium serving the University and downtown community. It is pri- marily volunteer as is WVBR - its staff by and large will be walking Cover to the building from the Cornell campus and collegetown. This! i means that their operation will not generate any substantial traffic I land certainly not as much traffic as any other type of business i would. The exterior of the building would not be changed whatsoever 1�and therefore, in terms of the character of the neighborhood, �lphysically it would not be changed. That' s just a brief summary of! i the issues in the event - in conjunction with the use variance, thej Guild is also requesting an area variance for a total of four (4) 1 doff-street parking spaces rather than the seven (7) which would be F. i '� I li i 3 - i �Irequired by the ordinance calculating on the basis of one space fog, � every 250 square feet of rental space. This is in keeping with the' t �(needs of both WVBR and the Post and would not create any additionalI i !iparking problems for Linden Avenue residents. The total number of spaces available in the WVBR garage make renting space to a business requiring more parking spaces infeasible. Last week in an emergenIy meeting of the Planning Board it recommended unanimously that and, separately - that the use variance and the area variance be granted. lWe never received a copy of the memo. I don't know if you received i lone or not . That was the vote of the Planning Board. I am now able 1 (Ito answer any questions you have with me. This is James Toomey, w o �i iis the acting vice president for facilities for the Cornell Radio Guild and Jay Walker, who is the business manager of the Cornell �ISunday Post and he can explain more about the character of the busi- i �Iness to you. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Questions? MR. GASTEIGER: Perhaps they could comment more on the character of` activities? f I�MR. WALKER: Essentially the Cornell Sunday Post will differ not i�very much from the Cornell Daily Sun. MR. GASTEIGER: This is a new venture? 1MR. WALKER: Yes, it is a new venture it's a Sunday newspaper. Ithaca's first Sunday newspaper. It' s a group of students , of which I am the publisher and we are going to try to put out a a ' Sunday newspaper every week and we have substantial commitments from various individuals to do such a thing. We announced our !newspaper at the Cornell Campus back in May and we have received 1150 volunteers to work on the paper and we have conducted interview and made appropriate negotiations with the proper people and we are! i �iready to begin publishing and would like to locate in the WVBR (!premises . Pretty much. what Larry said goes . We are essentially I!very similar in character as WVBR, being run by students . We will 1have editorial offices there and the only machine that would make ii I! �i i I I i !( 1 I - 4 - �i it Jany noise at all would be a teletype which we have - Associated i IjPress will install. That ' s pretty much it. I can answer any j questions you might have . . . Iy ! DR. GREENBERG: Will the facility be distributing papers and create ' a lot of traffic in its distribution? I SMR. WALKER: No sir. Distribution will be handled by an independent agency of students - we are presently negotiating with student {I I� I� agencies which will pick up the papers directly from the printer ' and distribute it thorugh its own channels and we would pay for that service independently. The Sunday Post would maintain no ( vehicle - at the present none is contemplated. IMR. GASTEIGER: So the copy that is produced first copy that is !' 1 produced on these premises editorializing photography? i IMR. WALKER: Yes, there will be dark rooms. IMR. GASTEIGER: Layouts and this would be taken elsewhere for the ! printing? IMR. WALKER: Layouts, yes. They would probably be taken to the Journal, for printing downtown. (. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Business office where ads are brought . . . IMR. WALKER: We would receive most of our copy would be picked up �� by our sales people. That ' s traditionally how it 's done. We would I!I �Imaintain a full time receptionist in the area - you know, to answer phones and things of that nature. I MR. GASTEIGER: When would your peak activity be? MR. WALKER: It 's pretty much spread out because of the nature of IiIII �ISunday newspaper. It' s spread throughout the week. I would say the heaviest amount of activity would be, depending upon if our (� I printer is in town - if our printers are in town it would be Satur- i? day night when we are composing the late sports and the late news . If our printers are out of town there will be no heavy period be- cause we would actual! compose at the printers because of „ y p p e the timq lilag between - distance would make it infeasible to produce uptown. '; IMR. KASPRZAK: Can you give me any idea in terms of number of j�people at the largest point? �I I� a �i f I! MR. WALKER: Sure. I would say peak period in the office space we ' �I fare contemplating presently - - I would say twentytwenty-five ; people would be the peak period. 1:1MR. KASPRZAK: And this will be mostly pedestrians? ' ii i IMR. WALKER: Yes , this will be dealing with mostly students . Ther will be probably one full time professional staff composing person - who will - he' s a former graduate of Cornell and he ' s �lagreed to serve as a full time person to do layout composing work i i , for us, CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Further questions? Thank you. IMR. WALKER: Thank you. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there further testimony on this case? First, Jany persons who would like to be heard in favor of the requested variance? Anyone who would like to be heard in opposition? If I not, that concludes this public portion of our hearing. We will gd I into Executive Session and reconvene briefly to announce the resul S . EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1123: I Mr. Martin moved that the requested variance be granted. Mr. VanMarter seconded it. i FINDING OF FACTS: 1. As the Board found when it granted the original variance permitting operation of WVBR f in the Linden Avenue property, the nature of the: building makes it impossible to use for a residential use. 2 . The evidence presented at the hearing would • indicate that the proposed tenant will use the it I' first floor in a manner which will not have any-1 i i more adverse impact on the neighborhood than thel Radio Station which already occupies the property, i VOTE: YES - 5 NO - 0 j Variance granted. li I I i Ij I i!