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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA, CITY HALL, ITHACA, NEW YORK, MAY 6,
1974
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At a regular meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals, City of Ithaca, held
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jin Common Cooncil Chambers, City Halls Ithaca, New York, on May 69 1974:
` PRESENT: PETER MARTIN, Chairman
i C. MURRAY VAN MARTER
GREGORY KASPRZAK
ELVA HOLMAN
EDGAR GASTEIGER j
EDISON JONES, Building Commissioner and Secretary
DARLEEN LISK, Recording Secretary
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ABSENT: JOHN BODINE
Chairman Martin opens meeting, listing members of Board present. There is one
member of the Board absent this evening and it takes four votes to either pass
or deny an appeal and anyone wishing to hold their case over until the next
meeting in hopes of having a full Board present may do so. This Board is
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operating under the provisions of the City Charter of the City of Ithaca and
of the provisions of the Zoning Ordinances; the Board shall not be bound by
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strict rules of evidence in the conduct of this hearings but the determination
shall be founded upon sufficient legal evidence to sustain the same. The Board
requests that all participants identify themselves as to name and address;
and confine their discussions to the pertinent facts of the case under considers
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tion. Please avoid extraneous material which would have a delaying effect.
Commissioner Jones lists what case No. 1044 is to be.
`IAPPEAL NO. 1044: The Appeal of Orson R. Ledger for an area variance under
II Section 30.25, Column 4s at 704-706 Stewart Avenue in an
R-3 zone.
�ORSON LEDGER: I am Orson Ledger of 209 First Street in the City and
I am here for an exception to the Zoning Law for I�
jl parking, I need three spaces to complete a requirementf
j for a new apartment building we are planning on
building at the site where we had the fire Christmas
day of 1973 which destroyed an apartment-rooming house
at 704-706 Stewart Avenue. The building is to be a
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four-story masonry constructions there will be eight
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apartments in total, I have a site plan here with me
tonight drawn up by a local architect if anyone would
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like to take a look at it. Shows the site plan to th
members of the Board.
ITHE CHAIR: So these eight units will be four-four bedroom and
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i( four-three bedroom? I
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IMR. LEDGER: Correct.
THE CHAIR: Is the only problem with the Ordinance the number of
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parking spaces, there is mention made in the memo
we have from the Planning Board of a lot size, a
possible lot site deficiency?
! MR. LEDGER: The lot is an irregular size, there have been two
people figure the area of the lot depending upon who
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does it and how they go about it, and myself I'm not
( qualified to figure it, but they figured it from
7,600 some odd feet up to 8,150 feet depending upon
+� how they figured it because it's an odd irregular
size lot. Also there is a little question on a
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I� driveway which is between my property and the
( Belleayre Apartments. Belleayre Apartments told me !
it was their understanding that we owned the drivewayl
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jointly. When they surveyed it they surveyed the
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Belleayre property on one side of it and they
surveyed mine on the other side and the surveyor
II said he didn't know who owned the driveway; but it's
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Belleayre Apartments idea since bey have been there
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since 1928 which is longer than I've been here that
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we own it jointly. So if we both own it jointly,
that would add more footage to the site.
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THE CHAIR:. The only exception you are requesting at this point
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(' is the parking?
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iMR. LEDGER: You. When I brought the plans in, that was all I was !
II told that I needed,
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iIMR. GASTEIGER: Are you Changing foundation areas or are you using
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the old foundations?
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MR. LEDGER: We are putting in new foundations.
MR. GASTEIGER: Will this be largertor smaller?
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MR. LEDGER: Almost the same size$ one dimension will be the same
size and the other dimension will be just a few feet
larger but not very much.
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'ITHE CHAIR: How do the number of units in the new proposed buildi g
compare to the number of units and number of bedrooms
in the old?
MR. LEDGER: There will be 28 bedrooms in this building and the
old one had 22.
THE CHAIR: So the proposed one is not only a bit larger, but it
involves a higher density?
MR. LEDGER: A little bit, yes.
MR. GASTEIGER: Are there usually two tenants per bedroom?
MR. LEDGER: One. I�
MR. GASTEIGER: What was the old one, 22 tenants?
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MR. LEDGER: The old building, we had two tenants to quite a few
of the bedrooms. We used to house about 29 to 30
people in the old building.
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MR. GASTEIGER: For the new are you planning the same number?
IMR. LEDGER: No the new one is single size bedrooms, they are under
the 120 square feet except for four master bedrooms
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and they will probably be occupied by one person.
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I!MR. GASTEIGER: So the most you anticipate would be 32 people with twoj
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IiMR. LEDGER: Well if we put two in the master but we designed it
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with all single size bedrooms in mind.
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CHAIR: Are you cutting down on the number of parking spaces I
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or increasing?
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I�R. LEDGER: Increasing.
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GASTEIGER: How are you achieving that?
LEDGER: Well we sm moving the building a little bit north
I;I of what the present building is and putting parking
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down the side and excavating some earth toward the
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it street and providing parking in that area. l
Ii THE CHAIR: Can you explain to us why it's impossible, impractical,
totally unrealistic for you to limit yourself to the
size building with the number of units that you can
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have parking spaces for?
MR. LEDGER: Well I have pushed the pencil quite a bit and a large
amount of the cost is in kitchens and bedrooms. plumb�ng
and as you probably well know I went to the City and
requested to do our own plumbing and we were denied j
and we need the extra bedrooms to get enough income
to substantiate the new building. Unless our figures
come up a lot less than what we are anticipating for
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a cost# we couldn't justify building the building
with any less bedrooms than what we have got in
order to meet todays construction costs.
� MR. KASPRZAK: How many parking spaces are you actually short?
MR. LEDGER: Three. Because the new Zoning Law calls for anything
over a three-bedroom apartment to have two parking
spaces.
MR. KASPRZAK What is the minimum space between a car and a buildind1
that is required Mr. Building Commissioner?
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MR. JONES: There is none.
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,MR. GASTEIGER: Are the distances from the lot line being changed?
iMR. LEDGER: It is being moved north somewhat. We are going to
j) within the 5 foot requirement in the Zoning Code.
It will be 10 foot on one side and S on the other.
THE CHAIR: Any more questions by the Board?
None.
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Any persons here tonight who would like to speak
on behalf of this request?
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None.
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II Anyone who would like to speak in opposition?
None.
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EXECUTIVE SESSION, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA, MAY 69 1974
APs EAL NO. 1044:
ji; MR. MARTIN: I move we deny the requested variance.
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MR. KASPRZAK: I second that.
FINDINGS OF FACT:
1) The proposed structure is not simply a replace-
ment for the building that was burned but it is
I) both larger and includes additional units;
2) There was no adequate showing that a structure
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which complied with the Zoning Ordinance in terms
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of parking space per number of units was not
feasible;
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3) Even if the variance were granted, it is not at
all clear that the lot is of a size that would
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permit the proposed structure. j
( VOTE: YES - 5 NO - 0
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j; BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA, CITY HALL, ITHACA, NEW YORK, MAY 6,
1974
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Commiissioner Jones Lists what case No 1046 is to be.
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APREAL NO. 1046: The Appeal of Dorothy B. Garner for an area variance under
Sec. 30.25, Columns 6, 7, at 302 Worth Street in an R-1 zone.
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DOROTHY GARNER: I Dorothy Garner appoal to the Zoning Board for a
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variance because the lot line being purchased byme
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,I from the owner, 0. S. Gumbs; the area is 100 by 65
which is under Zoning Regulations as presently stipu• i
laced by the City of Ithaca. What I an asking for
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is simply an area variance so that I can purchase the
lot and that it will be of use to me after I have don
�I so to build a home on.
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THE CHAIR: At the moment this lot is vacant?
MRS. GARNER: Yes it is.
THE CHAIR: And it's been subdivided into a parcel that is too
small under the current Ordinance?
MRS. GARNER: Yes it is two lots the lots are presently described
as 30 by 60, after you put in the street zoning they
became 30 by 50, and under combined laws and codes in
your code book now they are reading by your regulatio*T
� 100 and each 65 width. Regulations made at the time �
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they were originally purchased by the City of Ithaca,
they were legal lots, by the present stipulations and
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regulations they do not meet area standards for I
building. So it's simply an area variance.
MRS. HOLMAN: What size house would you be proposing for this lot? I
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MRS. GARNER: We would propose for this lot a family dwelling, that'�S
jwhat R-1 zoning can only stipulate. I would have to
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most with a designer in order to accommodate the size.
According to R-1 zoning regulations it would have to
meet for yardage, for driveway stipulations, any way
the house is built. That is whether it runs the lengt
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of the lot or whether it runs the width of the lot,
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�i because it's a corner lot.
THE CHAIR: At this point the only variance you are asking for
Is an area variance and the building in all other
respects would comply with the Zoning Regulations?
MRS. GARNER: It has to comply with the Rel zoning as stipulated
by the City of Ithaca.
THE CHAIR: You are under contract to buy the lot, but you don't
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want to continue the contract unless you can use the
lot? i
MRS. GARNER: Yes.
i MR. VAN MARTER: There are eleven lots in that total block and there
are only two lots of that eleven that exceed the
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�j size of the lot that you have, the other eight lots
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are no larger than the one you have?
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MRS. GARNER: That's right, they are not.
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THE CHAIR: Some of those others have buildings on them?
MRS. GARNER: Yes they all have buildings.
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MR. JONES: I took the liberty to take that lot and put a structu e
on it meeting the yard set backs and she could end
(i up with a house on that particular lot that would be
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1,300 square foot,it could be 30 foot by 43foot 41nchis
maximum that she could use, and that's a rather large
house and whether or not she will have any where near
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,i that, I have no idea.
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ijTHE CHAIR: Any other questions by the Board?
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None.
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Any other persons here tonight who would like to epee
in favor of this petition?
None.
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Is there anyone here who wishes to speak in oppositio ?
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None. I
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,J EXECUTIVE SESSION, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS* CITY OF ITHACAs MAY 6, 1974
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APPEAL NO. 1046:
MR. MARTIN: I move that we grant the area variance.
MRS. HOLMAN: I second that.
�I FINDINGS OF FACT:
!! 1) The lot is of a size that makes it impossible
�! without the area variance to make any reasonable
use of the property consistent with the R•1
zone;
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2) Because of existence ofnsimilar sized and smaller
lots in the same block it would not appear that
the proposed use will adversely effect the
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neighborhood;
Ij 3) That all other requirements of the Zoning Ordinan�e
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�( can be complied with.
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VOTE: YES S NO 0
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' BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA, CITY HALL, ITHACA, NEW YORK, MAY 69
1974
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Commissioner Jones Lists what case No. 1047 is to be.
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APPEAL NO. 1047: The Appeal of Iry Lewis Inc. for a use variance under Section
30.2% Column 20 at 303 West Lincoln Street in an R-3 zone.
STUART LEWIS: My name is Stuart Lewis and I am president of Irv.
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Lewis Inc. the owner of this particular building.
The building in question is located at 303 West Linco'In
Street. The building is next to Cayuga Electric
facing Route 13: we have been before this Board
before requesting a variance specifically for its
use. The use of the building we feel has to be a
commercial type use because the building is a cinder
block rectangular building not designed for residen-
tial use. Under the existing zoning this produces
a hardship for us, the owners of the building, because
It cannot be used for anything other than a commercial
I! type use. In our previous requests for permission
to use the building for commercial use we gained
favorable opinions from this Board. The last occupant)
has been the Austin Water Products, before that it
was Nortbn Electric. We also have been enduring a
financial hardship on thebuilding in as much as the
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income from the building is limited basically from i
the use of it. We feel that we just don+t want to
stick anybody in the building, we know that first of
all we have to gain permission to use the building
for commercial use; we would like to put a party in
the building that we feel would be a low commercial
�) type tenant. In other words one who is not in the
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ij so called retail business with heavy transit use of
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traffic. The particular tenant that we are potentiall
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wishing to place in the building is Madison Electric
who would be using the building solely for the use of�
drafting electrical plans, electrical contracting.
He now has a small office down on West State Street
and he wants to move into a building slightly larger
than what he presently has. He does not have any
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!I retail business whatsoever and fools that the buildin
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plus the drafting. We have included in our lease
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provisions for the occupancy to maintain strict
I cleanliness as far as removal of tarGage, rubbish,
noise so that the adjoining neighbors will not be
i{ perturbed from this.
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(IMR. KASPRZAK: How many people are going to be working there? i
'!MR. LEWISt Approximately three people, there will be Dean Madison
and his foreman and his secretary. All of the people
that he uses to do electrical jobs he has report to
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�I thejob, in other words, he'll go down to the Onion
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Hall and get enough for a particular job; for example,
if he was doing a job at Ithaca College and it employe
five or six or eight men for so many days he would
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j just go and hire them for that one job, he has field
�+ workers just like any other electrical company. He
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runs what he calls a different type of electrical
contracting firm than the majority of them, he doesnitl
have a very large overhead and he doesn't have a lot
I of men on his payroll, he just gets his men as he
goes out and does his work in the field.
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({MR. GASTEIGER: Is the driveway on the right with the garage part of
this building?
MR. LEWIS: Yes. Well the garage is used by ourselves# we store
our gift boxes and our Christmas boxes in that garage
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and we feed from that particular garage to our own
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store, so we are in that garage ourselves about three
or four times a_,year. We are going to retain the
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;I use of that garage ourselves.
MRS. HOLMAN: Does he have vehicles which he uses as part of his
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business?
` It. LEWIS: I understand he has two vehicles but he tells me that
one vehicle he drives to work himself and the other
one by his foreman.
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i, MRS. HOLMAN: And they would be used as transpertation to and from
their residences?
I I� �! MR. LEWIS: I presume they would, I'm not sure.
MR. GASTEIGER: I wonder if you could explain how this has worked in
the past, as I understand from what I've read you've
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I� always come for a variance?
MR. LEWIS: Well the reason for that is that the existing buildin
jtwin an area which is not zoned commercial and there.!
fore one has to gain a variance to use it.
IMR. GASTEIGER; : Now the second aspect of this is that in the lease
that you write you put on the restraints that you
essentially are describing to us, or I was wondering
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how it works and whether things can get out of hand?
MR. LEWISt The tenant will maintain building and g"unds inclading
snow removal, grass cutting and garbage removal. i
i; Tenant will keep outside area and immediately adjoining
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I premises in a neat manner so not to destroy the
li character of the neighborhood. Tenant will provide
elimination of noise and garbage without disturbing
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neighborhood and adjoining residences.
'MR. KASPRZAK: You have been before this Board, this is the fifth
time; why such frequency of tenant change?
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SMR. LEWIS: Because I feel that the type of tenant that can occup�
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that building, I feel in order to use the building
has to be a low-key $enant, it can't be obvimaly
±' Kentucky Fried Chicken or a doughnut store or somethi g
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that has a high commercial use to it. Obviously that
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type of tenant cannot pay the amount of rental income
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that one would enjoy if it was a highly commercial
�) tenant. We have not been able to secure what we call
a high rental type tenant. In the year past, 19739
the total income on that building we received was
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(I $3,900; quite frankly the lease was to bring in a
�I few hundred dollars more but I released Austin from
the lease, he just wasn't making it down there. jI
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As a result our income last year on that building !i
was $3,900, the expenses on it totaled $6,022.92
and that was a net loss of $2,122 on the building.
Needless to say it's not a profitable building and
we haven other choice and if we don't get a variance f
on the building I think we have no other choice but
1 probably to sell the building. I feel that we have
an obligation to put a tenant in the building who
we feel is a desirable tenant and I just want to find
11 a tenant who I feel will be suitable to the neighbor• 1.
hood and not destroy the character of the neighborhood
and personally my own reputation. I am very pleased f
that Dean Madison wanted to use the building. We
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feel personally that if Madison Electric did gain
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j� use of that building they would be a lesser commercial
type tenant than in the past. And I used that
expression only because of what I felt would be the
II traffic ingress and outgress of that building. The
II type of people that will be visiting the building
ii during the day, leaving it, driving up to it, exiting
�I from it. The building has been a hardship to us f
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from both financial and a personal use because we do I`
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have to request a variance every time we wish to
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lease it.
MR. VAN MARTER: No other tenant in the building during this tie*?
SMR. LEWIS: No, just Madison Electric.
, THE CHAIR: Any other questions by the Board?
None.
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Any one else who wishes to speak in support of this
ipetition?
None.
�I Is there any one who wishes to speak in opposition?
None.
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EXECUTIVE SESSION, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALSo CITY OF ITHACA* MAY 6, 1974
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i1 APPEAL NO. 1047:
MR. KASPRZAKt I move that the variance be granted.
MR. VAN MARTER: I second that.
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FINDINGS OF FACT:
1) The evidence presented indicated there is no
{ other reasonable use for the property; ,
2) The building was designed and used for a similar ,
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nature;
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3) All successive uses have been of comparable
nature and of similar nature to the proposed I
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4) There was no request for a sign.
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VOTE: YES - 5 NO O
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!i EXECUTIVE SESSION, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA, MAY 6, 1974
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APPEAL NO. 1042:
�1MR, MARTIN: I move we deny the exception.
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MR. KASPRZAK: I second that.
' FINDINGS OF FACT:
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1) The
proposed use in an R•1 zone cannot be ac-
complished simply by the exception requested
by the appellant.
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VOTE: YES 5 NO 0
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i CERTIFICATION
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I DARLEEN F. LISK, DO CERTIFY that I took the minutes of the Board of Zona g
( Appeals, City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals No. 1044, 1046, and 1047
on May 69 1974 at City Mall, City of Ithaca, New York, that I have transcribed
the same and the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the minutes of
the meeting and the executive session of the Board of Zoning Appeals, City of
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Ithaca, on the above date, and the whole thereof, to the best of my ability.
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Darleen F. Lisk
Senior Stenographer
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Sworn to before me this
.••�•.•._-day of C 19�,
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ROBERT G. GREY No. 55-6 664
Notary Publ ', of New Y is
'uualified i, C.'u 'y
�r CommisS'on _r.- es March 3
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