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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-11-03 p, t TOWN OF DRYDEN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS NOVEMBER 3 , 1993 • AGENDA : CORNELL UNIVERSITY : Construct a Pole barn closer than 70 feet from the center of road at 152 Stevenson Road . MEMBERS PRESENT : CHAIRWOMAN ANNE EVERETT , ALAN LAMOTTE , JOSEPH JAY , CHARLES HANLEY AND MARK VARVAYANIS . Also present but not limited to : Henry Slater , Janice Miller and Alton Reed . The meeting was called to order by the Chair . Anne Everett . A motion was made by Joseph Jay and Second by Mark Varvayanis to accept the Sept . 7 , 1993 minutes as submitted . The minutes were approved by all members present . • 7 : 30 P . M . PUBLIC HEARING - CORNELL UNIVERSITY A . Everett , Chairwoman commenced the meeting for the month of November 1993 by introducing the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals . The chair . explained the procedure the Board will follow for a variance . The Public Notice published in the paper and the information from the folder is read , along with the criteria that the Board will use in the determination . The applicant will have an opportunity to present additional information . The Board will gather information and the Public will also have a chance to address the issues . At the end of the Public Hearing the Board will have a deliberate session . The Board should be able to reach a decision tonight . The applicant is welcome to stay for the entire evening or you may phone the Code Enforcement Officer in the morning for , the decisions . � 4 ZBA 11 -3-93 PG . 2 The Chair . read the Legal Notice which was published in the • Ithaca Journal . The request is for an area variance in an RB Zone . The criteria , effective July 11 1992 , which the Board will follow in considering the application was read as follows : The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power upon an appeal from a decision or determination of an administrative official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law to grant area variances from an area or dimensional requirement of such ordinance or local law . In making its determination the Zoning Board of Appeals shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted , as weighed against the detriment to the health , safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant . In making such determination the board shall also consider : ( 1 ) whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance , ( 2 ) whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method , feasible for the applicant to pursue , other than an area variances ( 3 ) whether the requested area variance is substantial % ( 4 ) whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or districts and ( 5 ) whether the • alleged difficulty was self created , which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the board of appeals , but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance . The Chair . noted that she had received the notice of appeal in a timely fashion . A letter submitted by T . G . Miller P . C . to Henry Slater was read as followsm . . . . . . . . . . . . . " I have looked at the material that has been submitted for review and have the following comments % Cornell university - 152 Stevenson Road : I looked at the site , and the proposed 60 foot set back is acceptable because it will not create a site distance problem , problems with future road work , no additional driveways are requested , and the entrance will be on the west end of the building . It should also be noted that the proposed building will be set further from the road than existing buildings to the east . Please call if you have any questions . David G . Putnam " . � 4 ZBA 11 -3-93 PG . 3 The Chair noted that the application for the Town zoning permit has been filed and read as follows : Whe current sheep facility can not handle / store all the hay it needs to feed the sheep through the winter . The proposed hay barn would allow the hay storage needed . Given the building configuration , and site conditions , the proposed hay barn is most conveniently located near the front of the facility . A ten foot variance to move the barn closer to the road would allow tractor trailers , loaded with hay , to easily pull into the east drive and then back into the barn to unload . Without the variance , hay would have to be unloaded manually , which is very labor intensive and therefore very costly . Janice M . Miller from Cornell Veterinary Collage . Also provided was a detailed sketch of the area . QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD J . Jay : Why does the ten feet make a difference ? Ms . Miller : Looking at the map / sketch which was provided to the Board pointed out the way the drive currently enters the barn . There is the freezer and a propane tank located outside near the barn . If the building were placed as requested in the isvariance the driver would have a clear approach to the entrance without coming in at an angle . A . Everett : Wanted to know why they hadn ' t considered another area ? Ms . Miller : Stated they had considered other areas but , if Cornell decides someday to ( . . . steam . . . ) their sheep the housing is located in another area . The current barn is not tall enough to pull a tractor trailer into . The Agriculture School has given the Veterinary College this land , which we hope to use for pasture . So if we go with a comprehensive plan , we are going to keep the housing along the back , keep the feed to the front . A . Everett : How big a parcel do you have ? Ms . Miller : 90 acres . It goes back to a stream , and then across to another pasture . They want to keep as much pasture as possible . This seems to be a good future plan . A . Everett : Inquired if another portion on the sketch / map was also Cornell ' s land ? ZBA 11 -3-93 PG . 4 • Ms . Miller : Stated she believed it was however , the problem with that part of the parcel was that it drops off quite quickly and would require a lot of fill . J . Jay : Inquired why the building couldn ' t be turned ? Ms . Miller : They wanted to load the hay and thought it was most effective if you backed in , load it to the side and then fill it as you go out . If the barn were turned this way it would only have the narrow depth and then they would have to carry it back . Apparently it is easier to pull a truck in this way and then load the length of it rather then have the truck in the short side . A . LaMotte : Turn your building and you can still back in from the narrow end . Just put a driveway in over here , turn your building 90 degrees and back straight in . Ms . Miller : There is another driveway over here and I think that it might be clumsy or awkward to have a third one in - between . We thought this would be the lesser of the evils . • A . Everett : That ' s a big building 75 feet ? Ms . Miller : Yes . This one only hold ' s about eight weeks worth of hay . ( referring to a smaller building on the map ) A . Everett : Why can ' t you get rid of that one and place the big one back here ? Ms . Miller : We are hoping to keep that for sheep . They are hoping their program expands , their sheep research program . So housing might be . . . A . Everett : I still don ' t see how with the tractor trailer ? You are still going to have to go this way to some extent and it is not going to be a straight shot ? Ms . Miller : This is about 60 feet and then from the edge of the barn to the front of this building is about fifteen ( 15 ) which is wide enough for a tractor . I guess that is why this would be important because it would be that much more of an angle . There will be a slight angle . They had wanted to ask for more , thinking making this 55 but they wanted to minimize , hoping that it would be easier to get through . • ZBA 11 -3-93 PG . 5 A . Everett : Why can ' t you put it back here somewhere ? Ms . Miller : There is a wet area back in there , about in here there is a pond . They thought it would be too costly to go next to this because it would require fill . There is no driveway there so you would have to bring in a driveway . This is also a good location because it is close to the office . J . Jay : Basically you want the ten foot variance to make it a little more convenient for a driveway back in here ? Ms . Miller : Yes . The other nice thing about keeping this to the front because this drive way is here there is a door ( . . . . > if you want to bring a tractor through . You could bring it through and right out the other side , which would also be a nice benefit . J . Jay : I don ' t know about the other Board Members but I used to drive a tractor trailer , and that 10 feet wouldn ' t make that big a difference to back a truck in there . • M . Varvayanis : I don ' t think it would make that big a difference to me either . Different drivers have different skill levels . Ms . Miller : I think a lot of their hay comes from Farm Services and I don ' t know ? A . Everett : How tall a building ? Ms . Miller : It would be 1E feet to the underside of the eves . It would be pole barn construction , metal sides and metal roof . At lease one large door for a tractor trailer , possible two and a little service door . There would possibly be translucent panels the top two feet under the gable . It would require minimal electric . A . Everett : It seems like you have all sorts of options ? Ms . Miller : Like I said they are trying to think long term . How do you do this to make the most sense ? Do you keep the housing together , you ' ve got some wet land over here , you ' ve got pasture . They don ' t want to brake their pasture up by bringing it back further , or adding more driveways , or running more • power . 2PA 11 -3-93 PG. 6 Ms . Miller cont : This seemed like the most logical spot , and this would be a convenience that would be , • according to the guy that takes delivery of the hay , greatly needed . This building that they have backed into is pretty damaged . J . Jay : If they are worried about backing in why is this not an option to move the building 20 feet over this way ? Ms . Miller : In here there is a run - in barn that used to hold goats . J . Jay : If you are worried so about backing in move the barn , why is this not an option to move the barn over 20 feet that way and 10 feet this way to {give the driver more room to get in and out . Ms . Miller : That was one idea . One reason it was veto is that they didn ' t want to get right on top of this building . It ' s not owned by Agg . Life but they still use it . A . Everett : But there is quite an area from here over to the building . Ms . Miller : About 30 feet and then there is a driveway in • between . We didn ' t want to cram a turning distance either if you were to come through here with farm wagons or anything . You would have to cram it around between two buildings , we felt :it was reasonable to leave a little breathing room . They were nice enough to grant us this land , we didn ' t want to get in their way at the same time . C . Hanley : The hay would be for the sheep ? The sheep facility ? Ms . Miller : Yes . C . Hanley : There is a riding ring in there ? Where you board some horses ? Ms . Miller : No . It is all sheep . C . Hanley : But there is an area with jumps and . . . . set up between two buildings and there is usually two girls riding there . Alton Reed : Stated they belonged to the farm manager . C . Hanley : So if you move this part up here you are not going to use this building for any more ? i ZBA 11 -3-93 AG . 7 Ms . Miller : I ' m not sure about the short term , eventually we will probably turn it into housing . I think what • they would probably like to do with it short term is put equipment in it because , for hay it isn ' t very practicable . You can ' t get in and out the sides are damaged so the hay gets wet . They are over due for a barn . The other thing about the back , there is a fence that goes across here . That helps to herd the sheep . Moving sheep is something you have to consider . So they want to keep the housing together . J . Jay : Inquired about the other buildings in relation to the road and would they be as close as this ? Ms . Miller : There is one that is quite a bit closer and then as you go further east there are three barns . One is probably only 20 feet from the road . J . Jay : How far ? Ms . Miller : One hundred yards . I stood in the driveway and estimated 100 yards . A . LaMotte : What would be your objecting to spinning the barn in this manor and moving it back another 10 feet ? You could come in here and back across here , you • would have to add gravel to the internal driveway , and back into the barn there and you still have the option of coming out the other end . You still have this open end for your farm tractors etc . Ms . Miller : I guess I would wonder where the door would be ? If it were at this end I think it would worsen the situation . There is a culvert that runs under here now and you would have to put in some sort: of drive in order to get back here . M . Varvayanis : A culvert pipe is not that horrible a thing to install . Ms . Miller : It is existing , you would have to do something to move it . A . LaMotte : Well you have tremendous amount of room here . Is this the center line of Stevenson Road ? is it the ditch or what ? Ms . Miller : This is the center line and this is the property line . C . Hanley : It looks like we are all here on a cold wet night because your driver needs practice . • ZBA 11 -3 -93 PG . 8 Ms . Miller : I think if you come in from this end , I still think it is fairly tight between the culvert and • here . ( The culvert being the road side ditch ) OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Mr . Alton Reed stated he had gone down and looked it over . What it means is that they can pull into the driveway to get off Stevenson Road and back in . If they have the door at the end towards the road and if he backs 70 feet , didn ' t see how he gained too much . If you have a 40 foot trailer with a E0 foot tractor the driveway they do have is nice and wide . That other little building , used for calves , is on the South side of the road , so it is not going to cause any drifting , if it was on the North side it would be a problem . Looking it over I didn ' t see any objections . They hire students to bail hay and they are not too good at backing up four wheel wagons , and this seems like a simple solution to me , to come off the existing driveway . If he comes there between 7 : 30 and 8 : 30 in the morning or between 4 : 30 and 5 : 30 at night he is going to back up a lot of traffic . Mr . Reed wanted to know if the siding on the new building would be the same as what is there now ? Ms . Miller stated she thought they were thinking about doing it brown with a white trim . I think another thing that is deceiving is that it is not 70 feet unless you did come into the road , and that ' s to the center , so as you said you would be into traffic . A . Everett : If this were situated some where back , wouldn ' t: it be safer for your driver and easier to get to ? Ms . Miller : You would have to do quite a bit of work . A . Everett : How frequently do they deliver ? Ms . Miller : Two to three times a year . Not sure . . . A . Everett : We are not talking once a week , or every day ? Ms . Miller : No , maybe four times max . M . Varvayanis : How many sheep are you feeding ? Ms . Miller : 150 . Alton Reed ' s concerned with the flat land and possible water problem if they came in by the culvert way . The drive way now is a wide drive and they would always be facing the road when they leave . The traffic is real heave early morning and late evening . • ZBA 11 - 3 -93 PG . 9 CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING • 8 : 00 P . M . DELIBERATION : Each member was given an opportunity to write findings . At the Chairwoman ' s request Mark Varvayanis read his findings as follows : The proposed variance is not significant . There was community support voiced for the variance . There would be no change in the character of the neighborhood ; some buildings are already set less than 60 feet from the road . Finally it would be a relatively simple to site the building so no variance would be required . C . Hanley : Well can we just say that it is a large piece of land with numerous other options ? I also added that you have a favorable letter from the Town Engineer . A . Everett : Mark , what were your others number one or two ? Mr . Varvayanis stated the proposed variance is not significant . J . Jay stated he could agree it was not substantial , but that goes both ways . C . Hanley : I have a problem with that . A building of that size . . . 10 feet , I have a problem saying in the record that that is not substantial . Everything else you have said makes sense . No community opposition , no change in the character of the neighborhood , That ' s an awful big building , 10 feet is pretty substantial . . that size building , seems to me . J . Jay noted it would not have an adverse affect on the neighborhood , being agriculture . A . Everett : What do you want to do about the variance not significant ? I think it is . . . . a 75 foot building . A . LaMotte : Regardless about the size of the building , it is only a 10 foot request . J . Jay : 14 % the way I look at it , 10 feet , I don ' t think that it is all that substantial . I don ' t think that it ' s all that big of a deal to move it back 10 feet either . • ZBA11 -3-93 FAG . 10 H . Slater : Can I say something ? I would think the substantialness of 10 feet is relative to the required 70 foot setback not the structure . Isn ' t that what we are addressing , e ' re not addressing the structure . A . LaMotte : That ' s my paint , Henry . Joseph Jaye I can understand what they are saying too . If you ' re talking about a 15 foot wide garage vs . a 70 foot building coming close , that ' s a big difference . What if this was a 200 foot barn or a 400 foot barn coming 10 feet closer , the bigger the thing the more imaginative that what your coming forward . A . Everett agreed . H . Slater : I don ' t think that ' s the question , that ' s my opinion . A . LaMotte : Agreed with Henry Slater . , The Chair read the findings : # 1 . It would be relatively simple to situate the building so that a variance is not necessary . It is a large piece of land with numerous options available . #2 . There was a favorable letter from the Town Engineer read into testimony . # 3 . There is no community opposition . #4 . There is no adverse affect on the neighborhood . The Chair . at Ms . Miller ' s request to speak stated it was not proper unless asked , and wished to conclude the findings first . The Chair wished to know if it was necessary to put anything about the proposed variance being substantial ? J . Jay stated he didn ' t think so as there were two who thought it was and two who thought it wasn ' t an issue and he was undecided . M . Varvayanise If you don ' t think it is substantial to ask for a 120 foot variance road frontage as opposed to 125 , that doesn ' t mean well so then put in 130 . A . LaMotte : While he didn ' t feel there was an impact on the community or that 10 feet was substantial did feel there was a number of options available to them . ZBA 11 -3-93 PG . 11 It was determined to conclude with the four findings on record . Is Ms . Miller addressed the issue it was ; a large piece of land . Saying that on the West side the property line was tight with a long sloping bank . It is a very deep piece of property with limited access due to the stream and there is not a convenient way to pull in tractor trailers . Property line that cuts through the building , the milk building in front of you . We have been granted permission to use the land on that side but we don ' t want to take more than we have too . They are letting us use it as we see fit and in fairness to them we are trying to consider it so they can pasture in the future and we can as well . It is a long skinny lot with limited access . MARK VARVAYANIS MOVED TO GRANT CORNELLS REQUEST FOR A VARIANCE . SECOND BY ALAN LAMOTTE . DISCUSSION : VOTE YES ( 2 ) A . LAMOTTE AND M . VARVAYANIS NO ( 3 ) A . EVERETT , C . HANLEY AND J . JAY . ABSTAINED ( 0 ) VARIANCE DENIED Discussion on the October 5 , 1993 minutes resulted in the correct spelling of " IZUZU TROOPER " PG . 5 and adding the work " NOT " on PG . 7 ( corrections noted in red ) A . LaMotte stated he thought the Servr^ ite had withdrawn and there was no action taken . Concluded because Henry Slater arrived late the motion had been placed in the record . CHARLES HANLEY MOVED TO ACCEPT THE OCTOBER 59 1994 MINUTES AS CORRECTED . SECOND BY JOSEPH JAY . . . APPROVED BY ALL MEMBERS PRESENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. MEETING ADJOURNED . JR .