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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-16TB 8-16-18 Page 1 of 16 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING August 16, 2018 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Alice Green Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway Superintendent Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Director of Planning Khandi Sokoni, Town Attorney Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION VETERINARY OFFICE AT 1650 HANSHAW ROAD Supv Leifer opened the public hearing at 7:09 p.m. R Burger explained this is an application for a veterinary office (professional office) in a residential zoning district on Hanshaw Road near Mail Box and the SPCA. Tompkins County has provided their 239 letter determining there is no negative inter-community or county-wide impacts. George Breuhaus, architect for the project, said board members have the building detail and displayed a sample of stone veneer that will be used on the exterior. Hilary Lambert, who lives three buildings down from the project, said she first heard of this when she received a letter last week. She hasn’t had time to read the information yet and is surprised it rolled through the process so quickly. This is a rural residential neighborhood. The other buildings predate previous zoning and she doesn’t really understand that. Her family has lived at 1676 Hanshaw Road since 1951. She appreciates a lot of the aspects of the proposal. It will be put on the same lot, use the same water and such, but this is a rural residential neighborhood. She is sorry to see it going through the paces so quickly. Sharon Leonard asked if this going to be a new building. Yes, it will be in front of and shield the existing building. There are no plans to expand the building later. H Lambert said she has worked hard to try and protect the neighborhood from development. She made sure it remained residential in the last zoning discussion and is concerned about bringing in commercial buildings in this way. There is a landscaping plan on the road side and they will likely plant forsythia. The current use some manufacturing in the back, Mail Box business. There was previously a business there that had many employees and was much busier. There are dogs at the SPCA, so this won’t be noticeable. The entire space in the new building will be used for a v eterinary office. It could be another professional office in the future. There is e nough parking area to meet the requirements. There are 42 total parking spaces on the entire property. They are not adding asphalt. H Lambert asked if there was a plan to redevelop this as a set of professional offices? If so, we need to know this now because this is rural residential area. There is no discussion of anything other than the vet office. TB 8-16-18 Page 2 of 16 Supv Leifer closed the hearing at 7:21 p.m. The board reviewed the short Environmental Assessment Form. Part 1 - #16 was not answered and should be No, it is not in the 100-year flood plain. #17(b) is yes - stormwater will be directed to an established conveyance system.… yard. Will meet new energy codes. With respect to #11, they are connecting to the current Cayuga Press septic system. Part 2 – Impact Assessment – The board determined that there was nothing in any area that rose to a significant impact. RESOLUTION #115 (2018) – NEG SEQR DEC – Construction of an Office Building at 1650 Hanshaw Road, Tax Parcel 43.-1-23.2 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, A. The proposed action involves the construction of a 4000-4800 square foot office building on the 6.1 acre site located at 1650 Hanshaw Road, tax parcel ID # 43.-1-23.2, and B. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden considers this an unlisted action pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) and is the lead agency for the purposes of uncoordinated environmental review in connection with site plan and special use permit approval by the Town, and C. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden, in performing the lead agency function for its independent and uncoordinated environmental review in accordance with Article 8 of SEQRA, (i) thoroughly reviewed the Short Environmental Assessment Form (“EAF”), Part I and any and all other documents prepared and submitted with respect to this proposed action and its environmental review, (ii) thoroughly analyzed the potential relevant areas of environmental concern to determine if the proposed action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, including the criteria identified in 6 NYCRR §617.7(c), and (iii) completed the EAF, Part 2; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: 1. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden, based upon (i) its thorough revi ew of the EAF, Part I and any and all other documents prepared and submitted with respect to this proposed action and its environmental review, (ii) its thorough review of the potential relevant areas of environmental concern to determine if the proposed action may have a significant adve rse impact on the environment, including the criteria identified in 6 NYCRR §617.7(c), and (iii) i ts completion of the EAF, Part 2, including the reasons noted thereon (which reasons are incorporated herein as if set forth at length), hereby makes a negative determination of environmental significance (“Negative Declaration”) in accordance with SEQR for the above referenced proposed action, and determines that an Environmental Impact Statement will not be required, and 2. The Responsible Officer of the Town Board of the Town of Dryden is hereby authorized and directed to complete and sign as required the determination of significance, confirming the foregoing Negative Declaration, which fully completed and signed EAF and determination of significance shall be incorporated by reference in this Resolution. 2nd Cl Lamb TB 8-16-18 Page 3 of 16 Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Servos Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes R Burger reviewed conditions of Special Use Permit. RESOLUTION #116 (2018) - Approving Site Plan and Granting Special Use Permit for Office Building at 1650 Hanshaw Road, Tax Parcel 43.-1-23.2 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, A. Peter Schug has applied for a Special Use Permit (SUP) to construct an office building at 1650 Hanshaw Road, Ithaca, New York (within the Town of Dryden), Tax parcel #43.-1- 23.2, and B. the proposal is to construct one 1-story building with a 4000 - 4800 SF building footprint on the 6.1 acre site, and C. the proposed use of the office building is to house a veterinary clinic or other professional office consistent with the zoning code, and D. an application, sketch plan, and Ground Disturbance Tally Form have been submitted, and E. the Town Planning Department considers the application complete and in conformance with the requirements of Town Zoning Law §501, §600, §1103 and §1201, and F. a public hearing was held on August 16, 2018 with public comments registered in the meeting minutes and considered by this board, and G. the Tompkins County Planning Department has reviewed (letter dated 7/20/18) this project as required by NYS Municipal Law §239 –l, -m, and –n and has determined that the proposal will cause no negative inter-community or county-wide impacts, and H. the Ground Disturbance Tally Form has been reviewed by the Town Stormwater Management Officer and it was determined that the project falls under the threshold necessitating a Full Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and that an Erosion and Sediment Controls (E&SC) plan would be adequate, and I. pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) and its implementing regulations at 6 NYCRR Part 617, the Town Board of the Town of Dryden, , has, on May 17, 2018, made a negative determination of environmental significance, after having reviewed and accepted as adequate the Short Environmental Assessment Form Parts 1, 2 and 3, and J. the Town Board has reviewed this application relative to the considerations and standards found in Town Zoning Law §1104 for site plan review and §1202 for Special Use Permit. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: 1. The Town Board approves the sketch plan for 1650 Hanshaw Road dated July 6, 2018 as site plan, conditioned on the following prior to issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy: i) a landscaping plan shall be submitted to and approved by the Town Planning Director. TB 8-16-18 Page 4 of 16 ii) a sidewalk be installed between the new building and parking lot. iii) a bike rack be installed. iv) dumpsters be screened with materials and colors that are consistent with the buildings they serve. v) installed lighting shall be dark-sky compliant. 2. The Town Board hereby finds that the considerations for approval of the requested Special Use Permit listed in Section 1202 of the Town of Dryden Zoning Law have been met or will be met with the conditions noted, specifically that: A. The proposed use is compatible with the other permitted uses in the district and the purposes of the district set forth in the Zoning Law, as the project is located on Hanshaw Road between Lower Creek Road and Freese Road, in the Rural Residential District and is an allowed use in that district. B. The proposed use is compatible with adjoining properties and with the natural and manmade environment. This parcel currently contains a commercial service business and is adjacent to the SPCA of Tompkins County. Existing and proposed landscaping will provide screening to the residence to the east. A simple erosion and sediment control plan will adequately address stormwater from the parcel during construction; C. Parking, vehicular circulation, and infrastructure for the proposed use is adequate; D. The overall impact on the site and its surroundings considering the environmental, social and economic impacts of traffic, noise, dust, odors, release of harmful substances, solid waste disposal, glare, or any other nuisances has been considered and found to be negligible, based on the information and reasons in the Short Environmental Assessment Form; E. Restrictions and/or conditions on design of structures or operation of the use (including hours of operation) necessary either to ensure compatibility with the surrounding uses or to protect the natural or scenic resources of the Town have been incorporated into the site plan; F. The project complies with the requirements for site plan review and conforms to the Town’s Commercial Design Guidelines to the maximum extent practicable. No new curb cut is necessary. The proposed building’s metal cladding will match or complement the existing buildings on site, the main entrance façade, visible from Hanshaw Road, will be clad with an as yet to be determined siding such as composite lap siding, reducing the impact the metal siding proposed elsewhere on the building. Landscaping will further reduce that impact, 3. The Town Board, finding that the applicant is in compliance with all other provisions of the Town Zoning Law and other applicable ordinances, approves a Special Use Permit for the proposed professional office at 1650 Hanshaw Road with the Town of Dryden Standard Conditions of Approval as amended August 14, 2008. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Note: The draft resolution presented at the meeting contained some clerical errors. The resolution above correctly reflects the understanding and intent of the board. TB 8-16-18 Page 5 of 16 PUBLIC HEARING ACCEPTANCE OF TRAIL EASEMENTS Supv Leifer opened the public hearing 7:40 p.m. R Burger said the board last accepted easements for the rail trail in August 2017 and there will probably be another set next month. The use agreement for the portion through the Game Farm has been signed and returned to Albany. There was no public comment. Cl Green thanked Bob Beck for all his work relentlessly pursuing these easements. They are critical to completion of this section of the trail. Bob Beck said this has been a team effort by a fabulous team. Supv Leifer thanked the property owners and Bob Beck, Bruno Schickel and others for their work. Cl Green acknowledged that this is generous on the part of the property owners; a lot of cooperation has been shown along the length of the trail. Mark Anderson asked how many of the property owners who have signed easements actually live on the trail. Some of the properties do not have homes on them. 30 of the 38 easements have been secured. The public hearing was left open at 7:47 p.m. PRESENTATION SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION DRIVE-THROUGH FACILITY 1384 DRYDEN ROAD Ray Burger said that the Laser Brewer store at 1384 is going out of business and being repurposed as a café. The drive-through portion of the plan is what makes the special use permit necessary. Riley Brewer said his family has owned the property for 40 years. They have been operating a food truck there (Brew 22) for about a year. They will be moving the operations inside the building. They will widen the driveway and do some landscaping. The drive-through will be strictly coffee and prepared baked goods pickups. There is a smaller than usual area for queuing because they will not have a long line because customers will be served so quickly. The drive-through (on the right side of the building) will close at noon every day because they want people to come inside. They want to bring something to the community that doesn’t exist until you get to Ithaca. Beer on tap will be available inside along with sandwiches. Hours w ill be 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Local suppliers will be used as much as they are able. Cl Lamb noted that the town will soon have a revolving loan fund set up for the town and this is exactly the type of business that we want to support. The public hearing was set for September 20 at 7:05 p.m. All materials are on the website. Supv Leifer closed the public hearing on the trail easements at 8:00 p.m. RESOLUTION #117 (2018) - AUTHORIZING ACQUISITION OF EASEMENTS FOR THE PURPOSES OF PROVIDING RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO THE PUBLIC WHEREAS, the 2005 Town of Dryden Comprehensive Plan and the 2011 Recreation Master Plan both identified a need for increas ed outdoor leisure and recreational space; and TB 8-16-18 Page 6 of 16 WHEREAS, the Town wishes to create a recreational trail (“the Trail”) for non -vehicular use by the public within abandoned railroad property; and WHEREAS, the property owners listed in the attachment hereto entitled “Trail Easement Agreements Town of Dryden” (“the Property List”) wish to grant to the Town easements (“the Trail Easements”) across those portions of the parcels they own consisting of abandoned railroad property (“the Easement Areas”) for the Trail; and WHEREAS, the property owners agreed to grant the easements to the Town for nominal consideration, and the Town will not have to expend funds to acquire the easements; and WHEREAS, such property owners executed proposed agreements with the Town (“the Trail Easement Agreements”); and WHEREAS, the Town wishes to accept the Trail Easements; and WHEREAS, §247(3) of the General Municipal Law provides that the acquisition of interests or rights in real property, including by easement, for th e preservation of open spaces is a public purpose and that such acquisition requires a public hearing subject to due notice; and WHEREAS, a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of the Trail Easements was held on August 16, 2018 at 7:20 p.m. at the Town Hall of the Town of Dryden, 93 East Main Street, Dryden, New York 13053, and notice of such public hearing was duly given by posting at the Town Hall and publication in The Ithaca Journal on August 3, 2018; and WHEREAS, the Town Board on December 15, 2016 issued a negative declaration under Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and Regulations adopted pursuant thereto by the Department of Environmental Conservation of the State (collectively, “SEQR”) with respect to acceptance of the Trail Easements; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board finds that the acceptance of the Trail Easements and execution and recording of the Trail Easement Agreements in the form attached hereto is in the public interest; and be it further RESOLVED that the Town Board finds that the Easement Areas are suitable for a recreational trail; and be it further RESOLVED that the Town Board approves the Trail Easement Agreements and authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute them and any and all related documents required for recording of such Agreements. Attachment A 8/16/18 Trail Easement Agreements Town of Dryden Property owners Tax parcel numbers/ Deed references 1. Cornell University Tax parcel number 57.-1-5 c/o Real Estate Dept. Deed book 588, p 730 Box DH Ithaca, NY 14853 TB 8-16-18 Page 7 of 16 2. Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc. Tax parcel number 45.-5-10 202 E Court Street Deed book 660, p 572 Ithaca, NY 14850 3. Bruno Schickel Tax parcel number 45.-5-13 210 Schutt Road Deed book 2071, p 9218 Dryden, NY 13053 4. Peter Sarkus Tax parcel number 56.-4-3 10 Bill George Road Deed book 46516, p 5001 Lansing, NY 14882 5. Pro-Lawn, Inc. Tax parcel numbers 52.-1-4.122, 52.-1-4.111, 52.-1-4.52 41 Oak Brook Drive Instrument number: 2016-04825 Ithaca, NY 14850 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes TOWN CLERK RESOLUTION #118 (2018) – APPROVE MINUTES Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of July 12 and July 19, 2018. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes CITIZENS PRIVILEGE Joe Osmeloski, 2180 Dryden Road, said there was a recent decision on the latest court matter. The town and Sun8 won. What was disconcerting was the Court’s decision to make a distinction between buildings and structures. The town should be concerned with the impact of that on existing laws. It used to be assumed that buildings are structures and structures are buildings and that isn’t true anymore. The judge has said that the solar companies can now build structures without a building permit. He has said that any energy collection structures don’t need a building permit. Fences don’t need permits. Anything is a structure now in Dryden except anything that is 150’, covered or will be inhabited. A lot of our existing laws now will not cover these items. The town has lost some of its oversight. You can put 1000 acres of solar in Dryden and not need a building permit. The Town will have to look at its zoning and make some changes to have structures be buildings and buildings be structures. It’s disconcerting that any of these solar companies can start building basically as soon as they TB 8-16-18 Page 8 of 16 get their special use permit. If they are going to do less than two acres on a plot, they won’t need a subdivision, so he doesn’t know where the oversight is other than they follow our solar law. No building permit is going to be required and how this is going to move forward as people decide to build structures instead of buildings is something this Town Board needs to look at. Craig Schutt, 69 Schutt Road, said he has attended several meetings where development in Varna and the Varna bridge were the main topics. He personally doesn’t care what goes on in Varna; he hardly ever goes there. But it bothers him that the exact same people who criticized others for not wanting solar arrays near the cemetery were telling them they weren’t progressive, and they were ostracized by it. But suddenly when things are coming to their neighborhood they are using of the same language used about the solar arrays: it didn’t fit the neighborhood and such. He thinks the hypocrisy is oozing. When they say there is never a danger on that bridge, he has witnessed it and he seldom travels the bridge. But one day after the signs were put up he went to look at the signs and pulled off to the side of the road. All of sudden cars came from both sides speeding on to the bridge. He thought he was going to see a head-on collision. They sat there until one backed off. There is danger there. Cl Lavine said she doesn’t feel hypocritical about this. This is a huge number of college students suddenly living in Varna. It is a huge invasion. It’s noisy, it’s people, it’s cars. The solar installation near the cemetery, while it clearly moved people passionately, was pretty quiet and passive. They are really very different. Hilary Lambert responded that she is deeply concerned about removal of the bridge and its impact in the Fall Creek valley. She was also deeply concerned and continues to be about the installation of big solar. HIGHWAY/DPW DEPARTMENT Rick Young reported that a new filter system has been installed for the Yellow Barn Water District and has passed inspection by the Health Department. Hopefully that resolves the issues in the district. His department has done more paving and ditching. They had a good meeting with people on Hurd Road last month and walked every inch of the road. They’ve done some trimming and ditching and had a good result with safety issues they had. Supv Leifer asked about use of the Cornell Local Roads program in the department. R Young said it is not being used for the budget process because past data has not been confirmed as accurate and entered. They will continue to work on that. Cl Green thanked R Young for providing the information they needed in order to apply for grant funding for the rail trail. Supv Leifer thanked the Highway Department for the work they have done on the trail. RECREATION DEPARTMENT Monthly report attached. PLANNING DEPARTMENT R Burger has submitted a monthly report, attached. R Burger said he will look at the Judge’s decision in the solar case to see what the impact is. The telecommunications law specifically addresses cell towers. The solar law is specific to solar structures. There are pieces of the law that fit together as the entirety of the TB 8-16-18 Page 9 of 16 enforcement tools for permitting. If he has differentiated these structures, there are other parts of the law that will still function. If we discover through this analysis of the decision that we have any holes, we can address those. There should be no impact on fees. Atty Sokoni said that the Judge’s decision was specifically interpreting section 280-a of Town Law which says a building permit shall not be issued unless there is highway access. It addresses the issue of access to the highway. What they were challenging was the fact that the town was allowing access to a common driveway as opposed to actual direct access to the highway. The decision was specific to whether a permit could be issued despite there being no direct access to the highway. Our position was that this is not a building in the sense of what Section 280-a is talking about. COUNTY BRIEFING Martha Robertson reported that county departments have all met with Jason Molino on their budgets and he is now working on putting the budget together. The County is starting to talk with the City of Ithaca about a shared public safety/law enforcement facility. The city is in the process of considering a new building for IPD and the county has been looking at jail renovations and possibly moving the Sheriff’s road patrol out of the public safety building so there is more space for programming within the jail . She hopes to have new information in a couple months. She reminded the board that the legislature has a slot on its agenda for municipal officials to report. The meet the first and third Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. She noted that T CCOG attendance is also important. Next week she is going to Washington, DC. County officials in New York State have been invited to go to the White House. The National Association of Counties has been bringing different states in. On the list of items for discussion are SALT, infrastructure, opioid treatment funding, and immigration. Farmers depend on immigrants for workers and it is short sighted to say we will close the door to everyone. NYSAC will bring a unified message for county government for all New York State. Supv Leifer suggested that they add rural broadband to the list. Cl Lamb said the staff in the Assessment Department has been very helpful to the town in working through the sales tax offset transition. (The government operations committee is looking at whether to continue doing the local boards of assessment review. They may propose to suspend those for a year before a final decision.) Mike Lane reported they are looking for someone to serve on the TC3 Board of Trustees. Advisory board applications are available online and will be reviewed by the county legislature. He attended the ITCTC Planning Committee meeting. Mark Frechette of NYS DOT had interesting information about the Route 366 overlay project. They had allocated two million dollars to resurface that road from NYSEG to the city line. In testing the pavement, they have determined it is in worse condition than they though and they will have to do a more extensive rebuild (about five million dollars). They are looking at the possibility of phasing that work and will also try and look for more money. Cl Servoss said that she, Rick Young and Ray Burger met with the project manager and two of her co-workers on the Route 366 project last week. They did say it would cost more and they encouraged them to do the Varna area first. TB 8-16-18 Page 10 of 16 M Lane reported the airport project went to bid. The first phase will expand the terminal building in the ticketing/baggage area. Other projects include extending the passenger boarding area and adding more passenger bridges so more planes can be serviced at a time. They will be adding a customs house and hope to get enough grant funding to do geothermal for the airport. This was the first green airport in country. They are very proud of that and would like a continuation with the new project. TRINITAS Continuation of sketch plan R Burger said there has been a revised site plan submitted and recalculations for how it meets the zoning requirements. Kimberly Hansen reviewed the attached presentation. They have reworked their site plan to reflect some of the comments they’ve had to date. The commercial space along Dryden Road was doubled to 1600 square feet. They’ve worked to maximize green space and incorporated a parking garage into the design. Janet Morgan, 940 Dryden Road, read the attached statement. Jim Skaley, 940 Dryden Road, read the attached statement. Mark Allen, 952 Dryden Road, resides with his fiancé and two grandchildren on one of the properties that Trinitas will tear down. He said we don’t need a village inside a village and we don’t need another 600 more residents. There have been several accidents in the 900 block of Dryden Road, most of them students, DWIs or hit and runs, or on their cell phones. He has lived there since 2006. This is something we don’t need. Dave Weinstein, 51 Freese Road, said Trinitas has still made no attempt to address the complete conflict with the Varna plan. With respect to sewer capacity, their engineers have put forth questionable pieces of information that are at best misleading. In calculating the large amount of sewage that this development would generate, they chose to use the value for boarding schools for this development instead of apartments. The value in the table they cite is 75 gallons per person per day being generated. The apartment number that they should have used is 110 gallons per person per day, almost 50% more. Tompkins County has a median water use of 108 gallons with a peak value of 133 gallons, and the lowest reported for Tompkins County was 83 gallons. This is a totally inappropriate number. If you use 110 gallons, that brings the expected water use up above 65,000 gallons, which is more than our consulting company, TG Miller, in 2016 said was Dryden’s allowable excess capacity. Because of the poor condition of older sewer lanes, the special joint committee of the Tompkins County Area Wastewater Treatment Plan calculates the amount of sewage that they will expect as 60% more than the daily use. Consequently, the amount of sewage that they should have reported is over 100,000 gallons per day and that is pushing against the upper limit of anybody’s estimate of what our capacity is. Even their own submittal on the Environmental Assessment Form said 76,000, so the fact that they came in with a number of 45,000 gallons was intended to be completely misleading to the board. Let us not be swayed by engineers trying to slip erroneous numbers by us. He submitted four pages (attached) of erroneous information on the Environmental Assessment for completed by Trinitas. Peggy Stevens, 196 Stevenson Road, the solar is going in her backyard, but she didn’t contest it because she believes in it. It is a big thing but has a small carbon footprint. There are two trees in back of her house that she will lose when the solar comes, and it doesn’t make TB 8-16-18 Page 11 of 16 her happy, but it could have been a big housing development. She heard about this plan and thought it couldn’t be. She read the Varna plan and thought this was non -sequitur and not going anywhere because it doesn’t fit. She’s been to the last couple of meetings and wonders how it got this far. How did it get this far when it obviously just doesn’t fit within the Varna plan? It is very dangerous on Mt Pleasant Road. It is such a bad place right where the rail trail comes out. They were just talking about not being able to pave Route 366 because there’s not enough money. This will just add more traffic and damage to the roads. She thanked Trinitas for the presentation, it is easier to visualize it now. Eric Sambolec said he lives at 962 Dryden Road, across from the entrance to the proposed Trinitas project on Route 366. He agrees with what his neighbors have said. When he bought his home six years ago, he thought the varna plan would protect the area from a lot of development and thought that was a great idea. He’s been approached by people who bought nearby property to sell his property. He thanked Trinitas for coming and the effort they put in. He went to college for ten years, loves college students and has worked on a college campus for twelve years. He went to Michigan State in East Lansing where they built similar projects. These are totally different areas. It doesn’t seem to fit. This is the only thing proposed anywhere outside of the town or city of Ithaca of this size. He doesn’t understand why Lifestyle Properties would sell to someone who is not abiding by the Varna plan. They did nice projects like Observatory Circle where there is a little community and people are invested. He would like something more like Tiny Timbers or Boiceville. There are a lot of cars that come into the county every morning and there a lot of accidents, even in the summer. He worked at TC3 and they had an agreement with College Suites in Cortland. They were bringing in students with a shuttle from Cortland and it didn’t always work out. He is terrified by the amount of increased traffic. He doesn’t let his cats outside because of Route 366. College students don’t want to stick around with nothing to do. The pool will only be used a few months of the year. He worries about college students wandering off into the road. It’s the wrong place, it’s the wrong time. There are 2000 new beds going up and he doesn’t see how this is going to work. Lynn Hoshino delivered 2 letters from residents (attached) and said she agrees with what has already been said. She lives 1203 Dryden Road and from 7-9 a.m. there is no way she can make a turn left out of her driveway. Sometimes she can’t get to her driveway because traffic is already bumper to bumper. Debbie Lecoq, 935 Dryden Road, said she and her husband have lived in Varna for 60 years. She appreciates everyone talking about the Varna plan. She hopes the board looks at the plan, the sewage and the traffic. She thinks it should be a solar farm. In response to a comment Cl Lamb explained that private developers have a right to propose something. The town board is engaging in the process, didn’t invite the project and are trying to review it and see if it can change to fit the community needs. It hasn’t been fast tracked, but there is a process to follow. Cl Servoss in response to J Skaley’ s comment said the City of Ithaca owns the property they put a RFP out for, so they can dictate what can go there. The Town of Dryden doesn’t own the property Trinitas is interested in. J Skaley said there is n othing to stop the town from working with the property owner to decide with the community how such a project might appropriately fit. Martha Robertson said we need home ownership opportunities. Varna plan identifies a reasonable size development for ownership opportunities. Maybe there’s outreach to Steve Lucente and the town could take some initiative on this. She tried at the open house in the spring to tell the developers that their proforma will be all out of whack in a few years because the rents are already starting to soften. And we really need the rents to come down. We are TB 8-16-18 Page 12 of 16 starting to see 10-month leases and bonuses for renting. This is a rental market that may be starting to turn around so that families can afford to live here, and thousands of people don’t have to drive from Cortland and farther because they can’t afford to live in Tompkins County. She said to Trinitas: You got your math based on last year’s market. The vacancy rate is starting to go up. You’re starting to see development close in that is providing the rentals that students want. Cornell is developing new housing and not adding students. This is not the sellers’ market that you think it will be for rentals. Having a bathroom for every bedroom is not a family apartment. What family wants to clean four bathrooms. This is not a pattern that will work out. It’s not going to be attractive to families and the students are going to have many more choices than you think they have. Please rethink the model. This is a community that will be willing and ready to have homeowners come live on the hill and there is something you could do here. This isn’t it. Cl Green said residents have said home ownership is priority as well as housing configured for families. She asked if Trinitas would consider making a certain portion of the development owner occupied or consider more family-oriented floor plans. K Hansen it is something they can talk about and she will take that back. Cl Green asked that they make sure the traffic study looks at both Route 366 and Mt Pleasant. They also need to incorporate the Dryden Rail Trail information, their kiosk and benches, in their study. It will be a major entranceway for the rail trail. Cl Lavine said Cornell has now done a good job of building enough housing for students. She spoke with someone from Novar’s office who talked about a looser market for student housing. We owe the people of Varna to live up to the Varna plan. If this were not built in the right time to be in demand, then she fears it will fall into disrepute. In this situation the only motive is profit. You want tenants sending their monthly check. Tenants don’t know the people they are living with, which lends itself to chaos. Here you are putting money into luxury things. We have seasons here and the seasons in which you slip on Mt Pleasant are long; the seasons you might swim in a pool are short. You are building luxury into this and will have to charge people for that for it to be sustainable. People who have money to indulge in that kind of luxury don’t want to have to take a shuttle to Ithaca. They’d rather be closer to Ithaca, closer to downtown, closer to campus. They aren’t going to want your swimming pool in housing like this. They go to Six Mile Creek, Cayuga Lake, parks and places to swim. So now you’ve invested a lot of money trying to be a luxury item when you will be low on the list for people who want to spend luxury prices. And then what are you going to do with the housing? Families don’t want all those bathrooms. The fear is that this will end up in disrepair. Unless you reall y have the market you seem so sure of, this could turn out to be a horrible blot on the community. That would be the downside. She is interested to know why they feel so sure their market analysis is correct. Trinitas representatives responded that related to property management, they’ve had someone come out and would be happy to do that again. There are controls and standards for behavior of residents. They are aware of the market. Cornell has done a good job but there is still some catch up to be made. They have a number of factors to look at (national studies, local studies, and they drive around the communities talking to people). They wouldn ’t be here if they didn’t think there was an opportunity. Supv Leifer pointed out that in the Varna plan there are layouts of structures. He said their layout is not modelled on what is shown in the plan. You can get more structures if it were done as shown in the plan. If they came to the town with something like this, then we would be talking about a mix of rental/ownership/affordable/everything else, not the layout and permeable/impermeable surfaces and such. He asked Trinitas to come back with TB 8-16-18 Page 13 of 16 something more like what is envisioned in the Varna plan. Renting bedrooms individually is a dorm. Visiting professors with families don’t need a bathroom in each bedroom. The Tiny Timbers project homes will not be affordable. Trinitas representatives said they loved the example in the plan and have done projects with a mix of duplexes and single-family homes, but once they started looking at the engineering of the site, the existing steep topography, and the existing water runoff, they realized they had to do something different. To get this type of density they had to go to townhouse structures. The drawing in the plan doesn’t seem to be to scale for the green space and parking requirements based on this conceptual. Cl Lamb asked what their reaction was when they looked at the buildout analysis. Trinitas responded that they looked at what was in there. Their plan is feasible and makes economic sense. Cl Lamb asked if we stick with the project in terms of bedrooms, would this project be feasible. No. He said a lot of good points have been made about traffic and sewage but the real key is scale. What can we fit in this community that will keep the community character and bring a diversity of residents? That is what the board wants to hear more about. Cl Lavine said student housing is certainly a part of what is planned for East Hill Village. It will attract a lot of development and students are a part of that plan. And you can say what you want about merit systems and being a good citizen, but you are going to have all these individuals who are happy to live with complete strangers occupying these places and really no recourse that doesn’t involve you losing money. M Robertson said if what the owners really need is rental income, then forget the pool and the extra bathrooms and rent to families. Families need rentals. Put more money into the playground and support the Varna Community Association. If the owners don’t want to sell units, please reconsider this and make it family housing. We really need that, not more student housing. This is not what we are going to need by the time you open it up. The numbers won’t work. Cl Servoss said there are two more projects in the City of Ithaca that will come on line within the next two years. City Center has 190 units of one and two-bedroom apartments and Herald Square has 108 units in a 12-story building. They will be high-end luxury apartments as well. The market for luxury is saturated by the time Trinitas builds this. Cl Lavine said they could say it’s their risk, but we all lose when there’s a struggle to bring in renters and it is a losing game for the community. Trinitas said they are adding to supply and that could make it more affordable. She replied that luxury is weird here and they are locked into a narrow path. This is a dorm and apartments as have been described would be more flexible. An audience member said she is a nurse who works in long term care. It is really sad when she goes out to homes in the community. There is a lot of student housing and luxury student housing and there is not one assisted living facility in Tompkins County for the elderly. The nursing homes here need work. We need assisted living facilities. Our residents must go to Auburn or Watkins Glen because there is not one affordable assisted living facility here and that is something Tompkins County should think about. This is the second sketch plan conference. Now they can do a revision for the September 20 meeting as a third phase for the sketch plan. At some point we’ll have a final sketch plan and move on to site plan review and an amended FEAF that is adapted to the final TB 8-16-18 Page 14 of 16 sketch plan. TG Miller is working on pieces of the environmental aspect. Once all that is in order then SEQR can be done. The SEQR is a gateway process for any decision meeting. Atty Sokoni said the process is outlined in Section 1102 of the Zoning Law. There probably won’t be a detailed site plan until probably October. The Town Board will likely want the Planning Board to weigh in once there is a detailed site plan. Retirement of Kevin Ezell Cl Green shared a proposed resolution to honor Kevin Ezell who is retiring as Code Enforcement Officer at the end of this month. RESOLUTION #119 (2018) – HONORING KEVIN EZELL Cl Green offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS Kevin Ezell served for 20 years as Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) for the Town of Dryden; AND WHEREAS Kevin Ezell served 15 years as a delegate to the New York State Building Officials Conference (NYSBOC), the state association for code officials; and this body of his peers presented Kevin with the “Code Enforcement Officer of the Year” award in 2017; AND WHEREAS Kevin Ezell served 17 years in leadership positions with the Southern Tier Building Officials Association (STBOA), the regional organization for code officials; AND WHEREAS Kevin Ezell served two terms on the International Code Council’s (ICC) Residential Code Committee that reviewed code changes prior to adoption by the ICC, and the ICC Code was then adopted by New York State; AND WHEREAS Kevin Ezell served 3 years on the ICC Interpretation Committee, ruling on residential building code questions; AND WHEREAS Kevin Ezell was instrumental in moving the Planning Department into the electronic age, establishing databases for our building permits and using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to develop our zoning map; AND WHEREAS In 20 years he has conducted over 6000 inspections for homes and businesses, protecting the health and safety of our community (possibly visiting more homes and businesses than even our veteran politicians); NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Dryden Board expressed its deepest thanks and appreciation for all Kevin Ezell’s service to the Town. 2nd Supv Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes TB 8-16-18 Page 15 of 16 BUDGET MODIFICATION Supv Leifer explained that a budget mod is necessary to begin to pay the bills that are coming due for work related to the rail trail. A budget mod is necessary to cover the $10,000 that was approved to help cover the expenses in connection with the acquisition of a conservation easement on the Brotherton/Prince Farm. These are accounting steps that follow previous board decisions. RESOLUTION #120 (2018) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATIONS Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modifications: From To A599 Appropriated Fund Balance A7110.412 Natural Areas 10,000.00 A880 Recreation Capital Reserve A7110.414 Rail Trail Grants Contractual 182,000.00 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Letter to Governor – The board has information and a proposed letter to the Governor about gas emissions. RESOLUTION #121 (2018) - AUTHORIZE LETTER TO GOVERNOR Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor to send a letter on behalf of the board to the Governor of the State of New York urging stricter regulations on gas emissions. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Change of staff hours – Last week the board discussed a reduction in hours for Andrew Pierce, Recreation Assistant. RESOLUTION #122 (2018) – REDUCTION OF HOURS FOR RECREATION ASSISTANT Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby reduces the weekly hours for Andrew Pierce, Recreation Assistant, to 35 hours per week. TB 8-16-18 Page 16 of 16 2nd Cl Green Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES Conservation Board – Did not meet in July. Recreation & Youth Commission – There are vacancies on this board to be filled. Emergency Services – There is an issue with one of the fire companies and their call status. Supv Leifer has a meeting with R Young and Brian Wilbur to go over this on Monday and formulate a plan. He has requested a meeting with representatives of the Etna Fire Department but has not received response. Swift 911 – There is an article in the Ithaca Times this week about that committee. Staffing Reconfiguration – Supv Leifer said S Crispell has started working with J Trojner. He will talk with Civil Service about the secretary position. The board will discuss setting salaries at a later meeting. The new configuration will start before budget season. With respect to a previous statement that the Tiny Timbers homes were not affordable, Cl Lavine said they are certainly affordable for many people looking to downsize. They are contributing to a needed building stock. Cl Green stated they are still trying to secure the trail property promised by Gary Sloan on his development on Dryden Road. Supv Leifer said there seems to be a misunderstanding about deed vs easement but it will be worked out. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYSecond Sketch Plan PresentationAugust 16, 2018 |Dryden, NY The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYWe are requesting approval of a Special Use Permit for site development of 16.7 acres located in the Hamlet of Varna along 366.PROPOSED PROJECT Here today:Kimberly Hansen – Manager, Development & Design, TrinitasBrad Bennett –VP Development Acquisitions and Finance, TrinitasEvan Bryant –Senior Manager Development Acquisitions and Finance, TrinitasMichael Keith – Civil Manager, HUNT EngineersPROJECT TEAMThe Village at Varna| Dryden, NY The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYPROGRESS SINCE JULY TOWN BOARD MEETING•Met with the Planning Board 7/26•Reworked site plan to incorporate feedback heard last month–Doubled size of commercial space to 1,600 square feet–Worked to maximize green space –Incorporated parking garage into design •Continued to work on LEED checklist and Architectural Design Internally•Started working on responses to TG Miller’s letter requesting additional information for Part 1 of the Full Environmental Assessment Form•Engaged traffic study  • 219 units• Townhomes• Mix of 1-4 bedroom units• Clubhouse with luxury amenities• Pedestrian Access to Varna Trail• Playground along Varna Trail• 1,600 sq ft of commercial space• Village feel• 13.11 units/acre:– Redevelopment Bonus– Green Development Bonus• Variances Requested:– 2% reduction in parking – 4% reduction in Green Space – Perimeter Buffer Setback – remove 15’ offset from bufferThe Village at Varna| Dryden, NYREVISED SITE PLAN The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYSITE PLAN REVISIONSMAY JUNE JULY AUGUST224 units 222 units 220 units 219 units663 beds 649 beds 610 beds 602 beds15% parking variance 25% parking variance 25% parking variance 2% parking variance12% green space variance 12% green space variance 9% green space variance 4% green space varianceMultiple buildings in Varna Trail easement 5 bldg setback variances required Only 1 bldg setback variance required Doubled commercial spacePerimeter buffer variance required Addition of playground along Varna Trail Eliminated building setback variancesPerimeter buffer variance required Addition of parking garagePerimeter buffer variance required The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYCONSISTENCY WITH VARNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN• Project site emphasized as a vacant and underutilized site in the Hamlet• Varna Hollow (p. 27): Townhome development – “units could be for young professionals, students”• Site Design similar to example developments within Plan for this site– Commercial space along Dryden Road– Pedestrian access to Varna Trail– Townhomes The Village at Varna| Dryden, NY The Village at Varna| Dryden, NY The Village at Varna| Dryden, NY The Village at Varna| Dryden, NY*clubhouse design still to be finalized The Village at Varna| Dryden, NY The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYNEXT STEPS•Finish information collection and responses to TG Miller’s letter•Continue examination of LEED checklist and Project Design•Finalize site plan •Return for a final Sketch Plan hearing on 9/20  Co‐Urbanize is an outreach platform for community engagement in the development process.  Please visit the website below to lean more about our project and leave comments or questions for us!•https://courbanize.com/projects/thevillage‐at‐varna/informationThe Village at Varna| Dryden, NYREMINDER: CO-URBANIZE IS LIVE! Thank you!The Village at Varna| Dryden, NYQuestions?