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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB 2024-05-23 PB 5-23-24 Approved 1 Town of Dryden Planning Board Meeting Thursday, May 23, 2024 Hybrid Zoom Approved 6-27-24 Planning Board - 2024 Current Members I.P. Z Ex Ab Tony Salerno, Chair (2029) X John Kiefer (2027) X Frank Parish (2028) X Chris Morrissey (2030) X Craig Anderson (2025) X Joe Wilson (2024) X Brad Will (2026) X Diane Tessaglia-Hymes (2024) Alternate X Bill Griffin ( ) * Alternate X Others Present or on Zoom Ray Burger, Director of Planning Joy Foster - Recording Secretary (Zoom) Dan Lamb - Liaison (TB) On ZOOM Brian Gyory Janis Graham Alexandra Lahav Adam Fishel Marie McRae Terry Carroll Smk16Suzanne Kay Lisa Downing - Schmidt Jacob Von Mechow Gwen Elizabeth Youngbludzcalicrew Steve Meersma Christina Kravis Liefebvre John Loftus Leslie Ackerman Nick Bellisario PB 5-23-24 Approved 2 In PERSON Barbara Mitchell Gerald Wolfe Sonya Lawlis Kathy Gaines Trustin Riley Kate de la Girea Don Hartman Adam Fisher Justin Hicks Fenton O’Shea Martin Meriwether Pat Ober Brian Dunlevy Joyce Morgenroth Matt Milaly Tsang Mei Orlee Rob Lawli AGENDA 6:00 pm Call to Order • Welcome – Quorum Check • Public Comment Period For items not on the agenda and limited to 3 minutes per person. • Minutes Approval for April 25th • 1280 Dryden Rd – Sketch Plan Review • 1451 Dryden Rd – Sketch Plan Review • 2207 Dryden Road - drive-through facility – New SUP recommendations to Town Board. • 52 Quarry Road – New SUP recommendations to Town Board • 392 Caswell Rd – Recommendation to ZBA regarding Subdivision. • 5&9 Freese Road Sketch Plan Review • Caswell Road Solar Project - Sketch Plan Review • Morris Road Solar Project - Sketch Plan Review • Planning Department Update • Town Board Update PB 5-23-24 Approved 3 . Chair Salerno opens the meeting at 6:01 PM Public Comment Period – None Minutes Approval for April 25th – Postpone for next meeting. 1280 Dryden Rd – Sketch Plan Review Burger - This is a site plan sketch plan review with application for taking an existing commercial structure that’s never undergone site plan review. It's a new business that's moving in there Trustin Riley is the applicant. He's starting a business, It's just a single office operation in support of the cannabis business. There is no 239 review. It’s exempt per our agreement, and it's exempt from SEQR as being a reuse of the commercial structure. Applicant, - It's going to be more like an administrative building. There are currently existing offices there. We have a cultivation facility located in further upstate New York in Hogansburg. This will be a halfway point more centrally located. There will be no cultivation or processing going on at this at this site, it’s just a strategically located site. R. Burger - This building has been used by other office operations in the past, which shows construction being the most recent but that was years ago. Board Member – will there be any access for the public. Or will there be vendors coming in? Applicant – No public access, there is a gravel driveway with 2 parking spots for the sole employees. No vendors coming in. Board Member - From the application, you’re not really changing anything and You're using the whole building. Applicant - Nothing will be changed there. They're existing offices on the 1st floor. Those will be what we will be using but no structural site changes or anything that will be occurring at the site. We can waive full site plan review and approve the application with the Standard Conditions There's no other stipulations. Motion: J. Kiefer to waive full site plan and approve. Second: C. Anderson All in favor - yes unanimous You're all set. Good luck. PB 5-23-24 Approved 4 1451 Dryden Rd – Sketch Plan Review Burger - This is another reuse of existing structure, veterinary practices going to be moving in there. It used to be a people clinic, now it's an animal clinic. It’s also 239 exempt per our agreement with County Planning and SEQR exempt, it’s a type-2 and under 617.5 C 18, which is a reuse of the commercial structure. It’s a type-2 action to reuse commercial structure. This is the old VA Clinic up on Route 13. There will be no remodeling of the site. It's a proven site and they'll be using all the existing infrastructure. Board Member – unlike the last review the VA Clinic has already gone through Site Plan Review, correct? R. Burger – I did not find any records on the VA Clinic going through a Site Plan Review. Board Member - Therefore this is a sketch plan starting from scratch. R. Burger – Yes Sonya Lawlis – I’m a Veterinarian from Cornell, we live in Dryden. We have been looking for a good spot to start a clinic and after looking and looking we found this spot that we thought was pretty perfect. We're going to change out the floor as its carpet, which is not really great for Veterinarian Clinic. So that would be changed but otherwise right now it already has exam rooms and everything. We will use the same parking area; I believe there are 60 spots. I’ll move that we waive further review, standard conditions apply. Motion: T. Salerno to waive full site plan and approve. Second: J. Kiefer All in favor - yes unanimous Good luck sounds like a good project. ** Joe Wilson – wants to be on the agenda next month to discuss the checklist that applicants fill out, says not the same as on public website. The E code and what applicant filled out are different. And he thinks this has come up multiple times in the past. He wants a deadline for having the E code and what’s on the website conform in all ways. There may be old versions hanging out on website. Need to clarify. PB 5-23-24 Approved 5 2207 Dryden Rd R. Burger - The next two will be Special Use Permits coming before the Town Board, so it has, as has been our protocol, we have the opportunity for the Planning Board to forward recommendations to the town board. This 2207 Dryden Rd, if you remember it came before this Board when it was originally going through Site Plan Review for retail business. They've now opened up the cannabis dispensary at this site at the intersection of Irish settlement Rd. Now they're coming back to apply for a drive through window and that requires a Special Use Permit, which necessitates they're going before the Town Board, so there will be a hearing that’s already set up for the June 20th with the Town Board. But this is an opportunity for the Planning Board to evaluate the site and give recommendations forward. Also, there was a 239 review and it came back with the determination that the County found no Inter-community impacts. There will be a SEQR on this when it gets to the town board as it's an unlisted action. **Salerno - Before we go too far, I want to clarify some things. On this one and the next one we have had some feedback that came in. There were some letters and some other things that came in today related to one of these and I want to make it clear that we are not approving Special Use Permits. The Planning Board does not approve Special Use Permits. We make recommendations to the Town Board who do Special Use Permits. So, what we're doing tonight for both this one and the next one is we are reviewing them to come up with recommendations to make to the Town Board. There will be a public hearing which has already been announced for June, 20th. Some of the information we got, I think people believed that this was going to be an approval tonight of a Special Use Permit and that's not what's happening. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that. 2207 Dryden Rd. - Applicants presents slides – this site is located at the corner of Dryden and Irish Settlement Road. The current operations have already commenced as far as parking and entering the building for retail and the proposed change is the addition of an entry lane enter only from Irish settlement Rd. There's a nice custom ornate gate that will close off this this entrance during outside business hours. During business hours, cars can come in from either Settlement Rd. or the drive lane, which is well over 100 feet long, so there should not be any stacking or queuing issues backing up traffic at all. It's well above what is needed, and then there is a window at the backside of the building that provides a little bit of privacy for the pickup of merchandise. The turning radius around the backside of the building should be appropriate for cars to leave through the existing gravel driveway and back out onto 13. Also, through a gate that PB 5-23-24 Approved 6 will close the property off when outside of business hours. The hours are 10 until 8:00 Monday through Saturday and then 11:00 to 6:00 on Sunday. We have shared this with the town and reviewed it against the town code for pickup windows and we're very comfortable and confident that it meets all of the requirements from a code standpoint. And so, we are looking to request that the Planning Board recommend to the Town Board that we get a Special Use Permit. Board member, will there be signage? Applicant, so, this is the entrance, this is where we would have some sort of signage indicating what's happening. And then I think as the customer travels in toward the drive, the pickup window is where we would have at least one sign indicating that it's a one-way path. Board member, I understand why this is laid out the way it is, but I have to wonder would be better to exit onto Irish settlement instead of Route 13, with the buildings laid out if there's any way to do that efficiently? Applicant, now that the customer is pulling up and one of the rules is that that there's only one person that can be in the car, it's the customer that placed the order. Also, they can't have other people in the car. This is a convenience to the customer is doesn’t work for them to park and walk in. Board member, will there be a bell or intercom to show when they arrive? Applicant, So back to the 15-minute tolerance. It's all through text, it's really keeping them on the pulse of like, hey, there's an appointment that's been scheduled, let's commit. They ping on the phone that they have arrived. Not going to have bells or intercom or anything on the outside of the building. We may have a canopy over the window and will include it in our plan to the Town Board. Board member, keep in mind the lights that when you are operating at the dark and the lights are on, not putting a lot of light pollution out, down facing lights, all the dark sky compliant. We are making recommendations to the town board about how they should handle this. And some of the recommendations I'm hearing so far are Dark Sky compliance lights, adding the canopy on the plan, the use of signage and the locations. Have parking spaces drawn out and show where ADA spot is located. Chair asks if there are any comments on this project from the audience or from zoom. None. On June 20th there is a public hearing, and the Town Board will do their own review and consider what we have shared, and they will make their decision to approve a Special Use Permit or not. PB 5-23-24 Approved 7 Motion: J. Wilson moves to recommend to the Town Board to approve SUP. Second: B. Will All in favor - yes unanimous 52 Quarry Road Burger - this again is a Special Use Permit application for a contractor yard on Quarry Rd. This is on the West side of the road. It is coming scheduled for a public hearing before the town board at 6:10 on June 20th. The 239 review from the county did make one recommendation about making sure there's no building within 50-foot of the stream on site. And that is now shown on the revised site plan where the 50-foot line is, so construction is outside of that. SEQR is to be unlisted, so the Town Board will be doing a SEQR review. We did receive up to 10 comments in the last 24 hours on this project. Board member, anything that was submitted via e-mail or in writing will be included in the record as we move this forward to the Town Board. Bill Riley is the applicant and is not present. Chair, so now I'm going to ask if there are any public comments on this agenda item? And I would ask that people keep their comments to under 3 minutes. The audience commented that they have not been notified of this meeting. The chair, our Planning Board meetings and agenda are always on the calendar. This is not the Town Board, public hearings for the Town Board, residents within 250’ of a project are notified by letter. Again, our job is to hear an application and make recommendations to the Town Board for their review. Town Board approves Special Use Pemits. Don Hartman I live at 134 Quarry so I’m up the hill from 52 but it abuts my property. As I reviewed the application presented by Riley Construction, I noted that the application completely ignores the nature of the residential component of the neighborhood that would be impacted by granting this application. Looking South by standing on the property itself, there are immediately three residential properties, all of which directly abut the property that’s under review. Two of those properties have been recently assessed and evaluations approaching a million dollars. All three properties will be faced with visual noise, truck traffic and dirt and dust pollution should the application be approved. Further affordable but very likely impacted by the noise truck traffic and dirt and dust pollution, there are two additional residential properties which assessments are now valued in the high 6 figures. On the same 6/10 of a mile Rd. for a road there are also an additional 7 residential properties that are located approximate to Quarry Rd. itself and which will have the same or PB 5-23-24 Approved 8 similar noise truck traffic, dirt and dust pollution. Issues that the other identified residential properties here. If you want to turn and look northwest and facing Harford Rd. there are several highly assessed houses that back up to 52 Quarry Rd. that is currently under review. Below a lower elevation overall on that site they have a similar visual ways truck traffic and dirt dust pollution issues and from residents that are directly on. Finally, while the Ellis Hollow Rd. and the Snyder Hill Rd. properties are not directly affected by the traffic noise, clear dust solution, as others are, those roads are the feeder routes for all of the truck traffic arriving and departing from 52 Quarry Rd. It is a largely residential neighborhood these two roads service. Residential neighborhoods, both on Ellis Hollow Road and on. Snyder, Hill Rd. So, my point, given all these points, I would encourage an alternative site be used for this project. Thank you for your time. Chair, and I will say, if anybody did send anything in via e-mail, we have those. And so you don’t necessarily have to speak, but I’m not going to stop anybody from saying anything. But we have that information. I actually did get an opportunity to read most of them. So, I'm aware of what the general concerns are. My name is Pat Over, I live off Snyder Hill Rd. I drive on Ellis Hollow and Snyder Hill Rd. and Quarry Rd. daily and know that these are winding and unsafe roads for construction vehicles turning on and off Quarry is very dangerous. There are blind curves and elementary, junior high and high school buses that use these roads. I worry that there will be accidents with big trucks. I value my neighborhood as a place where people live, and we do not want any more industrial activities in our neighborhood. We already have lots of industrial presence and it is enough as it is. We share the burden, and it would be very unsafe and unfair to permit its use in this location. Quarry Rd. is a rather small road and it's not appropriate as placed for construction vehicles. I asked the board to ask JP Riley many questions about their plans to get a sense of the scope of this planned industrial site and postpone any decision for at least another month so that neighbors can have an opportunity to comment. Thank you very much. I’m Joyce Morgan Roth from 474 Snyder Hill Rd. I like to take walks and I know the last time I took a walk down Quarry Rd. I was aware that there was someone else taking a walk. I don't know a couple of 100 yards ahead of me and at some point, she just disappeared and she disappeared for quite a while like a minute or two. And I just thought, well, that's very, I mean this is steep but there is that moment when it's so steep that you've kind of lost view of the other traffic, be it pedestrian or automobile in front of you and I thought I don't know, it just seemed like an additional issue and just to mention that there is no pedestrian half no shoulder. But you know if you live in the country, you walk where you can walk and you know it's sort of a funny between country and It's not heavily populated, but it's enough that there are people who are wanting to use those roads also to share, and I find that most vehicles are very courteous and sort of move out of your way and allow for your safety. I really wouldn't want to be running into trucks as I walk along any of those roads, all of which I use. So, I just wanted to throw that in as perspective. Thank you. PB 5-23-24 Approved 9 My name is Sydney Moise and I live with my husband at 490 Snyder Hill Rd. I know that there are many areas in this region where big trucks could be parked other than in a neighborhood. I also want to echo the danger of Quarry and Snyder Hill and Ellis Hollow that intersect. Both of those intersections as you know, have a lot of accidents. That's why they have those giant stop signs blinking at you because of the number of accidents. We live on the corner of Quarry and virtually every single year, people drive into our yard because of the danger of this road, and I call every single year. I don't know if anybody's answered the phone, is here but I called because they run into our yard, and we have vehicles in our yard. The other thing is, approximately 17 years ago, a six-year-old child was killed there. We do not need somebody parking a bunch of vehicles driving giant trucks and equipment on that road in a residential area where people walk. There's a lot of elderly people, there's children and we just don't need it. There's another place to go and I'm sure that there is some. The natural reason why they're not going where they should and they're going into. Thank you. Hello, I'm Ben O'Shea from 603 Snyder Hill Rd. Maybe just a few things to keep in mind as we process through this. It's beautiful weather outside right now and we don't like to think about winter when it's this time of year, but Quarry Rd. is pretty steep and, in the wintertime, sometimes navigating down that road can be a little bit tricky, even if there's not a giant truck coming in the other direction. It can be downright unsafe if you've got a lot of truck traffic and the roads are a little bit slick, so just something to consider that this would be 365 days a year problem, not necessarily a just a 74° weather problem. Maybe the other consideration is maybe for the town to think about is, you know it was mentioned that there's a number of high dollar properties surrounding that. That's quite a tax base. There's a lot of money that the town gets to collect from property owners in that area because they're beautiful properties that are highly valued. If you add an industrial site it might be hard to continue to increase the value of those properties and continue to collect that from that from that generous tax base. So just keeping in mind that it could actually inflict a negative result on the taxability of that area, given that you're taking a residential area you're industrializing it in a way that could ultimately reduce the value of all those beautiful homes in the area. Thank you. Hi, I'm Kathy Gaines, I live at 147 Quarry Rd. That road is ridiculous, it's skinny, it's hilly, there's curves people drive on that road 80 miles an hour already. We have trucks from Bellisario in and out, in and out all day long and that place is getting bigger and bigger. There's an electrical company down at the end of the road. So, I live on that road and I just bought the house three years ago and I'm like close to the road. People throw their garbage and their beer cans this has nothing to do with, but you know, cigarette butts are in my driveway. Motorcycles I swear. It's 80 miles an hour, not 60 on that road these people are driving these kids. I try to run on the road I have to watch where I’m crossing. There are curves in the winter. I have to go the other way to get up the hill because I slide. It's just awful and you get to the end of Quarry on Ellis Hollow and you have the blinking light. I almost got hit the other day because it's blind. You can't see when you're turning. You know there's a right or left and another Rd. coming out anyway I just. When I heard about this, I was PB 5-23-24 Approved 10 like it makes no sense. Even when they were clearing out, you know, I've been watching this wondering. I thought they were doing residential because it's beautiful there. There's a beautiful view and it's like, why would you put trucks there, parked trucks? And they're starting in the morning at 7:00 and, you know, already that's happening. Anyway, I just it's just doesn't make sense it in that neighborhood why you would do that? And Bellisario is here they have two driveways that place is huge. And the other place is right across the street. So how do you have two truck companies coming in and out? You know, you come down the hill and they're both right there. So, you can't stop or do anything. You know there's you go off into the ditch where there's water, so I don't know I'm just really upset about it. Like I said, I just bought the house and I love it there, but it’s not going to turn into like a commercial you know, big trucks swerving by and making all that noise all the time anyway. Thank you. Ethan Ash 1184 Ellis Hollow Rd. I know several of you on this board from my time getting involved with public service and look, this is not about you guys this is not an attack on the board. It would be wonderful if the applicants were here so we could share our feelings with them as well. I'm sitting here not just for myself I've lived at my home at 1184 Ellis Hollow Rd. for 14 years since my first son was born, we now have three kids and many of the neighbors in our community know that I've been involved with politics and public service in the community, so I often get questions from him about what's going on in the neighborhood, and I've been raising concerns about the safety of Ellis Hollow Rd, since 2020. I started compiling feedback from our neighbors. I submitted a letter to Rick Young, the Superintendent of the Driveway Highway Department, in 2021, listing out about six or seven risks that we all felt in the community. We're going to end up in potential disaster and there have been disasters, many of you know, there was a community member riding his bike on Turkey Hill Rd.in 2021 or 2019, that was struck by a vehicle. Many of us have lost animals on that road. People do not abide by the speed limit we've done safety tests. This news caught me by complete surprise. I'm very aware of what's going on with Quarry Rd. I've talked to Bellisario; I've talked to Cornell University. They do a terrible job of letting the public know what's going on. They do not communicate with the neighborhood about construction.projects.when they're starting, when they're ending, from what I've heard from them, they don't offer alternate routes to the drivers. So all of the trucks, if any of you have been to Ellis Hollow Rd. during the peak summer time of construction at Cornell, it is, it is incredible. Just go and sit there for an hour. You will see dump truck after dump truck flying by. You can feel it in your house. You can see the wind flies by you if you're walking or riding your bike. It is incredibly dangerous and that's today. That's before we talk about any expansion. I know there has been talk about filling in one of the quarries and turning that into Parkland and turning it to the way it was before quarry, there are options for what to do with this space. There are options to return this into the community space that it is. Any expansion of industry is just going to create more anger from the people in this room, the people on the screen right now and the anger is rooted in safety, and it's rooted in the fact that we're here to live. And to live in a community and Cornell is not going to stop construction. The community is not going to stop construction, but we have to consider the life of the people that are in these residential neighborhoods and where the proper place is for dumping and spoilage PB 5-23-24 Approved 11 and construction. So, you know, I'm here just to say we need to have a public dialogue on this. This cannot be pushed forward and please, you know pump the brakes on, that wasn't intended to be a metaphor, love the trucks to pump their brakes as well, but pump the brakes on any action here and make sure all the voices are heard. And let's consider how we can be a partner with Cornell and their construction. But respect the residents and the residential neighborhoods and the safety of our children and the individuals that use this every day. Thank you. Gerald Wolfe, 474 Snyder Hill Rd. and I just wanted to bring out an aspect that hasn't been mentioned a lot and that is noise. I admit I'm a musician and I'm very sensitive to noise, but as a number of speakers have indicated, we value our neighborhood for its peacefulness. It's relatively quiet, except at times at Ellis Hollow Rd. It's relatively peaceful and relatively quiet, and a number of years ago a man on Whitted Rd near us was filling his backyard and trucks were going by our house all day long for about two months and shifting gears right at our house. And the noise was deafening. It turned the peaceful neighborhood into basically a hell for two months. And I just don't want to see that happening again. Just wanted to.raise that aspect of the question. Thank you. I'm Barbara Mitchell, my husband was up earlier. I live right next door to the site that they want to use. We moved here, we built the house 26 years ago we were aware of what was next door to us when we built the house. But over the last six to ten years, it has been non-stop noise, dust, bulldozers, dump trucks banging their doors, and then they're dropping the fill off just constant noise. We have complained to the town board. We have complained to the DEC because there was a serious concern on my part that they were on both of our parts, that as they were building the site up, that they were changing the horizon, for what it's worth. And I believe the DEC talked with them. I cannot begin to describe how it is to have something start up at 7:00 in the morning and not stop. The all I can picture on that road, it's a rural Rd. people use it, people drive on it. All I can hear coming is engine braking and beeping from moving heavy equipment backward. It’s I guess when I read the paperwork, they were talking about not changing it, something about it's not going to be any worse than it is now. It's pretty bad It’s been quiet because now I know why there's been other things that are going on. It would drive anybody crazy. Another thing, several people have addressed the safety issues. This is a personal thing for me. The bottom of Quarry Rd. spends many days covered with mud and dirt and silt, and no amount of gravel is going to take care of that. There will come a day when somebody's going to come up over the hill on the way down it'll probably be a motorcycle rider and they will die there. Because you can’t the water and the silt fits into the road or sits into the road. You can't see it. They'll be muddied there through fall and through spring. Again, we've complained numerous times. It sometimes gets washed off, but it is a serious, serious hazard. And it needs to be addressed. I hope you don't approve this thing. We were very disappointed to hear that we got no official notice of this. You mentioned the website. I didn't know it was our job to go fishing to see what was happening next door. I looked on your website and I might not have had the right piece of paper, but it did have a paragraph or a sentence that said, we should have been notified PB 5-23-24 Approved 12 in writing anyone within 500-feet. So, I'm strongly encouraging you, this is not good news for that property. It's been horrible to now. It's only going to get worse. And it actually looks like they're starting to do things right now. When we drove out, there's a lot more activity up there and there has been. And I’d like to add that they ran bulldozers nonstop for 13 hours and that's just not fair. Nobody wants to.live next to it. I live right next to the pit. You know, in the parts of the application it talks about, they're not going to change things that much. They included some pictures of some. They took those pictures looking at where they were going to be. They didn't take any pictures showing what was going to happen to everybody else. Can I bring this up? I can show you. (she shows board members a map, can not hear or see what she is saying and her husband talking from the audience at the same time, not at the mic , so that conversation is void). I'm Rory Todd Hunter, my wife Susan is in the back. We live adjacent to Hartman’s at 100 Quarry Rd. on the South side of the proposed various request. We have lived there since 2001. We built the house and I agree with everything that has been said, it's the safety issue, the pollution, the noise, etcetera. We’ve Suffered through like everybody else. We've raised four children. We've been very lucky that nothing has happened to them. There's a bus that stops on Snyder Hill Rd. school bus and we would walk our kids and would walk up through Flanders or up the road. That area in the morning, the 7-8oclock, depending on the school district. And then in the evening, the buses are going to be stopping there. The hill, my daughter is actually falling off riding down that hill on a bike, let alone going the speed on a motorbike. Lastly, I say I support everything everybody has said. I think there's truth in all the witnesses. The last thing I would say is there's been a couple of people who have spoken tonight talk about industrial development and my understanding is that this zoning is commercial residential, and I quickly looked up in the silly Google things that we do to see what the difference is in the zoning. A lawyer might be able to argue that this is commercial, not industrial, but I would argue that the purpose is industrial and it's building construction, that sort of thing and huge vehicles. And I don't think even though we know enough about, like everybody said have the zoning and what the property would actually be used for with this just spread of information. So, thanks for listening and hopefully we can go to the next meeting and, you know, make our voices heard again. Thank you. PB 5-23-24 Approved 13 Hi, I'm John Loftus, I live at 66 Quarry Rd. and just wanted to reiterate what everyone said. I don't think I have much to say now because everyone has said it so well, but my property is one of the three that abut on the South side of this. Looking out my bedroom window, basically I, you know, I can see this what's the FILL Yard now? Again? Waking up at 7:00 and you've got dump trucks coming through and they're backing up and beeping and all of that. And I think, you know. All of the safety issues, the property values, I mean there's so many reasons why this is a bad place for this, and this is also now that the mine has been filled. This is a really amazing opportunity to do something different there that will better serve our community, help with our property values and probably generate more tax revenue, if done properly. You know I'm really opposed to this, and I really hope that the town listens to us because it sounds like, frankly, the town has not been listening to the residents next to this property for years now. So I think that's all I have to say. Thank you. Dan Lamb, I’m on the Town Board and let me just explain the process for a Special Use Permit. I just want to explain the process because I think it might be helpful. So, we asked the Planning Board to screen projects like this before they come to the Town Board and that's what's happening here tonight. So, we're not at a formal decision point here tonight. We'll have a hearing on June 20th, and we'll keep that hearing open until the 3rd Thursday of July, when we'll try and wrap this up. At that point, we'll want your public comment on this. I just want you to know that, you know, you are being heard. We're not at a decision point here tonight and you know, a Special Use Permit allows the town to make an exception to a zoning law, in this case rural residential, which is where this property is. If it's compatible with the neighborhood, if it doesn't create a big disturbance. What I'm hearing from you tonight is your questions about whether it's compatible, and that's perfectly fine. That's the process we want here. The developer has approached the town with the idea that this will be quieter than what's there now because it's what's there now as an active quarry, and so he's presented this as something that will be considerably quieter. So. I would ask you to think about, you know, the application that's posted on our website, read through that and come with their comments on, is there any way that this could work? You know, it could we set a limit on how many trucks. And it's fine. You don't think there's any way it can work? Well, I just want you to work within the context of this application that's been put before us. We're not going to put something in there that's disruptive to your quality of life. That's why these meetings are so useful. Thank you for pointing that out. That's not what is in the application and that's why I need you to look at this application that he's put before the town board and come back with your comments about that, if you would in June. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for letting me speak., I’m Gwen Elizabeth and my residence is 1202 LS Hollow Rd. I’ve lived here for 24 1/2 years. What I've noticed is that bicyclists and pedestrians are never safe on this road because of the trees that hide them and create a shadow, so this has always been a problem for anyone who wants to navigate this road in anything other than a vehicle. The second thing is the road condition. We waited a long time to get this road resurfaced. I'm not sure they resurfaced it for heavy trucks, and I think that needs to be a serious question because already there are cracks in the Rd. and so the condition of the road is certainly an issue for heavy trucks. The third thing is my personal issue and that is that the only time I can go out on the edge PB 5-23-24 Approved 14 of the road and weed the flowers along the side of the road is a Sunday morning. Any other time I'm unsafe to be on the side of the road with all these heavy trucks coming by. Thank you for taking a zoom participant. My name is Robin Glide. I've lived for more than 30 years on Ellis Hollow, 1311 Ellis Hollow, and during that period has been a witness to substantial change in labor. That's what the local population has increased. It's become much more residential. With that, there's more pedestrians in Ellis Hollow There's much more many more runners and bicyclists, and more school stops. Every time I go to work, I grew up here. I chose the location because it was close to them, but there are more school buses, more school bus stops, more kids. I raised five kids, none of them had too many accidents on Ellis Hollow. I got 4 grandchildren that have been getting on buses, so a different place to go outside. So I have a vested interest in what happens to the main. So having said that, I'd like to agree with just about every reservation. That's been made today based on safety. The quality of the roads and it seems to me that I can still have no brain. So based on that I would like to suggest that this group makes a recommendation to the town board to reject this application. And failing that make recommendations that there is an exhaustive long Environmental Impact review, which includes the quality of the roads, quality of the intersection between the quarry and the and Ellis Hollow. I'd like to see some numbers on the size and numbers of trucks that are going to produce an incremental change in the traffic and therefore the quality of life meaning. Is that quick enough? Thank you. Board member to R. Burger - on the website for the package for 52 Quarry SUP, I didn't see any Short Form or Full Environmental Assessment. Form is that upcoming? Id like to see any County review letters, and everybody should, you know, based on the comments and just the impacts, you know, I'd say at a minimum. I would recommend requesting a traffic report and even more. So just let's set this up for a real review and do our job to assist the Town Board in doing their job. I'm grateful to hear all the public comments right now. I don't want to wait for the public hearing, it’s good for us to hear it now. Theres a lot that this applicant has to do. Reading the application. they really downplay all the impacts. In my mind, it's like it's a little bit of this little bit of that. I Think we owe it to our ourselves to really look at this very carefully. And not just wait for the public hearing but talk about it now and think about it now. And because the public hearing is really only what's today, the 23rd, 2 1/2 weeks out. Board member, So I think some of the recommendations I'm hearing, first of all, I think the first recommendation from this Board of the town board is that they review all of the materials that PB 5-23-24 Approved 15 the public has submitted for this. That's recommendation number one. And there's, I see that some of the letters have already been posted with the materials on the website, some of the letters that were written earlier today but any others that come in will be posted to that. So, one of the recommendations is that the Town Board take into account all of the public input. Board member, I would actually like to talk to this fellow and we should postpone the recommendation until we can actually talk to the to the applicant. Yeah, it's not enough time because I have a lot of questions about the ones I had in my head before even listening to the public comment was that there wasn't a lot of information in here about the number of trucks, hours of operation all of those kinds of things. Board member, my recommendation would be in the SEAF to check suburban. If that's part of where you live that was not checked. And there was a portion of the application itself I think question #3 on page five, there were no responses. The application wasn’t signed. These are splitting hairs, but right and then the last thing. #4 to explain how you're going to mitigate the effect of the opposed activity on the site and that was scant, if anything at all. So, I actually see it the same way it seems others have commented. I think it might be appropriate for us, either technically to say that the application isn't complete or simply to say we want to hear the applicant explain. What is going on in light of the things we've heard tonight? Board member, the SEAF is inadequate, and I feel they should have to do a FEAF. Board member, we could be recommending to the town board, XY and Z go forward town board and include your public hearing. Or we could say we are satisfied that we are fully informed to make competent recommendations to the town board. One or the other. Board member -to R. Burger, this is a question for you didn't late last year, the town approved Bellisario’s Contractor yard. and how is it that that happened without what we're seeing tonight? Was it not a requirement that it be posted to the neighbors to know that was happening? Did the town fail to let people know that Belisario was coming forward with this project. Or did you? Did you guys just decide you didn't need a public hearing and that's why it didn't get announced because we had nothing. We had the same thing happen right across the street and nobody showed up. I was thinking that nobody cared. So that’s in the past and there is nothing we can do about it now. The zoning in this area is neighborhood residential, rural, residential and conservation, right. R. Burger - OK, so based on you know the Millis contractor Yard Mills Electric, that was by a variance that was probably back in May 2012 era. And then the mine, at Bellisario’s, was an active mine and they had retail stone sales there historical business. Board member, so we don't know if the Planning Board if we're going to get another shot at this and I would move that if this is the last time we hear about this, that I move, we recommend that this not happen. PB 5-23-24 Approved 16 Board member, well, I'm not satisfied that we should say that we're done. It's our decision whether the application is complete to our satisfaction one and #2 we can recommend or we can say that there are other details that we need to know about, and I thought that was the consensus that was an emerging I don't understand that we're done with this. If the wisdom of the group tends to say We've heard enough, and we recommend against it then that's the possibility or the other. Board member, I hear both of you so I think what you do is you say, that we're not satisfied and currently we would say no with this application if. But we need to consider it an incomplete application and if they want to come back and talk to us with a complete application for and we also think a site visit is necessary before we could rule on and the applicant needs to be present before we rule and the FEAF. Board member, I'm going to make a motion, but you tell me when the best time to do it is. So, the motion I would make before this board is we recommend that there be no public hearing on June 20th and just wait. Just let us do our work first. Well, that could be, but I think that's kind of what we're saying is that we cannot adequately make a recommendation and if we were to recommend on this right now, it would be no. Board member, we’re making recommendations to the town board. It's up to the town board whether they want to hold that hearing or not. We can recommend that they postpone that. It’s up to them to decide whether or not they want to keep it. I think the recommendation I'm hearing is that absent more information, absent a complete application our recommendation would be that this project does not move forward. However, if they'd like to kick it back and get us this more information and do all the things that we talked about. We could look at it again. It doesn't mean we're going to make any different recommendation, but at least you know we would look at it. And we should have a site visit. Board member, so just to clarify all the comments made tonight as well as all the letters will be submitted as part of the application. We've got this huge public wave and. Records. Board member, I'll move to the board that, you know, one of the reasons I haven't gotten involved in politics or things like this is because of the glacial speed at which things move. And here we have an applicant and it's 100 to 1 against this applicant, and he doesn't even bother to show up. Why do we give him any consideration whatsoever? Maybe you have to, but it sure doesn't feel right. Board member, and again, it's up to the town board if they want to kick it back because they can just take our recommendation, take the public input, do their thing and move forward. I'm not saying move forward and approve it. I'm saying they could move forward with their process. I think the motion at the moment is that based on current information, our recommendation would be that the project does not move forward. PB 5-23-24 Approved 17 If the applicant were to come back with, you know if they were to kick it back to us with a complete application and other information, then you know we could do a full review and you know come up with other recommendations. But as it stands right now, our primary recommendation is that it does not move forward. Board member, my discussion is that we are well within our authority to say for the reasons already expressed, this is an incomplete application and therefore we have no record. We cannot recommend it. We're waiting for more information about that, so I'll be voting against this. I don't see why we're sending it to the town board because we still don't have enough information to make a record. Aren't we saying the same thing? The Town Board doesn’t need Recommendations from us? Special use permits are a purview of the Town Board. The motion is with all the public input and the lack of information we have from the applicant, we recommend to the Town Board that this project should not move forward. Motion: T. Salerno Second: J. Kiefer All in favor – Yes, unanimous 5 & 9 Freese Road - Adam Fisher Marathon Engineering and with me tonight is Kate Garza, Victoria Newman, Justin Hicks and Ryan Jordans, also from our office. We're here for the project that's referred to as 5 & 9 Freese Rd. We were here last month to do a brief project introduction to the board, I believe most of everybody was here, Mr. Wilson, I don't you were in attendance. So, we were before this board back in I think was 20 or 21 for the Maifly residential development that was consisted of 15- single family home lots, which were previously referred to as the cottages. The tiny Timbers project on the corner of Freeze Road and Dryden Rd. The 15-lot subdivision of the cottages portion was over here on the eastern half of the project site then on the western half that's where we had proposed 32-dwelling units, 65-bedrooms over the course of that parcel that was available for the multi family. That project I believe was approved just before the COVID pandemic and then because of that, the financial crisis that resulted from that and the skyrocketing cost of construction and materials, that project never began construction. And obviously has sat vacant. INHS and Holton and our firm are teaming up to propose a resale division of the 4.6-acre parcel to produce a 8- lot subdivision that's going to consist of 6-single family home lots, which will be affronting Dryden Rd. And 1- single family home lot here at the corner of Freese Rd. with a small pocket park right at the corner. There will be another lot for a shared access drive and parking parcel for the single-family home lot and then the remaining 3.7 acres or so will be left over for the multifamily portion of the development. Similar to the Maifly development, we're going to be using the base zoning of 10- dwelling units per acre, plus the green development PB 5-23-24 Approved 18 bonus plus the redevelopment bonus. And the rationale as to how we are getting to that density as all outlined in my letter as previously explained, also during the Maifly project portions of the site have already been developed. Single family home lot was also in existence down at the southwest corner of the parcel currently, and there's obviously been development up on top where the cottages portion of the project was never initiated. So, at the 3.787 acres available for the multifamily using the 14 units per acre Max development density we get to a maximum allowable unit density of 53 units over the course of the multifamily portion of the project site. That is going to be primarily one and two-bedroom units, no 3-bedrooms. The single-family homes will be 4, 2-bedroom units and 2, 3- bedroom units. And our next submission will define where those 2-bedroom homes and the3- bedroom homes will be sited on those 6- lots. Access to the multifamily will be only off of Freese Rd. similar to the multifamily development proposed by Maifly and for the single-family home lot, there'll be a single point of access off of Dryden Rd. furthest away from the Dryden Rd. Freese Rd. intersection as you possibly really could have one on this property as shown on the site plan. If you recall, recreational space was a big discussion item during the Maifly development. And here we have 3-dedicated usable recreational spaces available. There's one here that totals approximately 3000 square feet here where my cursor is another one down here that's approximately 1600 square feet and another one up here on up on an upper terrace. I will say that this project INHS is going for HCR funding for both single family and the multifamily component. The HDR criteria has criteria for recreational space or the younger individuals, you know, three- to five-year-olds and then five- to nine-year- old and then an older adult younger adult, you know, teenage children play spaces, so that's the idea of these 3 dedicated recreational. Bases will be built to accommodate those 3 demographics for young children to play, we are showing a basketball court up here on this upper terrace for those older, younger adults, teenage kids. Similar to the Maifly development, the utilities drainage will still, proceed in the same fashion we'll use by fiber retention for water quality treatment and then a reconstructed stillwater detention pond that's partially built out there right now for peak flow attenuation. The sanitary sewer will be extended up Dryden Road to accommodate most of the single-family home units and that is sanitary, so will be extended up to Freese roadside for the multifamily. We're going to be asking for a Special Use Permit for the larger multi-family residence. We're proposing to exceed the 5000 Max allowable. In my letter that one is going to be about 11,000 square feet 3-story on the parking lot side with a basement so there will be an approximately 4 or 4-stories exposed on the West side. We do have some initial sketch elevations of the front of that building looking westward. And then on the Freese roadside, we have 2, 2-story multifamily buildings with the front entrances facing the parking lot itself. We also have some sketch elevations of those as well. Similar to the Maifly project, we had challenges with grade across the site, both from the single family and the multifamily development. The single-family portion will be basically at the same grade plane as exists up there now and the multifamily will also be at about the same grade plane that's out there now on the lower. PB 5-23-24 Approved 19 The street facade and the main facade of the 3- story building is still in flux. We'll certainly bring in more detail at the next meeting, but once we get into the later slides, I can show you some initial building massing and what that's going to look like. So let me start on the single-family side. So, there's roughly what the single-family home is going to look like from Freese Rd. It’s a typical, 2-bedroom home with a front porch, St. facing perspective. Moving down the hill westward on Freese Rd. you can see the 2-story multifamily buildings they'll be at about the same grade plan as the 3-story multifamily that you see here in the background. Again, with the building facade, you know in flux and very much a fluid conversation here with the design team. Here is the east elevation of the 3- story multifamily these were not included in the packet admittedly. We try to get as much information into you as possible understanding this is sketch level. I'll just add a few things I want to make sure everyone knows that we also have Leslie Ackerman online, who runs our CHC Community Housing Trust Program, which is what the single-family buildings will be a part of and then Dylan Myers, also in the audience, are head of maintenance and resident of. Varna and so we are, you know, super excited about this site. We think it's a great opportunity for a few reasons. Great location and connectivity to jobs and amenities, but also with the grade of the site I'm realizing other folks haven't been able to make it work. We were really excited about possibly finally getting something to work here and with the grade of the site are able to achieve I think a program along Dryden in that really fits in with the Hamlet. With the single family and then steps down with the natural grade of the site to the multifamily so that from the road it all appears at the same level. It's not going to be experienced I believe and according especially to these great sketches. As a multi-family building towering over the single family, that's not what we're looking for here and we feel like that really does fit well into the location and the surrounding Hamlet. It is all going to be affordable, but I think another thing we're super excited about, which we're looking to do on as many projects as we can is to mix ownership and rental together. So affordable right now, I would say I'm still in flux, but likely up to about 80 to 100% AMI, which in Tompkins County for two people 70,000 dollars and that is still being worked out with HCR, but being able to co- locate rental and home ownership opportunities on the same site really provides a mix of true mixed income mixed program plan and we find that advantageous for our residents. We have a lot of residents who move have job growth and move from rental housing into ownership, and we like to see people move along that ladder per se. And that's something we're really excited about achieving here in such a great location in close distance driving or bus to amenities and jobs. We do find that that's one to two people generally in those units and we serve everybody from younger working folks to elderly young income. Board member, is there any concern for lack of commercial properties like convenience stores? They're not totally isolated there, but there isn't anything like that there for walking distance. Applicant, So we have all different types of properties throughout our seven county service area, some very rural we have a senior property out in Ovid properties downtown, so we see a wide variety of close by amenities and most of our folks are working folks and have cars and are used PB 5-23-24 Approved 20 to that and honestly given the crunch on housing that we experience in Tompkins County, we really do feel like this is an ideal site. Board member, I did a site visit and I saw a big mound going towards Dryden Rd. but I'm curious what was the how, deciding to put and locate the pocket park on the corner next to the busy Dryden Rd. How was that made? Applicant, Two -part answer to that question under the TCAT bus stop there, we were involved in the Ivy Ridge project. That was up by the Arboretum, and there was a T cat bus stop in front of that site. And I do believe before we came in for application on that one and the board at that time had asked us to put in a pocket park exactly the same configuration that we're showing here recognizing that it's at the intersection that now has a blinking traffic signal on it, whereas the M project that wasn't there at the time. Just trying to add appeal to a corner lot on the intersection that is really the gateway to the Hamlet which is something that the board really communicated to us last time to do something on that corner, to dress it up. If the board is not open to having that there, we can move it back further or dress it up or do something else. It's just that's kind of how we got placing it there. Board member, it’s maybe not our purview, maybe it's more the County and or the building department and the codes, but do you have like green building construction and and waste management plan for the project? Applicant, as part of the redevelopment bonus, we'll have to at least meet the lead for neighborhood development criteria, It's not a lead certification per say, but there's a checklist that we have to go through and get so many points on, Energy Star appliances windows and that kind of thing to get down there. So there certainly is green building methodologies and construction techniques built into the design and construction of homes. And for waste management during construction waste can be recycled and managed on site and recycled in a way that would be appropriate. I will say that the fill that's out there, the material soil that out there is, is really just a mix match of construction debris. We have done a Geotech report out there already and a lot of it isn't suitable to bear on have these buildings bear on us, or if it walks through a foundation system that can accommodate these buildings, but there may need to be some construction material from the site, soil material excavated and hauled off and disposed. Board member, you know the type of residence you're targeting. Is this going to be like is this index to AMI or is it and what are those? Do you have percentage of AMI, and can you explain that? Applicant, so in using state money for both the homeownership side and the rental side and use tax credits for the rental side we're, part of and so Neighbor Work Organization and some neighborhoods. Money does sometimes end up in our project budgets generally, it's an operating subsidy, but we go through HCR Homes and Community renewal at the state and we get tax credits for the rental side and generally we don't have this set yet, but generally the range is 30% AMI to up to sometimes 80% AMI on the rental side and then on the home ownership side, we PB 5-23-24 Approved 21 really do target 80 to 100% AMI and it's a slightly higher income to be able to pay on the mortgage and low down payments so forth and we bring some down payment assistance to that. Applicant, most of the funding sources that we use for sale development Cap, or at least put the maximum per unit subsidy for homes that are going to be sold to under 80% AMI. But there are subsidies available for up to 100% AMI, which is basically, you know approaching median lot of folks at that level Is to have it be a mix. Some of the units would be to 80% AMI and some of them would be up to median. Board member, For the single families, are you going to put in just a 220 Volt outlet that people can then add an EV charger to, or you're going to actually put EV chargers on every house? There's nothing laid out here for them. So, it'd be nice to have it on the site on the site plan. Board member, comparing to Maifly of the recreation areas in total is that more or less than what's proposed during? Applicant, it’s probably less, I’m only saying less now because I’m not counting all the perimeter areas that I did before. If you recall, we had some areas up on the slope areas here and little wedges in here that I'm currently not counting, but I can certainly, try to put those back in. It's comparable, I believe square footage per unit ratio, and I think it's more usable total recreation space. Board member, how many residents do you actually anticipate? Applicant, when we come back, we will have that data, because we have very clear data on who lives in our one and two bedrooms now in the greater Ithaca area. So, we can look at those numbers and really data down on an estimate of exactly how many children we expect here and then present that in in coordination with the amount of recreational space to make sure, because that's a very good point. We want to make sure we have enough programming for kids who will live here. We don't serve grad students though. I want to make that clear. Our funding sources don't allow us to serve full-time students. We do certainly serve people who go back to school part time, but generally we serve working families. Board member, EAF says that you're going to be minimizing impervious surfaces, but it appears to me that you’re actually increasing the number of parking places and therefore the impervious surfaces. So which way is? Applicant, we have a bit more efficient layout than the Maifly I believe we have a bit more parking down the bottom for the multifamily. And we have fewer single-family homes, fewer parking spaces associated with those single-family homes and much more efficient means of access for the single-family Access Rd. And I believe our calculations came out that there was a slight reduction in impervious. Board member, and this will be all electric, correct. Applicant, yes. PB 5-23-24 Approved 22 Board member, Maybe I missed it in your application has the fire department signed off on the circulation that they can, if not that would be a good thing to do. Applicant, not yet. We're in the process of getting that underway here. And they were in favor of the prior access, which is virtually the same here. We do have aerial address access requirement for the three-story building that's shown here. Board member, On the site plan there's a crosswalk as you come in that lower driveway that goes to a dumpster. How is a truck going to pick up stuff from that dumpster? Applicant, it’s a rear load or front load so rear load will come into the back end of the dumpster and if, a front load they'll just go do that a little reverse motion quicker. So, it kind of forces them to take the truck through the whole parking lot. These two buildings will be utilizing the dumpster, whereas this large building will have that impactor and then compactor totally be wheeled out from the bigger building. We did have that over on further away, but it's, you know, getting folks too. So, it kind of forces them to take the truck through the whole parking lot. Applicant, on parking we haven’t touched on this yet, but this project does meet code with town, but it is under parked. It is that has been an issue that's come up. So, for the single-family units we have just over two spaces per home available and then now for the multifamily it's about 1.3 spaces per unit. So, we're above the minimum for sure. And use centralized trucks and recycling area for single-family homes. Board member, have you talked to Cornell about the fence yet at one time they wanted a privacy fence all the way through. Applicant, we will have to kick start that conversation again. I think the players over there changed. Board member, how about postal delivery. Will it be centralized? Applicant, I imagine the single family would have their own mailbox maybe centralized will look into. Board member, I have a question about the phasing of the project. I thought I read that you were anticipating six or seven phases. Is this, is it going to be under construction for years or what? What's your plan for? Applicant, That's a good question. So, we build single-family homes all at the same time likely. So if we think about it that way, it will depend on when we get our funding awards, we are going in for funding to the state late summer for the rental portion, and if best case scenario, we get an award which is highly competitive we would be out of the ground next fall and this summer next year, and then we would simultaneously, be seeking the funding for the single family home. Which we do yearly. At this point we've got some going in downtown and Sears St. we've got some going in out in Trumansburg immediately following and then and then it would be this project. So, we would try to do them as closely together as possible. There might be some slight discrepancy based on funding Closings. PB 5-23-24 Approved 23 Board member, and the single-family homes, you're designing them, correct? Applicant, yes so, we have a process by which we designed we built some of them stick built and right now the Sear St. homes downtown we're building modular. So, what we do is we design the modular and then we have an architect to add things like from porches and things that make them fit in for whatever community we’re in. I'll just clarify that we are working with Stream Collaborative and we're essentially modularizing the designs that have already been presented for the cottages that we're going to be part of Maifly development. So, when you look at the elevations and the renderings and so forth, those designs are going to be very, very similar. So, you've actually already seen these designs, we've just turned them from stick built into modular. Board member, And the image that you showed today Stream prepared the elevation. Applicant, actually, Holt architecture is working on the multifamily here from that team and then Stream Collaborative is doing the design work for the units. So, you'll see images and elevations for both projects for maybe under separate coverage all together in the same package with just a different firm design. Board member, anything else you’d like to see when they come back. Board member, the bioretention remediation ponds and the repairing and planting of the vegetation schedule. Board member, and for that pocket park it it's hard to tell, but it looks a little exposed there. Wonder if there's something that could be a barrier of some sort. Board member, is there anyone on zoom that would like to have any input on this? NO D. Lamb, this question of recreation space comes up with a lot of projects and I wonder if there's some standard, maybe set by HUD on how much recreation stay should be set aside for multifamily housing so we can just kind of know whether we're in the norm with this. I don't see any reason to base on Maifly what the norm is. They could have 125 to 130 residents. Another thing I want to mention, and you may already know this, but now I'm excited about this project and we have already committed to the $50,000 Housing Trust fund, investment in the project because we participate in that, and this is sort of project we want to encourage. So, I just want to tell you that we talked about this last time. Board member, aren't there national recreation organizations that stipulate minimum and maximum acreages I say that simply because I remember reading the pretty old recreational plan for the town that suggested acreages space and they were much bigger than anything that anybody ever proposed in the seven years I've been on the board, but there are some kind of national standards. PB 5-23-24 Approved 24 R. Burger, there’s a major subdivision component to this that maybe is a time for the goal to have because you have to go through a pulmonary. plat, which is a public hearing and then a second public hearing. So, we have to start thinking about that subdivision could take place. I think they're going for just the standard. Zoom participant, I just wanted to encourage the recreation. Because right now behind Varna Community Center, there's a very small playground and which is nicely done and a small basketball court. So that's all Varna has. T. Salerno, I move, we approve the sketch plan. Motion: T. Salerno Second: B. Will All in favor – Yes, unanimous R. Burger, now we need to do a SEQR to declare lead agency and then I would be able to send out involved agency letters so that they have 30 days to respond if anybody disputes, you're taking lead. I move that we the planning board takes the lead on SEQR. Motion: T. Salerno Second: J. Kiefer All in favor – Yes, unanimous Caswell Rd. – Solar The team presenting is all on Zoom and they are Brian Gyory, Lisa Downing-Schmidt, Steve Meersma, Terry Carroll and Laura. There is a slide presentation. • They are working on the application to submit to the DEC for the landfill approval, within the next few weeks. They are wondering if the Town could make a special condition to move forward with their review while working with the DEC for the start of the project. And depending on the wetland jurisdictional determination from the Army Corps, this can take a lot of time and for the NYSEG and private easements. R. Burger – That would work for this Board but for the Town Board it would hold up the SEQR and that is needed before the determination. • TG Millers review about the landfill monitoring. There are two components there that I wanted to bring up, one is ongoing monitoring that's happening on the site. Monitoring that's just happening as part of the landfill operations and maintenance current plan. This project will not interfere with that at all. In terms of any potential for future monitoring if PB 5-23-24 Approved 25 or evaluation of the site if that was to in fact happen, obviously that would supersede anything that would be happening. And if something had to be removed, modified in order for them to do anything as it pertains to the actual landfill, that would obviously come first. • The battery component up in the northeast corner, I've highlighted that here. The blue is the actual battery container. So, for lithium ion this would be, and I was mistaken from our last conversation with this Board, but it would be 5 smaller containers 8 feet by 20 feet. As you can see here in kind of that darker blue and then the light green circles are the poles that would have required by NYSEG be installed as part of the project. This is basically all of the 11 poles that would have to be put in. We have done all the visual analysis from exterior; vantage points and we can certainly answer any questions on that. But unfortunately, this is the reality from the NYSEG reviewers of what we would need to install in this area. We had talked about that before that everything else will be underground with the exception in terms of wiring, with the exception of this area right here and the other sort of side-by-side comparison here as well. We talked a lot at our last Planning Board meeting about flow batteries and we did a little bit of a comparison to see what the difference would be for flow batteries for a similar sized battery. Size megawatts and MW hours instead of having these five containers, there would need to be 34 containers and they would be basically double stacked as opposed to the single stacked in the lithium ion which is on the left here. So, from a height perspective as well. That I think would be one of the major concerns that we would look at here, in my opinion, I think that we're evaluating this for other sites that are maybe more urban and have other things that are taller and of similar size and scale, but in this in this location, I feel that it may not be as appropriate. • The other component is because we have been designing this for lithium ion at a four- hour duration vanadium flow or a flow battery is meant for a lot longer duration and if you were to use it at something like 4 hours duration as they've been designing the project it just would not be nearly as efficient from a cost perspective and energy perspective and all of the above. • The lithium ion on the left is about 3700 square feet and the vanadium flow on the right is 5500 square feet. So, it would be a larger area. Lithium ion you can't stack one on top of the other, but vanadium flow can very easily be stacked. We think that would be better for the environment. We had Bill Obaker from our Clean Energy Site Team attend the Town Board meeting and talk through some of the battery safety or fire safety recommendations that are being made to the fire code right now and some updates to that that are being proposed and he was able to answer quite a few of the Town Board comments. The fire departments were invited to that Town Board meeting, and I have been following up with the Town Fire Coordinator, Chris as well. • The panels will be bifacial like the Morris Rd. project. Board Member - I saw one question was to clarify number of panels per rack and what's the wattage per panel? Applicant, the wattage of the panels is 600 proposed to be 625 watts DC. PB 5-23-24 Approved 26 Board Member – What is the status on the SWPPP R. Burger – We have a submittal, but it hasn’t been finalized yet. That usually works in conjunction with the project, because we make tweaks to the site plan as we go along. Board Member - At the last meeting we talked about the interconnection point and you said it was at the substation and you were going to go all underground to a substation. Applicant, - Only portion of the interconnection that will be above ground is highlighted in this right-hand side of this drawing here with the green circles. So, what we're proposing right now and working through with NYSEG would be 11 poles interior to our site and then everything if you can see my cursor to the right of those green poles and then going north through the private property and then along the DOT right-of-way would all be underground to the substation. The 11 poles are about ½ mile back from Peruville Road to the private property and from the private property there’s some grade change, not a flat area and I think its will be the least visible pole there. Board Member – Will the electric line along Peruville Rd. be run underground. Applicant, - There's an existing line that runs south of Peruville Rd. We will not be connecting to that overhead line we will actually be going underneath that overhead line and all underground and then staying underground along the south side of Peruville Road and then crossing under Peruville Rd. either right in front of or very close to the substation there and then connecting into the actual substation. Board Member - One of the problems we've had in the past is the visual appearance of the interconnect has been way more obtrusive than what we have thought it was going to be way more poles than the visual has been a big surprise for the project. Then, is it true that none of the interconnection equipment will be visible from public roads? Applicant, - The interconnection polls are interior to the site; I believe will not be visible from the Peruville Rd. The actual work within the substation will be visible from the road, but what that work is right now is still to be determined, so that's something that NYSEG will be designing because it's their substation and any and all work designed, will be designed by them and paid for by this project and installed by NYSEG. Board Member – Another impact that we've seen in the past that we need to control is during construction Caswell Rd. is in the residential area and we need to control, the mud getting tracked all up and down the road and make sure that it gets cleaned up and we need to be clear about construction hours that are reasonable for the folks who live nearby. So, I'm hoping that you'll be able to address that going forward in a manner that we can feel comfortable with that those things are going to be done correctly. Board Member - Another thing we've had trouble with is screening, is vegetation being proposed for this project because it has not worked out well for Dryden, I think on any of the solar projects we've done. And I think the only way we're going to feel comfortable with that, or PB 5-23-24 Approved 27 at least for me, is that the project hires the local landscape to put the landscape in and then maintain it and guarantee it for a year or two. Board Member - So back to the interconnection pulse, we've got facilities that have in the town already that have had fires at those Poles. Do you have an in with NYSEG to find out what caused those fires, and if there's a way to mitigate that I've heard it's a grounding issue, and its created field fires and with this being so far back. Maybe keep vegetation from around the poles and put gravel down. Applicant, - Generally speaking, the electric code requires that there not be vegetation. No plantings, woody plants around the poles or the interconnection equipment or the batteries for that matter. There's a 10-foot clear zone requirement where one can only have maintained grass if there is any vegetation. We usually see gravel. Looks good, motion to approve the Sketch Plan with the TJ Miller comments and the other comments that have been made tonight. Motion: J. Kiefer to approve Second: B. Will All in favor - yes unanimous Morris Road – Solar, let me briefly introduce myself again, Matt Haley with Delaware Solar. I’m here with Brian Dunlevy, my colleague, and Martin Meriweather and he's our Civil Engineer. Last time we went to the board, we gave a brief overview of the project. We've made some site plan changes and I'll show you that in a second. So originally on site there are some wetlands that were concerning. We did a preliminary assessment before growing season during the growing season, we had a wetland soil go out there and form another delineation results came back very favorable. So, we were able to move the site plan or the layout to the west more maybe gaining visual impacts and environmental impacts in terms of treatment as well. So this is the original layout as you can see, the DEC wetlands here and this compact design, which is close to this neighbor. So the wetland as mentioned was pushed for the back due to our donation. We are scheduling a DC validation site visit which is in process. We also removed some panels from this area. This forested area and pushed them over into this field. So, product topography was favorable in this area as well and limits the monetary clearing needed. We moved panels away from this neighbor over here on this corner. Originally, we had panels here in this area which were supposed to be cleared and also shifted to the left, and there's very little visual impact if not virtually none. In addition to this, we updated our line-of-sight profiles analysis. So, this is just with the updated grading. So, from viewpoint one over here, the shaded area is what can be seen, so you cannot see any project area from this viewpoint. Viewpoint 2. You still can't see project area 2.3. Look over here are able to see the project area. Viewpoint.4 Same thing, just a little bit here. Still PB 5-23-24 Approved 28 can't see the project area. Viewpoint 5, Viewpoint .6. And then here's the view from the neighbors parcel so originally, she could see a large portion of the project array and we did propose some screening here, but with the actual layout being shifted, their visual impact is limited. So, this is just the grading. So, I'll show the ones with the panels as well, but here's the viewpoint 8 so they'll be able to see a little bit of the array, but we are proposing some screening up here on this, this parcel boundary and additionally, they're over, I believe about 500 feet away from the actual solar farm. So that was the updated grading viewpoint analysis. I will now show it with the panels, including the 15-foot panels. Just wanted to show you the biggest visual impact concern was obviously this neighbor over here. So, here's it with the panels. As you can see, she can't. They won't be able to see the project area with the sight adjustments. Board member, so it's hard to tell the visual impact when you're just 3000-feet in the air. So, do you have visual impacts from the roads? Applicant, this neighbor as well and I'll walk her through the site plan. We just kind of got all of this, this change finalized and we're planning on showing her and I think she'll was pretty receptive to the project initially, but I think with these changes even more. Theres some tall pines here and we are keeping this tree line. Board member, I know these are talking about panel right sites of sight lines of the panels as we talked about last time. One of the things I'm mostly concerned about and others are mostly concerned about is that oftentimes it's the interconnects and the poles that have the greatest visual impact of some of these projects that we've seen and so i know you're running up to Morris Rd. there so it's coming straight up to Morris and there's going to be a house directly across the road from that driveway that goes back and like, if I, remember right, there's poles along that driveway right. I was noticing that there are not a lot of poles down Morris Rd. Applicant, there’s going to be typically, the pole forms 5 or 6 poles. It's going to be along this for the access road here it will be underground coming from the inverter pads up to here and then it's going to come up to the poles and then NYSEG is going to run at 34.5 line. It's a reconductoring, so they're adding a line down to us down to our PO I. Board member, it a nice, wooded area and what I hate to see is NYSEG come through and cut a 20-foot-wide slot along the west side of the road for example. So, we really need to find out what's going to happen there. That’s my concern for this project right now is more important is the impact from where your pools are to the substation. What's going to happen there? I know that's not right NYSEG does all that work? I'm just curious what that's going to be because we saw it on Ellis Hollow Road. Is that when they put those interconnects, they topped the trees and put the taller poles in. When we present this to the public, they see what it’s going to look like and then they see something like what happened at Ellis Hollow Rd. And the people that live along Ellis Hollow Rd. and Stephens Rd. were not happy at all. But it had less to do with the panels themselves and more to do with what NYSEG did to connect them. PB 5-23-24 Approved 29 Board member, and if you could bring those interconnection poles off the street because the Pitman’s are going to be looking right at that and see 5 poles right there. You should have no overhead lines so that Becks can continue to farm. Board member, is there documentation of the number of trees that need to come down for the project? Applicant, it’s roughly 8 acres we are proposing to clear, but the wooded area is not very dense. Board member, if you're doing screening plantings, we need to have assurances that it's going to be much better than what we have seen in the past and construction phase impacts on the neighbors, so the road needs to be cleaned every day. And the hours of work to be clear. Applicant, after approvals start date may be 2024 to early 2025 depending on approvals and weather. J. Kiefer moves to approve the sketch plan with all we talked about tonight. Motion: J. Kiefer to approve Second: T. Salerno All in favor - yes unanimous Zoning for 392 Caswell Rd. R. Burger, this is a flag lot being proposed and applicant came to the zoning Board of Appeals for an area variance on the frontage because there's only 125-foot frontage on this lot, it's a six- acre lot and they can create a flagpole 25 foot but that leaves the 100-foot remainder it is very deficient in a 250-foot required. It's a pretty substantial variance, but there is a New York State town, law 277-6 that requires the zba to ask for recommendations from the planning board. This is kind of a continuing contention of the ZBA they feel like the planning board should do all subdivisions. So, the minor subdivisions that are allowed to be administratively approved in the town of Dryden object to that and that's the genesis of this. Board member, there is a write up that accompanied this someone in the town did an analysis of alternatives and I think may it sounded to me like your department's conclusion was, is that there really isn't another good way to approach the development of this site if it's going to be allowed R. Burger, and also another piece to look at is the history back in 2012, I believe it was this same owner received their variance from the ZBA to put a second home on their lot. A variance for a double wide to do it, execute this exact plan that they want to do now to get a family member out and back and back four acres and that was approved. They just didn't act on it. And so, if you don't get a building permit within a year, you lose your variance. Board member does the fire department weigh in on if they have decent access. PB 5-23-24 Approved 30 R. Burger, no we have a lot of long driveways in the town, no reason to involve FD for a private residence. Also, neighbors were notified of this and there were no comments. Board members discussion: • 2- properties are using the same driveway. The plan is to use the existing driveway and branch off and go up behind. • We don't want to put another road cut there, don’t want another driveway there already is 2. • We would make a stipulation that says the law states that the ZBA shall get a written recommendation from the planning board. • We would approve this with the stipulation that they have a shared driveway. • It’s a big piece of property and it's back and its not going to change the character of the neighborhood. R. Burger, so that you're not seeing a huge impact on the neighborhood. This doesn't change the character. It wouldn't be something that would keep you from approving the subdivision. And especially if they use the same driveway, it’s going to have even less impact on the neighborhood because it's up behind everything else. You're really not changing the view from the road. Even though you're you are reducing the road from It's not a visible change. You're adding density to the neighborhood, by an additional single-family house. R. Burger, so the zba can make conditions very easily on all their variances they could grant this variance with the caveat that there be a common curb cut for both lots being subdivided here with language on the plat that would prevent a disagreement between the two property owners and the guy in the back having access to his house. That would be a good and appropriate thing to do. I move that the recommendation to the Zoning board or ZBA that they approve the variance. As this has minimal impact on the character of the neighborhood. The stipulation being that when they subdivide, they use a common driveway. Motion: T. Salerno to approve Second: J. Wilson All in favor - yes unanimous Meeting adjourned 9:20PM