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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB 2024-07-25 PB 7-25-24 Approved 1 Town of Dryden Planning Board Meeting Thursday, July 25, 2024 Hybrid Zoom 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 Other Staff or Board Members In person (IP). or on Zoom (Z) Ray Burger, Director of Planning (IP) Gina Cassidy, Planner (IP) Joy Foster - Recording Secretary (Z) Christina Dravis - Liaison (TB) (Z) Dan Lamb (TB) On ZOOM or I.P. Adam Fishel (IP) Lynn Truame (Z) Ryan Jordaens (IP) PB 7-25-24 Approved 2 David Weinstein (IP) Laurie Snyder (IP) Kim Klein (IP) Brian Dunlevy (IP) Aaron Bonker (IP) Jon Finlay (IP) Tara Finlay (IP) Matt Mihaly (IP) Steven Hugo (Z) Justin Hicks (Z) Fire Chief Mason Jager (Z) David Durrett Dondi Harner (Z) AGENDA 6:00pm Call to Order  Welcome – Quorum Check  Public Comment Period For items not on the agenda and limited to 3 minutes per person.  5&9 Freese Road – Public Hearing and Site Plan Review with SEQRA (Public comments limited to 3 minutes per person.)  846 Snyder Hill – Sketch Plan Review  2207 Dryden Rd – Sketch Plan Amendment.  Morris Road Solar Project – Site Plan Recommendations to the Town Board  Proposed Moratorium on Data Processing Centers-Crypto Mining  Planning Department Update  Town Board Update  Minutes Approval – June 27th 8:00 pm Adjourn Next Meeting: Planning Board Thursday – 8-22-24 Chair Salerno opens the meeting at 6:01 PM and activates B. Griffin (alternate) Public Comment Period – None PB 7-25-24 Approved 3 5&9 Freese Road – Public Hearing and Site Plan Review with SEQRA and Public comments. Adam Fishel from Marathon Engineering presents slides. • The proposed plan prior to COVID was for 32 - multifamily units between 4-building along with 15-single-family homes, 47 units in total. COVID hit and construction took a dive, so that plan was never constructed. INHS acquired the land and are proposing a 53-multifamily with 3- buildings, 2 being 2-story and a larger 3-story along with 6-single-family homes. • DOT has put a flashing signal on Freese and Dryden Rd. intersection due to original traffic concerns. • Recreation space has been an issue in previous reviews, 3 dedicated and sizable recreation spaces are now offered. • In addition, there will be a pocket park closer to Freese Rd. for seating for folks waiting for the TCAT bus and garden space with additional landscape areas. • There will be a trash room for multi-family residents to put trash and a separate access drive for the trash hauler to pull in and out of. The single-family homes will be responsible for putting their containers out to the edge of the payment on Dryden Road for the haulers to take away. • Stormwater management is basically the same plan previously approved by the town engineer for the prior owner. The Boards Discussion: • The board had questions on elevations and fire access to all sides of the buildings and where hydrants will be, this will be further reviewed. • The Board questioned where all the heat pump compressors will be. Applicant stated they would be on the roof of the three-story building and between the two-story buildings. • How will mail be handled; A bank of mailboxes located in the lobby of each of the multi-family buildings and in a bank near the row of single-family homes for the single-family homes. • Where the EV chargers will be, the Board is shown on the slides. • Concerns about lighting and its height so not glaring outside bedroom windows. INHS will look at confirming they are below the Towns Requirement and will see if they can lower the poles. • Landscaping, they will get more feedback from landscape architects. • Question about bulk storage of petroleum and generators for when the electricity goes off. There are none at this point. Public Comment: David Weinstein, sent in a letter July 5. Mr. Weinstein understands the need for affordable housing but feels this project needs to balance and fit within the character of the community. The number of units is just too large. Coming across the bridge you will see a hulking 4-story building. The Varna plan envisioned about 20 units for development where this project is much larger. INHS has said they can’t get funding they need for anything under 50 units. Would like to see verification and documentation to the effect. Town zoning specifies the largest building without a special use permit is 5000 square feet. This project is 10,000, so the Town Board is being asked to double what was presented as a reasonable level for what a building should be. And obviously the biggest question is whether this development will cause a safety issue for the Community. The need for a supervisor on site every day to PB 7-25-24 Approved 4 deal with problems as they come up and to have this in writing. Also concerned with the impact on Fall Creek with its banks only 100 feet away. Concerned with the trash and the noise and the quality of the water in the creek, this is Cornells drinking water. We need to make sure this is not causing a degradation of that water. Written confirmation is needed. Laurie Snyder concerned with what they are calling a pocket park at a very busy intersection it’s a bus stop not a park. Also concerned with the apartment buildings being too big for this site, bigger than anything we’ve had before and is being built on unstable fill. One house and an outbuilding were buried there. The single-family homes will face a very busy highway and have little setback, will they be able to handle 3 to 6 feet of piles of plowed snow. And the elevation changes from where the townhouses are to where the apartment buildings are. How will people get to the recreation area. Will there be a path, or stairs how to get from Townhouse to playground safely needs to be addressed. Who will maintain the trash areas. And the retention pond will be safe for kids and pets. And will there be an onsite manager. Where is the laundry area? Kim Klein, her property is right in front of the project and is concerned with the height of the lights and the noise for her rooms that are near the driveway. Has been in favor of having this site cleaned up and looking better but is concerned this project is too big and will change her quality of life. 150 people going in there seems like a lot. End of Public Comments Chair Salerno indicated that the hearing would be continued to 8-22-24. when INHS will present a revised site plan that addresses neighbors’ concerns and fire department access. Written comments will be accepted while the hearing is open. The Board had questions about the buried house and the ground’s stability. INHS has a structural engineer involved and there is undocumented construction debris in there that is loose. It cannot support a building by itself. They are putting a deep foundation system with helical pile not a driven pile system, basically just big screws that will be screwed through that loose material into stable material down below and that would then support the building above. INHS will own this property for at least 50 years, there's no intention for INHS to go anywhere. They will be 50 years old in two years and have never sold the development to anybody. There will be a dedicated on-site manager, and because of the size of the property they'll be sharing the two properties that they manage. There is a dedicated maintenance person who is on site responding to work orders every day when there's something they're responsible for keeping the property tidy, they're responsible for making sure that there's not trash accumulating anywhere, so they're responsible for making sure that the landscape contractor shows up to do the mowing on schedule and respond to any emergency situations that need to be fixed rapidly. There is a 24-hour emergency maintenance line for residents to call if anything happens in the buildings. INHS and the Board look at slides for elevations and the visual buffering for the house across the street. 846 Snyder Hill – The Planning Department is in receipt of a Sketch Plan Review application, submitted by Jonathan Finlay for a single-family dwelling at 846 Snyder Hill Road for residential use. The proposed 1,600 square foot modular, single-family dwelling would be the second dwelling (the third unit, since the existing dwelling is a duplex) on this 3.03-acre parcel. The applicant proposes 19,100 square feet of total disturbance, including a 3,000 square foot PB 7-25-24 Approved 5 gravel driveway, a 500 square foot septic system, and 14,000 square feet for grading/clearing/lawn. This project would result in a total impervious surface on the parcel of 3,100 square feet. The project site is located in a Rural Residential zoning district. Applicant and the Board’s discussion: • The driveway will be 18 X 200 feet • No ditching by the highway, highway department will take care of apron over the culvert in the town right of way. • The Board looks at slides for property to see where the three houses and 3 duplexes were. There's only one duplex left. review of well and septic locations. To assist the applicant, Chair Salerno made corrections to the Environmental Assessment Form Part 1, provided by the applicant in compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Changes were to answers to question 1 and 14. Reads and answers Part 2 and signs. Motion is a Negative SEQR and to waive further site plan review with standard conditions Motion: J. Kiefer Second: B. Will All in favor – yes, unanimous 2207 Dryden Road – Sketch Plan Amendment to increase the parking area so there were 10 parking spots and now they're finding they needed more because of the success of the business and planning for 15 total with the retail establishment of 2000 square feet. Requirements are five spaces per thousand square feet of building space, so 10 spaces are required, and the maximum number of spaces are 12. The Board has the authority, by the zoning code, to make an exception to allow 15 spaces. Applicant and the Boards discussion: • Looking at parking layout on the slides, it’s just a small addition, 5 spaces, no impervious, plenty of swing space, cleaning up the brush so the area looks cleaner. • The fence will stay for protection, the gated fence looks nice. Motion to approve the amended plan for 5 additional parking spots. Motion: B. Will Second: J. Wilson All in favor – yes, unanimous Morris Road Solar Project – Site Plan Recommendation to the Town Board Applicant and the Boards discussion: PB 7-25-24 Approved 6 • A substantial update to the concern of the NYSEG poles going down Morris Rd. the point of interconnection has been revised to off of W. Malloryville Rd. There are existing easements and poles, upgrading from single to three phase and coming down W. Malloryville Rd. There will be 2-poles on the neighboring parcel they are working with owner on that layout. The visual impact will be minimal. Behind the hammerhead turnaround approximately 350 feet from the road will be the line of poles. NYSEG has the submitted layout. Difference of the number of trees to be taken down is significantly less. • They are working on a response to Town Engineer TG Miller’s letter. • Delaware River Solar explains how they came up with the 2% escalation clause. NYSERDA has a document with escalation rate for the decommissioning cost and from previous projects. • Still working on a revised plan for the maintenance with a local company. T. Salerno moved to recommend to the Town Board based on these plans with a stipulation that if NYSEG changes the layout of the poles then the Planning Board will want to look it over again, another stipulation is that TG Miller ’s outstanding issues be addressed to the Town Board’s satisfaction. Motion: T. Salerno Second: J. Kiefer All in favor – yes, unanimous Proposed Moratorium on Data Processing Centers – Crypto Mining Next Wednesday evening at 5:30 a special Town Board meeting. The Board discussed what data centers and crypto mining are, and if the zoning code should specifically address these types of businesses. A moratorium will afford the Town Board time to study the issue and include appropriate regulations in the planned zoning code update. Chair Salerno moves to recommend the proposed moratorium to the Town Board. Motion: T. Salerno Second: B. Griffin All in favor – yes, unanimous Planning Department update. (Ray Burger) • Zoning update consultant Nan Stolzenburg has completed her interviews and the analysis of the various laws and is prepared to forward a report to the board in August, so she is on schedule. • The Planning Departments monthly report. PB 7-25-24 Approved 7 • Our ISO rating, the insurance standards organization did a re-rating of the town in 2016 and just did another one this year. Our rating for the building safety component, basically our code compliance went from 4 to 3 that gets reflected in how the insurance industry rates us for insurance. So, it improved, the lower the number the better. Town Board update. (Dan Lamb) • In the Town of Dryden, we have a service that we're very proud of and it's part of our culture here to have a good ambulance system. The Town Board has expressed concern about Dryden’s larger contribution to the Tompkins County’s ambulance service than other municipalities. We have about a $7 million budget in Dryden. We put in 1.2 million for our Dryden ambulance tax. What isn't fair is that about 25% of our ambulance calls go outside our zone where we have a certificate of need from the Department Of Health. The Town Board feels that we're subsidizing neighboring municipalities • A big announcement last month, $9 million coming in from the federal government through the state government to Dryden and Caroline, Dryden Fiber and the two towns are going to work together to provide service to a lot of households. • We had a big loss in June with Rail Trail Task Force Chair Bob Beck passing away and the re- organization of the Rail Trail Task Force. The Rail Trail Task Force is re-organizing and taking new applications for membership. Minutes Approval for June 27, 2024 Motion: T. Salerno to approve the June 27 minutes. Second: J. Kiefer All in favor – yes, B. Will abstains (was not present 6-27-24) Meeting adjourned 8:30 PM