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Home My WebLink About1984-04-17 TOWN OF GROTON , PLANNING BOARD TUESDAY , APRIL 179 1984 BOARD ( *present ) : Others presents G . Totman* , Chairman J . Fitzgerald , Town Attorney R . Gleason* , Vice Chairman G . Wood , Town Zoning Enforcement N . Ostrander , Cor . Secretary Officer M . Post* C . Pierson , Town Clerk . C . Twigg* T . Robinson , Town Supervisor J . McNeil G . Totman opened the meeting at 800 pm . Minutes of the March , 1984 , meeting were read and approved with the change in the name of G . Hajney to S . Putman . Discussion on letter from Gary Wood ,, to'p.Saelt .Fitzgerald = Item Onel requirement of a permit for any construction in the Town . G . ' Totman remarked that in the old Ordinance anything less than 100 sq . ft . you did not need a permit . This is not in the new Ordinance . Section 402 r _ s states that anything built in the Town requires a permit . It was the Board ' s intention to leave the 100 sp . ft . regulation in . Until the Board gets a revision to the Town Board for the change , it now stands that all construction in the Town requires a permit . J . Fitzgerald commented that many communities use a monetary threshold to determine the requirement of a permit , G . Wood remarked that the 100 sq . ft , would be easier to measure than the monetary value . **** at present any building built in the Town of Groton requires a Building Permit . This matter to be addressed at a later meeting of the Planning Board . *^** Item Two : does not relate to the Planning Board . Item Three : State Building Code . J . Fitzgerald and G : Wood will get together and discuss the State Building Codge , Item Four : Zoning Violations . It was established that any violation ' G . Wood finds would be taken to the Zoning Board of Appeals for followup , judgment and enforcement . Item Five : Non-conforming use . J . Fitzgerald reported that any 1,101"established non-conforming use stays with the property . G . Totman added that if a non-conforming use is vacant ( property not occupied or in use ) for a period of one year , the peoperty loses its non-conforming .standing and . must comply with the present Ordinances . i PLANNING BOARD -2 - April 17 , 1984 Item Sixr problem of placing a trailer on a 3 -acre lot for rental purposes . The Planning Board decided at the March , 1984 meeting that the above proposal would be all right . G . Wood was getting conflicting opinions from the County Planning Officer and the Town Attorney . The point to be clarified was what exactly is the function of the Planning Board as pertains to the Zoning Ordinance . Section 351 was referred to - that anywhere in the Ordinance there is a number sign , a permit with a Site Plan Review is required and the Planning Board reviews the Site Plan Review , J . Fitzgerald clarified this by stating if there is a question of interpre - tation of the applicant of a specific Section that interpretation rests with the Zoning Board of Appeals . If G . Wood says he beilieves that the Site Plan Review is required it is up to the Planning Board to decide whether it applies not whether it conforms to the Ordinance . Discussion and clarification of problem areas in the Zoning Ordinances - - - No 352 - half acre per dwelling unit was brought up in the discussion . Clarified as. meaning one structure on an acre lot with two households ; ie , one structure per acre with a density of 2 dwelling units . ****the language needs to be changed to clairfy this Section**** ' Multiple Dwelling Units * discussion on square footage per unit . The 125 sq . ft . as proposed in the revision only applies to the structure . The frontage still requires 200 feet per dwelling unit ; ie . requiring 600 feet for 3 units . The wording on this needs to be changed to a more practical proporation . ****the wording on this needs to be changed**** --- All new residences established in the Town of Groton should come to the Planning Board for approval before a permit is issued . Question on property development on Sovocool Hill Rd . s G . Wood reported that three culverts and driveways were going in on the Joe Hora property on Sovocool Hill Rd . and asked . if they had been approved . G . Totman read from the October 18 , 190 , minutes of the Planning Board meeting concerning the approval of one lot of 4 . 1 acres . The Planning Board approved the lot and as long as the applicants could get a legal deed and apply for a building permit they were all right . ****G . Wood will check B . Brown ' s books for Building Permit application . If no application has been made , G . Wood will notify the violators . ***„ Operation of Motor Vehicle Repair' . shops and Junkyards in the Town of Groton * G . Wood stopped at the Sherry O ' Brien residence on Sharpsteen Rd . and found he was operating a Repair Shop without a permit . Mr . O ' Brien stated he had been . PLANNING BOARD -3 - April 17 , 1984 refused a permit by the - Town ' of Groton and that the State would not give him a permit because the Town Turned . him down . . If O ' Brien is in violation we should do something to make him cease and desist operations . He is in an Agricultural Zone , J . Fitzgerald reported that he and B . Brown had four to six violators of the Town Ordinance served with papers with the idea of all going to Court At the same timesso it did not appear that the Town was using selective enforce - ment . We ran into a problem that some of the violators claimed they were not in violation which indicated that our position was not clear . B . Brown was going to make additional inspections on these properties but he lost interest . Once the proper foundation is laid , we can take them to Court and get this settled . **** G . Wood and J . Fitzgerald will look into the above matter **** Teresa Robinson reported that a meeting of the Town Board , the Planning Board , the Zoning Board of Appeals , the Zoning Officer , the Town Attorney , the Town Clerk and the Deputy Clerk has been set for Wednesday , May 2 , 1984 at 7 : 00 pm to clarify the position of each Board and ask any questions concerning the Zoning Ordinance . Roger Gleason. reported : that he will <�L,;v hav* several property proposals coming before the Planning Board in the near future and wondered if he should resign his position on the Board . Fitzgerald stated that just because he was a member of the Board that did not preclude him from using the services of ; the Board . The only problem that could be forseen is the possible erosion of the people ' s opinion of the Board . **** RgGleason will have -to make his own . decision whethervto resign or not **** G . Totman asked the Town Supervisor to move on the changes to the Zoning Ordinance presented to the Town Board by the Planning Board in the last six . months . T . Robinson asked if there would be any more forthcoming and G . Totman replied not at the present time . C . Twigg made the motion the meeting be adjourned ; M . Post seconded the motion . All in favor ; motion carried . Next regular meeting of the Planning Board will be Tuesday , May 15 , 1984 at 8t00 pm . Respectfully submitted , i n , i GARY L . WOOD . P . E . 2630 Sugarbush Lane Telephone Dryden, N. Y. 13053 607-753-8421 10 . April 1984 Mr . Jack Fitzgerald , Esq . 16 Tompkins Street Cortland , NY 13045 Dear Jack : I have a number of questions regarding the Zoning Law on which I need your assistance , so I thought I would send you this list and then see if we can meet together after you ' ve had time to give them some thought . So . . . . . 1 . Would you agree that Sect . 304 and 402 . 2 require a permit for any construction -- a storage shed , a deck attached to a house , a i swimming pool , a fence , ad nauseum ? 2 . Do I need a . copy of Sect . 239- m , Art . 12- 13 of the NY General Municipal Law , or is the information that is contained in Sect . 409 sufficient for my purposes ? 3 . The Zoning Law refers to a " Zoning Permit" rather than a Building Permit . Does this suffice for use with the State Building Code ? In fact , do we presently have the authority to enforce the State Building Code ? If so , what are the penalty provisions for violations ? j 4 . Sect . 410 seems to tell me that I report any alleged violations of the II C3Z � Zoning Law to the BZA and it they who are responsible for followup , VyV. c rL 2 judgement , and enforcement . Do you agree ? �00 5 . r am sYa unsu re about roethaf. . th .^ .Lt to na... rconfor ming uses stays with the property when title Is transferred ( my informal note of 28 February ) . 6 . 1 still have not resolved that trailer problem that we discussed at the : Board meeting so long ago . Did my letter of 1 March seem correct to you ? ( The Planning Board did not agree . ) Teresa suggested that you and I meet with Colleen and George Totman ( Chairman of the Planning Board ) . Would it be possible for you to attend the Planning Board meeting on the evening of the 17th for this purpose ? Thank you , Gary L . Wood , P . E . Consulting Engineer GLW : pts pc : Teresa Robinson George Totman Practicing Soils, Foundations, and Construction Materials Engineering