HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-12-16 TOWN OF GROTON
PLANNING BOARD MEETING
THURSDAY", DECEMBER 1611 1993 ,E 8 : 00 P . M .
PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC PRESENT
( * Denotes Members Present ) Mr :: .& 'Mrs : John Pachai
George Senter ,, Code Enforcement Officer
George Totman ,, Chairperson
Monica Carey
Verl Rankin
George Van Slyke
Cecil Twigg *
Sheldon Clark
G . TOTMAN called the meeting to order . No minutes from the previous month are to be
approved because they are not available for review . Therefore ,( I would ask that John
come forward and explain to the Board what he wishes to do and ask the Board to review
the material that is before them tonight to get a better idea of what is happening .
J . PACHAI : My name is John Pachai and I live at 202 S . Main Street .
What I would like to do is build a house . In order to do
that I met with the Zoning Board of Appeals with a variance
for inadequate road frontage where the ZBA,, in turn ,, granted
the variance with two conditions . One being to approve a
subdivision that will show how future road frontage is to be
meant . The second condition being that the Village sign
a letter stating they do not have an objection to granting
this variance .
M . CAREY : Did you receive any special letter from the Village?
J . PACHAI : I drooped it off with Chuck Rankin , who in turn,, was going
to deliver it to their attorney tofhave him decide which
department to give it to .
J . PACHAI : Brought forward a map for the Board ' s review .
M . CAREY : Inquired where the Groton Town line came in . You ' re almost
in your lot ,, itself,; before hitting the Town line .
J . PACHAI : They had indicated that they have no jurisdiction because
the house to be built was not in the Village . The only
involvement the Village would have if it had a -cut
if the Village had such permits ,, which they don ' t .
G . TOTMAN : According to the findings of the variance ,, it would have to
be a positive determination from the Village .
J . PACHAI : The Village agreeing to the granting of the Variance .
G • TOTMAN : And the Town Planning Board granting you the subdivision approval .
J . PACHAI : I guess it could be interpreted either way . The house is to
be built in the Town ' s jurisdiction .
G . TOTMAN = Looking at the map, John .lis _tprepared .to : build .- his ,. house in . the
middle of Parcel No . 1 . The road to show in the official
deeds will be a future road at some future point that will
go out to Parcel No . 3 so that it won ' t be tieing that up .
Town - of - Groton - Planning - Board - Meeting , - Thursday, December 16 ,, - 1993 , 48 : 00 - p : m . - - - Page - 2
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G . TOTMAN : That decision would have to made at a later date . He has
✓ shown us the road by where he is . to build his house , but he
is also showing us 200 feet of road frontage as that road
comes out of the Village into Parcel No . 3 . By the nature
of the lay of the land ,, in that two to three acres ,f is the
best place to build a house where the rest of the land
that sits off is really not good for building .
V . RANKIN : You also have a roadway on this 200 feet .
G . TOTMAN : That probably is so .
The Board members reviewed map with Mr . Pachai .
G . TOTMAN : You want to make sure you will not be landlocking any land .
M . CAREY : Do you have any access from Mack Street at all ?
J . PACHAI : That would be accessible from a practical standpoint . But
from a frontage standpoint ,, the frontage would be on the
section that runs north and south between parcel 1 .
M . CAREY : You could connect from Mack Street onto Cedar Lane .
J . PACHAI : You have a problem with Parcel No . 2 with the western half .
The ground conditions are soft . Essentially ,r • you could
only get three lots out of that . The one in the southeast
corner is questionable .
C . TWIGG : The Village sewer comes all the way down Mack Street ?
J . PACHAI : I think that ' s one of the streets that do not have it because
it is an uphill run . They did not find it cost-effective
to put in a pumping station . The nearest down-hill sewage
system run would be to either cut through the school property
or later run down Barrows Street .
C . TWIGG : The pumping station would be cheaper than running it from
Barrows Street .
J . PACHAI : One of my converstaions with Frank was not the intial cost
but the on-going maintenance of the station .
G . TOTMAN : Before we go any further , George ( VanSlyke ) , would you fill
out the short from of the SEQR?
G . VANSLYKE : Read off the approprirate section of SEQR form as follows :
Part II-A : No
Be No
Cie Yes ,, only as it affects residential use .
C20 None
C3 : No
C4 : None
C5 : No
C6 : None
C7 : Same as C1 .
D : No
G . TOTMAN : Made the motion to declare it a negative declaration .
C . TWIGG : Seconded the motion .
Town of - Groton - Planning - Board Meeting ,, Thursday,, - December 16 ,E 1993 ,E 8 : 00 p . m . - - - - Page - 3
VOTE : ALL IN FAVOR ; MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY .
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G . TOTMAN : Asked if there were any questions .
No 'response given .
G . TOTMAN : This is a little bit different from anything else we have had
before . I just want to make sure everyone is comfortable
with what is being asked of us . Section 429 of the subdivision
ordinances where it talks about road frontage variances , etc . ,i
gives guidelines to avoid situations likes this . For the
record ,, the ZBA looked at it . Decision wise—a variance for
insufficient road frontage is granted with two principle
conditions :
CONDITION NO . l : The frontage variance cannot be
acted upon until the applicant
has an approved subdivision
that provides for and protects
any future public road access
including provisions for adequate
frontage for future building lots
which will eventually also remove
the frontage to the
proposed dwelling that is the basis
of this frontage variance .
CONDITION No . 2 : That the official letter is
received from the Village
of Groton indicating that the
Village has no objections to
the granting of this frontage
variance . This is because the
actual frontage of the applicant ' s
lot lies within the village ,t but
the Town code applies because the
applicant ' s building site is in the
Town ' s jurisdiction .
With that ,, John has come back and is asking for a subdivision
approval , which we could not do before because we did not have
a variance . Now we have the variance . Sot if you vote in
the favorative ,, it would have to be based on the two conditions .
Is that your understanding ,I John?
J . PACHAI : That ' s right .
G . TOTMAN : Any questions ?
Board members had no response .
J . PACHAI : One other item to mention is the electric pole location .
Either party on either side could have access to it without
having a yard dug up for a cable or whatever . It will sit
on or very close to the line . The 15-feet meets the require-
ments .
Town - of - Groton - Planning - Board - Meeting ,, • Thursday,, - December - l6 ,, - 1993 ,, - 8 : 00 - p . m . - - - - - Page 4
�. TOTMAN : The right-of-way will be stated in a transferor ' s deed in
case the land is to be sold at a future date for future
development .
G . TOTMAN : Verified that the Peters own the area of the 60-foot
right-of-way coming from Cedar Lane including the large parcel
that you ' re breaking up now .
J . PACHAI : That ' s correct .
C . TWIGG : You can get public water there?
J . PACHAI : Yes .
C . TWIGG : Why did you cut that down to 50-feet ?
J . PACHAI : Because the Town ' s requirements were 50 ,, and I did not see
any reason to go beyond that . ( Referring to Parcel No . 1 ) .
Parcel 1 is where the house will be located . Towards the
south end of Parcel 1 ,, there is a steep grade . In order
to give myself some level ground ,, that 10 feet might make
a difference .
The map was reviewed again .
G • TOTMAN : Is there any other questions ?
Board members muttered no .
G . TOTMAN : If we pass this , I want to make sure that all the Town
specifications are met ; ie : the 50-feet ,, not that I am
doubting John ' s word . Make sure the survey is worded
properly . I personally would vote for it . I cannot
find anything in the ordinance that says we can ' t . It ' s
up to the Board .
J . PACHAI The better lot is the northeast corner and the practical
entrance would be from Mack Street . Shorter driveway and
closer facilities . I cannot cover the cost of a 400-foot
driveway .
G . VANSLYKE : Made a motion to approve the subdivision with the conditions
to be met required by the ZBA . Condition 1 is being met
tonight ,t so that only leaves Condition 2 left .
C • TWIGG : Seconded the motion .
G . TOTMAN : Make sure that the deed shows that 50-foot right-of-way . With
any future development ,, it will become a highway . w/ no reiteration
back to the owners of the deed of that 50-foot right-of-way at
the time that the deeded to the Town for a dedicated road .
VOTE : ALL IN FAVOR ; MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY .
V . RANKIN : Made a motion to adjourn the meeting .
M . CAREY : Seconded the motion .
VOTE : ALL IN FAVOR ; MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY .
Submitted by Penny Bogardus .