Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-08-19 •- s TOWN OF GROTON PLANNING BOARD Public Hearing & Meeting Minutes/Transcript - Thursday, 19 August 1999 Members, Groton Planning Board (*Absent) Others Present George Totman , Chairman Joan Fitch , Recording Secretary *Monica Carey Doug VanBenschoten , Applicant *Cecil Twigg Sharon & Robert Ayres, Applics. George Van Slyke Sheldon Clark Van Travis NOTE: At 7:30 p.m. , not having a quorum present, Chairman Totman instructed the Recording Secretary to call an absent member to see if they were on their way to the meeting. Verl Rankin was called and the secretary was advised by Mrs. Rankin that Verl had resigned his membership on the Board to the Town Supervisor effective 1 August 1999, No one had been advised . Thereafter, Member Clark arrived , so a quorum was achieved . The meeting was called to order at 7*35 p.m. by Chairman George Totman. Douglas VanBenschoten - 448 Locke Road - TM # 16- 1-4.62 G. Totman: Douglas, we will go to the second item on the Agenda as long as Doug VanBenschoten's here . He has a request in for a Site Plan Review. Maybe you better explain to us what you got in mind because, as I understand it, according to the tax number, it's the same parcel that Sarge's auction shop is on, Is that correct? D. VanB.: It's not the same parcel. It was divided when it was sold . G. Totman: Oh , it was divided . D. VanB.: It should have been . I'm sure I 'm not paying taxes on Sarge's part. G. Totman: That's what I was looking at. So this is where the auction barn is? D. VanB.: : The original one is here. You can see it better when the leaves have gone . The new storage barn is for equipment we buy and sell. G. Van Slyke: These trucks, are they stored outside? D. Van&e. Yes, they are stored outside , G. Van Slyke: There again, that's turnover when they come in with a new truck, you load them up and away they go . D. VanB.: They come in . They are mounted at other shops other than ours. They take them to other places where they have their new chassis delivered , and Agway physically themselves comes and picks these tanks up and takes them to the shop where they are installed . Now we happen to have 19 there and there's two more coming in next week. G. Van Slyke: Now these are like fuel D. Vans. : Anywheres from 2500 to 3000-gallon propane tanks. G. Van Slyke: They are propane tanks . Page 1 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 D. VanB.: Delivery . All propane . Well, I say all . There is one tanker -- a fuel oil tanker that they brought in from Allentown two weeks ago that will be sold again out of that -- G. Totman: How many employees do you have? D. VanB. : There's five full-time there presently. Not including myself. Got times when there are seven or eight. G. Totman: And as far as you're concerned you're meeting all the Health Department requirements and building requirements? You've got the proper Building Permits and all that sort of thing? D. VanB.: Yes. G. Totman: And the number of baths for the number of employees you have? D. VanB.: No, I've never been asked . I don't believe - - did you ever ask me , Mark? M. Gunn: No. I've never done an LSI on the place because he was never in my books as being a legitimate business . I have been in there . I don't know if there's restrooms or anything in there . D. VanB.: Yes, there is restrooms. G. Totman: The only reason I raised the question was you've got down here there isn't any. D. VanB. : Oh , really? Yes, there's one there .. It was approved by the County. G. Totman: Maybe we should put it down -- we' ll change the zero to one then . The only reason I asked the questions is if you have more than five employees, you got to have a bathroom for them -- or a restroom. D. VanB.: Yes, we do have a restroom. G. Totman: That was the only reason I asked the question. We'll change that to one . Because you wrote zero down here . D. VanB.: Well, I don't know my reason for that . G. Totman: Okay, see what I did? I changed your zero to one . D. VanB. : Yes, okay. G. Totman: You were probably thing bathroom like a shower or whatever. G. Van Slyke: He very well may have been thinking that the pole barn probably will not have a bathroom -- D. VanB.: That is right. G. Totman: But looking at the whole picture, George, -- G. Van Slyke: Right, but so we're really not getting the full -- D. VanB.: You're right. The new structure does not have a restroom. G. Totman: I 'm not trying to be against what you're doing; I'm just making sure that it's covered . Anybody else? Apparently this place has been operating for a few years with no problems or questions from the neighborhood . Page 2 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 V. Travis: I only looked quickly, but the main storage area -- there's a roadway and it's pretty well protected by foliage presently. You made reference earlier like when the leaves go off the trees, I take it, then it's a little more exposed. You're going to be putting this wall up which will take care of that? D. VanB. : Yes, V. Travis: I didn't drive back in there . In fact, I just drove in and turned around where the auction service is and back out. I did it just now; it was getting late . D. VanB.: We're doing that for our own benefit and also for our neighbors. And at certain times of the year you'll see more machinery around there than you will others. Everything that's out there right now is a turnkey machine with the exception of the one scraper I do have out in back. G. Van Slyke: Obviously, his hours of operation are such that it doesn't bother anyone else . G. Totman: You don't work nights, do you? D. VanB.: As a rule, no. Once in a great while a truck may come in after dark with a load, but it doesn't get unloaded or anything like that. They just come in and shut it down for the night. G. Totman: What I meant by working was in the shop , pre-building trucks or -- Do Vans.: Only very seldom if we have an emergency or something like that. Then it would be inside . We don't intend it to be out. G. Totman: So what you're saying is that if this is approved, that there will be no outside activity that would be disturbing to the neighbors . D. VanB., Well, there hasn't been in the past. G. Totman: Well, I 'm just -- that means that there's not going to be any major body work , painting fenders, and whatever neighbors might complain about. Bringing a truck in or out and loading a truck is sort of a normal thing. D. VanB.: No , like I say, only an emergency or something like that. G. Totman: Does anybody have any questions. If not, George will you do the SEQRA? G. Van Slyke: Are you ready? Board Member George Van Slyke then reads aloud Part II of the Short Environmental Assessment Form. Negative responses were obtained to all questions in Part II. Therefore, it was determined by the Planning Board, upon a motion made by Member Van Travis, seconded by Member George Van Slyke, with all - members present voting in favor, that the action, based on the information submitted, will not cause any significant adverse environmental impact, resulting in a Negative Declaration. G . Totman: Does anybody want to make a motion one way or the other with the hours in mind? S. Clark: I 'll make a motion that we approve the application as presented , with the stipulation that there will be no outside activity that would be disturbing to the neighbors after evening hours. In other words, the business will continue just like it has been . G. Totman: Sure . Is that agreeable with everybody? (All members present agreed. ) J. Fitch: What is " after evening hours"? Page 3 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Totman: After eight o'clock at night . V. Travis: Second . G. Totman: Anybody opposed? (No on indicated they were opposed. ) G. Van Slyke: Why don't you just ask who's in favor and we all say aye? S. Clark: That was easy enough . G. Totman: That's it. Well, if you're going to put up a sign or anything, then you've got to go see Mark for that . D. VanB.: Okay so this will be duly noted and it's changed; we don't call it Industrial now? G. Van Slyke: The zone you're in is going to stay Industrial . G. Totman: Look at the map there. You're in the purple area. By the nature of your question, just let me explain the Ordinance . The activity that you're doing is allowed in the Industrial District under a Site Plan Review. What you can in for tonight was to ask for a Site Plan Review to do that kind of a business in that district. And just because it says it's allowed in that district doesn't mean you can just start up without approval . Like if you were doing something that was requiring a lot of customers coming and going, or going to have a lot of people coming and going, we would want to make sure you had like offstreet parking, or your hours might be set more closely. Because like if you were running a body kind of shop or something like that, we would take more concern of what the neighbors might feel about it. Just so you understand what I'm talking about. D. VanB.: So I 'm all set then. Thank you . Thank you , Mark. Sharon A ry es, Applicant /dba Elegant Hayseeds Ceramics - 750 Cortland Road - TM # 20- 1 -35 G. Totman: Let's be sure that our clerk knows what we're talking about here . So we're now talking about a property at 750 Cortland Road - - Frick and Frack's . Sharon Ayres -- V. Travis: That's a ceramics shop . You're up on the corner right now. S. Ayres: Yes, Elegant Hayseeds Ceramics. G. Totman: You are going to open that place up there -- a ceramic place? S. Ayres: I thought I was going to. R. Ayres: We're getting about one-third of the building . G. Totman: Oh , R. Ayres. Eventually they will be split into three different things. There will be the ceramics shop, there will be a cleaning area in there for a cleaning service that will work out of there . They will have their supplies. And then at the farther end I believe will be a used car sales. S. Ayres: But we're only here for the ceramics. V. Travis: The farther end? That would be the north end , right? R. Ayres: Yes. Page 4 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Totman: Okay, what we're talking about tonight is somebody has bought the building. R. Ayres: Yes, it's been bought by Steve Terwilliger, owner of Seven Valley Real Estate. G. Totman: And you're renting the front part of the building from him, and in that part you are renting, you want to start a ceramics shop? S. Ayres: Right, G. Totmam And we're here tonight to do a Site Plan Review on the ceramics shop , which is in the south side of the building. It will be on the side toward Cortland Road. The rest of the building, from what I can gather, will be on the Salt Road. R. Ayres: Right. G. Totman: And you're going to have ceramic classes and sell ceramics. R. Ayres. It's going to be a regular business S. Ayres: Traditional shop . R. Ayres: Most of her classes are nights, except for two day classes S. Ayres: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. R. Ayres: Three day classes. One is a 5-hour class on Friday. G. Totman: So for the record, we're supposed to make sure that you have enough parking so that people don't have to park in the street. R. Ayres, Well, there shouldn't be any problem with parking. S. Ayres: I don't see them parking on Route 222 . G. Totman: Well, that's one of the things that a Site Plan Review's all about. R. Ayres: The building isn't up to Code yet, but it should be . G. Totman: What are your hours? S. Ayres: We have varied hours: we start at 5 PM on Monday, closed on Tuesday, except for doll class -- G. Totman: 5 PM until when? S. Ayres: Five 'til nine . G. Totman: Tuesday you're closed. S. Ayres: Tuesday we're closed unless I have doll class, and that would be from 6:30 until 9:30, and that runs six weeks and we usually have a month off, and then we do six more weeks -- porcelain dolls. Wednesday we open at 10 in the morning. We have class in the evening, so we do like -- for the public we're open from 10 until 5 . Then we do evening classes 6: 30 to 9: 30. And the same on Thursday. Friday we open at 10 in the morning and we close at 3 in the afternoon . G. Totman: How about Saturday and Sunday? Page 5 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 S. Ayres: Saturday we open at 9 in the morning for class, and we close at 3 p .m. And Sunday we open at noon and we run until 4. R. Ayres. In the winter sometimes we run until six. G. Totman: Anybody got any questions? G. Van Slyke: Now this Steve Terwilliger, he's going to do the separation and the -- R Ayres: He's supposed to take care of all the plumbing, the electrical, the doors. Were having another door put in so we've got a front exit and a back exit. Everything is supposed to be up to Code when we -- S. Ayres: Supposed to have a handicapped bathroom in there; there's a lot of things he 's supposed to do. IL Ayres: There will be a gas furnace . Eventually it will have a new roof on the whole building. G. Totman: Well, you understand that if we approve the type of operation you're asking for, the rest of it you can't stop operating until you meet the Building Codes . S. Ayres: I can't operate what? I can't operate anything until it's up to Code , right? G. Totman: That's right. M. Gunn: Can't occupy it. R Ayres: That's why we're here . We're going to push somebody if we can get ahold of him. S. Ayres: I didn't know this thing existed . I didn' t have a clue. We thought we were playing a game, George, but somebody forgot to tell us the rules. We thought we were moving. R Ayres: He just slipped in one door and out the other. He's like a -- S. Ayres: Nevermind that . G. Totman: Okay, all right. We're going to have to do this Environmental Assessment Form, S. Ayres: Okay. It made absolutely no sense to me the first time . G. Van Slyke: And it probably won't make any sense to you this time either. V. Travis: I would note, George, that we don't have the landowner's signature on the application . S. Ayres: She said we could get it later. R Ayres: Because right now it's between -- he's in Nantucket, and the Cortland Savings Bank still holds title . V. Travis: But it will be required at some point is my point. S. Ayres: She told us it could be obtained later. V. Travis: So he has not closed -- Page 6 of 13 Town of Groton Planning board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Tottmann, We've got another one we're holding up . We approved it, but the owner of the building needs to sign it. So if we pass this tonight, it will be contingent upon him coming in and signing this application , or somebody taking it to him and bringing it back. S. Ayreso That's probably more likely. Go Totmmann. Okay. George, would you do that please? Go Van alykee Are you ready? Board Member George Van SLyke then reads aloud Part II of the Short Environmental Assessment Form. Negative responses were obtained to all questions in Part II. Therefore, it was determined by the Planning Board, upon a motion made by Member Van Travis, seconded by Member Sheldon Clark, with all members present voting in favor, that the action, based on the information submitted, will not cause any significant adverse environmental impact, resulting in a Negative Declaration. Go Tottmainno That means that as soon as you either get a letter or statement from the owner, or take this and have him sign it -- probably easier just have him just give you a statement saying he approves of the activities and we can put it in the file . Because if you owned a building, you wouldn't want us to give somebody permission to do something in your building. S. Ayres: So now do I get to pick your brain? What do I have to do to get up there? H. Gun no Knowing what Steven had told me about the other businesses going in, there's going to have to be fire separations, at least for now one between you and the next business. EL Ayres. A fire wall , right? Mo Gum* Right . S. Ayreso All the way across? He Guam* Yes . Some lighting, fire protection . S. Ayres: How did they get the lights turned on? Did you look at the wiring? You walked through ; this is what I was told . You walked through with Steve. He unnnne cG Yes, we walked from , one end to the other. He said do you see any reason why this can't be a ceramics shop? And I said with a little bit of work and brought up to Code, no. S. Ayreso It's perfect for a ceramics shop . H. Gunnnn. Yes, it is. G. Totmainn, Basically, what we're approving is once Mark says that it meets the NYS Uniform Building Code, and you have the signature of the owner, then you're home free . G. Nairn Slykeo We still a motion here . G. Tott>mnaiun. I was just getting ahead of myself. G. Van Slylkeo I'm going to make the motion that we approve this business for the hours that we have stated , contingent upon the owner's signature , and the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy that it meets the NYS Uniform Building Code . That's my motion , a. c la r1ko I 'll second it. Page 7 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Van Slyke: All in favor? (All members present indicated that were in favor. ) S. Ayres: So there's a lot of work that's got to be done , right? M. Gunn: There's a little bit, but I'm just concerned from that first wall . P. Ayres. We're going back another 15 feet for more room for our molds . And it might take that whole middle room there . S. Ayres: So you want a fire wall all around between us and him? M. Gunn: Wherever there's a separation between you and another occupant. S. Ayres: Now isn' t there a code for the bathroom? Doesn't the bathroom have to be a handicapped type code? M. Gunn: If you're going to have that accessible by the general public, yes . G. Totman: Depends on how many employees you got. S. Ayres: I have Murray Center people coming in . They are clients of mine. I also have home- schoolers, so I have children . M. Gunn: I have talked with Steve about all that. S. Ayres: It would have been nice if Steve had spoken to me about this. I'm serious guys, I have not a clue. I just thought I had to pack my business and move it up there . Nobody told me about all these things. G. Totman: What you're talking about now is over and above the Planning Board . That State rule was passed, I believe , in 1985. It's what you call a form of bureaucracy. You're okay as long as he meets the rules and Mark gives his okay on it . S. Ayres: We're supposed to be in there the first of September, you know. R. Ayres. And we waited three months for soil samples to make sure it wasn't polluted, the land . S. Ayres: And we waited and waited, and I had to tell my landlord that we'd be staying, since my lease was up . And Mr. Terwilliger reappeared. R. Ayres. He says everything's go . S. Ayres: You literally have to move a ceramic shop in the summer; that's when it's usually very quiet and you're not doing a lot. Right now we're getting busy. G. Totman: Okay, if the owner will do his thing, then you'll be in . S. Ayres: That can be very tricky I understand. G. Totmam If he's going to make any money from rent, then he's got to get it done . Otherwise he's not getting any investment back. R. Ayres. What do we have to do for a sign? M. Gunn: I've got your application; that's like second compared to what he's got to do inside the building. I'd like to see him make it right with you guys before you go putting money into a sign. Page 8 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Van Slyke: Good night. Now back to Item # 1 on the Agenda. Approval of Minutes - June 17 & July 15, 1999 Meetings V. Travis: Yes, the June Minutes, G. Van Slyke: I make the motion that we approve the June Minutes G. Totman: June Minutes. We don't have the July Minutes. J. Fitch: Why don't you? V. Travis: We do tonight. G. Van Slyke: Okay. I make a motion that we approve the Minutes of the June meeting. G. Totman: All in favor? (All members present, except one , indicated in the affirmative .) V. Travis: I abstain . I wasn't there. G. Totman: You can still vote to approve, because we have to have a quorum. Abstaining means yes, anyway, by Robert's Rules of Order. G. Van Slyke: Okay, now. Have we read these? V. Travis: No, I haven't. Have you read them? G. Van Slyke: Yes. V. Travis: Are they in order? G. Van Slyke: Yes. V. Travis: Go with it. G. Van Slyke: I make a motion we accept the Minutes of the Thursday, July 15th, 1999 meeting. V. Travis: I second it. G. Van Slyke: All in favor? (All members present indicated in the affirmative . ) That was easy, wasn't it? G. Totman: Okay, now, anything else? I have something. M. Gunn: Me, too . G. Totman: Before you; I've got seniority. I want to ask a hypothetical question . Over the past year or two there's been a lot of controversy over the building that use to house the Elm Tree Inn , and what would be the thoughts, hypothetically, of the Planning Board if someone came in here, like tonight, with a Site Plan Review, and asked to start a bar/restaurant in there with about 80% of the business being restaurant? S. Clark: We'd help them make out the application . V. Travis: I wouldn't object. Page 9 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Totman: Okay. That's all I asked. I think there's a good potential buyer. It sounds like to me they are going to sign the Purchase Offer with the contingency that they can get a Site Plan Review . And their goal is to do mainly a restaurant; bar secondary . S. Clark: And they are nice people . G. Totman: And you know them? S. Clark: Very well . G. Totman: The lady -- they live in North Carolina right now, but the lady grew up here in Groton and her father and mother still live in West Groton . And she's very serious from what I gathered . V. Travis: Well, it's a permitted use . G. Totman: Well, because of the controversy -- V. Travis: Yes. But as a Board, we don't have license to just deny people because we -- G. Totman: I understand. I look at it that way, Van, but I just wanted to get the consensus of the Board, that if they come in and you know they've got offstreet parking, I'm not -- let me put it this way : are we going to be concerned where their dumpster is? Okay, I'm all done with that. Mark? Robert Eckert Property - 125 Old Peruville Road - TM Nos. 36- 1-59 & 58 (per Mark Gunn) M. Gunn: Next month -- actually, they don't want to come in. They want to see if they don' t have to. The gentleman went blind from an accident recently, and he's having a hard time dealing with this. I'm making him go through a boundary change because they bought the Old Peruville Road Grange -- where the old Grange was . You know where I'm talking about? V. Travis: West of Route 38? M. Gunn: Yes. Towards Lansing on Old Peruville Road . S. Clark: Take us up through there . M. Gunn: Go down 38, turn right on Silvers M Road. Go down the hill , turn right on Silvers Road, go down the hill and stop at the stop sign, turn left. It is the second place on the left. What it is, is this gentleman , Robert Eckert, young guy, bought the property next to his place, which was this Grange. He , himself, with his lot, didn't have enough property to be able to build a garage, so he bought this vacant lot, tore what was left of the Grange down , and wants to build a garage there . I told him to get rid of that property line because it was going to run smack dab through the center of that garage . And I said if there's ever any problem with any kind of lien that comes down on your property, or comes down on this property , and you've got a garage that's over that property line , there are going to be problems . G. Totman: Well you can't build a building on two properties . M. Gunn: Right, G. Totman: How large was the property the Grange was on? M. Gunn: My question , first, was did I do the right thing by making him come in here? G. Totman: (Looking at Tax Map) There's Sharpsteen Road there . M. Gunn: Okay, I got to go one more map . It's right here . It's going to be 58 and 59 . He owns 59; he just bought 58, (Referencing TM Nos. ) I'm making him get rid of the property line down the middle. Page 10 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 G. Totman: Right now, in the Town of Groton, a person can buy or divide a lot off his property without coming to us or coming to Mark. If it's a legal lot. Here, you've got a piece of property -- and I can't read the numbers there -- but I don't think it looks like quite an acre. But what you're doing here is taking a piece of property and making a non-conforming piece of property more conforming. To me it's not anything different than a person can sell off an acre of land without coming to us. In most towns where they allow you to sell off a lot without going to a Board for approval , they also include boundary changes as long as it's not making something non-conforming. Here, if we look at this and make it a matter of the Minutes in saying -- put it in here -- and he can make the application out, bring it in and give it to us -- we look at it and say he's taking two lots and putting them together and making one more -conforming lot than what was there , I think we could pass it without having the person come in. Does everybody agree with that? S. Clark: I have no problem with it. (The rest of the Board also nodded in agreement. ) M. Gunn: I have that application. V. Travis: Is he joining two lots, or is he just taking part of it so that - - G. Totman: What he's doing here , Van, is those two lots right there - - he's eliminating that line so two lots will become one . V. Travis: Okay, fine . G. Totman: Have you got the application? We can handle that right now. M. Gunn: Robert Eckert. The only question was, too, he had a real hard time getting around , because this is relatively new for him - - V. Travis: Let's get it out of the way; I've got the SEQRA Form, Part II : Board Member Van Travis then reads aloud Part 17 of the Short Environmental Assessment Form. Negative responses were obtained to all questions in Part IL Therefore, it was determined by the Planning Board, upon a motion made by Member Van Slyke, seconded by Member Clark, with all members present voting in favor, that the action, based on the information submitted, will not cause any significant adverse environmental impact, resulting in a Negative Declaration, Mark Gunn Question re SEQRA for Palmer Subdivision M. Gunn: I just have a question . When a subdivision is done and a SEQRA is done on a subdivision , like a major subdivision , that SEQRA is for the subdivision itself and has nothing to do with possible future development of the property, correct? V. Travis: New subject. Start again. M. Gunn: A major subdivision is done . The potential for the major subdivision is to create several building lots. SEQRA is done by the Planning Board, and when that SEQRA says it does not have any adverse affects, that is just pertaining solely to the subdivision and has nothing to do with the possible chance of that becoming a building lot, right? G. Totman: Yes it does. V. Travis: Well, your question is it doesn't pertain to what the then subsequent activity is on the land . Page 11 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 M. Gunn: Well, I got a notice from the County Health Department today on a lot that was just sold on Pleasant Valley Road , which is the Palmer Subdivision. And they have been halted and DEC's been called in because they cannot put in a septic system because it's DEC wetlands. G. Totman: Okay. M. Gunn: Now I wasn't sure if the SEQRA that's done here has any effect on something of that nature . I'm waiting for somebody to call up my office and say what's going on because -- G. Totman: Well, it was halted by DEC, not you . M. Gunn: It was halted by the Tompkins County Health Department. G. Totman: But not you . M. Gunn: Right, G. Totman: If you approve a subdivision -- and that wasn't a major, that was a minor subdivision -- but either minor or major, as I understand it, you're approving the subdivision of the land assuming that it' s going to be residential . If it's going to be something other than that, and it ' s something that the Ordinance says you have to have a Site Plan Review on, then they have to come in and get a Site Plan Review on it, otherwise they can get Building Permits for what's allowed in that area. G. Van Slyke: But that's not the question he's asked. The wetlands came into - - M. Gunn: The wetlands, according to the Health Department and according to what I've done -- I did the has marks with a half an inch equals a thousand feet -- I kind of did that calculation on two or three of my maps to see just how close I could get, and it looks like , according to the Health Department and what I've looked at, they can't get an acre useable land out of that six-acre parcel. V. Travis: Anywhere? M. Gunn: Yes. And the Health Department told Mr. Moore , who bought the property, it ' s basically up to him to get DEC in there before anybody can do anything. So DEC can make a determination if there's anything here in acres that they can put a septic on. So. I 'm just waiting. I know I got my letter today, and I know this gentleman got his letter today, and I know somebody' s going to be calling me asking if the subdivision was said that it was okay. I'd kind of like to be able to give them an answer. G. Van Slyke: Well, I think you need to look at it from the viewpoint that when they come in with a subdivision, if this Board is wetlands, we're only doing the SEQRA on the subdivision. What he's going to do with it afterwards and it fails to qualify - - G. Totman: We can give subdivision approval for any number of lots. And they can all be wetlands. It's what they do with it after we give the approval. M. Gunn: That's what I thought. G. Totman: I know I've had problems with some people saying that you can't let them subdivide this land because it's a wetland. Hey, if you want to buy an acre of wetland, go ahead and buy it. G. Van Slyke: If you want to buy a swamp, go ahead and buy the swamp . G. Totman: Go ahead and buy it. But it's what you're going to do with it afterwards. V. Travis: What if they want to put a blind down there and photograph the birds or something? Page 12 of 13 Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting Minutes/Transcript 19 August 1999 M. Gunn: I knew there was some construction going on there, but -- S. Clark: Well, then how did the SEQRA come in on it then? G. Totman: We do a SEQRA as it's related to the subdivision. I don't think we realized that -- see normally you can build a house within a hundred feet of a wetland. G. Van Slyke: We've had some of them before up in West Groton. G. Totman: Yes. I don't think that when we passed that we knew that whole thing was a wetland . But even then, they are not telling us what they are going to do with the property in dividing it up. And in order to put a house on it, they have to get a Permit. Before he can give a Building Permit, he has to have the Construction Permit from the Health Department for the septic system. That covers it as far as I'm concerned. Robert Eckert Property Re-Visited - 125 Old Peruville Road - TM Nos. 36- i-59 & 58 (per Mark Gunn) G. Totman: We didn't vote on passing the boundary change for Mr. Eckert, G. Van Slyke: Okay, I make a motion that we approve the boundary change, as requested . S. Clark: I'll second it. G. Totman: All in favor? (All members present indicated they were in favor. ) Is there anything more to come before the meeting? Anybody want to adjourn the meeting: Adjournment S. Clark: I make a motion the meeting be adjourned . V. Travis: Second . G. Totman: All in favor? (All members present indicated aye . ) Meeting adjourned . The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. E. Fitch ecording Secretary Page 13 of 13