Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-21 � 1 TOWN OF GROTON PLANNING BOARD Minutes/ Transcript of Regular Meeting - Thurs. , 21 June 2001 - 7:30 PM Members, Groton Planning Board (*Absent) Others Present Monica Carey, Chair Joan Fitch, Recording Secretary George Van Slyke *Mark Gunn, CEO Barbara Clark Tom Guihan Mark Baxendell Brad Albro Applicants & Public Present Kevin & Stephen Vincent, Applicants; Don Palmer The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairperson Monica Carey. Approval of Minutes - 17 May 2001 Regular Meeting M. Carey: Okay, first thing on the Agenda is to approve the Minutes of the May meeting. Everybody read their Minutes? B. Clark: Yes, ma'm. T. Guihan: I move we accept the Minutes. G. Van Slyke: Second it. M. Carey: All in favor? (All those present indicated they were in favor.) Passed. Joan takes such good Minutes. This becomes Action # 14 of 2001 GSG Vincent Co. , Applicant / Cortland Savings Bank, RO - 750 Cortland Rd. (NYS Rte. 222) - TM # 20- 1 -35 - Site Plan Review - Proposed Commercial Upholstery Business M. Carey: (Brad Albro arrives. ) Okay, we've already opened the meeting, Brad, so we've approved the Minutes and we might as well go on to the Site Plan Review for the GSG Vincent Company. You want to let us know a few details, what your plans are. D . Palmer: Well, I 'll kind of take the lead since I'm acting as agent for the company on this. We're here to hopefully get approval for Site Plan Review for the 750 Cortland Street address, which is the corner of 222 and Salt Road. That building has been used for industrial tenants for a number of years, different applicants on and off. Some have lasted longer than others. What the Vincents plan to do is to actually buy that building and to use it as a strategic part of their business plan to grow the furniture restoration business, Specifically what they will be doing in that building is upholstery end of the business. And the Purchase Offer is contingent upon them being able to do that type of business in that facility. That's one of the contingencies written into the Purchase Offer. I do have a copy of the contract here. I don't know if that needs to be entertained into the Minutes or not, but there is one that's in existence, so there's full intention of going forward and making this a part of their business. Looking somewhat at the bigger picture, giving a little background of where the company has Page 1 of 11 f (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 been and where they're headed and so on, the company was formed back in 1994 and, up to this point, the partners - and let me introduce the partners. There's Kevin - K. Vincent: Hi. D. Palmer: And Steve - S. Vincent: Hi, D. Palmer: There are some of you who may not know them. J. Fitch: Last name? D . Palmer: Vincent. V-I-N-C- E- N-T. J. Fitch: Thank you. D. Palmer: They're the two primary partners in the organization. There was a third brother who has since withdrawn from the partnership, so these are the two that are carrying the business forward. It started in 1994 and has steadily grown each year of the business and have developed a very top quality reputation throughout their contacts, doing a lot of contract work for State of New York facilities. Cornell University is one of the big ones with which they are doing a lot of contract work. They've done some contract work for the University of Rochester, St. John Fisher, and some other State agencies. And those that have dealt with State agencies know that they're pretty particular about the quality of having work done. They've built up a good reputation. Very recently, the JM Murray Center, which was doing a lot of contract work for private and State, got out of the business, so this provides a golden opportunity for the Vincents to grow their business and provide a lot of good potential for the community here in Groton. Because another part of the strategic plan here is to not only purchase this building and set up the upholstery business there, but we're going forward with plans to apply for a site up in the Industrial Park on 222 and put up a brand new building up there to do the furniture business itself. The upholstery business is starting out in a separate facility just because there are a lot of regulations dealing with the upholstery end of it. Concerns with, that the facility must either be a separate building or must have protective fire walls to separate it from the rest of the facility - so the first step we're taking is to have it set up as a separate facility. We may eventually look to incorporate that into the Industrial Park; that's a little ways down the road yet. It may be a couple three years down the road before we look at that. But, you know, there's some definite plans in place to make this happen. Up to this point, the Vincents have had to rely upon leasing facilities throughout the Groton community, and a lot of building space in Cortland. What their plan is is to bring all this business back into Groton. So there's a very firm commitment to make business grow here in Groton and put a lot back into the local economy. So this is a really big part of being able to do this. Up to this point, the upholstery business has not been a key part of the business for the Vincents. They've had to rely upon subcontracting a lot of this work out to other companies that are good in that field. With the addition of this facility up at the corner of Salt and 222, they can train people to be their own employees working on this thing, keep the money within the community, and grow the business that way. From an operational standpoint, the plan is to be in that facility by the end of this summer. There's a lease that's in place now that will expire the end of August. The tenants are aware of what the plans are and there's no plans to renew the lease with them. The Vincents need all the space that they can get up there, so they'll be looking at hopefully going in there late August, first part of September, work through the fall getting things set up there, and hit the ground with their feet running. And we will be going forward with our plans this fall of building the new facility up here in Industrial Park. So it's a busy time ahead. Just from a reputation standpoint, the Vincents are highly concerned about all of the regulations, the DEC regulations, the employee safety regulations, all the Code enforcement. They've been working very closely with Mark Gunn and talking through some of the options to grow the company. We've worked quite a bit with George Senter here in the Village Code Enforcement, because they have a facility here in the Village now that comes under George's jurisdiction, so they're pretty familiar with a lot of the regulations. There have never been any compliance issues at all and they're pretty concerned about running a clean shop all the way around from the standpoint of the community, the environment, and the health and safety of their Page 2 of 11 1 ` (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 employees. So I'll just say in closing I'd like to offer, if there are any questions that either I can try to answer or either Kevin or Steve can answer, that it's something where hopefully you can reach a decision tonight on and we'll know before we leave here if we can go forward with our plans. M. Carey: Any comments from the Board? T. Guihan: How many square feet did you say that was? S. Vincent: 4600 . We have 40 employees right now, so, and they're all in Cortland. We grew up in Groton and we want our place here. T. Guihan: I will volunteer he runs a clean operation. M. Carey: Now all this work you'll be doing will be inside? There won't be any outside? S. Vincent: All inside. T. Guihan: Will you be doing any finishing up there, or just upholstery? S. Vincent: That will be just upholstery. And there will probably be 15 - K. Vincent: We figure 10 to12 people to be there initially in the new place. M. Carey: There won't be a lot of heavy chemicals or anything like that to be used? D . Palmer: We talked through that whole issue of chemicals and disposal of waste and so on and anything that's disposable in terms of fabric and so on will just be able to go into the dumpster right now. There aren't any chemicals or anything to be of any concern in that process. M. Carey: Now your trucks will be hauling in and out of up there? S. Vincent : Yes. M. Carey: Now is there still a driveway onto 222 from there, or is it all off from Salt Road? S. Vincent: There's still one there -- there's one on each side. M. Carey: Because remember when somebody else wanted to go up there the County recommended that they not come off from that driveway onto 222? Remember that, George? G. Van Slyke: Yes. M. Carey: They recommended that you come off of Salt Road. G. Van Slyke: That was when they wanted to put the diner in there. M. Carey: Was that it? G. Van Slyke: And they had the chicken barbecue place and all that stuff. S. Vincent: Of course that might be a good idea though, still. M. Carey: Yes, because there's that knoll right there. G. Van Slyke: Well, your easiest access is from Salt Road anyway, isn't it? K. Vincent: Yes. Page 3 of 11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 G. Van Slyke: Because you've got the big overhead door there you could just back into and unload from that. As far as tractor trailers, that's probably your best option. T. Guihan: Where are you going to put your employee parking? S. Vincent: It will be on the front, on 222 section. D. Palmer: Facing onto 222 . There's really adequate parking for that number of employees. M. Carey: How many acres are involved in that? D. Palmer: Approximately 1 .6 acres. M. Carey: Oh, so there's plenty - M. Baxendell: On the Salt Road side you could park. S. Vincent: Yes, plenty of room. T. Guihan: How many employees? 15? K. Vincent : Yes, I guess. We were discussing that today and we're starting out - D. Palmer: Ten to 15 initially. Depending on how business grows. So it could go up to 25, 30 over a period of time. M. Carey: Now you won't be doing any selling at this point? S. Vincent: Oh, no. M. Carey: Everything will be brought in, be done, and taken back? S. Vincent : Just the service. D. Palmer: There may be the request for a sign just to recognize the building for drive-by traffic and so on. M. Carey: Well, what does everyone think? We've got the Ag Data Statement filled out. Any other comments from the Board? Any other questions? George, do you want to do the SEQR? This is a form that we have to do for every application that comes before our Board. Board Member George Van Slyke then read aloud Part II of the Short Environmental Assessment Form. Negative responses were obtained to all questions in Part U. Therefore, it was determined by the Planning Board, upon the motion made by Member Mark Baxendell, seconded by Member Barbara 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. This becomes Action # 15 of 2001 M. Carey: Okay, would somebody like to make the motion - I'd like to see put in the motion, if everybody agrees to it, that they don't have access to the Route 222 exits, that they have to use the Salt Road exits because I just think that - what's this? S. Vincent: That's from the NYS Department of Transportation. That's the corner up there. Page 4 of 11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 M. Baxendell: That's where all their right-of-ways and lines and things you have to know about because that corner cuts right into the property. M. Gunn: We checked it all out, though. It's like a 50-foot right-of-way. M. Baxendell: Right. I'm right down there too. That's what we went through too. They take a lot and that corner flares way out. S. Vincent: My land, where the gables are, the white house next to the fish hatchery - boy they really cut in there. I was going to try to put a stone fence there, but forget it. There's no way. M. Carey: And a Public Hearing? I don't know how the Board feels about that. M. Baxendell: I think we probably should have a Public Hearing. That's my feeling. T. Guihan: I agree. D. Palmer. Can I ask why you feel a Public Hearing is needed on something like this? M. Baxendell: Just for the neighbors' sake. In case somebody wants to bring something up. It's generally been the rule to have a Public Hearing for the public to have a voice. D. Palmer: Was there one in existence for the other operations that went in? M. Carey: I believe for some of them there has been. I'm pretty sure we did for the ceramic one, didn't we George? M. Baxendell: You did for the clinic down the road. B. Clark: Right, M. Carey: We've done public hearings on this property. G. Van Slyke: That's right - the restaurant. M. Carey: And what else was in there? T. Guihan: Truck stop. M. Carey: That was a long time ago. G. Van Slyke: Before that, Phil Shurtleff had a farm market in there . What else was in there? T. Guihan: Just to promote harmony. D. Palmer: I don't have any objections, but the only concern that I have is delaying the process. We can't go forward with the Purchase Offer and bring that to conclusion, I guess, until we know for sure whether or not you can do business up there . M. Carey: Well, if we want to hold a Public Hearing I suppose we could hold a special meeting for a Public Hearing. T. Guihan: When's your closing date? D. Palmer: Well, the original closing date was June 15' and that hasn't happened. T. Guihan: When's the target? Page 5of11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 D. Palmer: Well, the target is to close as soon as practical. M . Baxendell: I'd hate to set a precedent where we don't do a Public Hearing, M. Carey: I know. M. Baxendell: It'll cause problems down the road. M. Carey: Right. Well, we have to give ten days' notice to the papers, so it will be two weeks before we could schedule one if everybody was agreeable. J. Fitch: That will be about the 4' of July. M. Carey: Well, we could have fireworks at that meeting. B. Clark: Oh, let' s not. M. Carey: Well, that's true. Everybody going to be out of town? By the time they got it in the Shopper it would be next week, so we wouldn't be able to hold a meeting before the first week of July. J. Fitch: I leave for vacation on the third, which is Tuesday. We come back Saturday. M. Carey: Are you busy Monday? J. Fitch: No. G. Van Slyke : I don't know. I just think that that week is a tough week for everybody to try to get people together. We might not even get a quorum here unless everybody agrees to it tonight before they leave. D. Palmer: The next regular meeting would be the 19'00> M. Carey: Right, B. Albro : Was there a lot of questions on a prior public hearings at all? I mean, did anybody show up? B. Clark: For the Groton City Clinic, no one showed up. M. Carey: Right. I can't remember on - I don't remember. B. Clark: Elm Tree, a year ago. J. Fitch: The last Public Hearing you did that I remember was the one where the industry was on the triangle piece - M. Carey: Yes, and no one showed up for that. B. Albro: Going back to some of those, especially with the veterinary just opening up and nobody - there' s only a couple hundred yards up the road. G. Van Slyke: I guess I'd ask the question of either one of you - have you talked to Giambattista that one in back - the one with the columns in the back? Have either of you approached him or even mentioned that you're coming into the neighborhood or anything? S. Vincent: No. G. Van Slyke: Because as far as I can see - Page 6 of 11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 M. Carey: He'd be the closest neighbor. G. Van Slyke: That would be the only individual that might Be Albro: There's Packard. G. Van Slyke: Packard's not really that close. And he's on the other side of the road. And these guys over on the corner - they're kind of stuck there. But he'd be the one that would be the closest to your facility. S. Vincent: Do you suggest we should go talk to him? G. Van Slyke: You know, I would think that he would probably be the one that'd be most concerned about what's going in there. Be Clark: What would your hours of operation be? When would there be people in there? D. Palmer: Typically it would be like a normal industrial application, 7 to about 5, 5: 30 in the afternoon. Be Clark: And the business that's in there now, they have classes at night, and there are people in and out, so I would think it would be - G. Van Slyke: Yes, I think that if you had - I seem to remember the other one that went in there. The other Site Plan that we did, they didn't have any complaints about what was going in there. Be Albro: There's actually quite a distance - M. Carey: Well, there's a hedgerow there too, right? K. Vincent: Oh, yes, there's a good half a field . . . and a hedgerow. We'd have no problem talking with the neighbor. M. Baxendell: I just don't want to set a precedent; that's what my concern was. M. Carey: Right, M. Baxendell: And I know you understand that. S. Vincent: Yes. M. Baxendell: I think it's great you're coming in. M. Carey: How does the rest of the Board feel? Be Albro: I feel that if they do take and go talk to the gentleman out back and he doesn't have a problem. With the way these other meetings have gone, with the public hearings, and there's been nobody showing up, I can't see wasting their time, three or four weeks, especially to have one, maybe lose a closing date on the building, and nobody shows up. M. Carey: Well, when we did the Pizza Barn they didn't have anybody. G. Van Slyke: Right. And that's just down the road. Be Clark: And other more retail businesses to that draw the traffic in. M. Baxendell: That's not as industrial as what they are doing. Page 7 of 11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 M. Carey: Right. But there's not going to be the chemicals or odors or anything either. So basically it's not going to be anything more going on out there than the ceramic place . G. Van Slyke: Or anymore than the truck stop was. B. Albro: Most all of your upholstery and noise-making would all be inside? S. Vincent: The sewing machines is about it. B. Albro: But they'd be muffled inside? S. Vincent: Oh, yes. It will be contained in the building. D. Palmer: Let me offer a suggestion, if I could do that. If the Board doesn't have any objection in concept to going into that building, let us go ahead with the plans, what we need to do, and go ahead and schedule the Public Hearing for your next meeting. I'll make it a point to come to that meeting and be available to answer any questions if there' s anything from the public. M. Carey: Because we can agree upon the project - M. Baxendell: We agree it's a good thing for Groton. It's a great location for it. M. Carey: But just for the formality, I mean - D. Palmer: I don't have a problem with going ahead with a Public Hearing on it, and I'd be glad to come back and represent the company and field any questions, if Kevin and Steven are agreeable to that. K. Vincent: I'm agreeable to that. T. Guihan: It will save you a lot of grief down the road. M. Carey: And plus, we need to submit it to the County too. And by that time, they should reply back to us. K. Vincent : No, we don't want any problems. D. Palmer: Then it's the 19' then? 7 : 30? M. Carey: Does somebody want to make the motion that we tentatively give approval to this project contingent upon the outcome of the Public Hearing? G. Van Slyke: So moved. J. Fitch: You also wanted to put the other things in there - G. Van Slyke: Contingent upon the outcome of the Public Hearing, and restrict the access and egress to Salt Road. M. Carey: There won't be any excessive lighting or anything like that? S. Vincent: No. B. Albro: We're not going to allow them to go onto Route 222 at all? M. Carey: I'd rather not, because the County has recommended to us for one of the places up there - I don't even think the ceramic place is supposed to be letting traffic out onto 222 , but they do. Page 8of11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 You can just block the entrance off. Traffic just goes too fast on 222 . Even though your place is down there, you come up over that hill, you pull out and head towards Cortland, there's cars coming up over that hill pretty darn quick. D. Palmer: There's a lot of bad accidents up there. M. Carey: Right, G. Van 31yke: That's always been a bad corner. M. Carey: Right, T. Guihan: I 'll second the motion. M. Carey: All in favor? (All those present indicated in the affirmative .) Okay, so were tentatively approving it and will have a Public Hearing at the next meeting at 7 : 30 . D. Palmer: Could we expect that there would be a report from this meeting so that we can carry forth with this? J. Fitch: What I do, Don, is tomorrow morning I will fax over here what I call an Index of Actions. I assign an action number and it's over here within 24 hours. The first action tonight will be approving the Minutes, the second one will be the SEQR decision, and then the one just made. You can pick that up tomorrow morning in the office. D. Palmer: Excellent. Very good then. M. Carey: Thank you for coming. Resignation of Van Travis from the Planning Board M. Carey: The next thing is Van Travis has handed in his resignation. Do we need a copy for the record? J. Fitch: I'll just put a copy in the Attendance file so it can be placed in the Clerk's file. M. Carey: He just can't make the meetings and he was hoping to hold out until the end of December when his term expired, but I guess he's become quite involved with other activities. Discussion of Comprehensive Plan Review M. Carey: Also, I've talked to Glenn and of course he' s not able to make the meeting tonight, but what he would like to do is have everybody basically read over the Comprehensive Plan, say we've read it over, and, you know, that we do agree that there are changes that need to be done. Discussion re Mobile Homes M. Carey: And the other thing is Joan brought us the Cortlandville Code on mobile homes. J. Fitch: You had brought up the skirting issue last month and you had asked how anyone else handled it, and I found out that they handled it right in their definitions under manufactured housing. So they gave me a copy of their definitions to give to you. Page 9 of 11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 M. Baxendell: That's where it is. Under manufactured housing. M. Carey: But that's at least a double-wide. They don't allow single-wides in Cortlandville? M. Baxendell: No, they're in mobile home parks. That's how a lot of towns get around putting single-wides in anywhere. They say it has to be in a prescribed mobile home park. That' s something to consider. M. Carey: Any more discussion? Anything else to come before the Board? We ought to see if Mark has anything he'd like to bring before the Board. Discussion - Replacing Van Travis on Planning Board G. Van Slyke: What are they going to do about Van Travis? M. Carey: Glenn just got this today and he called me at home tonight and told me it was going to be here for me. And we basically discussed that we will probably have to put another ad in the paper, unless somebody knows someone that's interested in this Board. Code Enforcement Issues - Mark Gunn, CEO M. Carey: Mark, have you got anything to bring before our Board? M. Gunn: No. I hope that lady does turn in her lease because then they would have to go for a State variance . M. Baxendell: Elegant Hayseeds would have to go for a State variance? M. Gunn: No, he would. If he's the owner of the building, he'd have to go for the State variance to have two businesses in a wood-frame structure . M. Baxendell: Well, they weren't talking about going in until they're out. M. Carey: Right. M. Gunn: But they said, Don said that she's at this point not going to renew her lease. It kind of sounded like that maybe if she couldn't find another place to get her stuff into that she might have to extend her lease or something. M. Baxendell: They will take up the whole facility. M. Gunn: I hope that's the case. M. Carey: I heard she had something in Cortland, but I don't know. B. Clark: I think they are already cleaning out; there's a dumpster up there. M . Gunn: That would be great. I don't want anything else to slow him up . M. Carey: I just assumed from the way they talked that they were going to use the whole building. M. Baxendell: If he takes over, he doesn't have to honor that lease unless it's stuck in that Purchase Offer. He can get them right out of there if he wants. Page 10 of 11 (T) Groton Planning Board Regular Meeting Transcript 21 June 2001 M. Gunn: Right, G. Van Slyke : She probably wished she'd stay down in town now. T. Guihan: I think it's very cooperative that he's going to put a barrier there in front of the building; that's fantastic. Even if it is just shrubs. M. Carey: And shrubs take up a lot of noise. Nothing more? M. Gunn: That's it. Adjournment M. Carey: Okay. Be Clark: I make a motion we adjourn the meeting. Be Albro: Ill second it. M. Carey: All in favor? (All members present indicated in the affirmative. ) Meeting adjourned. The meeting was adjourned at 8 :05 p.m. RFCFPVrGn J E . Fitch, Recording Secretary 7JU 3 2001 7112101 TO-0;i: Vr ur. . ✓iY TOWN CLEW Page 11 of 11