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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-04-12April 12, 1988 RESOLUTION offered by Mr. Cleveland, who moved its adoption, seconded by Mr. Emmick: RESOLVED that Town of Lansing hereby agrees to increase Bolton Point Water rates and ratifies the Supervisor's action of notifing Bolton Point to that effect. Jeffrey Cleveland, Councilman Vote of Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Herbert Beckwith, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeffrey Cleveland, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Louis Emmick, Councilman Vote of Town. Board . . . . (Aye) Larry Tvaroha, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeannine Kirby, Supervisor RESOLUTION offered by Mr. Beckwith who moved its adoption, seconded by Mr. Emmick: RESOLVED that the Town Board hereby authorizes Robert Mingus, on behalf of the Town to make an application to HUD for a Community Development Block Grant. Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Herbert Beckwith, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeffrey Cleveland, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Louis Emmick, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Larry Tvaroha, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeannine Kirby, Supervisor PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, the strength of our nation, and all of its states and cities, flows from the promise of individual equality and freedom of choice; and WHEREAS, Fair Housing is the policy of the Town of Lansing, New York, implementation of that policy requires the positive commitment, involvement and support of each one of our citizens; and WHEREAS, the departments and agencies of Lansing, New York are to provide leadership in the effect to make fair housing not just an idea, but an ideal for all our citizens; and WHEREAS, barriers that diminish the rights and limit the options of any citizen will ultimately diminish the rights and limit the options of all; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Lansing does hereby proclaim April, 1988 as FAIR HOUSING MONTH in the Town of Lansing, and asks the people of this Town to join in reaffirming the obligation and commitment to fair housing opportunities for all. 1E-- SOLUTION offered by Mr. Beckwith who moved its adoption, seconded by Mr. Cleveland: WHEREAS April is National Fair Housing Month and WHEREAS the Town of Lansing is considering adopting a Fair Housing Law in furtherance of the national goal of fair housing for all, and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that the Supervisor and Town Councilman proclaim April to be Fair Housing Month in the Town of Lansing and cause the Town Clerk to publish our Proclamation pursuant to this Resolution. Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Herbert Beckwith, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeffrey Cleveland, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Louis Emmick, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Larry Tvoraha, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeannine Kirby, Supervisor RESOLUTION offered by Mr. Tvoraha who moved its adoption, seconded by Mr. Emmick. RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Lansing hereby approves the East Lake project contingent upon the developer providing the Town of Lansing, in writing, the provisions which will be contained in every deed in the sub division that the owner of the parcel will connect any dwelling on the property to public'- water and or sewer when it becomes available in the sub division and be if FURTHER RESOLVED that the project is also subject to all conditions set down by the Lansing Planning Board. Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Herbert Beckwith, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Jeffrey Cleveland, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Louis Emmick, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Larry Tvaroha, Councilman Vote of Town Board 0 0 9 . (Aye) Jeannine Kirby, Supervisor Transonic Systems Inc. Excellence in Medical Ultrasound April 9, 1988 Dear Jeannine, We appreciate the chance to ccmuunicate with the neighbors via the public hearing on April 6. Their concerns for an orderly, low impact developnt of the Warren Road area are of equal concern to us, and we view the hearing as a first chance to establish a close working relationship. Some of the concerns are, we feel, already mitigated by the manner in which the park is structured. others we would be willing to mitigate as discussed in the following. I. Traffic: Many of the neighbors, including Mary Orr and an older gentleman who lived on Hillcrest but whose name I didn't quite hear, were concerned with traffic: A. The possible need for a traffic light at the corner of the entrance road to the business park and Warren Road. 1. We who will be working in the park are as concerned about the possible need for a traffic light there as are the neighbors. We hope that the cost of installation of such a light would never become a factor in the decision as to whether one is needed, once the business park is in operation. To make sure that this does not become a financial burden to the Town or County, C.J. Developments is willing to pay for installing such a light, should the appropriate traffic authority recommend such a traffic control procedure within three years of the formation.of the Warren Road Business Park Planned Development Area. Be Increased traffic on Warren Road. 1. We are sure there will be some increased traffic because of the park on Warren Road. Any new construction, be it residential or cammercial, will bring with it an increase of traffic. However, it will certainly be no more than if each of the light industries to be located within the park were located in the unzoned area to the north on Warren Road where there are virtually no restrictions and where each could build a facility far less responsibly. We also expect the increase to be small compared to the increase generated by the multi - family residential districts that are expected to be going in further north on Warren Road or the multi- family housing development that is being enlarged on the adjacent Ply 29 The traffic flow to and frown the business park is expected to be mainly towards Rt. 13. The location of the park near the Town's southerly border will not only be good for the businesses in the park but will confine the wear and tear on the town roads to a limited area, as compared with the problem of spreading these businesses out throughout the unzoned area of the Town. 3o Some concern was expressed over UPS vehicles. The Town of Lansui)g has mich experience with these vehicles as the present UPS Cornell Research Park, 138 Langmuir Labs., Ithaca, New York 14850; 607 - 257 -5300 Telex: 4900001863 AAJ Ul; FAX: 607 - 257 -2445 facility which this will replace is in the Town now. These vehicles will in general be leaving the facility once each morning and returning to it in the late afternoon. The UPS representative Don Gratzer stated at the hearing that the present UPS facility which this new facility will be replacing houses a maximum of 18 such vehicles, 8 -10 vehicle trips per day is the average usage there. The new facility is designed to house a maximum of 28 vehicles. 4. Another of the lots for which we have a purchase offer will be occupied by the airport auxiliary facility for Budget Rent- a-Car. We are presently close neighbors to the Rent -Car facilities at the airport and they are not the source of a large amount of traffic to Brawn Road. (It should be noted that the installation of a traffic light at the Brown Road, Warren Road intersection has not been found necessary to date, although it would probably be advisable at this point. This intersection carries a major amount of traffic associated with the airport, mostly individuals picking up or letting off passengers for flights. The older building of the Cornell Industrial Park, which are at present much more density packed than the Warren Road Business Park will ever be, is the second biggest contributor to the traffic.) 5. As you reported at the hearing, the traffic study now in progress _ may lead the County to widen Warren Road to take the increased traffic flow in the area, especially if the cut is eventually made at Heads Corners at the northern end of Warren Road to connect it with Rt. 34 and take some of the traffic off Triphammer Road. 69 Insofar as the businesses in the park will draw many of their employees from the neighboring residential areas, the current placement of the park may actually reduce the burden on town roads: The park is within walking distance from the current and proposed Lucente properties. A company like Transonic Systems already draws heavily on part- timers, such as the working housewife, and initially untrained full- timers, who learn skills as diverse as electronic assembly and marketing on the job. Some of these staffers are expected to be drawn from the immediate neighborhood. We understand that the area will furthermore again be serviced by public transportation as soon as the need is Justified. We have put a bus stop at Warren Road and the park access road in the plans to accommodate this eventuality. This service will not only reduce the number of cars necessary to bring in those employees who live in the Ithaca area, but will service the surrounding community and reduce the rnrnber of cars travelling to and from the Lucente development as well. 7. It may be illustrative to consider the business relocation efforts our northerly neighbor, Cayuga County. Their industrial development agency plans an industrial park on Rt. 34B just north of Milliken. Transonic Systems seriously considered moving there because of a very attractive financial offer by Cayuga County, but chose the current (twice as expensive) option because of its proximity to the local labor pool and Cornell's resources. Should Cayuga County's industrial park become a reality, Lansing will be faced with traffic such as that generated by the proposed Warren Road Business Park rushing through the full length of the town, but with no tax revenues to offset the costs of increase road use. Aesthetics: John Stevens raised some good points about esthetics and the changing character of - area and what guarantees are necessarY*6 A. Since the Cornell land, even though zoned industrial, is essentially rural in character and the land to the north is rural residential, industrial use of this land could change the character of the area. 10 This issue is equally well addressed in the restrictions inposed on the lot owners. The restrictive covenants to the deeds (which will run with the land, not with the initial building placed on it) impose an architectural review of the initial plans, all expansion plans, and means for the ccmninity to react to unsightly practices on the lots. 2. The neighbor's concern does express a very valid point: Since it is their neighborhood, they should be given a voice in the maintenance of its quality. John Stevens was rightly concerned about the composition of the architectural review committee. We propose to go further than this and to include one neighborhood representative in the Park's management ccmittee. This representative would control 20% of the Camnittee's vote, and have input in such issues as architectural review, traffic flow, the use and character of the park's recreational area. c. John Stevens was also concerned with the amount requested ($10,000) as bond money to guarantee the cleanup of the land if the project is not completed. 19 I believe this has become a moot point. I understand that bank financing has been agreed on for the development of the park. At this point we expect that a Letter of commitment to pay for the entire cost of the development so as to comely with the terms and conditions specified by the Town will be written by the Bank. However, if in the end it turns out that a bond is required, please keep in mind that the bond is not designed to cover the completion of the project but to cover clean-up costs should the project fall through. The amount of the bond should be in line with the expected clean-up costs. III. cones about sewer, water, light, etc. Restrictive covenants in the deeds require all lot owners to join the water district, a sewer district when and if formed, and a light district when and if formed. Their financial participation will ease the burden of the costs of such districts to the rest of the neighboring cmnunity. IV. What types of businesses will be in the park and why are they locating there? 1. Transonic Systems, Inc., currently housed in facilities at Cornell Research Park, is a 4'�year old biomedical equipment manufacturer. With 27 employees, we have outgrown our current facilities in Cornell Research park. our chief product is an ultrasonic blood flow measurement device which is used, for example, during cardiac bypass surgery and to measure flow into artificial lungs of newborns who have had acute respiratory failure. Although the blood flameter was developed at Cornell and the company has close ties with former "associates in the Vet School, the company is by no means part of Cornell. It is a rapidly growing profit making enterprise, and as such will contribute to the tax base. Transonic is locating in the park because there is no parcel of industrially zoned land available for sale near to Cornell. Cornell Research Park land to the south on Warren Road is available for lease, but with the terms of the lease renegotiable every 6 years, the company feels it would be taking too much of a risk to build a new building on Cornell land. 2. UPS, is currently located in the Town of Lansing. If it does not move to the park, its second choice location for its new facility will be in the Town of Dryden, which would cause Lansing to lose UPS as a contributor to the tax base. 39 The lot for Budget Rental cars will be on lot 20 It will be an auxiliary to the Budget office at the airport. 4o other prospective lot owners who are looking at this land include a small company which makes advanced food products, an electronics repair facility similar to the Digital facility at the corner of Brown and Warren Roads, and an building to house several small start -up ccnpanies. V. Impact on environment A. Those of us who will be in the park and don't want to be surrounded by pollutants of one kind or another are concerned about this issue also. We have addresses these concerns about the impact on the enviroment in a number of ways. 1. The business park has been set up with environmental concerns in mind. Individual lot owners are required to go through the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process. "Light" industrial and "light" commercial, the only two uses allowed on the building lots of the park in the proposed Warren Road Business Park land use ordinance. The ordinance defines as "light" only those uses which have been found to have a non - significant signcant envirormbental impact (a negative finding) by the lead agency in the SEAR process. 2. As much of the natural woods will be left in place as possible. The community recreational area, for example, is now wooded and will probably remain that way as pleasant place to walk among the trees. Transonic System's building itself will be build with as little tree removal as possible to maintain the natural wooded setting. v. The effect on property values. A. The carefully controlled, non- pollutUY9 tasteful, low density industrial park that is surrounded by a buffer zone of trees should have a less detrimental effect to surrounding property values that many of the uses that are allowed with the current zoning. VI. Job development A. Mrs Stevens made the point that, since the entire area is one comwting whole, jobs within Lansing would not be gained or lost. 1. A major reason for our decision to turn down Cayuga County's very attractive offer was that we would lose some of our employees. They were not willing to commute that far. In view of this, we felt that it would be quite difficult to attract enough employees from Genoa and the rural area north of here to accomplish our growth goals. We are doubling our sales annually and have grown frown 16 to 27 employees in the 1� years I have worked for Transonic, and feel that our employees are our major asset. vII. What is C.J. Developments and why is the park being developed. A. C.J. Drost, the President of Transonic Systems, developed the campany's chief product, the ultrasonic blood flowmeter, while on the faculty at Cornell. He is also the land developer, under C.J. Developments. Although he has developed 2 residential subdivisions in Ellis Hollow to raise the initial capital to start Transonic System, he is not primarily a land developer and is developing this parcel to provide Transonic Systems with new plant facilities--and because Transonic Systems' banker recamends that the firm and the development be handled separately. The impetus behind the developwnt of the business park was that Transonic Systems, when looking for land suitable for locating its new facility, found that industrially zoned land near to the Ithaca contacts that are invaluable to its business is hard to find. The Tompkins County Development Foundation pointed out to us that other local companies are in the same pinch.The hope of the canpany to have a new facility in an acceptable envirormient, given the land available, appears achievable only by putting Transonic Systems into a controlled industrial park. VII. What does the town get fran the business park? A. The tax base generated will far exceed the services demanded. i Be The park will fully participate in the costs of establishing a water district (and sewer district and light district when such options becomes available again) and will help to offset the costs of these installations for the rest of the community. C. Clustering light industry in a controlled planned development is more desirable than scattering light industry all over the town without adequate control. D. The park will create employment. E. The Park will provide a buffer zone between the existing multi - family housing development to the north and the Cornell land. This use of the land is in harmony with the goals of the general plan. F. Clustering light industry near the southern border of the Town will limit the wear and tear on town road to a minimal segment of the Town highway system• G. The existence of the park may help to justify the reestablishment of bus service to the area, which will benefit both the area residents and the park employees. H. Providing a place for light the attractiveness for the the northern Town border in park would give Lansing the and tear on the town highway the increased costs. industry in the Town of Lansing will reduce same light industries of relocating across Cayuga County. A Town of Genoa industrial worst of all possible worlds: maximal wear V system without the tax revenues to offset I hope this letter proves helpful in answering some of the very legitimate questions and concerns raised at the public hearing. We are sensitive to these concerns. Many of them are also our concerns. I have been trying to get in touch with John Stevens to ask his cooperation in setting up the park in such a way as to answer some of his and the other neighbor's concerns, but I haven't been able to reach him yet. I understand that he is an attorney and perhaps, with his professional knowledge and concern as an immediate neighbor, would be the ideal person to formulate the set -up of the Park management committee in such a way as to foster the spirit of cooperation between the neighbors and us. Your suggestion that we meet with John Stevens, the Orrs, and the older gentleman who lives on Hillcrest whose name I didn't catch, is also a good one. Cor and I would be more than willing to do so at your and/or their convenience. other neighbors with concerns would of course be welcome. We plan to be an asset not only to the community as a whole, but to the neighborhood as well. Sincerely, i l 1 I - lece- E,lle(y y / /y //ff Aj Al Agd i i i i ZO)IO 44� 1 / 0 i i �:-- yetts0,�e.. 4Aoot r m— ' Ar "' .lam April 12, 1988 continued The Town Board set the date of April 14th, 1988 at 5:00 P.M. to consider and act on the Drost project. The Town Board also set the date of April 19th at 7 :00 P.M. to to do a SEQR review for the East Lake project. On motion, meeting adjourned at the call of the Supervisor. 0/eDry �-/ April 14, 1988 The Lansing Town Board met in an Adjourned Meeting at the Town Hall • Boardroom at 5:00 P.M. to discuss the Drost project and to consider and act on any other business that may come before said board. ROLL CALL Jeannine Kirby Supervisor Present Herbert Beckwith Councilman Present Jeffrey Cleveland Councilman Present Louis Emmick Councilman Present Larry Tvaroha Councilman Absent Bonita Boles Town Clerk Present John Kelleher Town Attorney Present Visitors: Deputy Town Clerk, Debbie Crandall, Mr. and Mrs. John Orr, Mrs. and Mrs. John Stevens, The Krizek family, Linda Beckwith, Jean Finley, Mr. Drost and about four other residents. Supervisor Kirby called the meeting to order having the clerk take the Roll Call. Several residents spoke concerning the project. The following were items of concern: the project would make the surrounding property valueless - one person wants to keep it all residential - incongruous UPS and Budget Rent -A -Car should be in the back portion of the project - would like a bigger buffer - lighting problems may arouse traffic problems cannot mix zoning - would like Industrial Zoning taken further if passed project would encourage Cornell to use vacant land in that area. Mr. John Stevens handed the Town Clerk his objections in writing. Jean Finley a'ked that a letter concerning said project be attached to the minutes. Both the writen objections from Mr. Stevens and the letter from M. Jean Finley are attached hereto and made a part thereof. After much discussion and compromising the following resolution was made. RESOLUTION offered by Mr. Emmick who moved its adoption, seconded by Mr. Beckwith: RESOLVED that the Lansing Town Board hereby approves the Drost project as submitted subject to the following provisions: A) Mr. Drost sha11 plant a minimum of four rows of evergreen trees as a buffer at a height of four to six feet (after being set in the ground) all along the north boundry, along the south boundry to the jog as described in the proposed subdivision and all along the west side. B) Mr. Drost and anyone who purchases a lot in said subdivision must agree to a deed restriction that states when a water and /or sewer is formed, each dwelling shall hook up to said district. C) If the County feels that said project would require a traffic light to be installed, Mr. Drost would pay all expenses. D) The woods that are already in the proposed project are to be left as is, as much as possible. E) Signs shall be reviewed by the Town Board for the Drost project and for anyone who purchases a lot from Mr. Drost. Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Herbert Beckwith, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . (Aye) Jeffrey Cleveland, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . . . (Aye) Louis Emmick, Councilman Vote of Town Board . . 0 . (Aye) Jeannine Kirby, Supervisor