HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution PB 18-08 RESOLUTION PB 18-08
TOWN OF LANSING PLANNING BOARD APPROVAL OF VILLAGE CIRCLE-
VILLAGE SOLARS ("VCVS") PDA FINAL RE-SUBDIVISION PLAT PER
EXISTING LOCAL LAW AND FINAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
WHEREAS, on August, 2015 the Lansing Town Board issued a Final Approval of the
Village Circle-Village Solars Planned Development Area (the "PDA" or, when more
particularly so referenced, "VCVS") affecting and rezoning lands were approved for
subdivision to create commonly known Tax Parcels#39.-1-35 (3.65 acres),39.-1-38.1 (2.70
acres), 39.-1-38.3 (3.53 acres), 39.-1-38.5 (2.64 acres), and 39.-1-34 (approximately 0.28
acres) covering approximately 12.8± acres within the R2 zoning district, as updated in
May, 2017 by Resolution 17-91 and the amendment and adoption of a revised PDA local
law renamed and renumbered as updated as Local Law #6 of 2017; and
WHEREAS, such PDA was mapped and a local law adopted, and site and planning
changes as various phases and buildings and improvements were undertaken resulted in
the local law governing such PDA being amended,with the most recent such controlling
local law being said Local Law #6 of 2017, and among the reasons for needed changes in
the PDA and its local law were things like the need for utility substations and adjusting
internal lot lines for the purposes of construction, financing, and property management
purposes, which such changes did not and here again do not affect the PDA, its public
purposes, or the development plan or statement of intent as outlined in prior approvals
and such local law; and
WHEREAS, Local Law #6 of 2017 was undertaken and approved by both the Planning
Board and the Town Board pursuant to the Land Use Ordinance, and it was then
necessary to amend lot lines due to initial project financing, and future lot line changes
were known and foreseeable such that the local law provided blanket authorization for
subdivision changes within the PDA to be undertaken, reviewed, and approved by the
Planning Board, so long as it was determined that no subdivision extended beyond the
approved boundaries of the PDA and no changes were made to the purposes or proposed
material requirements of the PDA, including the build-out phase and timing of the
community center and related public amenities; and
WHEREAS, among the changes and rules in said Local Law #6 of 2017 were
requirements for site planning for new buildings over a certain size(see§1610(4)),certain
lists of allowed uses and site planning requirements for the community center (§
1610(2)(b)(7), flexibility as to the future location of required parking (§1610(6)(e)(4)), and
provisions allowing the Developer to subdivide, rejoin, consolidated the PDA into
separate or differing tax parcels to assist in the delineation of project phasing, tax
management issues, and financing for project development(§ 1610(22)); and
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WHEREAS, the clear legislative intent and directive so encompassed allows for minor
changes in the PDA and lot line changes and subdivisions to occur without Town Board
approvals or any Pyrrhic need for an amended local law for this PDA,particularly when
the underlying boundaries, purposes, and requirements of the PDA itself are not
changing; however, as changing lot lines may create a need for easements and
stormwater management reviews to ensure an integrated project whole, the Planning
Board will none-the-less issue any final subdivision approval and require a Town Board
approval of the subdivision plat conditions as a condition to sealing the plat to
accommodate any such concerns and continue the general requirements in the Land Use
Ordinance for two levels of reviews for planned development areas, as referenced in the
Town's zoning and §1610(22) of such PDA local law; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Lansing Planning Board has examined and reviewed the May
21, 2018 application for a Subdivision to convert the prior 4-lot PDA management and
finance system into a 9-lot system, in part as additional buildings have been completed
and new project lenders have different project financing requirements and want each
income-producing building and construction project on its own tax parcel (and the PDA
local law specifically envisioned such needs in§1610(22) thereof); and
WHEREAS, the subdivision is classified as a major subdivision and the question of
easements and stormwater requirements were duly referred to the Town Engineer and
Town Attorney for review and comment, and no changes in stormwater planning were
recommended to account for the change in the lot lines or number of lots, and no need
for amended stormwater easements was noted as the easements for the same are in the
local law and were granted upon a whole-PDA basis; and
WHEREAS,this lot line change/subdivision was delivered to County Planning for§239
review and the County replied upon June 5,2018 indicating that"the modifications have
no negative inter-community, or county-wide impacts," and the matter was further
discussed and considered at a public meeting of the Planning Board upon June 11, 2018,
and the residents of the Town of Lansing were given a full opportunity to be heard
respecting the subdivision amendment of the approved Village Circle Apartments-
Village Solars PDA Final Development Plan and this subdivision proposal; and
WHEREAS, on June 11, 2018, pursuant to Local Law Number 3 of 2016 (Subdivision
Rules and Regulations of the Town of Lansing),the Planning Board held a Public Hearing
on this proposed Major Subdivision and all comments thereat received and all documents
and evidence delivered were duly considered; and
WHEREAS, as this proposal affects only internal lot lines, does not change the
development plan, timing, construction sequencing, the size of the PDA, the number of
units or buildings, and as re-subdividing internal lot lines was specifically envisioned
and reviewed in the Type I SEQRA review for the local law and in prior approvals of this
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PDA,and as 6 NYCRR 617.5(c)(2),(15),and(26)suggest that this action could be classified
as a Type II Action, the Planning Board none-the-less considers this as a Type I Action
and has undertaken a review of the prior SEQRA review and negative declaration, its
findings and project conditions mitigating any moderate or other potential or actual
adverse environmental impacts, and has found that nothing in the current application
triggers a need to conduct any supplemental review of the existing negative declaration,
which declaration be and hereby is continued; and
WHEREAS, the Lansing Town Board has final approval authority over subdivisions in
the Town of Lansing pursuant to law and the Town's Subdivision local law; accordingly,
and based upon due consideration and deliberation by the Town of Lansing Planning
Board, now therefore be it RESOLVED AND DETERMINED as follows:
1. Pursuant to§12 of Local Law#3 of 2016 (the Subdivision Local Law) the Planning
Board hereby grants a waiver to consider the survey and plat map as delivered as the
equivalent of a final plat, and finds that waiving the requirements of§ 7(C) and related
platting requirements of such local law is here warranted as: (i) granting these waivers
would be keeping with the intent and spirit of the subdivision law as it effects no adverse
change in the land or land uses as this application merely re-subdivides previously
approved development plans and subdivisions within an approved PDA,all as expressly
allowed by and provided for in such PDA local law; (ii) no negative impact on the
community is expected and no changes to the land or the development plan are here
occurring; (ii) there is no change in or any new or increased adverse effect upon the
character,appearance,or welfare of any neighborhood or the environment; (iii) there are
special circumstances involved in this particular case, including that the subdivision
platting requirement have previously been submitted and the land's topography,
boundaries, and utility and stormwater information is not changing, as well as the fact
that this platting change complies with existing zoning and the requirements of the PDA
local law; (iv) denying the waiver would result in undue hardship in terms of imposing
extra time and expense upon the Developer for no discernable reason or benefit,
particularly where,as here,no actual land impact will occur and no benefit would accrue
to the public or the Town by requiring strict compliance with platting and mapping
requirements,and it is further found and determined that this hardship has not been self-
imposed; and (v) these waivers are the minimum necessary degree of variation from the
requirements of said Local Law as are necessary for this review and the reasonable
accomplishment of the purposes hereof and of subdivision review within the Town.
2. The major subdivision plat as submitted be and hereby is approved.
3. The conditions of approval as set forth in Town Board Resolutions 13-77, 15-91,
and 17-91, each as amended by subsequent approvals or as codified as an approved part
of the Town's zoning laws, are each and all continued, along and together with the
following additional conditions applicable to this subdivision approval:
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a. The Survey Map as submitted shall be re-labeled as a "Major Subdivision Final
Plat" and all other plat requirements,for good cause as shown, shall be waived in
connection with such final plat and the above findings.
b. Town Board approval of these lot line and subdivision changes shall have been
issued by appropriate motion or resolution prior to the sealing and endorsing of
said final plat.
c. After Town Board approval the Code Officer shall sign the Plat per LUO§1610(22)
and the Planning Board Chair shall seal and endorse such plat, and the same shall
be presented to the Tompkins County Assessment Department for approval and
stamping and thereafter filed in the Tompkins County Clerk's Office, with proof
of filing to be duly and timely filed with the Town of Lansing Planning and Code
Enforcement Office.
d. All of the previous conditions of PDA approvals, stormwater requirements, and
construction phasing will remain in effect for the overall PDA, and: (i) the final
filed development plan shall be revised to reflect the revised lot lines and separate
tax parcel designations once so assigned; and (ii) the SWPPP will be updated if
and as needed to assure compliance with the Town's stormwater laws and EPA
and DEC regulations and permit requirements for stormwater management. The
amended development plan shall be subject to the review and approval of the
Town Planner or Code Enforcement Officer, and the same shall not be accepted
for filing until duly submitted in a form determined as sufficient to meet the
requirements of this approval and the applicable subdivision and zoning rules
applicable to this PDA. Similarly, no revised SWPPP shall be deemed accepted
until approved by the Town's SMO and Engineer.
Approved: June 11, 2018
Motion by: Larry Sharpsteen
Seconded by: Deborah Trumbull
VOTE AS FOLLOWS:
Gerald Caward,Jr. - Aye
Sandra Dennis Conlon- Aye
Lin Davidson-Aye
Al Fiorille - Aye
Deborah Trumbull- Aye
Larry Sharpsteen- Aye
Thomas Ellis-Aye
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ter information is not changing, as well as the fact
that this platting change complies with existing zoning and the requirements of the PDA
local law; (iv) denying the waiver would result in undue hardship in terms of imposing
extra time and expense upon the Developer for no discernable reason or benefit,
particularly where,as here,no actual land impact will occur and no benefit would accrue
to the public or the Town by requiring strict compliance with platting and mapping
requirements,and it is further found and determined that this hardship has not been self-
imposed; and (v) these waivers are the minimum necessary degree of variation from the
requirements of said Local Law as are necessary for this review and the reasonable
accomplishment of the purposes hereof and of subdivision review within the Town.
2. The major subdivision plat as submitted be and hereby is approved.
3. The conditions of approval as set forth in Town Board Resolutions 13-77, 15-91,
and 17-91, each as amended by subsequent approvals or as codified as an approved part
of the Town's zoning laws, are each and all continued, along and together with the
following additional conditions applicable to this subdivision approval:
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