HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-06-12 Town of Lansing zoning Board of Appeals June 12 , 2003
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2 Town of L
3 Thursday , June 12 , 2003 ; 7 : 00 PM Zoning Board of Appeals
4 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MEMBERS
5 (*Denotes present)
6 * Steve White, Chair * David Dittman
7 * Linda Hirvonen * Wayne Lucas
8 * Stephen Wright * Dan Konowalow (Alt.)
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10 * Richard G . Platt, Code Enforcement Officer
1 1 * Bud Shattuck, Deputy Town Supervisor
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13 PUBLIC PRESENT
14 John McLean 651 Ridge Road
15 Norfe J . Pirro 91 Auburn Road
® 16 Wayne Stokes 93 Auburn Road
17 Rhondalves 95 Auburn Road
18 Robert Ives 95 Auburn Road
19 Pam Platt 178 Groton Ave
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21 GENERAL BUSINESS
22 Steve White called the meeting to order at 7 : 07 PM. Steve read the legal notice printed in
23 the Ithaca Journal regarding the public hearing for a variance request for 91 Auburn
24 Road, Lansing NY 14882 . Mr. Norfe Pirro introduced himself to the board and explained
25 that approximately one year ago he purchased his home in Lansing. Upon moving in,
26 Mr. Pirro realized that the home was not as big as he needed . The home does have a
27 basement, however, it completely floods and is unusable . A slab was preexisting on the
28 property and Mr. Pirro thought that would be an ideal spot for a storage shed . Unaware
29 of the rules and regulations of the Town of Lansing, Mr. Pirro did not inquire about a
3o building permit, therefore he was unaware of the area set backs and proceeded to build an
31 11 ' x 22 ' storage shed .
32 Linda Hirvonen : When you bought your house did you have a structural inspection done?
33 Norfe Pirro : No , it was strongly recommended by Audrey Edelman ' s Real Estate . I could
34 not afford the cost, also, I was in a hurry to move out of my Mom ' s home .
• 35 Linda Hirvonen : Did you get a property disclosure ?
Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals June 12 , 2003
• 1 Norfe Pirro : No, it did say that the basement had water. They recommended that the
2 house have footer drains . Nothing was mentioned along the lines of the basement
3 flooding. When I looked at the house, the basement was dry. There was a sump pump in
4 the corner and my thought was maybe there would be occasional moisture or water in the
5 corners .
6 Steve White : Is there an outside entrance to this new addition?
7 Norfe Pirro : No there isn ' t.
8 Steve White : Are you planning on putting one in? It ' s unusual for a storage building not
9 to have access from the outside .
10 Norfe Pirro : I did not.
t 1 Public Comments :
12 John McLean, property owner next to Mr. Pirro advised the board that his only concern is
13 that down the road, Mr. Pirro may convert this room into additional habitation living
14 space . The lot is extremely small ( 1 /3 acre) and that would increase the use of the septic
15 system . The way the land is sloped would cause the drainage to run onto Mr. McLean ' s
16 property.
17 Richard Platt : I asked Mr. Pirro about using it as living space and he stated it was not
18 going to be a bedroom. The windows do not meet egress .
19 Norfe Pirro : I assure the entire board that my intentions are not to use this as a bedroom
20 or any type of living space.
21 Linda Hirvonen : Is it going to be sided so that it blends?
22 Norfe Pirro : Yes to look exactly like the house.
23 Robert Ives : Mr. Ives ' s concern is that since Mr. Pirro moved in, the quality of the
24 neighborhood has been going down hill because of the things that are lying around . A
25 brush pile has been out in front since the middle of last summer. Toys are all over the
26 place. There are a lot of things outdoors such as boats, motorcycles, boxes etc . and Mr.
27 Ives would like to see Mr. Pirro be allowed to have a shed in order for these things to
28 disappear. Mr. Ives hopes this is not an indication of lack of integrity or lack of ability to
29 perceive what one needs to do when you have a house in a nice neighborhood .
30 Steven Wright : What was the reason for you not putting the shed in the back of the yard?
31 Norfe Pirro : 1 . There was a concrete slab on the side .
32 2 . I like having a yard .
33 3 . Someday build two-car garage .
34 4. Concerned about building on top of leach field .
35 Bud Shattuck : It seems to me that a door on the outside would take care of a lot of the
36 excess that could be taken care of every night.
• 37 Norfe Pirro : If a door is what makes or breaks this, I have no problem with putting a door
38 on it .
Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals June 12, 2003
• l Wayne Stokes : Mr. Stokes states he does not want to see the property deteriorate and
2 would like to work with Mr. Pirro , not against him. A letter Mr. Stokes wrote to the
3 Zoning Board of Appeals regarding his requests was reviewed at the meeting.
4 Rhonda Ives : Mrs. Ives explained to Mr. Pirro that when you buy a house, you buy a
5 community. As a neighborhood they have been able to maintain the attitude and
6 responsibility to one another.
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8 Steve White closed the privilege of the floor at 7 : 40PM and stated that there would be no
9 more questions allowed .
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11 Steve Wright : This is an unfortunate situation that the applicant already started
12 construction, should we even consider that? What about the next person that accidentally
13 starts construction? Does that obligate us to give them leniency that we wouldn ' t or grant
14 them an approval that we wouldn ' t otherwise grant?
15 Linda Hirvonen: I think it ' s hard to get away from the fact that it ' s already there.
16 Steve Wright : What about the next applicant that comes in and has not made a mistake,
17 but has watched the precedence like this?
18 Linda Hirvonen : Let ' s look at the ramifications . If we were to deny the variance what
19 happens, is Mr. Pirro forced to take down the structure that is there? How do we address
• 20 the concerns of the neighborhood who are certainly concerned about everything that ' s
21 sitting out in the yard? Should we or should we not consider that?
22 Wayne Lucas : I think every case is going to be unique.
23 Richard Platt : When I issued the Stop Work order, Mr. Pirro was willing to tear down the
24 structure. I advised him to wait until we reached a decision.
25 Steve White : In my opinion I would consider this as if it wasn ' t there.
26 Steve Wright : How do you think we should think about the issues the neighbors have?
27 The letter from Mr. Stokes requested that we put some covenants in, but I ' m not so sure
28 we having any standing to consider that.
29 David Dittman : We do not.
30 Wayne Lucas : From what I hear, all their neighbors want the storage building to
31 continue .
32 Steve Wright : I have a couple of concerns . ( 1 ) It ' s a storage now, 20 years from now is it
33 going to be a living room , bedroom, den . (2) The nature of this project puzzles me. The
34 property is large enough to put this elsewhere .
35 Linda Hirvonen : What are the chances the toys and other things that it ' s intended to
36 house will get there? If it were placed appropriately to comply with the rules and
37 regulations, would there not be a better chance of having it due what it was intended for?
• 38 David Dittman stated that he would read the items that they use as the balancing test.
Town of Lansing Board of Appeals June 12 , 2003
• 1 1 . Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method,
2 feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance;
3 ANSWER: Yes
4 Place the stricture on the other side of the house .
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6 2 . Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the
7 neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the
8 area variance.
9 ANSWER: No
io 3 . Whether the requested area variance is substantial ;
11 ANSWER: No
12 4 . Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the
13 physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district;
14 ANSWER: No
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17 5 . Whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be
• 18 relevant to the decision of the board of appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the
19 granting of the area variance.
20 ANSWER : Yes
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22 Wayne Lucas made a motioned to approve the variance . Since there was no second, the
23 motion dies . Steve Wright moved to deny the motion . David Dittman seconded .
24 VOTE : Wayne Lucas - Aye
25 David Dittman - Aye
26 Linda Hirvonen - Aye
27 Stephen Wright - Deny
28 Steve White - Abstained
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30 Variance Denied
31 Steve Wright made a motion to adjourn. Wayne Lucas seconded .
32 The Board adjourned at 8 : 07 PM.
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Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals June 12, 2003
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Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting
June 12 , 2003 7 : 00 PM
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