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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-01-25 Joint r TOWN OF LANSING Joint Meeting Between the Planning Board and the Town Board Monday, January, 25, 1993; 7:30 p.m. • Planning Board Members Present Larry Davidson; Grace Haney; Linda Hirvonen; Viola Miller; Cheryl Nickel; Larry Sharpsteen; Robert Todd; and Al White Tom Neiderkorn, Consultant Planner Town Board Members Present Jeannine Kirby, Town Supervisor; Jeff Cleveland; Dick Thaler, Town Attorney; and Larry Tvaroha, Town Councilman George Totman, Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer Board of Zoning Appeals Members Present David Dittman, Roger Hagin, Wayne Lucas, James Tucker, and Steve White Chairperson Larry Sharpsteen asked everyone to introduce themselves. • Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance Larry Sharpsteen questioned the Town Board as to the status of the proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance. Larry Tvaroha explained that a public hearing is scheduled for February 10 at 7:30 p.m., and asked that someone from the Planning Board be present to give a brief introduction, and state the reason and need that was seen for changing the zoning ordinance, and give any ideas as far as boundaries and buffers. Proposed Amendment for the Airport Flight Plan Dick Thaler explained that there will be a public hearing on Wednesday, February 10, at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Thaler explained that there have been several concerns over the past several years about development and overdevelopment in the airport area. The Planning Board agreed that there were better uses of the airport hazard zone than residential housing. In the airport area there was a rather limited commercial industrial area. Through the amendments to the zoning ordinance, the Planning Board has been working on changing the size and the shape of the industrial area, targeting a specific type of industry or range of industries for that area that would not be objectionable to nearby residential developments, and trying to be sure the area was properly buffered against the residential areas. The Planning Board has presented the document for the ordinance change to the Town Board for their review. Al White explained his concerns about the plan for the new airport expansion. He felt that the longer the runway is, the bigger the plans are that will be landing and departing. This may cause residents to start complaining. He commented that even though the Federal Government is lowering the decibel level of aircrafts sufficiently, it still isn't going to be down to the comfort range until 1997 or 1998. The more people that move into that area, the more complaints there are going to be. The Government may then institute a noise abatement procedure, which means taking a maximum performance takeoff at a high angle of attack, then once over the airport the aircraft throttle back and hang up there at marginal Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 2 Monday, January 25, 1993 • speed. He felt that the noise abatement procedures would compromise the safety of the passengers and people of the airlines. Al explained that the reason for the airport hazard zone is that generally businesses don't complain about the noise like residents do; and, if an airplane does crash on takeoff or landing, it will most likely do so in the airport hazard zone. Cheryl Nickel questioned how many residents would now be part of the expanded industrial zone. Three - Paul Butler, Mr. Krizek, and John Stevens. It was discussed what this zoning change would do to Paul Butler's house are far as resale if hi house would now be included in this hazard area. Cheryl questioned whether the buffer zones could make a difference. Larry Sharpsteen added that Paul's house was already in the airport hazard zone, but is now going to be in the commercial and industrial zone. He also questioned whether there is a way, short of site plan review, of having industries buffer against existing residences within the zone. He stated that the Planning Board has addressed buffers at the boundaries of the zone in the document that the Planning Board presented, but questioned whether there is a way within the zoning ordinance to change it. It was agreed that the Board of Zoning Appeals could not change the ordinance. Larry Sharpsteen then stated that it would be left up to the Planning Board with site plan review, if they had it; either that or change the zone. Tom Neiderkorn stated that the wording in the proposal is that a buffer strip has to be established along a property line. He suggested that to say that a buffer strip has to be established around the property line of an existing residence in that district. Larry • Sharpsteen questioned whether there was time to make that change before the public hearing. Dick Thaler explained that the Planning Board could make that change at the public hearing; but that the proposal has been advertised. The Town Board will then listen to the public as well as the Planning Board's input, and then reach a decision, or send it back to the Planning Board and indicating that they cannot make a decision and are not going to amend. Viola added that a second public hearing is required if a major change has been made to the proposal. Tom Neiderkorn explained that a public hearing is not necessarily required, unless a major change has been made such as changing the coverage. It depends upon the significance. He didn't feel that changing the statement about the buffers constituted a major change. A concern raised by Tom Neiderkorn was that he heard that local banks will not lend money if, for example, there was a sale of a house that is in an industrial district and the ordinance says that houses are not permitted in the industrial district. Cheryl commented that if the house is in that area, it may be worth more. Linda felt that it gives it a greater viability as either a commercial industrial center or a residence. Larry Sharpsteen commented that he had been informed of a similar problem from someone getting financing for houses in the airport hazard zone for the possible undesirability of the noise problem. Tom Neiderkorn stated that it is dearly a non-conforming use and clearly permitted by virtue of the house being there already. Modifications to the Subdivision Regulations Tom explained that the Planning Board cannot deny access to property that is on state roads, • if there is no other way to get onto that property. He explained that the Planning Board is putting in provisions that would give the subdivider at least fair warning that these are things that the Planning Board will look at. The purpose of it is to reduce the number of obstacles or interruption points along the main roads. Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 3 Monday, January 25, 1993 • Jeannine Kirby questioned which roads would be considered main (primary) roads. Cheryl answered that Route 34, 34B, North Triphammer Road, Peruville Road, and Warren Road. Robert Todd questioned that at the beginning of these discussions, the concerns were about Hillcrest Road, and the potential for more curb cuts. Larry Sharpsteen posed to Tom whether Hillcrest could be included as a primary road. Jeannine added that Collins Road is also very heavily traveled. Larry Tvaroha commented that perhaps the wording could be changed to state "shall include but not limited to", then list the roads which seem to be the primary ones right now. This would still give the Planning Board the leeway and flexibility in the future. Al White commented that the Village has proposed that Hillcrest become a major road. Tom commented that the Village had thought about that, but then realized that Hillcrest is not in the Village. Tom explained that about a year ago there was a joint effort to look at the traffic patterns in the southern part of the Town of Lansing and the Village, and to do this they had to look in the Town at the source of all the traffic and the traffic movement. They did a number of intersection turning movement counts by the Rogues Harbor, Hillcrest, etc. They then did a hypothetical traffic plan that was related to the Village, but it did extend to the North and Hillcrest did turn out to be one of the major routes. Larry Sharpsteen stated to Tom that the wording should read that "primary roads should include but not be limited to. .. ". Town Maps Larry Sharpsteen explained that the Planning Board has been working on new town maps for use for the long-term plans, paper roads, and a working map to use with the developments. • Tom explained that he has been working on three maps, and presented them. He explained that he is trying to take the southern part of the town and the strip up the lake, enlarge those to a scale of 1 inch to 600 feet, and show all of the current property lines. Larry Sharpsteen explained that these maps will allow the Planning Board the opportunity to have them in a workable scale. They then can work one section then another on potential problems, paper roads, and long-range planning. Tom questioned whether there is some relationship between what should be zoned and what has water. He felt that any area that is receiving water, and therefore would have a smaller lot size, should have some kind of zoning in that area. Tom felt there are three alternatives for the zoning ordinance. The first would be to keep it the way it is now and modify the districts, so that it makes sense as far as the development that is occurring and in terms of adjacent developments in the Village of Lansing. The second could extend the boundary to Peruville Road and over to Myers, as an interim kind of zoning extension and provide the regulations for that. The third would be to zone the whole town. The whole northeastern part of the town could be an unclassified district where there aren't any regulations at all; all uses are permitted and there are no regulations control. Larry Sharpsteen stated that it was his opinion that option #1 really isn't an option; it needs to be done anyway to bring the area that is currently zoned up to where it makes some kind of sense. For option #2, the Planning Board had even considered taking zoning out past Milliken Station. Jeannine Kirby interjected that there has been a substantial survey done on bringing water out to Milliken Station, but a decision has not been made yet. Jeannine stated • that she has spoken with Paul Southard and he is very much in favor of it. This would allow Milliken not to have to upgrade their water system as frequently. Larry Sharpsteen felt that the area of concentration should begin with bringing up to date the area that is already zoned. Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 4 Monday, January 25, 1993 • Master Plan Dick Thaler expressed his concern that 'the Town of Lansing has been neglecting to keep up to date with the planning. He stated that the last time the Master Plan was updated was around 1972. He felt that if Lansing was going to get any government grants, it was going to have to have an up-to-date overall master plan for the Town. The second thing that he felt the Town hasn't done, is to utilize the function of the Board of Zoning Appeals in the correct manner. The Board of Zoning Appeals is not a legislative body; the Planning Board and the Town Board are. The Board of Zoning Appeals is the agency that where there is hardship truly because of something the Planning Board, the Town Board, or the law has overlooked, they can make an exception, if the mandate is there for them to do it. The Board of Zoning Appeals hasn't been appealed to more than ten limes in the last four years. Dick felt that there really wasn't something in place whereby the public at large understands the various functions of the Planning Board, Town Board, and the Board of Zoning Appeals and how the interrelation is. He felt it was time to bring the Town up to date. Larry Sharpsteen stated that the Planning Board is in the process of individually reviewing the Master Plan. He suggested that is not a dead document, but gives a firm foundation to continue with. He offered to the Town Board that the Planning Board would be willing to have another joint meeting in the near future to discuss the Master Plan. Prioritization of Objectives 41 Larry Sharpsteen felt that the guidance should come from the Town Board as to the extent of the zoning changes. He also asked the Town Board for their guidance in prioritizing the actions of the Planning Board for the near future. The Planning Board has already started working on the education process, but can't initiate it. Al stated that the Planning Board will hold the community meetings and get a sense of what the town members want. Larry Tvaroha stated that the Town Board does want to know what the community wants, and will support and try to implement any suggestions from the community. Larry Sharpsteen questioned what priorities the Town Board would assign as far as the master plan, the revisions to the existing zoned area, the expansion of the zoned area, and the Town Center. The Planning Board will continue to work on all of these areas, but want some guidance. Jeannine Kirby felt that the Town Center is a priority, because the Jehovas Witness people are going to set up temporary housing as quickly as they can. She also felt the need to move on a Town Hall, since these issues all come together. From the discussions, Larry clarified that the priorities should be: the Town Center, the revised zoning area, the Master Plan, and then the expansion of the zoned area. He added that the work will continue on all these items at once though. Town Center and Education Process Cheryl Nickel explained that the Planning Board started out last year by sending out a survey asking for feedback from the Town. There were a number of responses from the community in North Lansing with comments about the lack of zoning. There was a similar • response with a few individual in-depth interviews. With the information she had gathered, she decided to start taking a message out to particular groups. Her focus for planning in Lansing is that before it becomes Elmira Road, that we try and do some positive planning and create a central place before Lansing loses its identity. She has spoken with the Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 5 Monday, January 25, 1993 • Woodsedge senior citizens, and met with a group in Ludlowville, and have asked groups to find a date to allow her to speak to them. She felt that the Lions Club was a little more involved. She felt she may have tried to present too many issues to this group. In the end she felt that she was able to get across her ideas. Linda Hirvonen explained that the group lost their focus and began talking about the recreation fields. In the future, Linda suggested emphasizing that the recreation fields are not the whole issue. The land that the Town has bought can only be used for certain things and that the only reason that the Planning Board is discussing a town center is because the people of the Town of Lansing, through their participation in the survey, told us that they should. Cheryl explained that from the groups that she has talked to so far and from the surveys, she has a list of about 50 people that are willing and eager to take part as volunteers on the survey. Two of them are architectural draftsman, who will actually do some renderings of the possibilities that are discussed. They will work with Cheryl on a community design project so they can sketch as the people talk about what they want to see. One woman, who is in organizational management, has worked on the dynamics of this type of group interaction. Cheryl is proposing eight committees that she feels community people should be involved in, and that at least one member from the Planning Board should be on each one of the committees. The committees are: (1) Master Plan - This work is already ongoing. (Linda Hirvonen); (2) Lansing Town Center - (Cheryl Nickel); (3) Economic Development - Attracting new business. She suggested making a wish list of what the town would like to see in Lansing (Larry Sharpsteen); (4) Parks and Recreation - (Al White) - Cheryl explained there is a person who lives in Ludlowville that is a former Parks and Recreation Director t from Orlando, Florida. He has volunteered to head up this committee since he has had experience doing this. He will gather information and do an inventory of the recreation areas in Lansing, also an inventory of the parks and recreation facilities that will be needed in the future and where they might be needed. The first focus will be on the 130-acre parcel.; (5) Agricultural Resources - (Robert Todd or Al White) - How do we deal with the interests of the farmers of this community and continuing development?; (6) Historic Resources - (Viola Miller) - Cheryl explained that the Town is already moving some historic buildings to this area, and need to at least have this in mind when planning; (7) Street Trees - There are about four people interested in this and all have a professional background. They would be involved in recommendations for street trees, for example, along Route 34 South, which would really enhance what is existing already. Jeannine Kirby added that once the boys are in resident at the new facility adjacent to the recreational parcel, that the Town will try to get them to plant trees as a border separating the parcels (outside the fence); and (8) Publicity/Communications - (Grace Haney). Cheryl explained that the people recommended for these committees are tentative at this point. Cheryl explained that the Town has put up a permanent bulletin board in the Town Hall, asking people to sign-up and give input. On February 10 or 11 she will be sending out postcards to every Lansing resident inviting them to take part in the planning for Lansing 2010, telling them that the Planning Board wants them all to be involved, and that there will be a public meeting. At this public meeting, everyone will be given scratch pads to put their ideas for what they want for Lansing and what their concerns are. Cheryl will then start pulling together a consensus of people's priorities; it will be a Vision Statement for what the community wants Lansing to look like in 2010. Out of the Vision Statement, people will then . be invited to sign up for particular committees to share their expertises. She proposes having a Town Center meeting a week or two after the initial Vision meeting. At the meeting there will be a big map of the Town Center, and Cheryl will have blocks of wood representing the types of buildings, and start having people help with the design of it. The two architectural Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 6 Monday, January 25, 1993 • draftspeople will take people's comments and do sketches of their ideas. A Town Center Park has to be a certain size and also needs to be discussed. The venue for the meetings has not yet been determined. Possibilities are the Middle School cafeteria or the equipment bay of the Fire Station; it will depend upon the number of people interested in attending. Cheryl questioned how each of the committees could stay in touch with the Town Board as this process goes on whether through Larry Tvaroha or minutes of the meetings. Cheryl also explained that she needs some clerical help for this project and questioned what the budget would allow. Larry Sharpsteen will be meeting with the Town Board to develop a budget for this project. Long-Term Planning Larry Sharpsteen addressed to Jeannine Kirby that the Town Board reconsider Site Plan Review, no matter what is done with zoning. He explained that the Planning Board needs this tool. His example was the new car dealership on East Shore Drive, and all the suggestions that the Planning Board made for this new business site. He didn't feel that all of these suggestions might be heeded since the Planning Board doesn't have the teeth to enforce them. He felt that Site Plan Review would work well with the planned committees, such as the Street Trees Committee. With the forthcoming plans for a Town Center, he described the possibility of new roads especially on property owned by the Town, and even on private property. Cheryl added that the placement of certain elements and how they relate to each other are critical. Her example was that of a parking lot, and once someone is parked being able to go to more than one place. The placement of these elements and how it • relates to housing and how the business relates to the municipal, all have to be fitted in. Larry Sharpsteen's point was that there is going to be infrastructure required. Cheryl commented about the existing ball fields and the possibility of selling that prime land to developer. Jeannine Kirby explained that it was in the deed that that land could not be sold. Jeannine also explained that on Wednesday evening the Town Board will be hearing a presentation by the Jehovas Witness. They are going to be putting in a $35 million dollar office complex off of Buck Road, and they need temporary housing for the people to build that complex, because everything in that society is done self-sustained. They have offered at this time to bring in modular housing that they would leave for the senior citizens, but the Town couldn't put the modulars on the ball fields now. They would have to go on the land that was just purchased across the road. She didn't see a problem with that because the type of expansion the Housing Authority wants to do is for seniors who can no longer prepare their own meals or administer their own medicine. She stated that it would be different than the type of housing at Woodsedge; it would just be for nursing home care. The Housing Authority people will be present for the presentation on Wednesday. The other option the Jehovas Witness mentioned is bringing in 50 or 60 trailers. They are going to have a package plant on their new land, but have not talked to Jeannine about their sewer for this development. Cheryl Nickel questioned whether Jeannine had mentioned to them the possibility of tying in the package plant with the concept for the Town Center. Jeannine stated that she had not discussed it with them yet, but felt it was a possibility. Jeannine explained that they are planning on building a four-story parking garage that will be on their property. They will not be bringing any children to this area; just either singles or couples. Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 7 Monday, January 25, 1993 Next Meeting Larry Sharpsteen recommended a second "working" meeting next month (February 22, 1993) and would like to work from the revised plan that Tom layed out with the boundary north of Peruville Road for the South Lansing. Larry Sharpsteen suggested that the Planning Board should change the area that is currently zoned bringing it up to date, and expand the zoned area using at least Route 34 as a boundary past Milliken Station all the way to the County line. Larry Tvaroha felt that it was a consensus that the Planning Board should use the whole town for zoning, even if it is an unrestricted area. Viola questioned what form the comments should be in from the Planning Board members after individually reviewing the Master Plan. Larry Sharpsteen felt that the Planning Board should devote one hour of the meeting on February 22 to discussion of the Master Plan, and what each person feels needs to be done. Tom needs to be present. Grace Haney Larry Sharpsteen addressed to the Planning Board that Grace Haney has a conflict with her current job, and would like to request a leave of absence from the active meetings. She has committee work that she is going to continue to work on and other work that she will be working on with Cheryl, as well as the Public Relations Committee. Until the end of May, it is not going to be possible for her to be present at the regular Monday night meetings. Larry Sh explained that she still remains interested and dedicated to the Planning Board and its • mission. He suggested that the leave of absence would be acceptable to him; the rest of the Planning Board members agreed. The Town Board also did not have a problem with the leave of absence. There being no further business, this meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. The next Planning Board Meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 8, 1993, at 7:30 p.m. Submitted by Michelle Eastman •