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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-05-13 To Seneca Falls To Auburn l' 1Z 1# K yx.1'16n.-- !" .♦. Xfir, "t •,c i k f} ;i, x ;r ` ,Cy ` , TOWN of LANSING `�( ` x z . t" 6-r� .;4 3 " Home of Industry, Agriculture and Scenic Beauty " 40 l iciii ie..., ,c4-1,--ot .-iito,icory,?:, ,t7::, ,, ....a. ,,,, - ,,,,,,--,_ .... . t7 "11 '..th. Town of Lansing v � ` r , ° 4. ' " " ♦ Xr ORDINANCE DEPT. ` \ (` n { Box 186 �, ' Lansing, New York 14882 \ 1 t To Ithaca ,. iiM; ftTr % ;j1i sst� g _,®� \ ® , do, ..: „.„. ,...... ot. ....:s.$ . ... Plan, h� nxoa.,.. rc 1r; 4tiO4itii„. s. , ..... .. . , . , . 5 '. 11- 96 a = " Lansing Town , HalltBo t P>. s • and Room Meeting: called by : Attendeesi ` Vll Kn�'�O � les �� y FxM1 x „yrr 'Y' 3y,. ca v . 7: 30 7 40, PM = Approye' Minutes April Meeting £ 7 :40-8 : 00 PM Keith Loson -Question-on B l District 8OOPM General Business Resume Work on LandUse Ordinance update a , TOWN OF LANSING Planning Board Monday , May 13 , 1996 ; 7 : 30 p . m. • Planning Board Members (* Denotes present) - * Jackie Baker * Cheryl Nickel * Lin Davidson * Larry Sharpsteen, Chair * Brad Griffin * Robert Todd * Viola Miller * Al White Larry Tvaroha, Town Councilman * George Totman, Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer Public Present Keith Losen, Drake Road Tom Neiderkorn, Planning Consultant Review of Minutes from April 22. 1996 Meeting Page Three - Brad Griffin deleted Miller from his name . Brad Griffin made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected ; Al White seconded . VOTE: ALL IN FAVOR; MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY ® Keith Losen Keith Losen introduced himself as a life-long resident of the Town of Lansing , who currently resides at 31 Drake Road . He is concerned about the proposed commercial zoning of the first 1 , 500 feet of each end of Drake Road . Rather than just using property lines to determine the districts , he suggested that the Planning Board actually look at the use of the parcels , roadway conditions , slope and elevation problems , and drainage and water supply problems . He presented pictures of each of the ends of Drake Road to orient the Board ; his property is within 1 , 500 feet of the East Shore Drive end . His primary concern is for retaining his property value if it is to be zoned commercial ; and his secondary concern is for the safety of Drake Road . This road is narrow with a high crown in the middle and dirt . shoulders , and has a deep dip that can hide a car . The road has poor water quality , no public water or sewer . The road is used as a short cut to avoid the Rogues Harbor intersection . People travel very fast making it hazardous . More traffic would only increase the hazards . Based on the definitions of the districts in the proposal , he felt this area should be classified as R1 residential low density and not B1 commercial mixed use because : it is currently agriculture ; has small concentrations of non-farm land which is primarily residential ; and is an area that has environmental limitations , poor water quality , no sewage disposal , and drainage problems . He stated that he has first- hand knowledge of the danger of speed on this road . Several years ago he was involved in an accident at the end of his driveway where a person was killed . Mr . Losen has been a Sergeant in the Traffic Unit of the Ithaca Police Department for the past 18 years ; he is an accident reconstructionist . Larry explained that the reason that that area is being called B 1 , is because they didn ' t want to call it the Town Center . The B1 District is a downtown district , and has a mix of residential and office use . It was the intent to include a large amount of that land strictly for a residential area . Because that land is poor farm land , it was also considered to be included in that downtown district . Another reason for including it is because it is within the radius of the intersection at South Lansing , with the idea of developing a downtown area . Mr . Losen was concerned because it is an existing residential area with Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 2 Monday, May 13, 1996 traffic problems , and felt that by changing it to commercial , it would only increase the traffic problems . Larry stated that with the change to commercial would come road improvements and a lowering of the speed limit . Speaking from experience , Mr . Losen felt that lowering the speed limits would not necessarily solve the problems unless there was the manpower available to enforce the speed limits . Site problems and dips in the road are the main problem. Cheryl stated that the other alternative is that strip development occurs along the main road or that the development is concentrated . Mr. Losen felt that commercial businesses belong along the roadway and. not within a residential community . Viola pointed out that there is a future plan to develop residential roads that could perhaps run parallel to East Shore Drive which would keep the traffic separate . These roads would open up the back land for higher residential (office buildings) , and wouldn ' t necessarily put the traffic load on Drake Road . Development does bring traffic . The Planning Board has considered leaving the heavy residential areas alone , but has taken the bulk of the undeveloped areas and make it so that it could be developed to suit a downtown situation and allow access for streets , apartments and higher residential , and a place to put offices . Mr . Losen was confident that almost all the residents of Drake Road would not approve of the plan as currently proposed . If the land behind Drake Road had access from East Shore Drive and not Drake Road , there might not be as much of a concern . Again, his main concern is the increased commercial traffic on this residential road . Robert pointed out that these plans are for 20 years in the future . Al expressed his support of Mr . Losen' s comments in that he didn ' t feel that plans should be made to surround this established IID residential neighborhood with commercial businesses . There needs to be a buffer zone between these areas . Commercial traffic should not be on residential roads . Larry added that one of the problems facing the Planning Board is that they are taking real people and real situations and treating them as abstracts . Some people aren ' t going to agree with the districts they are placed in . • Mr . Losen stated that if commercial is placed on both ends of that road it will effect the residential area in between those ends . People built there because it was residential ; this plan now would change it . If the open fields behind those residences were considered , then it might not be as much of a problem . Larry stated that the Planning Board attempted to draw the lines to have as little impact as possible on the largest number of people . The Planning Board will listen to the comments and the safety situation on the road . The Planning Board thanked Mr . Losen for his comments and suggestions . Viola commented that the Planning Board should be addressing the issue of paper roads before it continues working on the proposed zoning ordinance . Larry commented that he had asked the Planning Board to look at paper roads last fall , but it was felt that they should be working on the zoning first . Larry felt that the Planning Board should be able to inform the residents generally where the paper roads are to be proposed . Tom Neiderkorn added that unless the Town is going to build all the roads , people are generally going to build the roads where they want to . It is important to have a plan that can be shared with the public . This discussion relates only to the B1 District for right now . Robert disagreed with Al , and felt that the Planning Board is taking into consideration the circumstances of the residents . One of the dangers the Board faces is the potential for a 6 ,000 member committee ; the Board needs to make decisions and draw lines and have reasons for doing it and stick with it . The Board can ' t continue to change its plans every time someone comes in to complain . Brad commented that Mr . Losen ' s argument was very well thought out and was based on very valid reasons . „ A. ^' t $ Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 3 Monday, May 13, 1996 Larry stated that Mr . Losen is a valuable resource to this community who takes into consideration things that the engineers don ' t . Since it is very likely that there will be many more people who wish a chance to voice their opinion to the Planning Board on this issue , Cheryl recommended that each person be limited to 15 minutes . Robert agreed . Cheryl questioned if it would be possible to set the area as a Planned Development Area (PDA) . Tom responded that it is impossible to control everything that goes on in that area in order to try to prevent bad things from happening . Larry added that a PDA is used when, for example , a developer comes in a proposes to develop a large area ; this is when the Board becomes involved . Viola asked if there could be a different Site Plan Review process for the B1 District from the rest of the town. Larry stated that this is an option to be addressed later in this meeting . Other Business Larry commented that when this Planning Board began this process , it did so with the intention of developing an ordinance that afforded the maximum protection to the largest number of people possible , while keeping the impact on everybody ' s property rights to a minimum . The experts have indicated that if a use isn't written, then it isn ' t allowed . If you are going to make an ordinance to try to afford people the most use of their land without having a detrimental impact on their neighbors , the ordinance is going to be a little more complicated . But this has been an adaptive process to what has been seen as the needs of the town. He was concerned that the Board was beginning to focus on trying to cut down on the wordiness of the ordinance , and may be sacrificing some of its important features . Cheryl felt it is important that the Board produce an ordinance that is straight forward and addresses the areas with the most growth pressure . More pieces could be added on later as needed . Al didn' t feel that the Board should try to address every conceivable problem when they don ' t know what those problems are . Larry didn ' t feel that a use should be disallowed specifically by not mentioning it when they know that the need is there . Tom felt that the Planning Board is getting close to completion on this project , but he is also concerned that it is becoming long and complicated because it is trying to solve all anticipated problems . Site Plan Review - Al felt that just as there are different districts in the town, there will be a need for different Site Plan Review procedures for those districts . For example , a convenience store on Route 34B toward NYSEG would face different rules and regulations than one in the B1 district . To address this , Tom envisioned a matrix 'of 15 different concerns relative to development of a site (traffic , drainage , etc . ) , and on theother side would be the districts where the applicable items would be indicated . Tom indicated that this would not necessarily have to be complicated , but the procedures and the way these are dealt with still have to be defined . Cheryl questioned the possibility of not having Site Plan Review in some of the districts . Robert stated that this has been discussed concerning the Rural Agriculture District where Site Plan Review would only apply to commercial development . Cheryl felt the need for workable design guidelines for Site Plan Review . This Plan should develop very specific guidelines for commercial properties . For other uses the guidelines don' t need to be so specific , instead they should set general goals , establish the rationale for each goal , and admit that there are numerous was to meet them . The intent of the goal should be addressed and not be specific . Tom stated that some specifics have to be included to try to avoid the fuzzy areas ; for example , " Driveways can not be excessively wide . ” Who is to determine what is excessively wide? The procedure still has to be outlined . It is important to include wording that the Planning Board can waive any of these requirements that it sees as appropriate . Town of Lansing Planning Board Page 4 Monday, May 13, 1996 Airport Hazard Zone - Al stated that the Airport Hazard Zone is an area that is one mile wide and four miles long and extends at the end of the most active runway . The Tompkins County Airport uses runway #312 . They don ' t land to the southeast unless the wind is over five knots . All traffic lands and takes off to the northwest . The only federally-designed airport hazard zone in Lansing is the area one mile wide and four miles long to the northwest of the airport . The item that is most important to the County Planning Board is the 85 decibel curve line at the end of the runway . The County doesn ' t feel that there should be any houses within the 85 decibel area because they complain about the noise . Brad questioned what basis for statutory authority is there for what the airport wants , and what the town wants . Al stated that there is nothing legally that can be done about their recommendations . The only area where there would be problems if residents built houses in this hazard zone and weren ' t informed of it by the Town. The County Planning Board is recommending that the Town of Lansing change their ordinance to reflect these concerns about the zone . George stated that he will obtain a copy of the federal regulations concerning airports and their hazard zones . Proposed BI District Residents - The Planning Board continued their discussion regarding Mr . Losen ' s concerns . Robert suggested that the Planning Board invite the private property owners of the large vacant parcels to come and participate in a discussion about future plans of the residents and the Town . All agreed this would be a reasonable step . George felt that the Board should be careful about who it invites and doesn ' t invite . Viola suggested inviting all those people who are proposed to be included in the Bl District , for example , to discuss their issues . It was agreed to pursue this suggestion. Sewage Meeting - The Sewage Committee will be hosting a public information meeting on May 16 at 7 : 30 p . m . Larry encouraged all Board members to try to attend ; they will not be asked to vote on any items discussed at this meeting . Items to be discussed at this meeting will be the outline for the two- year plan for the project; a request for volunteers to do an income survey ; a clarification of as close to41, 100 percent results on the income survey to go for the grant money in the state and federal support ; a map of the primary benefit district with the potential second and third phase ; a location of the proposed sewage treatment plan ; and a timetable for the project with completion by 1998 . Larry felt it was important that the Board members hear the reaction of the public to this project and to find out exactly what is going on. Town Square - Cheryl stated thatshe has spoken with Bob Baker and they have agreed to put together a steering committee for the Town Square . She has reserved the pavilion for Lansing Day (June 8) to give this proposal more publicity . Pinney 's Marina Proposal - Brad asked permission to register the Planning Board as an interested party of interest with the State application . The Board agreed . Viola Miller made a motion to adjourn this meeting ; Robert Todd seconded . VOTE: ALL IN FAVOR; MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY This meeting was closed at 9 : 50 p . m . Submitted by Michelle Eastman The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 28, 1996, at 7:30 p. m . Agenda Items for Next Meeting - ( 1 ) Continue with review of Section 7 from 707 . 2 , Section 10 and 11 ; (2) Develop an agenda and set a date for a BI District Property Owners Meeting ; and (3) identify various key issues that are relevant to the whole town relative to Site Plan Review , and then the discuss . I what districts those issues applied to .