HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-08-26 TOWN OF LANSING
Planning Board
Monday, August 26, 1996 ; 7 : 30pm
PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS
(* Denotes present)
Larry Sharpsteen, Chair * Jackie Baker
* Viola Miller * Brad Griffin
* Lin Davidson * Al White
Robert Todd Cheryl Nickel
Larry Tvaroha, Town Councilman
* George Totman, Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer
Lin Davidson opened the meeting at 7 : 29pm.
Review of Minutes from Meeting held July 22 , 1996
Page Two, Last Paragraph, Second Line - Brad Griffin corrected " . . .per se . " Al White made a
motion to approve the minutes as corrected ; Brad Griffin seconded. VOTE : ALL IN FAVOR;
® MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Review of Minutes from Meeting held August 12 , 1996
Brad Griffin made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted; Viola Miller seconded. VOTE :
ALL IN FAVOR; MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
General Business
Viola Miller recommended that everyone attend the NY Planning Seminar in Syracuse,
September 29- October 2 , 1996 .
Lin Davidson had a question regarding the definition change in mobile homes . George replied
the reason they regulated mobile homes originally was for safety, but now that they meet HUD
approval, communities cannot put the restrictions on them as they did in the past. Many areas
can legally zone out certain types of homes as long as it ' s not for safety reasons, but for
economic reasons .
Zoning Ordinance Review
George Totman stated the Planning Board has not given the Town Board the approved final draft
® of the Zoning Ordinance . Larry Tavorha has not discussed the Ordinance with the Town Board
yet. Brad Griffin felt if the document was correct before continuing he would feel more
•
Town of Lansing Planning Board
Monday, August 26, 1996; 7:30pm Page 2
comfortable . Lin Davidson asked if the Board should discuss the Zoning Ordinance at this point
and noted that a lot of towns are struggling with adult book stores and adult entertainment . Lin •
pointed out that it was in the definitions but did not explain how to deal with it. Lin also stated
he felt 50 linear feet of shelving space for adult literature and items were very broad and thought
five linear feet would be sufficient . Lin wondered if Tom Todd should look into it. Viola noted
that since it was not listed or permitted they would have to come in for a variance .
Lin Davidson questioned Schedule 3 , Parking for Commercial Establishments, Lin asked George
if there were state codes for this and were 30 parking spaces usually what was allowed? George
replied usually parking depended on the square footage of the building and so many handicap
spaces had to be provided . Brad Griffin recalled seeing 9 feet wide was required and "so many
per use, Brad also noted in Schedule 3 Article 9 , Bed & Breakfast ' s are allowed one parking
space for each sleeping room, homes for the elderly, for every three dwelling units, they have one
and one half. Lin Davidson stated he was looking for that but it was not obvious, he understood
now where to find it.
Viola Miller asked if everyone had read it enough to question anything else? Brad Griffin
recalled Larry Sharpsteen raising the question whether Churches should be regulated. Brad
stated the definition was any building given for a religious use of some group recognized by New
York State, and felt it not a bad idea to review it for potential problems such as parking or other
type of things that can be ameliorated by some prior review. The Planning Board was not there
to tell a Church whether they can come or not come but to welcome them to the neighborhood .
Viola Miller agreed in saying reviews are meant to be helpful not destructive . Lin Davidson
asked if Churches should be site plan and Community Uses 1 & 2 are okay the way they are?
Viola Miller stated Larry Sharpsteen wanted a P all the way across . Lin Davidson asked if she
would go with a star? Viola asked George if it were just a P , would they just have to get a
building permit or would parking be taken under consideration? George replied all that was
required was a building permit, you would have rules to follow for parking. P does not require
site plan, site plan would mean they would have to come to the Planning Board first before they
apply for a building permit. George continued that most everything in this, other than rural
agriculture has site plan, meaning they would all have to come in front of the Planning Board
before they can continue, he felt if this was passed he would need more help in looking up every
issue and every special condition. George explained that Special Conditions would mean that he
would approve it and issue a building permit as long as they met those Special Conditions as
stated . Everyone agreed Special Condition was acceptable. Viola Miller stated Special Permit
was different, they had to come in front of the Planning Board. Lin Davidson pointed out if it
had a star, it would be site plan review. Viola didn' t realize that and said she had to look this
over more carefully . George also commented that anything with a Special Permit or a star both
had to come to the Planning Board, he didn ' t understand what the difference was. Al White
stated that Larry Sharpsteen has been a real supporter of site plan review and if he was reading
this right, it didn' t fit in with their concept of what everyone decided . He believed the Town
Board would not approve this, there were four pages of detail and seven pages of comprehensive
•
Town of Lansing Planning Board
Monday, August 26, 1996; 7: 30pm Page 3
details . Viola thought that the site plan review was primarily interested in getting it into the
commercial area, she felt she needed to look through the references, because if the references
were adequate why do they need to go to site plan review? Al White felt this was totally
unacceptable, and is not in favor of site plan review, this is too lengthy and unworkable and was
positive it would not pass the Town Board ' s approval . Al White was certain this was not the last
thing agreed on, he remembers some very lengthy meetings a couple of months ago that resolved
a lot of this and it seemed to be all back in there . Brad Griffin agreed, he came across some
things he thought were thrown out and agreed upon and they are back in.
Al White read 701 . 401 b . Uses that are to be located 500 feet or less from the right-of-way line
of Routes 34 and 34B and are to have vehicular access to these routes . George Totman agreed,
he was sure that had been taken out earlier, along with 701 .4 . 2 a. Lin Davidson asked what
should be done, should it be brought up at another meeting? Jackie Baker felt they needed too .
Lin Davidson added that this has to correspond with the current zoning in the Town. George
stated again he felt an ordinance should get passed first, then when you see things you don' t like,
change them later, in talking about the small issues such as how wide a driveway is, you are
creating another obstacle in getting the ordinance passed . George also stated that he has found in
other towns, once the ordinance is in, people see how it works and they find out it ' s not the big
monster they thought it was going to be . Al White agreed, and added that his initial proposal
was to do practically nothing or have hardly any restrictions to the agricultural district. Al was
sure the Town Board was not going to put this kind of bureaucratic system in the town, he
thought the intent was to keep it simple . Al did not like the way you had to go from one page to
another and back again to find anything, he found it very difficult to read even after working on
it for three years . He felt if someone just picking it up to find information found it hard to
understand, it certainly wouldn ' t pass, some people feel if they don' t understand it, it won' t
work, SIMPLE is the key word . Jackie Baker asked if there was a professional that could take
this and simplify it? Brad felt the only way he knew how was to slug through it. Al stated Tom
Neiderkorn was given corrections and changes and when they got it back a month later, nothing
had changed, only to find out later there were three or four different people who run down to
Tom and all have to have their input. Al thought the one person responsible for relaying those
changes was the Chairperson of the Planning Board but felt Larry Sharpsteen was not the only
one going down to Tom stating that the Planning Board agreed on this the other night but they
felt it should be something else . Al could not understand how some of the issues got back into
the ordinance that were taken out. Al has talked with Tom Neiderkorn and responded to Al he
feels he is caught in the middle at times . Lin Davidson agreed the Chairperson should be the one
designated to go down and talk with Tom .
Brad Griffin suggested one of two things, either by taking to time and edit and pick through this
one or, starting new by taking the old ordinance and revising it. The Planning Board has a
common goal to present not only to the Town Board but to the town a basic ordinance that can be
put in place for the entire town. Jackie Baker added they needed to present an ordinance that had
a chance of getting passed. Brad at first was very optimistic about the Citizen contact, but felt
Town of Lansing Planning Board
Monday, August 26, 1996; 7:30pm Page 4
11
the people that come before the Planning Board with suggestions for their neighborhoods have
brought some very reasonable recommendations and thought it was very positive in building
bridges with the community. All the Board members agreed and thought it was very healthy.
Viola recommended that everyone read it at home with the idea of what is meaningful and what
should be taken out and then go back and look at the format. George stated normal procedure
was for the Planning Board to make a motion approving the Ordinance before presenting it to the
Town Board and suggested in taking a Sunday and starting at 7 : 00am to fine tune it. Everyone
was in favor.
General Business
Al White stated he has not seen a Planning Board budget in three years . The Planning Board
budget use to be presented once a month. Lin Davidson agreed to look into it and would try and
have a copy at the next meeting.
George Totman wanted the Planning Board to know that the owners of 400 Ridge Road
contacted him again about subdividing their property. When the owners originally requested a
subdivision, George had told them it was not feasible and to come back possibly after the water
lines went through. George explained there was not enough road frontage before and didn' t
think the Health Department would issue a permit. The Planning Board agreed George should 111
look into it and try and resolve the issue .
Viola Miller wanted everyone to know that even the Village of Lansing has been radical in their
ordinance by changing the section around the Hospital ' s Convenient Care Center to Medical .
George stated the . Village was changing another area to become more commercial friendly.
•
Al White made a motion to adjourn this meeting to Baker' s Acres Tea Room, Sunday,
September 8 , 1996 at 7 : 00am; Brad Griffin seconded. VOTE: ALL IN FAVOR; MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
This meeting was adjourned at 9 : 15pm.
Submitted by Sue Davenport
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 9, 1996, at 7: 30pm.
di