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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-26 DRAFT Town of Lansing Monday, March 26, 2012 7:15 PM PLANNING BOARD PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS (*Denotes present) * Tom Ellis * Larry Sharpsteen * Lin Davidson,Chairman * Mary McTiernan,Alternate David Hatfield * Richard Prybyl Nancy Loncto Al Fiorille Jeffrey Overstrom,EIT * Lorraine Moynihan Schmitt,Esq. Robert Cree,TB Liaison Public Present Kathy Miller Andy Sciarabba Ed LaVigne John Spence Dan Veaner Guy Krogh Chris Dirr Mike Cohen Natalia Emlen Pat Pryor Rick Cowan General Business Lin Davidson, Chairperson called the Planning Board Meeting to order at 7:20 PM. Mr. Davidson requested to know if there was anyone from the Public that wished to speak with concerns other then what was on the Agenda. There were none Chris Dirr/NRP Group - Potential Developer for the Town Lands North of 34B Mr. Chris Dirr from the NRP Group, LLC appeared before the Board with a power point presentation for the proposed "Lansing Center " project to be located on approximately 160 acres of land north of 34b which the Town is in the process of purchasing. (Copy of paper Power Point is available in the Planning Office) Brief Overview: The company is a full service real estate company founded in 1994 and home based in Ohio. The company Develops, are General Contractors and Property Managers. The company has teamed up and will work collaboratively with The Better Housing for 1 DRAFT Tompkins County. In the proposed project Tompkins County Better Housing will be the majority owner within the development. This proposal will provide a broad range of residential opportunities that will have available retail stores, Grocery Market, Farmers Market, Pharmacy, Coffee Shoe and other neighborhood retail. Currently the Total Housing Units proposed are as follows; • Senior Market Rate -110 Units • Patio Homes- 40 Units • Cottage Style Senior Homes-80 Units • 3 Story Affordable Senior -80 units • Garden Style-80 Units Mr. Dirr states in making the development affordable from a sewer capacity question, this will be satisfied with the Senior Market style 110 units and the Cottage Style 80 units built at approximately the same time. Mr. Dirr states he has suggested that the Town be responsible for building the two major roads within the project. Mr. Sciarabba states the town is in the process of obtaining a dollar amount from TG Miller for them. Individual parcel infrastructure will be borne by the developer. A person from the audience inquired if the electric would be underground. Mr. Dirr states he would prefer they would be. In addition, Andy Sciarabba states his Committee is working with NYSEG on this. Mr. Dirr states he believe the next steps are as follows: 1. Approval is needed from the Planning Board for a Planned Development Area for the project. 2. Endorsement by the Town Board of the Master Site Plan. (Some changes such as, boundary changes or use change may occur) 3. Site Control from the Town in order to advance the start of the project. In addition, terms need to be worked out, such as what the cost is for the parcel. 4. Conditional Site Plan Approval for the Senior Cottage Style by the middle of May. A funding round will be available by June or July and this would qualify for that. 5. The Town as a Community should contact their local Legislator requesting his/her support for the Town Center. This is important for the Sewer Infrastructure,for making this project a priority for the Regional Counsel and securing the funding. 2 DRAFT Mr. Dirr states one of the most important factors for developers' to know before they start development is that infrastructure will be available when his construction is finished. Mr. Dirr further states he believes due to what is happening in the state, this is a perfect time for this project to happen. This is a time intensive and complex structure that requires a diverse financial mechanism. Questions and Answers 1. If the Market Rate housing is built first,is there a guarantee that the Affordable Units will be built? 2. Is the State identifying the need as a local demographic? 3. Do we know how many people in Lansing are at the 55 yr old age in Lansing? 4. What would be the total cost of the infrastructure would be to support this? 5. What is the effect on the cost to the School District? 6. What would this do to the tax base? 7. On the affordable housing will Lansing residents or even Tompkins County priority over people outside of the area? 8. How is the accessibility for seniors? 9. Will the tax credits be used for the affordable housing only? 10. Who will build the Retail piece? 11. What sort of requirements(because it is public land) have to be meet before the town can move forward with a use like this? Reply: Mr. Dirr states the State has already recognized the dire need and demand for Affordable housing in Tompkins County. Nothing is a guarantee. Numbers with regards to how many 55 yr olds live in Lansing can be provided. The cost of infrastructure is being worked on by T.G. Miller. NRP cannot discriminate as to who lives in the development. The Cottage Style Units are 100% handicapped accessible, all other units have grab bars, wide doorways and 15% have roll in showers. Kathy Miller states she constantly hears from people in the Community requesting Senior Housing and affordable for young families. Ms. Miller states we need to focus on people that make their money in our County, they need to spend it here. 3 DRAFT The tax credits will be used for the affordable houses only. They are not eligible for the others. Ed LaVigne states there is a tremendous need to have residents live near where they work. This is reality, changes are being made all around Tompkins County. Tom Ellis had greats concerns with the speed of how this is being paced. This is a use of Public Land and money, and should be presented to the Public and approved by the Public. To Mr. Ellis's knowledge this has not been done. Kathy Miller explained, the first thing, the Town is trying to get is Sewer. Secondly, the Town is trying to up come with options for Lansing. What are being presented tonight are the Public's requests. The Town Center Committee has had a couple different Meetings,which are all open to the Public and these options presented were the results of those public comments. Ms. Miller advised all to view the Town's Website for the previous drawings presented by Strawbridge &Yahn which has been on our website for two years. Mrs. Emhlen requested when planning for the interior of these units, to please think about the elderly and use upgraded items. Andy Sciarabba gave a brief overview of the Sewer process thus far. The Town is at a point where they need to apply for a lower rate to bring the EDU rate down. This funding process requires the Town to provide a number of household units that will be included in the initial sewer district in order for a score to be given by the DEC. The proposed units can be included in the proposal to the DEC if we can come to some sort of agreement. John Spence also states the Tompkins County Planning Department has statics on their Website where they performed a comprehensive affordable housing needs assessment survey in 2006, and it clearly shows we need 4,000 new units over a 10 year period. Mr. Spence encouraged all present to go and visit the three different senior housing units the Better Housing of Tompkins County manage. (Fountain Manor-Slaterville, New Gardens-Newfield,Juniper Manor-Trumansburg). NRP and Better Housing will not be building the Retail. That would be up to the Town to solicit the buyers who will then build their own building. The back portion of the proposal would also be for retail. This entire proposal will be staged. The only two buildings that will definitely be built from the start will be the Senior Market and the Affordable Senior housing. Changes can and probably will be made along the way. 4 DRAFT Guy Krogh indicated it would have to be sold as something that is approximating reasonable for the sale of the price under the circumstances. In addition, the Resolution approving the sale would be subject to a permissive referendum. Once the price of the sale is approved, a notice of referendum must be published within 10 days, and then 30 days must be given for that approval. There are still additional items that must be completed prior to getting to the referendum stage. Lin Davidson states in 1995 the Town had a proposal that was very close to this. Due to the acreage and Town requirements, this looks like it may be a PDA (Planned Development Area). Mark Cohen founder of Must Have Play, a wellness playground for elders requested Zoning information from the Board. Lin Davidson advised Mr. Cohen that the information he is requesting is available on the Town's Website where our Land Use Ordinance is located. The Planning Board feels it is way too early for them to discuss this type of accommodations with him. Mr. Sciarabba reiterated to the Board, this is not a grant for Sewer. It is a loan and the Town is trying to get a lower rate. The Town would like to get the score high enough to qualify for subsidizing. The funding year starts in the fall of this year. Lin Davidson suggested that Counsel(s) along with the Planning Board Members brainstorm to see how to get this timeline in order. Guy Krogh states the Town has to wait for the Attorney General to sign the letters patented and the Comptroller to authorize the release of the paten. This could be quick, but normally it takes 2-4 months. It was suggested by Ms. Moynihan Schmitt that Mr. Din's company play with the acreage and density and then submit an Application for a phased development, subject to the current Town's Subdivision Rules and Regulation for the B1 district. Larry Sharpsteen stated eventually the entire project could be rolled into a PDA (Planned Development Unit). Ms. Moynihan Schmitt agreed. The Developer has the equity in place to start to get the Town to the 200 units needed for the EDU's. A grant would be applied for to start the 80 unit affordable senior housing. Ms. Moynihan Schmitt recommended that NRP Group, LLC submit an Application for a Subdivision in order to begin the process of building the Senior Cottage affordable Apartments. The PDA will be built from there. 5 DRAFT Mr. Davidson advised Mr. Dirr, once the Planning Board has received a Subdivision Application, the Planning Board can set a Public Hearing and move forward. A 239 will be required for this proposal. We must give the County Planning Department 30 days to respond. The Board advised Mr. Dirr to request from Jeff Overstrom a Subdivision Application tomorrow, Tuesday March 27, 2012. The Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 PM. 6