HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-12-13 ZBA Minutes I Town of Lansing
2 Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting
3 Tuesday, December 13, 2022 6:30 PM
4 Library Community Board Room- 27 Auburn Rd
5 Present Excused
6 Judy Drake, Chair Richard Hayes
7 Mary Stoe
8 Susan Tabrizi
9 Jack Young
10
11 Other Staff Present
12 John Zepko, Planner Heather Dries, Planning Clerk
13
14 Public Present
15 No Public Present
16
17 General Business
18 Chair Judy Drake opened the meeting at 6:33pm.
19
20 Action Item:
21 Town of Lansing Highway Department Building Replacement and Campus Renovation Project
22 Request for Immunity from local land use review:
23 A capital construction project of a New Highway Department Facility on a Town-Owned Parcel
24 of Land in Lansing, New York, in and for the Town of Lansing,Tompkins County, New York, at 10
25 Town Barn Road (Tax Parcel Numbers 30.-1-16.12 and 30.-1-16.11) including original
26 furnishings, equipment, machinery, apparatus, appurtenances, site improvements, and other
27 incidental improvements in connection therewith requests immunity for a planned
28 governmental project that falls squarely within the embrace of immunity, being a project
29 already reviewed that provides statutorily mandated highway and emergency services.
30
31 Summary of Discussion:
32 • The Town Planner explained the reason for the meeting.
33 • The Zoning Board of Appeals discussed the project.
34 o This property has maintained the same use for years and they do not see an
35 issue with continuing the use.
36
37 FINDINGS AND DECISION
38 TOWN OF LANSING ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
39
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40 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
41
42
43 Applicant and Owner: Variance No: 22-08
44 Town of Lansing Zoning District: IR
45 29 Auburn Rd Public Hearing Published on: N/A
46 Lansing,NY 14882 600'Notices Mailed: N/A
47
48 Property Location: 10 Town Barn Rd
49 Tax Parcel# 30.-1-16.12 and 30.4-16.11
50
51 RESOLUTION AND FINDINGS
52
53 WHEREAS, the Town of Lansing is a municipal corporation duly organized and existing pursuant
54 to the laws of the State of New York and having such powers and responsibilities pursuant to the
55 provisions of the New York State Town Law and the Highway Law in conjunction with the Town's
56 Highway Superintendent to provide for the care and maintenance of the Town's highways and
57 bridges and to provide suitable places for the housing and storing of vehicles,machinery, tools and
58 equipment owned by the Town for the effectuation of such purposes; and
59
60 WHEREAS, the Town of Lansing is the owner of a parcel of real property (Tax Parcel Nos. 30.-1-
61 16.12 and 30.4-16.11),located on Town Barn Road, constituting approximately 17 acres of land
62 that has been previously acquired and utilized by the Town and designated for municipal purposes
63 ("subject premises"); and
64
65 WHEREAS, the existing Town of Lansing Highway Department Building was constructed in 1968
66 and is in need of an adequate repair, storage, and administrative, Salt/Sand Storage, and Fuel Storage
67 facility in order to meet the needs of maintaining the public roadways of the Town of Lansing; and
68
69 WHEREAS, the Town of Lansing, after an extensive multi-year process of selecting a qualified
70 consultant and examining site selection options for constructing a new Town Highway facility,recently
71 affirmed the existing location at 10 Town Barn Road as the subject parcel for the purposes of
72 constructing a new Highway Department Building Replacement and Campus Renovation Project for
73 the storage and operations needed by the Town of Lansing Highway Department, and;
74
75 WHEREAS, the Town has,in accordance with the 2020 request for proposals process, selected
76 Bergmann Architects, Engineers, and Planners,P.C. ("Bergmann") to prepare the required plans for
77 a Highway Department Building Replacement and Campus Renovation Project to be constructed on
78 the subject property;and
79
80 WHEREAS,Bergmann has prepared preliminary plans for said facility which will be constructed in
81 three phases,with Phase 1 consisting of construction of a 46,515 sf Facility including, but not
82 necessarily limited to, administrative offices, break room,vehicle storage,maintenance and parts
83 storage; and Phase 2 consisting of Staff/ Equipment Relocation;and Phase 3 consisting of the
84 existing building partial demolition and conversion to unheated Storage for trailers and other
85 equipment; and
86
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87 WHEREAS, the subject property is located in the Town's Industrial/Research (IR) zoning district in
88 which
89 such a highway facility is not a permitted, or specially permitted,use and it further, appears that
90 some of the required construction for the facility on the site will not be in accordance with certain
91 setback requirements for structures and improvements within the IR zoning district ("Bulk
92 Regulations"),as set forth in the Town of Lansing Zoning Code; and
93
94 WHEREAS,pursuant to the decision of the New York State Court of Appeals in the Matter of
95 County of Monroe, 72 N.Y.2d 338 (1988), a "balancing of public interests analysis" ("Monroe
96 Balancing Test") is required to determine whether and to what extent, this project shall be exempt
97 from the Town's Zoning Code and use and bulk regulations and administrative approval from the
98 Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals; and
99
100 NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT
101
102 RESOLVED, that the Town of Lansing Zoning Board of Appeals has analyzed, considered and
103 discussed the following criteria as required by Matter of County of Monroe in relation to the construction
104 associated with the new Highway Department Building Replacement and Campus Renovation Project
105 on the subject premises, and the Town of Lansing's land use regulations, and hereby finds as follows
106 with regard to each of the nine Monroe
107 Balancing Test criteria:
108
109 Factor #1: Whether there is an expression of legislative intent for the proposed action to be
110 immune from local zoning oversight.
111
112 The Town of Lansing Town Board is the municipal body solely responsible for the legislative
113 and executive functions of the Town of Lansing. The Town of Lansing Planning Board and
114 Zoning Board of Appeals are administrative boards of the Town of Lansing,whose members
115 are appointed by the Lansing Town Board. This project is to enable a fully governmental
116 task—the operation of the highway department—including to fulfill its duties to repair and
117 maintain public highways and municipal building campuses, and further including the
118 emergency services of snow and ice removal and treatment. The legislative scheme of the
119 Town Law and the NYS Highway Law make this a core public service that is very much an
120 emergency service in many aspects. Under NYS statutes, therefore,it is generally understood
121 that these are the very functions that are considered exempt from local zoning and land use
122 review under the County of Monroe standard (as was the case with the NYSDOT highway
123 facility as well).
124
125 Further, the town board, by including planners, consulting planners, the town engineer,
126 consulting engineers, and many others upon these review committees, has evinced an intent
127 to fully review and proceed with this project as designed, and not to have a critical
128 governmental facility project subjected to discretionary review or delays,particularly given that
129 the site plans are detailed and complete at this time and fully address any known issues that
130 would normally be considered under any land use review process.
131
132 Finally,it is suspected(but not definitively known) that the reason this particular governmental
133 use is not an allowed use in the zone in which it is situate is because the town has always
134 understood that this governmental use was not subject to local zoning and land use review. In
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135 fact,there is no known record of zoning reviews or approvals for this site,including for recent
136 projects, such as the re-design and expansion of the storage yard, or the older solar facility
137 installations. It thus seems that the town has also considered this use and facility a
138 governmental use that is not subject to land use review.
139
140 Factor #2: The kind of function of land use involved and the extent of the public interest to
141 be served.
142
143 The construction associated with the Highway Department Building Replacement and
144 Campus Renovation Project as a repair, storage, and administrative facility for the Town of
145 Lansing Highway Department is a non-proprietary, governmental function which will serve
146 the public interest by ensuring the continued and improved maintenance of public roadways
147 under the jurisdiction of the Town Lansing's Highway Department for the benefit of members
148 of the public using said public roadways and the citizens of the Town of Lansing. Included
149 services address emergency services, road maintenance, and maintenance and repair of public
150 utilities like water and sewer. The maintenance of public roadways under the jurisdiction of
151 the Town Highway Department is a statutory governmental function and obligation of the
152 Town of Lansing Highway Department, and many of the services are emergency and utility
153 services.
154
155 Factor#3:The effect local land use regulation would have upon the enterprise concerned and
156 the impact upon legitimate local interests.
157
158 If the Town of Lansing Zoning Code Schedule I for the Industrial/Research JR) Zoning
159 District was to be applied "as written" to this project, the Town would be prohibited from
160 siting the Highway Department Building on the subject property where it already exists unless
161 either a variance to expand a lawful pre-existing use or a use variance could be obtained from
162 the Town's Zoning Board of Appeals. While this is perhaps non-sensical for a governmental
163 use that has been in place for over 50 years and which is clearly consistent with uses in the
164 zone in which the same is situate, being essentially a commercial-industrial use (e.g., a truck
165 depot), subjecting a project that is necessary for the performance and delivery of core
166 municipal purposes makes little sense, including in light of the above analyses already
167 undertaken.
168
169 Atop this, the process could be expensive and time consuming, with the outcome uncertain,
170 at best (particularly under variance standards). The cure—to amend the zoning to fix a multi-
171 decadal error—is equally problematic in terms of being speculative and untimely, particularly
172 for this type of County of Monroe use.In addition,the facility,as preliminarily designed,could
173 not be sited on the subject property in a manner fully compliant with the setback requirements
174 of the Town of Lansing Zoning Code Schedule II for the Industrial/Research JR) Zoning
175 District and would also require area variance applications and approvals from the Zoning
176 Board of Appeals, a process which would also be expensive and time consuming, with the
177 outcome uncertain. Moreover, this variance could also require certain project modifications
178 that are not feasible given the needs of the highway department and the town for a larger
179 facility, all resulting in the potential for a highway facility which does not adequately meet the
180 needs of the Town of Lansing Highway Department,with resulting adverse impacts upon the
181 Town's ability to maintain and improve their municipal highway systems in accordance with
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182 the requirements of New York State law, resulting in possible dangers and other adverse
183 impacts to the citizens of the Town and those travelling on the Town highways.
184
185 Factor#4: The applicant's legislative grant of authority.
186
187 New York State Town Law and Highway Law authorize and require the Town of Lansing to
188 provide adequate facilities for the Town of Lansing Highway Department in aid of its
189 responsibility to maintain those public roadways utilized by members of the general public
190 which fall under the jurisdiction of the Town Highway Departments.Article 7 of the
191 Highway Law specifically vests the Town Highway Superintendent with jurisdiction over the
192 care of the town highways. The authority of the town to provide for these facilities and
193 services is statutorily plenary,including under Town Law Article 4.
194
195 Moreover, as noted above, the town also is imbued with substantial experience in project
196 review and siting and causing redundant reviews by alternate agencies of the town does
197 nothing relative to the governmental purposes here fulfilled that falls within the exceptions
198 to the County of Monroe test. The town is not the type of agency that is incapable of
199 undertaking a review, or which has no substantial experience in a land use planning, as may
200 require additional internal reviews. See, e.g.,Matter of County of Monroe, 82 NY2d 338, 343
201 [1988];Volunteer Fire Ass'n of Tappan, Inc. v. Town of Orangetown,N.Y.L J. May 2, 2007,
202 p. 22, col. 3 (Sup. Ct. Rockland Co. 2007), affd, 54 A.D.3d 850, 863 N.Y.S.2d 502 (2d Dept.
203 2008) (fire departments have no intrinsic experience or authority with land use planning and
204 thus may not fall under the County of Monroe standard when all factors are duly balanced).
205
206 Factor#5: Alternate locations for the Highway Department storage facility in less restrictive
207 zoning areas.
208
209 The subject premises is the only Town-owned parcel located within the Town of Lansing
210 suitable for the construction and maintenance of the facility and represents the most
211 reasonable and efficient use of Town owned property in furtherance of the objectives of
212 providing the Town of Lansing Highway Department with a consolidated highway facility
213 location within the Town. Despite this, and as part of the project investigation, the Town
214 evaluated several potential alternative sites for a new Highway Department facility.At least 3
215 other sites were evaluated,and several site configurations considered as to this site.
216 Consultants Bergmann Associates and the Town RFP Committee determined that there are
217 no feasible alternate locations which meet the necessary objectives of the Town of Lansing
218 Highway Department, and that this layout was the best overall layout given cost, traffic flow,
219 needs, and available land.
220
221 Moreover,it is believed that there are no zoning districts within the Town of Lansing in
222 which a highway facility could be constructed in full compliance with the requirements of
223 the Town Zoning Code (perhaps suggesting this is a"non-permitted"use precisely because
224 it was not ever subjected to zoning, thereby explaining the exclusion of this use as an
225 allowed use from its zone). Finally,the proposed Highway Department facility at the Town
226 Barn Site is consistent with the existing current public service/highway department use and
227 infrastructure at the site.
228
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229 Finally, the least amount of impacts, changes, and costs are incurred by using the existing
230 site,including because of its location,being in a high-impact IR zone, and not needing to
231 disturb other lands or sites and build more roads,lots, and impervious new surfaces.
232 Additionally, the town board approved a consolidated water district improvement
233 specifically to get an additional main to Town Barn Road to be able to service the new
234 facility with sprinklers for fire and risk management purposes. In sum, there are years of
235 planning in play here, even beyond the 5 years these facilities have been evaluated and laid
236 out.
237
238 Factor#6: Alternative methods of providing the needed improvement.
239
240 The construction of the new Highway Department facility as proposed represents the
241 minimal infrastructure improvements necessary to promote increased use of the subject
242 premises as a centralized Highway Department facility. There are no viable alternative
243 methods of providing these improvements, and there is no way to catch-up with the past 50
244 years,including in building design, maintenance, energy efficiency, or fire suppression than
245 to upgrade and re-use some parts of the existing facility and construct a new operations barn
246 and office space.
247
248 This decision was made based upon thorough examinations of town needs, town equipment,
249 personnel, operations, and the design and function of the proposed facilities by Bergmann
250 Associates and the RFP committee,with approval from the town board, and thereafter from
251 the Capital Investment Committee,with further general approval from the town board. To
252 re-visit over 5 years of planning and site design, all at the cost of more time and money,
253 would serve no valid land use purpose. Indeed, this is the precise point of the County of
254 Monroe test, and why so many core governmental projects like this are in fact immune from
255 such reviews.A review by a town agency of a town project already reviewed would be likely
256 to be more of a redundancy than anything else (see Factor#5 analyses, above).
257
258 Factor#7: Intergovernmental participation in the project development process.
259
260 The past study,locational analyses, and site layout and design were subjected to rigorous
261 review at multiple levels of the town government,with key personnel serving on both
262 committees. This includes the town board, town engineer, town planners, town clerk,
263 highway department,parks and recreation department,town bookkeeper,planning board,
264 and town attorney,with additional input from others, such as Bergmann Associates and
265 Municipal Solutions (finance). Atop this, the construction of the new highway facility will be
266 overseen by members of the Town Board of the Town of Lansing,its engineers, and other
267 retained professional consultants. The project will also require the review and approval of
268 several outside jurisdictional agencies including the New York State Department of
269 Transportation,New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,Army Corps
270 of Engineers, and Tompkins County Department of Health. The Tompkins County
271 Business Energy Advisors (BEA) Lansing, a program of the Tompkins County Department
272 of Planning& Sustainability,has been engaged with project development since April 2021.
273 The Town intends to utilize the energy analysis services offered by BEA Lansing for the
274 development of the building.
275
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276 In addition, the development of plans for this facility will be fully vetted, discussed, and
277 considered by the members of the Town Board and its legal,planning, and engineering staff
278 and consultants, and Town of Lansing citizens have been and will be permitted to offer
279 comments and suggestions upon the review and development of this project.
280
281 RESOLVED, that the Zoning Board of Appeals hereby declares that the proposed Town Highway
282 Department Building Replacement and Campus Renovation Project shall be exempt from the use
283 and bulk requirements and restrictions of the Town of Lansing Zoning Code; and be it further
284
285 RESOLVED, that the proposed Town Highway Department facility shall be deemed to be a use
286 permitted, constructed and maintained on the subject property, subject to the approval of the
287 Lansing Town Board; and be it further
288
289 RESOLVED, that the Town of Lansing Schedule I and Schedule II Regulations for the IR Zoning
290 District to the extent that they may restrict or prohibit the proposed facility shall not apply to this
291 project.
292
293 THE VOTE ON THE FOREGOING DECISION, DETERMINATIONS, AND
294 RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF LANSING ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS WAS AS
295 FOLLOWS:
296
297 Motion by: Mary Stoe
298 Seconded by: Susan Tabrizi
299
300 Richard Hayes—Absent
301 Mary Stoe—Aye
302 Susan Tabrizi—Aye
303 John Young—Aye
304 Judy Drake—Aye
305
306 Dated: 13 December 2022
307
308 Other Business:
309 The Zoning Board of Appeals discussed upcoming projects.
310
311 Motion to Recommend Susan Tabrizi to Serve a 5-year term on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
312 Motion: Judy Drake Seconded: Mary Stoe (Motion Carried)
313
314 Chair Judy Drake adjourned meeting at 6:58 PM
315
316 Minutes taken and executed by Heather Dries
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