HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA Minutes 1965-08-05 35
TOWN OF ITHACA
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
AUGUST 59 1965
A meeting of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals was
held at the Town Offices , 108 E . Green Street , City of
Ithaca at 7 : 30 P . M . on Thursday , August 5 , 1965 .
Members of the Board present were : Chairman David F . Powers ,
Robert Powers , � C . A . Tilton , William S . • Scott , Jr . , Roger
Sovocool , Zoning Officer Robert J . . Wells , and Secretary Cheri
Beninati .
Also present were : Attorney Richard B . Thaler , J . Ryan , R .
Bowlsby , Mr . and Mrs . R . Sheldrake , Jr . , K . Mc Guire , A`.
Rosten , Isaac Cortright . , R . S . Beardsley , R . C . Gray , Nora
Dodd , Mr . and Mrs . M . Brink , R . . Child , J . Hall , Mrs , Sturgeon ,
Constance Cook , F . Liguori , J . V zse , E . Phillips , Attorney
Robert J . Hines , P . Allen , H . Perry .
RYAN TOWING SERVICE - SECOND HEARING
The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Powers ..
The Chairman requested Zoning Officer Wells to read the
minutes of the July 29 , 1965 meeteing pertaining to the Ryan
Towing Service . The minutes were approved as read . Chair-
man Powers asked Attorney Thaler if Ye had my. additional
statements or questions . Attorney Thaler replied in the
negative .
Zoning Officer Wells brought to the Board ' s attention a
letter which he received dated August 5 , 1965 , addressed. to
Mr . Wells , Town of Ithaca Zoning Board , signed by D . Aubrey
Marion of the Dun Rovin Motel , 658 Elmira Road . Mr . Marion
expressed the fact that he was opposed to granting of a
variance with regard to Ryan Towing Service . The letter
was filed with the Secretary .
Mr . Isaac Cortright inquired as to the interpretation of
Mr . Ryan agreeing to limit the storage of wrecked vehicles
to 5 cars and 5 days , i . e . does -his- figure up to 25 cars ?
Mr . Thaler replied by saying , " May I make some light on this ?
I think whatever proposal is made by the Board will be
acceptable . " Mr . Thaler also stated that , upon looking
at the accident reports in Tompkins County , he found less
than one occurred per clay . If Mr . Ryan got :every wreck ,
he may have one per day . Mr . Thaler stated- Mr . Ryan does
not want to create a junk .yard ; he merely wants to compete
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with other people . According to Mr . Thaler , Mr . Ryan would
hold the wrecks only until the insurance company told him
where to tow said wrecks . Mr . Thaler stated , " We will hold
with any decision the Board makes . "
Mr . R . C . Gray stated that he felt the best solution was for
Mr . Ryan to get another piece of property on which to store
the vehicles .
Mr . Thaler : We are perfectly agreeable if the Board of
Zoning Appeals , tells . us as to the time we can. keep a car on
the premises . It is just the temporary nature of picking
up the wreck , taking it to the garage specified by the owner .
We are perfectly willing to move . Right now Mr . . Ryan is
not in the auto storing business .
P+�ra Sovocool : I don ' t see any showing of hardship in the use
of e property . What you are asking for is that itbe
zoned for some other use . All we could gve you is a variance .
Mr . Thaler : It is true that Mr . . Ryan talked to Mr . Wells
prior T377he purchase of the property . He was advised this
was light industrial zoning . The hardship is that here is
a man trying to enter a business not on the scale of a junk
yard . He has made a large financial investment . Because
of the zoning regulation , he can ' t be competitive with
other people in the field . If he cannot be competitive ,
he will be out of business before he begins .
Mr . Sovocool replied that Mr . Ryan would be out - of business
at this site only .
Mr . Thaler stated Mr . Ryan could not afford to open two
sites to operate this business .
Mr . K . McGuire stated that the Elmira Road residents did
not want another junk yard and expressed his opposition to .
Mr . Ryan ' s . proposal .
Mr . Thaler stated Mr . Ryan was applying for a building
only . According to Mr .. Thaler , the cars would be kept in
a closed building . " We are perfectly willing to have this
Board tell us we can keep a car there for a limit of time . " .
Area residents , namely Mrs . Sturgeon , Mr . . McGuire , Mr Rosten ,
and Mr . Hall expressed their feelings opposing granting of
a variance in this case .
Mr . Isaac Cortright recommended that Mr . Ryan be permitted
to erect a building for storage only .
Upon request by Mr . R . Child , Zoning Officer Wells read the
minutes again in order to answer Mr . Child ' s question as to
what Mr . Ryan ' s present business is aad its location .
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Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes - August 5 , 1965 Page 2 -
Chairman Powers advised Mr . Child ,. that Mr . . Ryan ' s present
business is on the said location at 630 Elmira Road . Zoning
Officer Wells added that it is in violation of the Zoning
Ordinance , Mr . Ryan formerly operated the same type of
business at Millbrook Trailer Court , Mr . Child brought up
the point that if Mr . Ryan had a decent business in the
past , he would do so in the future . Chairman Powers replied
that the Board had no idea of . his past tactics .
Mr . Thaler inquired of the residents , " If he ( i . e . Mr .
Ryan ) would be willing not to have any wrecked cars - on the
premises , if we make application for storage of wreckers
only , would there be any objections ? "
Mr . Millard Brink replied he did not see any need for this
kind of business on a main highway in the first place ;
Mr . Ryan. - could be just as successful in a back road as on
Routh 13 .
Mr .. P . Allen stated that the Board ' s purpose is to serve
the people of the Town of Ithaca , and it was a known fact
that when the premises were bought they were in violation
of the Zoning Ordinance , 4rand , therefore , hardship is not
present .
Mr . Beardsley , who lives across from the premises in question ,
stated he had no objection to a garage for the housing and
repairing of trucks , but he did not want to see wrecked cars
there .
Mr . J . Hall inquired as to what the procedure is when some -
one moves in where it is zoned for one thing aid directly
violates it . Mr . Wells replied , " I was first aware of this
situation on June 11 when I received this letter signed
' Disgruntled Elmira Rd . Residents ' . On June 11 , I contacted
Mr . Ryan , after several efforts , on the phone and talked
with him about this , and I believe about two days later Mr .
Ryan came nto my office . At that time I informed him he
was in violation of the Ordinance . He informed me that he
was in the process of purchasing the property - the transaction
was not closed yet . He informed me his attorney was Lou
Thaler . He said I should call Mr . Thaler . He said he real -
ized what the zoning �a. s and they were still going to go
ahead and buy it . I explained to Mr . Ryan the process he
would have to go through in order to establish this type of
business . I furnished Mr . Ryan with the forms which he
returned to me - for which I have not been paid . Mr . Ryan
should be in Justice Court facing a criminal charge . "
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Ur . - Thaler : It would be different if he had not contacted
Mr . Wells . . He is trying to get a variance . The wheels of the
law are slow . He made an application as soon as he moved
. there . He has made an effort to have a variance .
Constance Cook : I live on CoyGlen Road . We are extremely
in eres a in the South End of the entire town , and I want to
say. I am opposed to any variance in this case . If this
business qualified for alight industry , which it doesn ' t ,
a variance could be granted . This is prime tvelopment
property . I think it should be turned down . I would like
to make a plea for the south end of the Town of Ithaca .
We have to stop regarding this as a junk yard . This is
ideal for residential development . We can do all sorts of
things here . We have had many bitter junk yard experiences .
I feel that this would be a great mistake to grant the
variance in this case .
The Board recessed for 15 minutes to come to a decision .
Upon motion by Mr . W . S Scott , : Jr . , seconded by Mr . R .
Sovocool and carried : The application for a variance is
denied . There has been no showing or proof of any practical
difficulty or unnecessary hardship . There is no showing .
that the property is unique in any way . In addition , the
proof shows that the applicant knew this property could
not be used as a towing service prior to the purchase of
the property . The proposed use is not consistent with the
character of the neighborhood . The proposed use will tend
to devaluate neighborhood properties .
Mr . Ryan was granted 7 days to move his business .
This meeting was adjourned at 8 : 55 P . M .
Respectfully submitted ,
Cheri Beninati
Secretary