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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA Minutes 2019-01-15Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Tuesday, January 15, 2019 Board members present: Rob Rosen, Chair; Members George Vignaux, Chris Jung, and Caren Rubin; Alternates David Squires and David Filiberto Absent: Bill King Staff present: Bruce Bates, Director of Code Enforcement; Debra DeAugistine, Deputy Town Clerk; and Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town Mr. Rosen opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. Appeal of Cornell University, 170 McGowan Woods Road, TP 64.-1-2.2 requesting a variance from Town of Ithaca Code Chapter 225-3 (8) Sprinkler Systems to be allowed to not have a sprinkler installed in a storage building exceeding 400 sq ft in size. The applicant was not present. Mr. Rosen reported that they're requesting a variance because of cost, claiming that a sprinkler system would far exceed the value of the structure. Mr. Bates said that this is a 15' x 40' prefab wooden building. In our code, it states that storage buildings exceeding 400 sq ft in size need sprinklers. This building will be basically used to store equipment. It was previously used by Cornell on a property in the city, and when they no longer needed it, they were going to get rid of it. The Cornell Grounds Department said they'd like to have it, and when they applied for the permit to move it to its current location, we informed them that they'd need a variance. The building will have to meet the proper setbacks. Ms. Rubin asked if they're storing gas -powered equipment. Mr. Rosen responded that they just say equipment; they don't say what type. Even if it will be things like gas -powered lawnmowers, that's safe because people have those in their garages all the time. Mr. Bates said sprinklers aren't required in residential uses; garages are exempt. Asked if the shed has electricity, Mr. Bates responded that it shows electric on the back. Ms. Rubin noted that the application says it will have no power and no heat. Mr. Rosen said he didn't find anything unusually dangerous about this shed; the question is whether the sprinkler requirement is reasonable or not. He wondered whether they could use plastic pipe for the sprinkler and have a dry pipe system full of air. Mr. Bates said if there's no heat, you'd have to put in a dry system. The valve system alone probably exceeds the cost of the building. Then you'd have to pipe water to the building, and the location sort of prohibits it. This sprinkler requirement is a town requirement, not a building code requirement. Back when we re -wrote the sprinkler law in 2012, there was a discussion about this because they the board was considering exempting even bigger buildings. ZBA 01-15-2019 pg. 1 Mr. Filiberto asked why the town has this requirement that's different from the building code. Mr. Bates said the town has a more restricted law than the state; his understanding is that this came about partly because of the fire on campus in which there were a number of deaths. Mr. Rosen said we have to decide whether this could set a precedent. They said it's too expensive, so how much could it cost? Cornell has millions of dollars. Mr. Bates said we've granted sprinkler variances to Cornell and IC before for smaller storage buildings. The requirement used to be for any storage building that was used for other than residential use; then they increased it to buildings larger than 400 sq ft. Ms. Brock said the thinking probably was that if it's less than 400 sq ft, you're not that far from an exit and could dart out fairly quickly. She doubted it was mathematically precise based on how long it takes the average person to move this far to get out of a building. Ms. Ruben said the distinguishing features are that there's no power and no electricity, there won't be anybody in the structure, it's 300 feet from any inhabited building. That makes it pretty innocuous. Mr. Rosen agreed that it doesn't seem like this building should need a sprinkler system, but we have to do the balancing test. Mr. Vignaux pointed out that the sprinkler system would undoubtedly exceed the value of the building. Mr. Rosen said the building is free, so just saying that the amount far exceeds the value of a free building, it could be any amount. Mr. Vignaux said it's a shed: you could basically walk through a wall to get out if there's a fire. Mr. Rosen said the building has two doors: a 10-foot garage door and a 3-foot personnel door at opposite ends. Mr. Vignaux said this means nobody is more than 20 feet from an exit. Mr. Rosen said that there's no electricity, no heat, and no water; those are things we can point to. Even if there was water, it would be really expensive to install a sprinkler. Mr. Vignaux asked if the board could prohibit the storage of flammables other than in the gas tanks of small equipment. He said he has a 20'x20' second garage. He stores his lawn mower and other equipment in it, plus three 5-gallon cans of gasoline. If he had to sprinkler it, he would tear it down. He said that if they cut the shed in half and separated it into two smaller buildings and moved them out five feet from each other, they'd be under the code. Or they could put a fire wall down the middle to have two separate buildings. It's much ado about nothing. Mr. Squires said he's supportive of the variance. He asked if conditions could be put on it such as no addition of power or heat; that would ensure that it would never be occupied as an office. Mr. Rosen said storage -use only is a better limitation than no power or no heat because they might need power for something; that's not hazardous. ZBA 01-15-2019 pg. 2 Ms. Brock said our law also allows the requirement that alternative forms of fire extinguishing equipment be provided or the requirement of additional alarms or other devices to ameliorate the effects of having no sprinkler system. So you can mandate that there be fire extinguishers appropriate for whatever is being stored there. That's a fairly easy and inexpensive thing thby can do. Board members were supportive of those conditions. ZBA Resolution 0069-2019 Sprinkler Variance 170 McGowan Woods Road TP 64.4-2.2 January .15, 2019 Resolved that this board grants the appeal of Cornell University, 170 McGowan Woods Road, TP 64.-1-2.2, requesting a variance from Town of Ithaca Code Chapter 225-3 (8) Sprinkler Systems to be allowed to not have a sprinkler installed in a storage building exceeding 400 sq. ft. in size, with the following Findings: 1. Strict application of the Sprinkler Chapter of the Town Code would cause a practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, because there is no water service at the site of the building, it is an unheated building, the value of the wood shed building is modest, and a sprinkler system would be expensive. 2. The omission of an approved sprinkler system from all or part of the building will not significantly jeopardize human life, because the building will be used for storage only, and the building has two exits on opposite sides of the shed, so no one is more than 20 feet from an exit. Conditions: 1. There must be a properly mounted fire extinguisher of appropriate size and type for the type and amount of storage, acceptable to the Town's Code Enforcement office, at each exit. 2. Both doors must be able to be unlocked and opened from the inside. 3. The building may be used only for storage. Moved: Rob Rosen Seconded: George Vignaux Vote Ayes: Rosen, Jung, Rubin, Vignaux, Filiberto The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. A`- I.,) M,,t ed by, 7� A _ r' ty '1'Own -C le ZBA 01-15-2019 pg. 3