HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA Minutes 2002-09-23 FILE
DATE �16 - Z DZ-
TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
6 : 30 P.M.
APPEAL of Town of Ulysses, Appellant, Doug Austic , Agent requesting a variance from the requirements
of Article IV, Sections 14 and 16 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance to be permitted to construct a
municipal water pumping station on an 8225 + square foot lot ( 15 ,000 square feet required) with a 73 . 74 +
foot lot depth ( 150 feet required) , located at 133 Woolf Lane, part of Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 23- 1 -
11 . 134, Residence District R- 15 . Said building will have a 15 ± foot front yard building setback (25 + feet
required) .
APPEAL GRANTED
APPEAL of the Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca, Appellant, Lawrence Hoffman , RA, Agent, requesting
variances from the requirements of Article V, Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, as well
as, an approval under Article V , Section 18, to be permitted to construct a building addition to the Cayuga
Medical Center, with said additions exceeding a building height of 38 feet, located at 101 Harris B . Dates
Drive, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 23-3-2 . 1 , Residence District R-30.
APPEAL GRANTED
APPEAL of Paleontological Research Institute, Appellant, requesting a variance from Section 3 .01 -2 of the
Town of Ithaca Sign Law, to be permitted to display a temporary sign, with an approximate area of 245
square feet during the construction of the Museum of the Earth, located at 1259 Trumansburg Road , Town
of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 24-3-3 . 1 , Residence District R-30 .
APPEAL GRANTED
APPEAL of Eric Alani , Appellant, requesting a variance from the requirements of Article IV, Section 14
of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to maintain an existing residential garage with a
side yard building setback of 9 ± feet ( 10 feet required) at 112 Roat Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No .
71 -3 - 11 , Residence District R- 15 .
APPEAL GRANTED
APPEAL of Barbara Roof, Appellant, John Shipe, Agent, requesting a variance from the requirement of
Article IV, Section 14 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a detached
carport on a non-conforming parcel with a 5 + foot west side building setback ( 10 feet required) and a 3 +
foot front yard setback (25 feet required) at 301 Roat Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 71 -7- 16,
Residence District R- 15 . Said parcel is non -conforming as it has a 24 + foot front yard setback to existing
house (25 feet currently required) .
APPEAL WITHDRAWN
FILE
D ATE DZZ0Z
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 , 2002
6 : 30 P . M .
PRESENT: Kirk Sigel , Chairman , Harry Ellsworth , Vice-Chairman ; James Niefer, Board Member,
Andrew Dixon , Board Member; Andy Frost , Director of Building/Zoning ; John Barney , Attorney for the
Town ; Mike Smith , Environmental Planner, Jonathan Kanter, Town Planner, Daniel Walker, Town
Engineer.
ABSENT : Ronald Krantz
ALSO PRESENT: Steven Eddy, 16 East Enfield Center Road ; Richard Coogan , 1843 Trumansburg
Road ; Adam Pratt , 5073 Jacksonville Road ; Peg Coogan , 1843 Route 96 ; William Luce , Junior, 1840
Route 96 ; Jodele Marshall ; Virginia Luce , 1840 Route 96 ; John Shipe , 8 Yellow Barn Road ; Anna
Smith , 242 DuBois Road ; Steve Hascup , 175 Woolf Lane ; Bruce Rich , 253 DuBois Road ; Jean
Schurman , 3317 Swamp College Road ; David Schurman , 3312 Swamp College Road ; Warren
Allmon , 1259 Trumansburg Road ; Rob Aislie , 124 Woolf Lane ; Tim Reynolds , 5101 Jacksonville
Road ; Jim Sanders , 120 Woolf Lane ; Steve Walden , 122 Woolf Lane ; Gary Mobley, 126 Woolf Lane ;
Justin Hjorhg , 1864 Trumansburg Road ; D . Brockman , 1864 Trumansburg Road ; Brenda O' Brien ,
130 Woolf Lane ; Sydney Merritt , 127 Woolf Lane ; Joyce Merritt , 127 Woolf Lane ; Bruce Wilson , 108
Willow Creek ; Eric Alani , 112 Roat St ; Carolyn Duddleston , 3156 VanDorn Road ; Catherine
Valentino , 110 Eastern Heights Dr,
The Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals entered into executive session at 6 : 32 p . m . to seek
legal advise .
The Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals closed executive session at 6 : 55 p . m .
Chairman Sigel — Good evening . Welcome to the September 23 , 2002 meeting of the Town of Ithaca
Zoning Board of Appeals . The first item on our agenda this evening is to make a decision in the
appeal of Alfred Eddy . After that we have the appeals of the Town of Ulysses , Cayuga Medical
Center, PRI , Eric Alani and then Barbara Roof .
ZB Resolution No 2002 —058 : Application for Special Approval for Fill Permit for Excavation of
Gravel on Eddy Parcel Tax Parcel 27 . 1 -1 -14. 2 , Mecklenburg Road , Ithaca , New York
Motion made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by James Niefer.
Whereas , Alfred C . Eddy Owner/Applicant ; Brayton P . Foster, Consulting Engineer applied for
a Special Approval for the proposed excavation of fill material not to exceed 90 , 000 cubic yards on
portions of Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 27 . - 1 - 14 . 2 located on the north side of Mecklenburg Road ,
in an area zoned for agricultural uses (the " Project") ; and
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Whereas , the Planning Board , after a public hearing , on March 21 , 2000 , recommended
granting of the special approval subject to certain conditions ; and
Whereas , this Board , after a public hearing , on May 10 , 2002 , denied the application for
special approval for the reasons set forth in Board of Appeals Resolution No . 2000-24 ; and
Whereas , the applicant appealed the decision of this Board to the Supreme Court which
reversed this Board ' s decision by order and judgment dated May 17 , 2001 and remanded the matter
to this Board for further proceedings not inconsistent with the decision of the Court ; and
Whereas , the decision of Supreme Court was upheld by the Appellate Division of Supreme
Court by a memorandum and order dated August 1 , 2002 ;
Now , Therefore , in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court , it is hereby
RESOLVED , that the Board of Appeals grants special approval for the fill permit for the Project
subject to the following conditions :
1 . Upon issuance by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (" DEC") , the
applicant shall submit to the Town of Ithaca Planning Department a copy of the DEC
Mined Land Reclamation Permit allowing operation of the Project ;
2 . That sediment and erosion control and dust control methods in compliance with DEC
guidelines for controlling erosion , siltation , and pollution to all water bodies and
wetlands and as approved by the Town Engineer, be practiced throughout the duration
of the Project ;
3 . That the Town of Ithaca special approval and permit expire after a period of three years
from the date of filing of this resolution subject to being renewed after a public hearing
should the applicant so desire and the operation during the permit period is found not to
be a nuisance to the surrounding properties ;
4 . That the applicant contact the NYS Department of Transportation (" DOT") and obtain
any necessary DOT permits for the Project and submit to the Town of Ithaca Planning
Department copies of any permits needed and so obtained prior to commencement of
excavation ;
5 . That the volume of material to be excavated from the site shall not exceed 90 , 000 cubic
yards ;
6 . That there be no processing or crushing of any of the material at the Project site or any
lands adjacent to the site at any time , except for a stationary fixed grate for screening
without any conveyor belt or other conveying apparatus ;
7 . That there be no more than four truck trips (one trip being ingress and egress) per hour
and no more than 32 truck loads removed per day ;
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8 . That the Project area be reclaimed as set forth in the reclamation plan submitted to
DEC for the DEC mining permit ;
9 . That the hours of operation be limited to 8 : 00 a . m . to 5 : 00 p . m . and be limited to
weekdays only;
10 . That operations be limited to April 1 through October 31 each year;
11 . That if a reclamation bond is required by DEC that a copy of same be provided the
Town prior to the commencement of excavation ;
12 . That if a reclamation bond of at least $ 10 , 000 is not required by DEC , that such a bond
in at least that amount (or, if a lesser amount is required by DEC , in an amount equal to
the difference between the amount required by DEC and $ 10 , 000) be supplied to the
Town prior to the commencement of excavation .
13 . That all operations be in accordance with the representations and materials in the
application provided by the applicant to the Board of Appeals and in accordance with all
requirements and conditions imposed by DEC in any mining permit issued by DEC .
The vote on the Motion resulted as follows :
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYS : NONE
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously.
Chairperson Sigel — Mr. Eddy , we just approved the motion so you ' re all set .
APPEAL of Town of Ulysses , Appellant, Doug Austic , Agent requesting a variance from the
requirements of Article IV , Sections 14 and 16 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance to be
permitted to construct a municipal water pumping station on an 8225 + square foot lot ( 15 , 000
square feet required) with a 73 . 74 + foot lot depth ( 150 feet required ) , located at 133 Woolf
Lane, part of Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 23=1 -11 A 34, Residence District R- 15 . Said building
will have a 15 + foot front yard building setback (25 + feet required).
Chairperson Sigel — Will a representative from the Town of Ulysses come up and give us an overview
of what has changed .
Completely inaudible for about 10 minutes, poor cassette quality.
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Dan Walker, Ithaca Town Engineer — This project that Ulysses proposed for their water district will be
a great benefit to the Town because it completes a water system that was started some fifteen years
ago . There was supposed to be a storage tank built by developers by the Town of Ithaca . That project
died , so we 've been living with a temporary pump station which is substandard for a proper water
distribution system for the last 12 or 15 years .
This extension which , the cost of it is going to be born by the Town of Ulysses for their water district
will solve an inadequate storage situation for the residents of Woolf Lane . It will provide a two day
minimum storage without electricity . So if there 's a power outage for up to two days , this will supply
water to the residents . Plus it will give us adequate fire flow to all of the hydrants along Trumansburg
Road , between DuBois Road and the Town Line that you do not currently have . Basically, at no cost
to the Town , we ' re having our water system completed .
Mr. Austic — I don 't know if you ' re familiar with the process by which we fund for this type of water
project . We are under the confines of the regulations set by the New York State Comptroller as to the
cost of water district . Our plan , as it stands , is at the maximum allowable amount . If we do change the
location of this pumping station , our engineers have looked into changing this location to other sites
that may or may not be available and meet the appropriate criteria . Basically, we' re looking at an ideal
site from an engineering and for availability of the land in the area . If we were to change the location
of the pump and go to a different location , the initial costs to get to the pump and then back to the
Town of Ithaca line , the extra pipes and any additional costs of the land may and probably would
increase the cost of the water district project to a level that it is no longer feasible . So that is a
hardship . That's about all I have to say unless anyone has questions .
Chairman Sigel — I have a question , how would it affect your plan or would it affect your plan if the
building were moved to the west a little bit and to the south a little bit , still on the lot?
Mr. Austic — Probably not at all .
Chairman Sigel — To try to increase the setbacks a little bit .
Mr. Austic — Maybe a little more pipe line , but it doesn 't matter if we move it one way or another on
the lot .
Chairman Sigel — Can you remind me again how you plan to finish the exterior.
Mr. Austic — ( inaudible)
Chairman Sigel — It 's my understanding that the area has a requirement for wood siding , painted
wood siding . Are the any other questions .
Mr. Dixon — This is a $3 million project , I was curious what the size of the contingency in the budget
was .
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Mr. Austic — We ' re at the contingency ( inaudible)
Mr. Dixon — I just want to re-visit an issue I raised at the last meeting , which was the real question of
why you didn 't purchase the entire parcel that was available , you chose to subdivide it .
Mr. Austic — The point is we don 't need that size lot . We were able to purchase a portion and leave a
buildable lot . It would have incurred more of an expense , we would have had to maintain and mow
the rest of the lot . ( inaudible)
Mr. Dixon — But if the parcel was larger, you would eliminate the setback issue . You said the refusal
of the variance would "quite possibly" make the project impossible to complete . "Quite possibly" is
vague , it either would or it wouldn 't .
Mr. Austic —The cost of running the main line ( inaudible)
Mr. Dixon — I ' m still wrestling with the issue of how, let' s say you don 't buy the entire parcel , let ' s say
it' s subdivided differently in a way that leaves the owner with a developable parcel , but it meets the
setback requirements on all sides .
Mr. Austic — No matter how we split it up , there aren 't two buildable lots .
Chairperson Sigel — Well clearly , just by square footage , you can 't have two fully legal lots .
Mr. Austic — Right.
Chairperson Sigel — there ' s not nearly enough area . Possibly you could get more creative to reduce
the setback issues . You ' re never going to get two 15 , 000 square foot lots .
Mr. Dixon — How many square feet are left in the lots ?
Chairperson Sigel — Parcel "A" as proposed is only 16 , 600 . So that doesn 't have much more to give
parcel " B" . Any further questions ? Anything else you ' d like to add ?
Bruce Wilson - There are a couple items we should clarify ( inaudible)
Chairperson Sigel — Anyone have any questions or comments?
Mr. Dixon — I guess I have a question to John which is the issue of self created hardship , does that
apply here ?
Mr. Barney — Are you thinking in terms of . . . . . . .
Mr. Dixon — In terms of an area variance as opposed to a use variance .
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Mr. Barney — You can consider whether it is a self created hardship , but that alone does not
determine an area variance .
Chairperson Sigel — That doesn 't automatically disqualify them .
Mr. Barney — As opposed to a use variance where that may be sufficient to rule out the granting of a
variance . Here , it may be a consideration , but it' s not determining by itself .
Voice from the audience
Chairperson Sigel — Excuse me , I ' ll open the public hearing soon and then you ' ll have a chance to
speak , thank you .
Mr. Dixon — In terms of detriment to the community and I ' m going to define community very narrowly
as the cluster of homes that is there and any economic impact that this may have on the value of
these homes would be detrimental .
Mr. Barney — That would be a form of detriment , yes .
Chairperson Sigel — Any other questions or comments ? Well , before I open the public hearing , I 'd just
like to throw out a couple suggestions to the other Board Members to think about . That is allowing
them to put the pump station closer to the side lot line , the west side . As best as I can tell , I ' m trying
to measure on the plot plan , if we allowed them to bring the pump as close as ten feet to that side
line , then it would , for instance allow a front yard setback of 22 feet in conjunction with a rear yard
setback of 24 feet . I think those numbers give a little bit of flaw as well . I think those are safe numbers
as best I can measure . For me , at least , that seemed like a better position for the pump house .
Mr. Barney — It 's hard to read on the map that you have , but the dimension from the current location
to the west side line is 20 feet exactly and it' s 30 . 2 feet from the nearest corner to the nearest rear
yard .
Chairperson Sigel — Yes . The required side yard setback is 15 feet and if there were say an
accessory garage to a house then actually it would be allowed to be ten feet . Since I consider this to
be more akin with a garage than what would be a dwelling , I think ten feet is a reasonable side yard
setback. I think it does gain a substantial increase in the front yard setback.
Mr. Barney — The one problem with that , just eyeballing it , is that it does place it considerable closer
to parcel "A" , which is not presently built on , but at some point may have a house on it . It makes it that
much closer.
Chairperson Sigel - That's true , but I 've been giving more deference to the other lots in the
neighborhood as opposed to the lot that' s being created by the subdivision as far as buffering goes .
The owner of the entire parcel at this moment is benefiting from the sale of parcel " B" . I still think
that' s a reasonable buffer to where a house would be built on parcel "A" .
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Mr. Kanter — Kirk , is there any reason not to just move it back , but retain the 20 foot side yard and
they could still get it back closer to the rear lot line without further reducing the side yard setbacks .
Chairperson Sigel —You could , but then the rear setbacks becomes even lower because of the way
the lot is shaped .
Mr. Barney — But right now you ' re honoring that setback in full as opposed to the front yard setback
where you ' re chopping ten feet off of it .
Chairperson Sigel — True .
Mr. Barney — Does anybody know where the house in this lot is located ? Where's your house on your
lot? How far away from this pump station would you be? I have a map right here .
Audience member points out location on map.
Mr. Barney — About half way across the lot from the driveway . How many feet would you say?
Mr. Niefer — When we ' re dealing with these details , this might better be discussed after you open and
close the public hearing . Perhaps we could proceed along those lines .
Chairperson Sigel — I agree . I just wanted to set that out so that so that people in the audience could
think about those options .
Chairperson opened the Public Hearing at 7 : 37 p . m .
Chairperson Sigel — Could I just see a brief showing of hands of who intends to speak . So , I won 't set
any time limit , but please try to keep your comments concise and if you go on terribly long , I might
have to ask you to wrap up .
Sidney Merritt , 127 Woolf Lane — If I read the request for a variance tonight correctly , it' s exactly the
same as the one we met with last month . At which time , it was voted down unanimously because that
piece of land is dimensionally unsuitable for construction . It's no more suitable tonight than it was a
month ago . Coming here tonight and saying they' re going to move a generator is just a ploy . It
doesn 't make this situation one bit different . Let me just say something about what I believe the Town
of Ulysses used very poor judgment in trying to decide to put it in this particular location . This thing
has been dragging out since January . If the Town of Ulysses had only put that pumping station on
their land , which is a scant 500 feet from where it is at the present time , in all probability the people in
Jacksonville would be having drinking water at the present time , but they opted not to so here is this
controversy . Let me tell you why it' s not accessible , first of all , and they should have well known that
that piece of land was dimensionally unsuitable for building anything . I think this was made true by the
Town of Ithaca . Secondly , they have opted to locate this pumping station in the West Wood
Subdivision , which is restricted to residential construction only . So it was very poor judgment to
decide to come here in the first place . The have no business being on Woolf Lane . Woolf Lane is
being protected by the Town of Ithaca as a residential area and we just don 't want a pumping station
on it , it' s that simple . Have I made my point ?
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Chairperson Sigel — Very clear sir.
Mr. Merritt — Then I 've spoken all I have to .
Chairperson Sigel — Thank you very much . Anyone else ?
Anna Smith , 242 DuBois Road — I want a brief summary from Mr. Walker about how the noise level
from this proposed pumping station will compare to the noise from the current generator down on the
corner of Woolf and DuBois .
Mr. Walker — The generator has been eliminated from the project . There ' ll be no exercising of any
generators at all on that site . The only time the portable generator would be used there would be if
the power was out for more than two days throughout the system . The current generator is exercised
about once a week . It' s an older generator, it ' s probably noisier than any of the newer generators .
There won 't be any generator noise because there won 't be a generator there , unless there is an
emergency .
Chairperson Sigel — How does the noise compare , the motors that are there now when they' re just
running .
Mr. Walker — The electric motors are very quiet . Our pump stations . . . . You don 't here anything
outside the walls of pump stations , they' re insulated and that's not a problem .
Tim Ciaschi — The gentleman over here was talking about the detriment . Look behind me , the
detriment are those people over there . How fast would he be on this side of the room if that pump
station was going to be in his front yard . That's why they' re all here . It's not right , it's not fair ( banging
on the podium ) I didn 't do this subdivision to take care of Ulysses . Where were they when I raised the
300 signatures for sewer and water that I got extended , that I paid for and turned over to the Town ?
All of a sudden we have to supply Town of Ulysses . There ' s other avenues to explore and they' re not
doing it and they need to . Those people pay taxes and they don 't need that ugly building up there .
Right here it says they do not meet the requirements ( banging on the podium ) that I made , it's that
simple . If we have a democracy , let' s see it work for a change , okay?
Chairperson Sigel — Thank you . Would anyone else like to speak?
Steve Haslop , 175 Woolf Lane — I just had a question , I didn 't understand something and I wanted
some clarification . That lot there is about 1 /3 of an acre , from what I understand . Are they talking
about subdividing that further.
Mr. Barney — No , the lot , it would be subdivided to 8 , 000 and some odd square feet , 8 , 200 square
feet .
Mr. Haslop — Okay , then what' s left over?
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Mr. Barney — 16 , 000 square feet , which is slightly larger than a third of an acre , which is actually the
minimum lot size required , more than the minimum lot size .
Mr. Haslop — Okay, so there 's still enough to put another house on that?
Mr. Barney — Yes . I might add that the parcel left over is slightly larger than several of the other lots in
Woolf Lane subdivision .
Bruce Rich , 253 Dubois Road- I don 't want to be redundant . Mr. Wilson talked about detriment . I am
on DuBois Road , I am three house from the Ulysses Town line and the water stops two houses from
us . Once this water comes in , does that mean that eventually they will extend it down DuBois Road ?
If so , there ' s a lot of farm land down there . Right now there 's a hundred acres that' s for sale , if water
comes down through there , that means there ' s going to be more building . There' s more development .
We have an area up there where a lot of people ride bikes , they walk , they roller blade , I just don 't
want to see more houses , I don 't want to see more traffic than we already have on that road .
Jim Sanders , 120 Woolf Lane — The lot , as you have it divided up , is 55 % of the required square feet .
It' s 49% of the required depth and it ' s 60% of the required setback for a buildable lot and you
shouldn 't be building anything on that . We really don 't want the pumping station in our neighborhood ,
especially on a small lot , set right out by the road where we have to see it every time we drive by . I
look straight down the road and I ' m going to see that every day when I look out my window . Thank
you .
Mr. Haslop — I just had a question about future development in the Town of Ulysses . Is there anything
that prevents them once they get hooked into this from developing all the way to Trumansburg ?
Chairperson Sigel — I ' m not aware of any requirements . The Town of Ulysses controls their own
development .
Mr. Haslop — But the water is coming from Ithaca though .
Mr. Barney — As I understand your question , you want to know if there is anything to prevent the
Town of Ulysses from using an unlimited amount of water. Mrs . Valentino can correct me if I ' m wrong ,
but I believe there 's a set limit on the maximum amount of water to be supplied to the Town of
Ulysses system .
Mr. Haslop — But then they can apply for variances for that too .
Mr. Barney — Anybody can apply for anything , but the arrangement being contemplated now is based
on a specific amount .
Richard Coogan , 1843 Trumansburg Road — I live in Jacksonville , New York . I don 't envy your
position here tonight . You ' re being asked to weigh in judgment the personal regards of a few
residents , those who could be your friends and your neighbors against a larger group of people , many
of whom do not even live in your town . We are all part of a larger community . Lately we have
mourned the loss of community , wondered what happened to it . Looking back at the 50 ' s with
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nostalgia . It has been replaced with "not in my back yard" . We all want services , but not in my back
yard . This project will serve a lot of people in the Town of Ulysses and in the Town of Ithaca . It is in
the name of community that you should approve this . Thank you .
Mr. Merritt — What this gentleman just said is a reflection of what we had read in the media late last
week , which totally was biased , distorted , inaccurate . They' re making it out that a handful of big bad
guys on Woolf Lane are just depriving hundreds of people in Jacksonville of the right to have drinking
water. The problem is not the people on Woolf Lane , it's the people in the Town of Ulysses . If that
matter was urgent enough , they would have gone to the extra expense of putting it on their own
property , spending the additional funds and having it as running water in the Town of Jacksonville
now . This thing has been dragging out since January and it will continue to drag out because
nobody' s going to keel over and we ' re not going to have to make any concessions for mistakes that
are being made by somebody coming in here and wanting to take over our land . We ' re residents of
the Town of Ithaca and taxpayers and we expect to be protected . That's all I additionally have to say .
Catherine Valentino , Town of Ithaca — Thank you for allowing me to speak . I speaking on behalf of
the Town Board tonight about these discussion and the process that we went through when we felt
that this would be a very good project for the Town of Ithaca and for the Town of Ulysses . There 's a
couple of things that got missed I think in the discussion that you folks might not be aware of .
When we went out to these public meetings with the folks from Woolf Lane , one of the commitments
that the Town of Ithaca made was that we would work with them and they would get approval of the
building , the kind of siding that they would like if they want wood , if they want a peaked roof .
Whatever they feel is going to fit in with the character of their neighborhood , the Town of Ithaca has
made a commitment that we will work with them and we will do that . We have also made a
commitment to them to do landscaping , put mature trees , big trees so that it will screened . It' ll
probably be screened as well or better than many private residents , we 've made a commitment to do
that . We' re willing to do that for the folks there because it does need to look good . I think now , with
the noise element out of it , it really does make a very big difference there in how it will look . I think
also , they talk about losing some of the value of their homes , we hear this all the time , how do you
evaluate that until someone has sold their home and you see it . I think it's important to note that
having fire hydrants that actually work and work well and have the water pressure and the importance
of this as a safety issue . The safety of the people there is a concern for the Town of Ithaca because
fire hydrants that aren 't working creates a very severe situation , as you ' re probably well aware . To
have that lower pressure , or course we need more pressure along this road . To have that tank that
gives us two days of water is not something to be taken lightly because power outages nowadays
happen more frequently than we would like to see them happen . We 've had a few power outages this
last year in some other parts of our system and thank goodness we have at least a two day supply or
more so that that electricity or generator that we need to get up and running can be there for the
people . It' s very important . If Ulysses didn 't happen to come along , the way they did with their need
and we were able to combine it with our own needs , this project would have to be done by the Town
of Ithaca . It would cost the water users in the Town of Ithaca at least $500 , 000 of our tax payers'
money to do that . It is a project that sooner or later — probably sooner needs to be done because the
problems over there are mounting .
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So that' s how we feel . The Town Board has looked at the zoning , we' ve talked to zoning in Ulysses ,
there was some concern about potential massive growth and that was a concern of the Town Board
and of the Planning Board , and I think we felt comfortable that the plan that Ulysses is putting
together with their zoning and talking to the folks there , they are certainly not looking for any real
growth along that road . The Town of Ithaca and our zoning in our comprehensive plan , we ' re not
looking to extend any of our water districts beyond where they already are because we know there's
a lot of good farm land in that area and it is our commitment to preserve that farm land up there .
That's another important point that I think people need to understand where the Town of Ulysses and
the Town of Ithaca is on those two projects .
All in all , I know you have a very difficult job in front of you . You have to weigh the pros and the cons
and I know you ' ll deliberate well on that . I just thought I ' d like to step forward and maybe clear up a
few of the misunderstandings which there may be about this particular project .
Chairperson Sigel — So you can verify that there is a limit to the amount of water that , under the
agreement , they will be supplied .
Ms . Valentino — Yes , we will have a contract . . . . at first they' ll be contracting with the City , but then , by
the end of next year, their water will be coming from Bolton Point and they' re only asking for a certain
amount of water and we ' ll have a contract to supply not a lot . We can control that to make sure that
we control growth because of how much water we allow them to use . So we' ll be able to have some
reasonable control over that .
Chairperson Sigel — That' s a decision made at the Town Board level , correct .
Ms . Valentino — Yes . So that should help too . Thank you .
Chairperson Sigel — Let's go with some people who haven 't spoken yet first .
Tim Reynolds , 5101 Jacksonville Rd — This has not been , based on my experience , I 've been to
many of these meetings , hasn 't been a fly by night issue that anyone' s . . . . no one ' s accusing the
people of Woolf Lane of being big and bad and dropping a hammer on what we ' re trying to do here .
At the same time , nobody predicts when gas spills are going to happen . Up in Jacksonville I live just
down from the gas station and fortunately for me it has gone the other direction , but still as it is , we
don 't drink the water that comes out of our well . Our water smells foul , it puts stains on our sink .
Things just don 't get clean with that water. We don 't let our kids drink it . We don 't even consider it
safe . Two years ago we ran out of water. Our pump burned up and we had to put another pump in .
It' s an issue of a need and I think that the issue , as well as I can understand , has been researched
quite thoroughly and not in a way to put an imposition on anybody , especially in a particular
neighborhood . It' s just an issue that needs to be resolved when talking about a greater good against ,
basically what sounds to be an aesthetic issue . Mr. Austic has put a lot of time and energy into
making sure that the needs of the people on Woolf Lane are met . I don 't wish any imposition on them ,
but to me this doesn 't seem to be anything more than an aesthetic issue and everything else has
been dealt with . So , in short , our water isn 't good and we ' re looking at an issue that's beyond a
handful of people on Woolf Lane who simply just don 't want something there . It 's a very real issue
11
and it' s a health issue and it will finally improve things for everybody , as well as I can understand .
That's all I have to say .
Brendan O' Brien , 130 Woolf Lane — I live right across the street from the proposed pumping station . I
know that it' s a difficult situation here , but it kind of seems to me that the residents of Woolf Lane are
kind of getting labeled as "not in my back yard , " "we don 't want it . " Everybody wants clean water for
everybody , but I think we need to look at how we got here . How we got here is that we have one lot ,
which was intended for one building , which is being subdivided for a small space to have a pumping
station and future development . It really is just one lot and it' s right across from us , I mean how did
we get here ? I think it ' s poor judgment to buy the lot in the first place . Obviously the person who 's the
seller would want to divide it up and sell it twice . Obviously you might be able to get a cheaper price if
you only buy a little sliver of the lot . That' s how we got here , we have this little sliver and all of the little
aesthetic things have to do with it , when you have land that' s too small for that structure , that's where
we are and I hope you can make a solution that allows people to have water and while respecting the
situation of the people in that neighborhood . Thanks .
Bruce Rich , 253 Dubois Road — Just a side note : Ms . Valentino spoke about commitment to the
people of the Town of Ithaca , being committed . Years ago when Mr. Ciaschi wanted to put the Woolf
Lane development in , the Town of Ithaca , to help appease the neighborhood , suggested that they
would put a park land in for us . Well , that park is not there yet , we still don 't have it . I don 't know if
you want to call that commitment or not .
Gary Mogley , 126 Woolf Lane — I ' m not here to talk about some of the technical aspects of whether or
not this proposal works or not . My question comes back to what I asked in June , why Woolf Lane ?
And it was not so much asking from a defensive standpoint , but give me some sound reasons why
you chose that spot . Just by looking at it initially, it didn 't make sense . Now since the previous
meeting and today , we 've gotten some more information , but it still doesn 't give me compelling
information that this is the only location that can satisfy this issue .
Now , in terms of the other issues of Woolf Lane , are we packaging this together as saying " in order to
solve the issues with the Woolf Lane concerns with the fire pumps and in order to help Jacksonville ,
both of these things have to occur, I don 't think so . These are independent issues and they need to
be evaluated from that standpoint . This may be one solution , but it's not the only solution . I am
sympathetic to Jacksonville , but for me to have compelling information why this is the best solution
has not been provided to me . Thank you .
Mr. Walker — The reason that site is necessary is very specific . We need to have adequate pressure
on the supply side of the pump station . If you notice the pump station on Woolf Lane already about
100 and some feet away from this pump station is about the same elevation , that pump station was
put there because it was at the proper elevation for having adequate supply pressure and could
supply the areas above it with adequate pressure . The limitations that we ' re facing are that there are
other places to put the pump station . Two things would happen if we did that , one would be much
more expensive and two , it would put water where we don 't want to put it , in the areas that are not
meant for development . This is a real benefit to the Town of Ithaca because we' re saving at least a
half million dollars in cost if we went into this ourselves and that would be spread over our rate
12
payers , not over everyone and actually the big part is being taken by the Town of Ulysses people . So
that's why this site is important .
Originally, on their plan , they looked at the end of DuBois Road , at the Ulysses Town line and that
would have worked as far as the hydraulics , but because of the limitations on what their costs were
and what they didn 't want to serve , that open space in Ulysses , they shortened that water district up .
It was larger as it was being proposed . This water district , as I see it , is compact , serves the needs of
the people of Ulysses , the pump station is located in the proper place hydraulically , I would put it
there as a town engineer and it serves to benefit the Town of Ithaca by increasing water pressure
where it needs to be increased , but not increasing it where it doesn 't .
Inaudible voice from the audience.
Mr. Niefer — We'd like to know who this person is .
Mr. Walker — That' s plenty of flow . The problem is if we put the pump station at that location , first off it
cuts off a loop . We have a loop that runs from the Trumansburg Road water tank , up Route 96 , down
DuBois Road , down Indian Creek Road , past the Biggs complex and past the hospital . So we have
two supplies of water that come into the hospital , two sources , two directions from that one tank . By
putting a pump station at that elevation , the increase in pressure is too high at the lower portion of it .
The only way to do that would be to run a parallel water line , which would be another 3 , 000 or 4 , 000
feet of water main and probably another 1/a million dollars in construction costs .
Inaudible voice from the audience.
Chairperson Sigel — Excuse me , could you give us your name sir?
Rob Aimslie , 124 Woolf Lane — So this pumping station needs to be north or northwest of DuBois
Road ?
Mr. Walker — Correct , that's the proper location . The water pressure there , that water pressure is
around 60 to 70 pounds , that ' s a good static pressure for the pump .
Barely audible voice from the audience - About 500 feet from Woolf Lane is the town line , they could
build the pump station there , run the water line back , there is a fire hydrant there . There ' s land
available there . Granted , you may have to put you ' d have to put 600 feet of water main in , at $50 a
foot , that' s $30 , 000 . . . . . Put the pumping station in the town of Ulysses .
Mr. Walker — Again , it' s a cost issue .
Same barley audible voice from the audience- $30 , 000 is all .
Mr. Walker — In the county right of way , you ' re probably talking more like $75 a foot to put that pipe in
and there are more fittings and other things that have to be done . It ' s engineering feasible , yes .
13
Chairperson Sigel — Thank you Dan for answering those questions . If anyone else would like to
speak , please come to the podium .
Mr. Mogley — The question I have , and I ' m not arguing this technical solution , but , again , it seems the
mitigating factor here is cost . In terms using costs as a criteria , what are the different costs between
these different options? Just telling me cost is not enough information . Again , in making this decision ,
what are your criteria , what are you basing it upon , I just don 't think we have enough information
here .
Chairperson Sigel — Okay, would anyone else new like to speak?
Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 8 : 10 p . m .
Mr. Dixon — Once the project is completed , who owns the land ?
Mr. Sigel —It's being given back to the Town of Ithaca .
Mr. Walker — Once the pumping station is complete , it will be given to the Town of Ithaca and the
Town will be responsible for it .
Mr. Dixon — And would also be responsible for maintaining the land around it?
Mr. Walker — Yes .
Mr. Dixon — So that cost will be born by the Town of Ithaca?
Mr. Walker — Yes , but we will be selling water to the Town of Ulysses which will cover the cost .
Mr. Dixon — So , I go back to the issue of if they bought the entire parcel as currently laid out ,
unsubdivided , and the pumping station was set back onto the parcel . The question was asked at the
last meeting whether or not that would create engineering issues and the answer was "no" . And the
entire parcel was left as a wilderness parkland area it would mitigate the concerns of the .neighbors
on Woolf Lane . I ' m having the same problems , the same issue , which is why the subdivision in the
first place ? It creates these significant setback issues .
Chairperson Sigel — Yes , I agree , that' s a good question .
Mr. Barney- Let' s go back a step , the cost of this project is where this all ends up . The Town of Ithaca
is not buying this parcel , it's coming from the Town of Ulysses , they are purchasing this property , they
are building this system . Out of that , they' ll take the cost of that system and they' ll divide it among a
number of residents who will pay for the bonding costs over a period of time , they will also pay an
operating cost to the extent that the Town of Ithaca incurs an operating cost that will be passed back
to the Town of Ulysses in the form of the water rates that the Town charges the Town of Ulysses , so
the end result is you ' ll get a water rate and you ' ll get probably a benefit assessment , I ' m not sure
exactly how you ' re going to handle the payment of the bond , but the combinations of those two goes
14
to the Comptroller of the State of New York for approval of this project and if the amount is too high ,
the Comptroller will not let you approve it . So when you add a $30 , 000 cost , that' s $30 , 000 more for a
project that' s already , as Mr. Austic has said at the ceiling of what they might be able to get approval
for.
Mr. Dixon — The budget is , but exactly how much is the contingency , they must have one ?
Mr. Barney — Well , you don 't go into a project like this without a contingency .
Mr. Dixon — I know that .
Mr. Barney — You probably know better than I do . I think that if this Board wants to supercede the
judgment that the people are making in terms of a budget , I ' m not sure that we have the capability or
the information to do that . $ 150 , 000 contingency budget in a project of this nature is pretty minimal , in
particular if they've already had to dip into it for some other costs . So , in a perfect world , maybe they
could absorb that $30 , 000 is what I think I hear you saying . I don 't think they can start this project on
the anticipation that it' s going to be a perfect world and in fact , I 've lived through some history in the
Town of Ithaca , where we 've started projects and the contingency ran out and we ' d go back and try to
bail ourselves out and that' s one reason why we have a Town wide water benefit district . One district
where we anticipated $ 170 , turned out to be about $600 or $700 cost . That's not an option available
to these folks . I think you have to look at what is the cost these folks are dealing with the Comptroller.
Mr. Dixon — This is a very vague issue . I ' m not satisfied that I understand that $30 , 000 breaks the
budget on this project .
Chairperson Sigel — I understand and I share your feelings that it would be better if they were to
purchase the entire lot . On the other hand , the application they made before us is for the subdivided
lot and it' s your job to evaluate their application based on the criteria that we ' re given , if we think that
it meets the balance . Now , we can make changes as we see fit to mitigate any impact that we
anticipate . If you believe that this is unacceptable , then , obviously , you should vote that way, if you
believe that the only acceptable situation is to have the entire lot . I don 't think it's fair to the applicants
to just , because you like the whole lot plan better, to not evaluate what they've given .
Mr. Dixon — I don 't think I ' m not evaluating it .
Chairperson Sigel — I didn 't mean to say it that way.
Mr. Dixon — Where you drew it and you can even draw it such that it' s tucked further back there ,
yeah , we have a setback issue on the backside and what that will end up impacting is where they put
the house on the lot to the left .
Chairperson Sigel — For me , personally , I like the balance of , as I said , the side yard setback of 10
feet , the front approximately 22 feet , and the rear approximately 24 feet .
Mr. Walker — That setback is not set in stone . The pump house can be rotated on that lot . ( inaudible ,
speaking away from the microphone)
15
Chairperson Sigel — True . I think aesthetically it might work better being parallel to the street .
Mr. Walker — Inaudible
Mr. Barney — Dan , if the building were just dropped straight back in it ' s present location , even ten feet ,
that would give you the full front yard setback , but the rear yard would be maybe 20 feet , rather than
30 feet . Is there a topographical reason , or growth or planning reason ?
Mr. Walker — There 's a hedgerow there that has been existing for a while with some very old trees .
Mr. Barney — You didn 't want to damage those . Is that hedgerow on the boundary line , can you tell ?
Mr. Walker — (Inaudible)
Chairperson Sigel — Any other conversation ? Would anyone like to make a motion ?
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Mr. Kanter — I think the Environmental Review basically covers pretty much what we 've talked about .
Noise is one of the components , which has been resolved by eliminating the generator.
The Planning Board , just as a side note , when they approved the subdivision contingent on obtaining
a variance also required substantial landscaping and if you have some additional requirement or
additions you wanted to impose in that regard you could certainly consider that .
Chairperson Sigel — Any more questions or comments on the Environmental Review?
ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-059 : ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT : Town of Ulysses,
Appellant, 133 Woolf Lane, part of Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 23=1 -11 . 134, Residence
District R-15 .
MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by James Niefer.
RESOLVED , that this board makes a negative determination of environmental significance in the
matter of the appeal of the Town of Ulysses , requesting a variance from the requirements of Article
IV , Sections 14 and 16 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance to be permitted to construct a
municipal water pumping station on an 8225 + square foot lot ( 15 , 000 square feet required ) with a
73 . 74 + foot lot depth ( 150 feet required ) , located at 133 Woolf Lane , part of Town of Ithaca Tax
Parcel —No . 23- 1 - 11 . 134 , Residence District R- 15 for the reasons stated in the Environmental
Assessment Form prepared by town staff dated 09/ 13/2002 . Said building will have a 15 + foot front
yard building setback (25+ feet required) .
The vote on the motion resulted as follows :
16
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYS : NONE
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously
Chairperson Sigel — Do we have to discuss any more on the setback issue ? How do people feel ,
assuming you ' re in favor. What do we think would be the least impact combination of the setbacks ,
the side , the front and the rear?
Mr. Niefer - I think the setback from the roadway that you were talking about so that it is about 22 feet
plus or minus and possibly building it at an angle is certainly something that would help to cause the
building to fit into the neighborhood and be less visible is a good proposal . I don 't , off hand , see the
benefit of having a side lot line reduced to say ten feet . I don 't , off hand see what there is to be gained
by that .
Chairperson Sigel — Well , my attempt there was , . . . . . just simply sliding it south to increase the front
yard setback would reduce the rear yard setback by almost the same amount and so by sliding it to
the west into the deeper part of the lot , that increased the rear setback again . Obviously , at the
expense of the side yard setback .
We could probably make , instead of a 20 foot side yard setback , maybe say 15 feet . My guess would
be that the rear yard would also be 22 feet .
Mr. Niefer — Basically , that 22 feet setback would probably give greater setback to this structure than
the cluster houses across the street has from the center line of the highway based on what I had
paced off there . This gives some relevance of how far back this is from the centerline of the highway.
This proposed location is a greater distance back from the centerline than the cluster housing is
across the street .
Chairperson Sigel — That could be . I think you ' re right that it is at least a similar distance . Any other
suggestions ?
Mr. Kanter — So we ' re basically not talking about reduction in lot area and lot depth right , but quite
possibly changing the front yard setback .
Chairperson Sigel — With Jim ' s suggestion actually there would be no side yard setback . No side yard
variance required . We would just basically be exchanging front for rear.
ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-060 : Town of Ulysses , Appellant, 133 Woolf Lane, part of Town of
Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 23-1 -11 . 134 , Residence District R-15 .
17
MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Andrew Dixon .
RESOLVED , that this board grants the appeal of the Town of Ulysses , requesting a variance from the
requirements of Article IV, Sections 14 and 16 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance to be
permitted to construct a municipal water pumping station on a lot not less than 8200 square feet with
a depth not less than 73 feet , located at 133 Woolf Lane , part of Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 23- 1 -
11 . 134 , Residence District R- 15 . Said building will have a front yard building setback not less than 22
feet and a rear yard set back not less than 22 feet . It is anticipated that there will be no variance
required for the side yard set back .
FINDINGS :
a . The requirements for an area variance have been satisfied by the applicant .
b . There was a gasoline spill in the Hamlet of Jacksonville several years ago which has resulted in
substantial pollution to a large number of wells and the inability to get good water there .
c . The project which this pump house is related to will provide potable water to the Hamlet of
Jacksonville and the people living there .
d . The setback deviations are not substantial .
e . The lot size is appropriate for the size of the building that's being constructed .
f . There are no existing dwellings on Parcel A , immediately adjacent to the west , nor is the dwelling
on the parcel to the southwest ( Lot 20) within 200 feet of this location . Parcel "A" to the west is owned
by the same owner that presently owns parcel " B" .
g . The Town of Ulysses has made a number of efforts to explore other areas for the location of this
pump house , but because of hydraulic , power source , or water line issues the cost of doing so would
jeopardize the ability to complete the entire project .
h . The benefits to the Hamlet of Jacksonville , Town of Ulysses and Town of Ithaca outweigh the
detriment to the community.
CONDITIONS :
a . The external appearance of the building be as house- like as possible , including the installation of
wood fascia on the building and the installation of windows .
b . The only structure to be placed on Parcel B is the pump house .
c . Landscaping be provided to screen the building as much as feasible from the road and from the
adjacent property owners .
d . A landscaping plan be provided to the Town of Ithaca Director of Planning .
18
e . The building must have a front yard setback not less than 22 feet and a rear yard setback not less
than 22 feet .
The vote on the motion resulted as follows :
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer
NAYS : Dixon
The motion was declared to be carried .
APPEAL of the Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca , Appellant, Lawrence Hoffman , RA, Agent,
requesting variances from the requirements of Article V , Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca
Zoning Ordinance, as well as , an approval under Article V, Section 18 , to be permitted to
construct a building addition to the Cayuga Medical Center, with said additions exceeding a
building height of 38 feet, located at 101 Harris B . Dates Drive, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No .
23-3-2 . 1 , Residence District R-30 .
Paul , Lavek , HOLT Architects — We' ll try to make this easier than the last one , no pump houses .
The reason we ' re here is because the hospital is in a special use district and we' re proposing some
additions so we need to come before you . We went before the Planning Board last month and got
approval . I can go through the information that you have in your packets , talk about specifics or I can
present it if you have any questions .
Chairperson Sigel — Well , I think we 've all read it over. If you could just give us some type of brief
overview of what you ' re doing and why you ' re going to be doing it and how much water you ' re going
to use that' d be great .
Mr. Lavek — The medical center is proposing two additions . They' re adding an education center,
which is going to house education programs within the hospital and some safety programs . The
addition will be between the hospital and the medical office building . . .
Mr. Barney — Can I interrupt for a minute ? Where your fingers are , is that the professional building ?
Mr. Lavek - The other reason we ' re here tonight is the height restriction . The way that the building is
measured ( inaudible)
Chairperson Sigel — What is the height of the education portion ?
Mr. Lavek — Measuring from the lowest level of the family medical center, 57 feet . This building will be
about ten or 15 feet lower than the professional building .
Mr. Frost — I believe that from the southerly direction , maybe it' s a westerly direction , the ground
surface actually rises there . It's still going to be lower than the roof profile of the Professional Building
now . You ' re facing east .
19
Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 8 : 40 p . m . With no persons present to be heard ,
Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 8 : 41 p . m .
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Chairperson Sigel — Any comments on the very short Environmental Assessment Form . Would
anyone like to make a motion on the Environmental Form ,
ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-061 : ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT— Cavuga Medical Center at
Ithaca , Appellant, 101 Harris B . Dates Dr, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 23 .-3-2 . 1 , Residence
District R-30 .
MOTION made by Harry Ellsworth , seconded by James Niefer.
RESOLVED, that this Board makes a negative determination of environmental significance in the
matter of the Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca , Appellant , Lawrence Hoffman , RA , Agent, requesting
variances from the requirements of Article V , Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance , as
well as , an approval under Article V , Section 18 , to be permitted to construct a building addition to the
Cayuga Medical Center, with said additions exceeding a building height of 38 feet , located at 101
Harris B . Dates Drive , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No , 23-3-2 . 1 , Residence District R-30 , for the
reasons stated in the Environmental Assessment Form completed by town staff , dated September 4 ,
2002 .
The vote on the motion resulted as follows :
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYS : NONE
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously
ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-062 : Cavuga Medical Center at Ithaca, Apellant, 101 Harris B .
Dates Dr, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 23 . -3-2 . 1 , Residence District R-30 .
MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Andrew Dixon .
RESOLVED , that this board grants the appeal of Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca , requesting
variances from the requirements of Article V , Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance ,
specifically granting a height variance for the portion of the building shown as the Education Center
Addition not to exceed 58 feet in height as well as , an approval under Article V , Section 18 , to be
permitted to construct a building addition to the Cayuga Medical Center, with said additions
exceeding a building height of 38 feet , located at 101 Harris B . Dates Drive , Town of Ithaca Tax
Parcel No . 23-3-2 . 1 , Residence District R-30 .
20
FINDINGS :
a . The requirements for an area variance have been satisfied in the case of the height variance and
the findings for a special approval have been met .
CONDITIONS :
NONE
The vote on the Motion resulted as follows
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYES : NONE
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously
APPEAL of Paleontological Research Institute, Appellant, requesting a variance from Section
3 .01 =2 of the Town of Ithaca Sign Law, to be permitted to display a temporary sign , with an
approximate area of 245 square feet during the construction of the Museum of the Earth ,
located at 1259 Trumansburg Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 24=3-3 . 1 , Residence District
R-30 .
Chairperson Sigel — Would an agent of the institute like to come forward and give us an overview of
your proposal .
Warren Allmon , 1259 Trumansburg Road — I am the director of the Paleontological Research
Institute . We are requesting this variance to display a temporary banner, which is considerably larger
than the regulations allow. This banner will hang in front of our property on a trailer that our contractor
has parked on the front of the property until after the opening of the building , no later than the end of
June 2003 . We anticipating the opening of the building next May or June and so it would come down
before that . The reason we want to put that banner up is that we want to alert the public to what is
going on . Before we put it , there was some confusion about what the big mountain of dirt was for
example , and to stimulate interest and enthusiasm and we hoped to generate fund raising prospects .
Chairperson Sigel — While I realize that this is an application for a temporary sign , I understand that
there is already approval for the permanent sign .
Mr. Niefer — If they painted the sign on that trailer that was up there , would the same issues be before
us?
21
Chairperson Sigel — I would like to think so , yes . You might be able to make the argument that it is not
that desirable to have a large trailer sitting out there in front and it ' s even less desirable to have a big
banner sitting in front .
There are a lot of people in the Town who would certainly like to put out a big banner whenever they
are doing some kind of renovation .
Mr. Niefer — I think from time to time there are a number of banners that are put up between utility
polls and the Town doesn 't seen to take issue with that .
Mr. Ellsworth —Ellis Hollow Fair . . . . .
Chairperson Sigel — But those are generally not for six months or nine months , I guess this is . This is
until June , is that what you were requesting ?
Mr. Allmon — Yes .
Chairperson Sigel — So , that' s more than nine months .
Mr. Niefer — He doesn 't seem to have anyone here who 's opposing it .
Mr. Frost — I haven 't gotten any complaints , so far.
Chairperson Sigel — That doesn 't absolve us of our duty to do what we think is appropriate here .
Any other questions or comments?
Mr. Barney — Warren , you 've indicated that one of the reasons you 'd like to have this is because it
enhances your ability , perhaps , to raise funds .
Mr. Allmon — We certainly hope so .
Mr. Barney — So , could you interpret this as being kind of a marketing effort and including raising
funds ?
Mr. Allmon — That' s definitely part of our marketing efforts to generate enthusiasm . It ' s to raise funds ,
it ' s to alert people to the project , as all of you know we have been basically invisible to the public for
70 years and we ' re about to change that dramatically . In addition to marketing , it' s public education ,
12 , 000 cars a day drive by our front door and they want to know what' s going on . Part of what we ' re
doing this year is to tell them that and this is definitely the easiest way to do that .
Mr. Dixon — Well it' s not like the infamous going out of business for nine months banners .
Chairperson Sigel — True , I would certainly grant that this is one of the more appropriate signs .
Mr. Dixon — What 's it going to be made of?
22
Mr. Allmon — It' s vinyl .
Chairperson Sigel - It ' s out there blowing in the breeze as we speak .
Mr. Niefer — I think the trailer that ' s there has some contractor' s name painted on the side of the
trailer.
Mr. Allmon — Our contractor actually parked the trailer there .
Mr. Niefer — It' s got his name on the side of the trailer, so this covers up the contractor' s name .
Chairperson Sigel — True .
Mr. Niefer — I ' d rather have PRI ' s sign there than the contractor' s .
Mr. Dixon — So , we ' d expect this trailer to disappear, if this sign went up ?
Chairperson Sigel — The sign is on the trailer.
Mr. Dixon — Are we talking about leaving the sign on the trailer?
Chairperson Sigel —Yes .
Mr. Dixon — Oh .
Chairperson Sigel — They' re going for the most attractive sign holder award . They want to leave the
trailer there .
Mr. Barney — What's this magical date , what is June 30tn ,?
Mr. Allmon — That 's the absolute latest that it would be up . The building will be done by February and
we hope to open between May 1 st and July 1 st , so June 30th was the absolute latest that I put on the
application . I would expect it to come down well before June 1St , in fact .
Mr. Barney — Refresh my recollection , is part of this project a new sign for the institute ?
Mr. Allmon — Yes . In fact you ' ll start seeing that sign emerge in the next week or so . But the lettering
won 't go on until the spring . If you 've been noticing the landscaping is emerging from the back of the
site forward and the front of the site will actually get done next spring , it will get prettied up next
spring .
Mr. Ellsworth — Doesn 't that mound stay there ?
Mr. Allmon — No , the mountain up front disappears and , if you notice , it ' s going down .
23
Mr. Ellsworth — I though you had a mound hiding your parking .
Mr. Allmon — There are berms hiding each of the parking lots and the first two berms , at the back of
the site are actually done and seeded just this week . The last berm to the west hasn 't been finished
yet and the big pile that everybody' s been curious about is going down as the days go by and will
probably be gone within the next two weeks .
Mr. Barney — Maybe we could consider a shorter time , you folks might want to consider a shorter
time .
Chairperson Sigel — Yeah . . . . .
Mr. Barney — And then renew it , if it becomes necessary .
Mr. Ellsworth — I think we've got to put some conditions on this or we' re going to have a break out of
banners all over the Town .
Chairperson Sigel — My feeling is that it might be reasonable to have it up for maybe a month , and
then maybe at the end of the period . Nine month announcement . . .
Mr. Allmon — With all do respect , 60 , 000 people a year are going to come to this . This is the largest
project build by a nonprofit in the history of the County off of the campuses . This has a major impact
on the County and the economy and lots of people want to know about it and if any of you have a
suggestion of how to better inform those people about the progress of the project , I would love to hear
it.
Chairperson Sigel — Well , you could , for instance , use a significantly smaller sign , mounted by the
road .
Mr. Allmon —The instructions that we got was that the legal sign was 24 feet and if you go by our sign
at 50 miles per hour, which most people do , it' s very difficult to read it . We put the minimum number
of letters on this sign that we could and still communicate something meaningful to it .
Chairperson Sigel — You managed to fit in something about your architect .
Mr. Allmon — Which is very important for our marketing effort . We have a very high profile architect ,
as some of you know and it was very important to us to announce who our architect was .
Mr. Dixon — I think the design of this sign is great . I ' d feel different if it was stretched between polls .
Chairperson Sigel — You 've put us in a rather difficult position . You ' re asking us to not use any
discretion in this case . If you had come to us before you had this made , then we could have exercised
some discretion as to the size and it would have had no impact on say, your cost to produce this sign
because it wouldn 't have been produced yet .
24
Mr. Allmon — Well , actually the reason the sign ended up there is by a misunderstanding of something
that Andy Frost said to me a year or two ago : "Things with wheels have different rules" .
Mr. Frost — I never said that .
Mr. Allmon — He never said that , but I thought that he did . So it never occurred to me for a moment
that this is in violation of the sign ordinance and I would have never put it up there if it had .
Chairperson Sigel — Do you happen to recall this .
Mr. Frost — I recollect a public relations representative person calling me asking questions about
putting a banner up as part of a public relations drive . She was informed that, I can remember the
details , but I now that the limits were set in my conversation .
Chairperson Sigel — Do you recall the approximate size of the sign that was approved , the permanent
sign ?
Mr. Allmon — About 100 feet long and about six feet high and it' s perpendicular to the road .
Chairperson Sigel — It was a pretty large variance .
Mr. Allmon — The actual size of the lettering is much smaller than that . It ' s about 15 feet .
Mr. Frost — What would you feel if they had a separate sign that had the message about the Museum
of the Earth , thereby alleviating the banner. I ' m just offering a thought here . Having the banner cut so
that the bold black background which is "coming summer of 2003" kind of stands by itself , with the
www . museumoftheearth . com on the bottom and then perhaps eliminating the museum of the earth
that is to the left of that . Reduce the size of the sign . . . . . ( inaudible , away from microphone) . Cut about
a third of that away and have a separate , nicer sign that says " Museum of the Earth" .
Mr. Barney — You ' re allowed to have in a residential zone a 24 square foot sign that identifies the
museum , if I ' m not mistaken .
Mr. Frost — So what I ' m suggesting is that they can have the Museum of the Earth as a permitted sign
that' s up to 24 square foot and then reducing the size of the banner to still get their message across
on that banner, but it' s smaller.
Mr. Allmon — And I assume you mean taking the trailer away.
Mr. Frost — I didn 't say that .
Chairperson Sigel — I don 't know how other Board Members feel , but I feel very sympathetic towards
your institution , but at the same time , I feel that it' s my job to try to make sure that the sign law , which
was passed by the Town Board , is followed and I have a hard time accepting the fact that something
so large is not making a mockery of the law .
25
Mr. Allmon — We ' d be happy to take the trailer away and mount it on posts if that' s more attractive .
Chairperson Sigel — Just the square footage , I mean it' s so grossly . . . .
Mr. Allmon — It' s frankly , very difficult to envision anybody reading anything of less than that size on
that road . It will , of course , say Museum of the Earth , or whatever it will say on it , but it will . . . . I 've
actually tested it myself at various speeds , it is essentially impossible to read anything at 45 miles per
hour that is smaller than that . So , you ' re absolutely right , it is off the scale in terms of size , but it
accomplished what we need accomplished .
Mr. Niefer — In actuality , it' s less offensive when it's parallel with the road than it would be if it' s at a
right angle with the road . Because this way when you travel by it , if it' s parallel to the road , you just
get a fleeting glance at it . On the other hand , if it were at a right angle to the road , you ' d see if for a
long distance away and it would stick out more like a sore thumb . This is slightly camouflaged .
Chairperson Sigel — I agree with that , but again , personally I find it hard to believe that the intent of
the Zoning Board is to grant variances of this size .
Mr. Niefer — I agree with you that it's grossly over the limit and I agree with you that the size of signs
have to be controlled .
Mr. Allmon — Isn 't it in the public interest to inform people about the nature of the project?
Mr. Barney — The public interest is always interested in one aspect or another. If everyone took it
upon themselves to identify what' s going on with a 245 square foot sign —
Mr. Allmon — Not everybody' s building a project this size on a road where the speed limit is 45 miles
per hour.
Mr. Barney — 1 understand that Warren , but I think a lot of justification could be made for large signs
for identification purposes . That' s what a billboard is for, to catch people's eye and advertise a
product , and it' s difficult for us-
Mr. Allmon — That's a very important difference , this is not a billboard .
Mr. Barney — It is and it isn 't . It's advertising your product , it's not different than a billboard in that
sense . We may have a different view of the nature of the purpose , the nicety of the purpose .
Nevertheless , it' s the same thing as a billboard and what we ' re struggling with here is that if we say
yes to an organization , which I think this Board and the this town delight in having you in the Town
and wants to be supportive of you , how do we say no and if and when a McDonalds comes before us
and wants to put a banner up announcing that they will be opening in 2003 and turn them down only
because they are more commercial and the PRI is a more desirable neighbor.
Mr. Allmon — That sounds like a good answer right there , by the way .
26
Chairperson Sigel - We can 't really make judgments like that . We can 't say that we like this person
and don 't like that person .
Mr. Barney — What will probably happen with all these is in the back ground cover all of these in the
free speech article of the Constitution . Theoretically , we ' re supposed to be regulating the sign on
aesthetics and size , not content . I guess I come back to the question is there someway it could be
made somewhat smaller. I ' m not sure it' s necessary to put in the names of the architects or general
contractors or the web site . I think you could simply leave the information about 2003 and get the
same message across .
Mr. Allmon — We can trim it down .
Chairperson Sigel —I ' m not opposed to even the whole sign being there for say 30 days , when your
approaching your grand opening .
Mr. Allmon — We won 't need it then .
Mr. Barney — You need the money now , is what you ' re saying .
Mr. Allmon — It 's really not about the money . It' s a red herring , um .
Mr. Barney —Don 't say that because it may be the only way that they have to give you the variance .
Let me just read to you , what prompted my question . Under the variance , their power : "a departure
for the terms of law authorized by the Zoning Board of Appeals , due to a practical difficulty of
unnecessary and undo hardship , not the result of the actions of the applicant peculiar to an individual
situation . "
Mr. Allmon - What I meant is that the money is the lesser objective than communicating to the public
what this is about . Yes , fund raising is a part of it , but this is really to communicate to the public that
this exists , that this is coming . The website , I would argue is kind of important , obviously not as
important "Museum in 2003" . This is about telling the public that this project is in fact coming .
Mr. Barney — The problem I have with that is that' s true with any project .
Mr. Allmon — We ' ll trim it however you want .
Mr. Dixon —What if we leave it as is for today and then they come back next month .
Chairperson Sigel — That opens it up to every other establishment who wants to leave up their
banners .
Mr. Allmon — Could I just clarify , the trailer would also be in violation , is that right?
Mr. Barney — It can be there while the construction is going on , if it' s being used to store construction
equipment .
27
Mr. Allmon — It's only there for the sign , it has no construction purpose .
Chairperson Sigel — Again , as much as I would like to help , there ' s nothing we can do without
opening this to everyone .
Mr. Allmon — John could I ask you to read that ordinance back again .
Mr. Barney — "A departure for the terms of the law authorized by the Zoning Board of Appeals due to
a practical difficulty of unnecessary and undo hardship , not the result of the actions of the applicant
peculiar to an individual situation . "
Mr. Allmon - It is definitely a hardship to us if we do not have a legible sign to communicate this to
the public , no question about it . It would definitely negatively impact the communication with the
public about the project . That would hold right up through , I ' d say May1 st .
Mr. Niefer — It seems an argument can be made for anyone who comes before us and wants to put
up a sign , if they have a commercial establishment or if they have a nonprofit establishment . You 've
gotten a lot a good publicity in the news media , the paper, I ' m really astounded how good your public
relations people have gotten the word out . So , it's not that your message isn 't getting out —
Mr. Allmon — I wish that that were true .
Chairperson Sigel — You have my two year old son eagerly awaiting .
Mr. Allmon — He doesn 't have to wait , he can come now .
Chairperson Sigel — For the opening of that wooly mammoth .
Mr. Allmon — You ' re absolutely right that the penetration has been much greater, but we were starting
from zero and so we had no where to go but up . I am absolutely with you when I say we have had
enormous uptake in attention and familiarity with the project since this banner went up . We will
obviously do exactly what you want , but it will definitely impact the perception of the project .
Chairperson Sigel — Well , a possible compromise would be to allow the banner to be the same
square footage that you 've already been approved for the permanent sign . Possibly , we could
approve this for a sign of a temporary nature . We could let them decide how they want to use the
square footage . I think it will be safer than trying to pick and choose content . In that way we could
essentially rely on the previous decision of the Zoning Board for justification for whatever square
footage was granted at that time .
Mr. Ellsworth - You know if you go by Duffield Hall at Cornell , they have a whole wall there that' s a
sign . I talks about the facts and includes pictures . And all these SUNY projects , they've got huge
signs .
Mr. Barney — That' s the City of Ithaca , it' s not our zoning . And that ' s a State project they can do
whatever they want .
28
This is one where I would vote for it because they want it , but I ' m not voting .
Mr. Allmon — Duffield Hall is right on point in terms of communications , no one would have had a clue
what that project was about if it weren 't for that wall .
Mr. Dixon - You should take into consideration that it' s there in violation . . . . . .
Chairperson Sigel — Well , in that way what we can tell other applicants , if somebody came in and
wanted to put up a temporary sign announcing that their establishment was coming , then maybe that
is a reason to put up a sign as the same size that is put up when it's permanent .
Mr. Allmon — I saw a banner up somewhere saying Ames is closing .
Chairperson Sigel — Their total square footage is . . . . . .
Mr. Frost — They've posted banners down along Route 13 on weekends .
Chairperson Sigel — In this case it' ll allow PRI to put up a temporary sign larger than they would
normally be allowed because they have a variance for the permanent sign .
Mr. Frost — Warren , you don 't remember what we gave you for the variance for the permanent sign .
Mr. Allmon — No , and my question was going to be is it the total square footage of the lettering or is it
the total square footage of the sign ?
Mr. Barney — No . It' s the lettering . The lettering enclosed in a rectangle or a circle .
Mr. Allmon — Oh , that' s considerably smaller than this banner, but it ' s two sided because it ' s
perpendicular to the road .
Mr. Barney — You ' re allowed to have free standing . . . .
Chairperson Sigel — If you want to make a one-sided sign , you don 't get twice as much . My question
is would he even need a variance to put up a sign that ' s the size already granted for the permanent
sign ?
Mr. Barney — That sign was of a specific configuration . I think I would consider if you ' re of a mind to
approve at least that ( inaudible) .
Mr. Allmon — Can I ask a question ? Does the sign ordinance make any determination based on how
an area is zoned .
Mr. Frost — If you were in a commercial zone on a corner lot , it would allow for slightly more .
29
Mr. Allmon — So the irony is that there' s no chance of a multitude of these signs appearing in an R-30
Zone for example , whereas in a commercial district where there is more chance or more signs , more
signs will appear.
Chairperson Sigel — There 's only 50 square feet in a commercial district . So granting a larger sign , in
a more restrictive zone just adds fuel to someone in a business district who says "well I should have
an even larger size" .
Mr. Frost — There's no where in the Town that even approaches this size .
Mr. Smith — The recommendation from the Planning Board to the Zoning Board on the sign variance
was reference to the drawing for a 245 + square feet .
Chairperson Sigel — I seem to recall that it was over a hundred square feet .
Mr. Allmon — Probably five by 15 .
Chairperson Sigel — Quite a bit larger than what was allowed .
Mr. Barney — Five feet being the height of the lettering . I think it also included the . . . .
Mr. Allmon — It included the dinosaur.
Mr. Barney — The logo , didn 't it ? Actually , I think the logo was larger.
Chairperson Sigel — Sure , let' s open the public hearing .
Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 9 : 19 pm .
Eric Alani , 112 Roat Street —There's a Target truck that' s right in front of Target on Triphammer Road
that ' s pretty big , just parked there advertising Target .
Chairperson Sigel — If that was in the Town , we would crush it to the ground .
Mr. Alani - And the Science Center has an equivalently large sign advertising it' s expansion .
Chairperson Sigel — That' s in the City . Good point though .
Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 9 :21 p . m .
Chairperson Sigel — We could go ahead with the next appeal because this may take a few more
minutes to find the information .
APPEAL of Eric Alani , Appellant, requesting a variance from the requirements of Article IV,
Section 14 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance , to be permitted to maintain an existing
30
residential garage with a side yard building setback of 9 + feet (10 feet required ) at 112 Roat
Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 71 =3-11 , Residence District R-15 .
Mr. Alani - I have a survey of the tax parcel , if that would be useful for you .
Chairperson Sigel — I think we also have one in our packets .
Mr. Alani — The issue basically comes down to the fact that this house was built in 1960 . It was sold
twice , apparently there was no concern about the fact that the garage that was built in 1960 was nine
feet from the property line , it only became an issue when we made a small addition , not even an
addition , just renovated a porch and we were told that the garage is one foot closer to the property
line that it should be . Mr. Frost suggested that we just apply for a variance for this distance .
Mr. Barney — I love it when surveyors say nine feet plus or minus . You pay for a surveyor to go out
there and , I can see maybe saying it ' s off a tenth or an inch or something , but why can 't they be more
accurate than that , I don 't know .
Chairperson Sigel — They probably would have had to go out to the site to do that . Anyone have any
questions or comments , this is pretty simple .
Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 9 : 22 p . m . , with no person present to be heard ,
Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 9 : 23 p . m .
Chairperson Sigel — I will move to grant the appeal of Eric Alani .
ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-063 : Eric Alani , Appellant, 112 Roat St, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel
No . 71 . -3-11 , Residence District R-30 .
MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Harry Ellsworth .
RESOLVED , that this board grants the appeal of Eric Alani , requesting a variance from the
requirements of Article IV , Section 14 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance , to be permitted to
maintain an existing residential garage with a side yard building setback of not less than 8 1/2 feet at
112 Roat Street , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 71 -3- 11 , Residence District R- 15 .
FINDINGS :
a . The requirements for an area variance have been satisfied by the applicant .
CONDITIONS :
31
NONE
The vote on the motion resulted as follows :
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYS : NONE
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously .
Mr. Alani — Do I get a letter now?
Mr. Barney — You get a copy of the resolution .
Chairperson Sigel — Okay , back to PRI . So , they have a variance for a permanent sign of no more
than 95 square feet . So , if we granted a temporary sign with a size limit of 95 square feet , we could
basically allow them to make a two sided sign basically that was perpendicular to the road . You could
specify that it not be mounted on a trailer. Whatever you think is appropriate . Any comments on what
you think is .
Mr. Dixon — I ' m pretty comfortable with what you 've just proposed and having it off the trailer, the
trailer out of there .
Chairperson Sigel — Say , leave that with the discretion of whether it' s a two sided perpendicular or
one sided parallel to the road .
Mr. Frost — What was approved was actually a stoned landscape wall that actually has at the top
" Museum of the Earth " on each side facing north and south .
Chairperson Sigel — And as I recall , we were somewhat generous in that .
Mr. Frost — So would we want to specify it not being on a trailer, otherwise leave it up to the
applicant' s discretion , in regard to the positioning of the lettering .
Mr. Allmon — This is 95 feet total or 95 feet on each side ?
Mr. Barney — Each side .
Chairperson Sigel — If you chose two-sided , then it would be 95 feet on each side .
Mr. Barney — Could they possibly have the current sign up for a couple of weeks until they get
another sign ?
Mr. Allmon — That would be great , thank you .
32
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Chairperson Sigel — There 's no Environmental Assessment , is there ? There is ? Yes , we do have one .
Any comments here ?
Would someone like to make a motion on the Environmental Assessment? I will move to make a
negative determination of environmental significance . . . . . . .
Mr. Niefer — Can we vote in favor or this as it stands and then down size the request in the final ?
Mr. Barney — Yes .
ZB RESOLUTION NO , 2002-064 : ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT— Paleontological Research
Institute, Appellant, 1259 Trumansburg Rd , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 24 .-3-3 . 1 , Residence
District R-30 .
MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Harry Ellsworth .
RESOLVED , that this board makes a negative determination of environmental significance in the
matter of Paleontological Research Institute , requesting a variance from Section 3 . 01 -2 of the Town
of Ithaca Sign Law , to be permitted to display a temporary sign , with an approximate area of 245
square feet during the construction of the Museum of the Earth , located at 1259 Trumansburg Road ,
Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 24-3-3 . 1 , Residence District R-30 , based upon the Environmental
Assessment Form prepared by Town staff , dated September 4 , 2002 .
The vote on the motion resulted as follows :
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYS : None
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously
Chairperson Sigel — With the restriction that the sign not be located on the side of a trailer and
otherwise said construction should be approved by the code enforcement officer.
ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-065 : Paleontological Research Institute, Appellant, 1259
Trumansburg Rd , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 24 . -3-3 . 1 , Residence District R-30 .
MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Harry Ellsworth .
RESOLVED , that this board grants the appeal of Paleontological Research Institute , requesting a
variance from Section 3 . 01 -2 of the Town of Ithaca Sign Law, to be permitted to display a temporary
sign , with an area of no more than 95 square feet per side for a free standing sign during the
33
construction of the Museum of the Earth , located at 1259 Trumansburg Road , Town of Ithaca Tax
Parcel No , 24-3-3 . 1 , Residence District R-30 .
FINDINGS :
a . The requirements for a sign variance have been satisfied by the applicant .
b . The applicant has already been approved for a permanent sign of that size (95 square feet) .
CONDITIONS :
a . The sign must not be located on the side of a trailer.
b . The design and placement of the sign is to be approved by the Town of Ithaca Zoning Officer.
c . The temporary sign is to be removed when the permanent sign is installed or June 30 , 20037
whichever is sooner.
d . The current temporary sign of 245 square feet can remain for 30 days or until the new temporary
sign is erected , whichever is sooner.
The vote on the Motion resulted as follows :
AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Niefer, Dixon
NAYS : NONE
The motion was declared to be carried unanimously .
Chairperson Sigel — Thank you for coming .
Mr. Barney — I ' m sorry we couldn 't be more helpful .
Mr. Allmon — Thank you very much .
APPEAL of Barbara Roof, Appellant, John Shipe, Agent, requesting a variance from the
requirement of Article IV , Section 14 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted
to construct a detached carport on a non-conforming parcel with a 5 + foot west side building
setback (10 feet required) and a 3 + foot front yard setback (25 feet required ) at 301 Roat
Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 71 -7- 16 , Residence District R- 15 . Said parcel is non -
conforming as it has a 24 + foot front yard setback to existing house (25 feet currently
required ).
John Shipe , 8 Yellow Barn Rd — We ' re asking to build a 20 x 20 detached carport , within five foot of
the side lot , three foot of the front yard setback . Not enclosed , basically seven poles and a roof . It ' s
34
just so that they can have off-street parking , which I guess has in the past been an issue with the
Town and her because she has no off-street parking .
Chairperson Sigel — Is there are reason that you don 't want to put it in the back of the home?
Mr. Shipe — She has a reason . She does not want to interrupt her space in the back yard . She ' s got
some gardening plants and all that .
Chairperson Sigel — Will this involve the removal of any trees ?
Mr. Shipe — There will be the removal of one tree that is directly in the center of the carport . There is
also another tree that has to come down because it is rotting . So there are technically two trees that
have to come down .
Chairperson Sigel — The one that is actually in the carport is that large evergreen ?
Mr. Shipe — Yes .
Chairperson Sigel — And that' s otherwise healthy?
Mr. Shipe - I believe so , I ' m not positive .
Chairperson Sigel —Anyone have any comments?
Mr. Niefer — Yes . Roat Street is predominantly a one family residential district , is that correct ?
Mr. Shipe — That' s correct .
Mr. Niefer — And you 've traveled in and out of Roat Street , have you not?
Mr. Shipe — Oh , yes .
Mr. Niefer — Could you tell me whether or not there are any other structures on Roat Street , on either
side , that are three feet or less off the highway limits .
Mr. Frost — I can think of two detached garages . ( inaudible)
Mr. Niefer — On Roat Street , I have driven the street a couple of times , there are no garages that are
three feet off the highway.
Mr. Frost — I think there may be one , but it may be on the corner.
Mr. Niefer — That may be on Blackstone , but I ' m talking about Roat Street .
Mr. Shipe — This is actually not three feet off the road , it's three feet off of the setback , the pin that
they have put in there .
35
Mr. Niefer — Well , this is a 50 foot street , according to the tax map and according to your sketch ,
you ' re going to put this three feet outside of Roat Street .
Mr. Shipe — Right , I was a little confused by that , too and what I went by was on each side of the
property it' s , I believe it was 15 feet off of the road , are steel survey stakes and we went three feet the
other side of that . So we' re approximately 15 feet off the edge of the highway or more .
Mr. Niefer — Well , it strikes me as being a sore thumb structure on that street with that close
proximately to the highway. Nothing that I could see would be anywhere near that close to the
highway and for that particular reason , I really could not support this , particularly as much as there is
the area at the rear of the house for a carport . I know they probably want to protect the lot and keep it
open and so on , but there 's ample space in the rear for the carport .
Mr. Shipe — My personal opinion is that a carport in the backyard would stick out more predominantly
than this one would because there are not trees in the back yard and from the intersection of Roat
Street and Blackstone . . . .
Mr. Niefer — That may very well be the case , but we have setback issues . This is five feet from one
property line and three feet off of Roat Street and I personally find it unacceptable and I would vote
against it .
Mr. Shipe — There is some leeway in the front yard setback , not much , as far as I can tell . She has a
future plan on the end of the house of building a kitchen addition and she does not want to interfere
with that by moving it back too far. I have not seen the plans for this addition .
Chairperson Sigel — I tend to agree with Jim , one of the considerations we ' re supposed to make for
an area variance is whether the benefits sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method
feasible for the applicant to pursue , other than an area variance and it seems that with such a large
back yard that it's pretty obvious that the applicant could achieve this benefit without having any
variance requirement . I also agree with Jim that the proposed location is out of character and rather
inappropriate for that neighborhood .
Mr. Dixon — I agree with Jim as well .
Mr. Shipe — It 's no skin off my back , I ' m just here representing her. What would be an appropriate
setback in that situation that would be agreeable to everybody?
Mr. Barney — 24 feet .
Mr. Frost — Actually on a corner lot , you could go ten foot from what would be deemed to be the side
yard lot line . Well , we look at it different ways , not just necessarily from where the front door of the
house is , but also how the tax roll ' s set up , but I think this roll would be Roat Street anyhow . So this
carport would be facing Roat Street . So we could discuss this later, but you could concieveable . . again
you could push it further along the backyard into the Blackstone area , to push it behind the house .
36
Chairperson Sigel — But if you wanted it in that quadrant of the lot , I would want to see it the required
ten feet from the side and basically even with the face of the house .
Mr. Shipe — That would interfere with her future plans for the house .
Mr. Frost — It would seem that the only way you could get it is to push it out onto Blackstone Avenue .
Mr. Shipe — I had suggested that and she was not receptive to it .
Chairperson Sigel — You could put a driveway in , going around to the back .
Mr. Frost — You may want to have her call me so that I can convince her of that .
Mr. Shipe — Well , this may do it because she definitely wants off street parking .
Mr. Barney — We have a couple of choices here . I sense that this Board is not of a mind to grant what
you ' re looking for. You could ask them to take a formal vote in which it would be denied or you could
ask them to withhold voting and give them a modified application .
Mr. Shipe — Why don 't we do that .
Mr. Barney — You could ask the Board if they would entertain a motion to adjourn without a decision
for a period of up to two months to give the applicant a chance to reconsider with the understanding
that if we don 't hear anything from you , we' ll consider the application withdrawn .
Chairperson Sigel — Would that just allow them to not pay the fee again ?
Mr. Barney — Right .
Mr. Frost — It would also give them , what they' re looking for is an alternative .
Chairperson Sigel — So , technically would it be the same if we just allowed them to withdraw the
application ?
Mr. Barney — They could do that . Do you want to withdraw it?
Mr. Shipe — That' s fine .
Chairperson Sigel - So the application is withdrawn .
Mr. Frost — Jim , I apologize , I didn 't quite understand the question on Roat Street , I think there 's one
actually , it's across the street on Blackstone and it' s right on top of the road . I remember something
was denied and then they came back . And then there was one on Roat Street about the side yard
setback, not the front yard .
Chairperson Sigel — Any other business for the record ? Okay then we ' re adjourned .
37
Chairperson Sigel adjourned the Monday , September 23 , 2002 meeting of the Town of Ithaca Zoning
Board of Appeals at 9 : 45 p . m .
Kirk Sigel , Chair
Lori Waring , Deputy T wn Clerk
38
TOIN'N OF ITHACA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
n90N' DAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
6 : 30 P.M .
By direction of the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that
Public Hearings will be held by the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Ithaca on Monday,
September 23 , 2002, in Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street, Tioga Street Entrance, Ithaca, NY,
COMMENCING AT 6 : 30 P.M. on the following matters:
APPEAL of Town of Ulysses, Appellant, Doug Austic, Agent requesting a variance from the requirements
of Article IV, Sections 14 and 16 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance to be permitted to construct a
municipal water pumping station on an 8225 ± square foot lot ( 15 ,000 square feet required) with a 73 . 74 +
foot lot depth ( 150 feet required), located at 133 Woolf Lane, part of Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 23 - 1 -
11 . 134, Residence District R- 15 . Said building will have a 15 ± foot front yard building setback (25 ± feet
required).
APPEAL of the Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca, Appellant, Lawrence Hoffman, RA, Agent, requesting
variances from the requirements of Article V, Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, as well
as, an approval under Article V, Section 18, to be permitted to construct a building addition to the Cayuga
Medical Center, with said additions exceeding a building height of 38 feet, located at 101 Harris B . Dates
Drive, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 23 -3-2. 1 , Residence District R-30.
APPEAL of Paleontological Research Institute, Appellant, requesting a variance from Section 3 .01 -2 of the
Town of Ithaca Sign Law, to be permitted to display a temporary sign, with an approximate area of 245
square feet during the construction of the Museum of the Earth, located at 1259 Trumansburg Road, Town
of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 24-3 -3 . 1 , Residence District R-30.
APPEAL of Eric Alani, Appellant, requesting a variance from the requirements of Article IV, Section 14
of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to maintain an existing residential garage with a
side yard building setback of 9 ± feet ( 10 feet required) at 112 Roat Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No.
71 -3 - 11 , Residence District R- 15 .
APPEAL of Barbara Roof, Appellant, John Shipe, Agent, requesting a variance from the requirement of
Article IV, Section 14 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a detached
carport on a non-conforming parcel with a 5 + foot west side building setback ( 10 feet required) and a 3 +
foot front yard setback (25 feet required) at 301 Roat Street, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No, 71 -7- 16,
Residence District R- 15 . Said parcel is non-conforming as it has a 24 ± foot front yard setback to existing
house (25 feet currently required).
Said Zoning Board of Appeals will at said time, 6 : 30 p.m. , and said place, hear all persons in support
of such matters or objections thereto. Persons may appear by agent or in person. Individuals with visual
or hearing impairments or other special needs, as appropriate, will be provided with assistance, as
necessary, upon request. Persons desiring assistance must make such a request not less than 48 hours prior
to the time of the public hearing.
Andrew S. Frost
Director of Building and Zoning
273- 1783
Dated : September 13 , 2002
Published : September 16, 2002
TOWN OF ITHACA
AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING AND PUBLICATION
I, Dani L. Holford, being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the Town of Ithaca Building and Zoning Department
Secretary, Tompkins County, New York; that the following notice has been duly posted on the sign board of the Town of Ithaca
and that said notice has been duly published in the local newspaper, The Ithaca Journal.
Notice of public hearings to be held by the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals in Town Hall 215 North Tioga
Street, Ithaca , New York on Mondav, September 23, 2002 commencing at 6 . 30 P. M ., as per attached
Location of sign board used for posting: Town Clerk Sign Board — 215 North Tioga Street.
Date of posting: September 13, 2002
Date of publication: September 16, 2002
0-
Dani L. Holford, Building and Zoning epartment Secretary,
Town of Ithaca
STATE OF NEW YORK ) SS. :
COUNTY OF TOMPKINS )
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 16th day of September 2002.
Notary Public
CARRIE WHITMORE
Notary Public, State of New York
No. 01 WH6052877
Tioga County
Commission Expires December 26,