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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-05-13 TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008 AT 7:30 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Richard B. Gamel, Councilman Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman Victoria Monty,Attorney for the Town Also present: Gary Coats, Elizabeth Brennan, Richard C. Case, Jr., April Scheffler, Rosemarie Tucker, Duane Randall, George Frantz, Matt Cooper, George Totman. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the minutes of the April 8, 2008 2007 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 117-158 of the General Fund in the amount of$39,658.70 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Gamel, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 67-90 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $39,663.43 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Gamel, seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Supervisor Morey offered privilege of the floor but no one wished to speak. Monthly Reports: Elizabeth Brennan, Bookkeeper/Highway Clerk - Submitted monthly report for the Board's review. Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - I apologize for being absent the last two meetings. Since I last reported, the Highway Department has made the transition from winter Town Board Minutes Page 2 May 13, 2008 maintenance to summer maintenance. All heavy equipment has been changed over. Hills and intersections have been power broomed free of deicing materials. Shoulder plow damage has been addressed but not completed. Just for a note, we had around eleven roadway icing events this winter, which resulted in the use of more sand and salt than normal. My Deputy, who tracks this weather information, wanted it known that no Town vehicles sustained any damage due to off-road cruising during any of these events. With the assistance of the Village Electric boom truck and crew, four large, dead maple trees were taken down on Champlain Road. Hart Drive developed a sinkhole situation that required the road to be closed for a few days while the problem was excavated and a new crossover pipe was installed. We will have to return and replace the asphalt and regrade the excavation after everything settles and time allows. The Highway Crew is presently paving the base coat on Bird Cemetery Road and the dead-end section of Bossard Road. NYSDEC updates on the fuel storage tanks have been completed and remain in compliance. The floor drainage system has been cleaned and the storage separation tanks have been inspected and pumped. This system is still in compliance and functioning properly. The Town and Village Boards' sponsored Clean-Up Day took place Saturday, May 10th. The Village and Town Crews are to be commended for a nice, neat job. The 2008-2009 NYSOGS Salt Contract has been filed for the Town of Groton and I await the bid results. NYSDOT has notified me that the Town of Groton's portion of the NYS CHIPS program will be $99,978.53. Dale and I are still working on the specifications for a 1-ton dump truck and a broom-mower tractor. I hope to have everything prepared for your approval next month. I am open for setting a date for the 2008 Town Board highway tour. Supervisor Morey, concerned about fuel costs, asked if there is enough money in the budget for the coming year. Superintendent Case said that they had taken some measures to try and keep fuel usage down, but obviously, they must use fuel. He feels that there will be enough money in the budget. The 2008 Town Board highway tour was set for May 29, 2008 at 8:00 AM. Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Mr. Muka is planning to go ahead with his project this summer. Swimming pools are always an issue this year but I seem to get more calls ahead of time now so I think the word is getting out. There was discussion concerning Amish contractors. Before issuing a building permit, it is required that proof of Workers Compensation Insurance and for religious reasons, the Amish do not carry this insurance. The Town of Locke has recently passed a resolution stating that they will not longer require this proof of insurance for any building permits although State Department of Labor Law requires it. Attorney Monty said that she would do some research on the issue and also check with the Association of Towns on it. Supervisor Morey asked if Mr. Coats was going to put an ad in the Shopper concerning the swimming pools and if he does to make sure to state that it is subject to State law not Town of Groton law. April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly report for the Board's review. The Town Clerks Convention had been very interesting and informative. The State will be raising the dog license fees. Also learned that the Governor's plan to change tax collectors to an appointed position also included changing Town Clerks and Highway Superintendents to Town Board Minutes Page 3 May 13, 2008 appointed as he felt they were not decision making or legislative positions. DEC is getting ready to update the DECALS conservation licensing so that it will be available through Road Runner rather than dial-up, which will be a much quicker way to issue licenses. John Norman & A.D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present but had presented their monthly reports. Victoria Monty,Attorney for the Town -Had nothing to report. Councilman Donald Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator - Our summer programs are pretty well locked in and the brochures should be out any day now. Supervisor Morey asked where the fireworks will be and Councilman Scheffler said that they would be at the High School. Duane Randall, County Legislator - On May 21st at 7:30 at the McLean Fire Department, there will be a meeting about the McLean road project. The County has set its financial goals for 2009 with a 3% tax levy increase, which amounted to a 11.2 tax rate decrease and about 2 million in reductions in spending. It's going to be a tight year again and a lot of cuts coming if we are going to make that goal. Groton has received Tourism Grant awards for 2008: Happenin' in the Hamlet- $1,200; 2008 Olde Home Days - $1,500; 2009 Groton Winterfest - $750. Mr. Randall talked about the endangered WIC Program and asked for anyone interested to attend a meeting and show support for the program as it is needed in the area and affects Groton constituents. Mr. Randall also had the 5-year roadway rehabilitation plan for Tompkins County and said that people could make copies if they were interested. He highlighted some of the plans for roads within the Town for 2008. George Totman was there representing the Groton Business Association but had nothing to report. George Frantz was there to present the proposed new zoning law for the Town of Groton. Mr. Frantz - The committee, at their April meeting had voted unanimously to pass it on to the Town Board for review and consideration and hopefully adoption. The first thing that stands out is Section 120, the zoning definitions section. That's about 25% more definitions than the original zoning and that's after we culled a lot of definitions that you can find in any typical dictionary. So really the intent there was to give both town officials and local residents a clear idea of what is meant by the various terminology of the zoning ordinance, so it's clear to everybody involved. Some of the definitions that we added include agriculture; things like what's adult care versus group adult care. I came in on Forest Home Drive and right there in Forest Home were four of those PODS, Portable Onsite Delivery Storage whatever, four of those Town Board Minutes Page 4 May 13, 2008 PODS parked right on the shoulder of Forest Home Drive. And those are actually something that's addressed in the zoning ordinance. It's not to say, no, you can't have PODS because they're everywhere and they're serving a great purpose, but let's not put them out in the front yard or on the side of the road or a place like that. So, what we did was define them and permit them as an accessory use but at the same time you can't have them in the side yard setbacks. Essentially we're treating them as another accessory building. So that's one of the changes. We also defined basic things like lot depth, lot width, front, rear and side yards. Section 341, which is actually the table before all the zoning district regulations. What we did was we now have a table where all the land uses that are permitted in the Town of Groton are listed in this one table and then you have the zoning districts across the top and you have letters that designate whether it's permitted by right, permitted with site plan approval, permitted by special permit or whether it's an accessory use. And that's actually increased from about 50 to over 100 different land uses. A major change from the old zoning law is the committee is recommending that right now the Town has uses that are permitted by right where you apply for a building permit, you get it and you get to build. The Town also has some land uses like retail, commercial and the like where you have to come into the Planning Board for a site plan approval and they're noted in the table as well. In New York there's a third type of review, a little higher level review, a little more in depth review, that I'm calling special permit. We've added that type of review for some of the more intensive land uses that might occur, things like fast-food restaurants, large gas stations, some industrial uses and the like, as well as in residential areas, things like churches and schools, which are necessary services but sometimes they're large enough that you might want that little bit more of review. So we've added that category for some of the more intensive land uses. Just going down through the zoning districts, we've kept, essentially the names of the old districts, the rural agricultural district, the low intensity district, the medium intensity one, medium intensity two, highway commercial and low intensity industrial. We are proposing to resurrect the low intensity industrial which was actually dropped by the Town a few years ago and apply it to a few parcels of land where light industrial type uses would be permitted. In the old zoning regulations, the rural agricultural zoning district, that essentially permitted anything that was permitted in any other zoning district in the Town in one form or another. What the committee is proposing to do is remove the highway commercial type uses, multiple family type uses, manufacture home park type uses, and low intensity industrial uses from the rural agricultural zoning district. The intent is to protect the rural character of the Town, continue to provide for rural residential development throughout the Town... Councilman Gamel - George, I'm sorry, can you back up just a sentence and a half there .taking out the manufactured homes, the, say that again, I'm not clear on that. Mr. Frantz - Right today, as the zoning law is written, light industrial and highway commercial uses are essentially permitted throughout the Town. What we're proposing is to pull them back and permit the highway commercial in the highway commercial zoning district and not in the rural agricultural. And the light industrial, permit them here at the corner of Lick and 222 and on this small parcel. Councilman Gamel -And the definition of those two categories are what? Mr. Frantz - Highway commercial is essentially the more heavy duty intensive retail development, the stores, the supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants Town Board Minutes Page 5 May 13, 2008 Councilman Gamel-But does that limit a country diner? Mr. Frantz -A country diner could happen in the highway commercial..... Councilman Gamel- But not anywhere else in the Town of Groton Mr. Frantz - No. Let me finish. Highway commercial as well as in the Ml hamlet area, someone could have a country diner, yes. Councilman Gamel -But not in the rest of the green area. Mr. Frantz - But not in the rest of the green, no, unless the Town Board decides to rezone that land to permit it. George Totman -Why is that? Mr. Frantz -Why is that? George Totman -Yeah, why. What brought this about? Mr. Frantz- A couple of things. One is.... Mr. Totman starts to say something. Mr. Frantz - Can I finish? One is, again, we're trying to preserve the rural character of the Town. Two, and this is an issue I see throughout upstate New York, is that we're getting businesses spread out all over the place and one of the fundamental things about the success of businesses is that businesses tend to feed on each other. So businesses that are clustered with other businesses tend to succeed while businesses spread out everywhere in the middle of nowhere tend to get isolated and tend to fail and you drive up and down our highways today you can see that where somebody has a great idea, they open up a business, it really didn't work out and then there's a shell of a building. The other thing too is traffic on the Town's highways is actually relatively low volume. There's only about 2-3000 vehicles a day on Route 222 and that's really not enough to sustain your typical business. The reason we chose here, and again, this is an add-on addition, but okay, we've got busy Lick Street and we've got 222 coming out of the Town. We have a chance, there's actually the potential for 40-50,000 square feet of retail floor space there. So, again it could be several small scale businesses. It actually starts with Fiore's Auto at the east end. You've got a cluster of businesses here that can both serve the people on the highway, they're convenient to the center of the Village, which is the population center for the Town and you've got a growing industrial park here. So really the idea is to both protect rural character but also to help the businesses that do come into the Town to maybe make it. And again, there's Lick Street and 222; and the triangle between Old Peruville Road, Peruville Road and Route 38; and up there's already some commercial and this of course is the restaurant. Down here there is the old cinderblock building. So, we've got these opportunities to serve both existing highway type businesses but also healthy expansion. And again, the same thing here in McLean, which is the Ml hamlet district. Today it's called a mixed use district where you can have businesses and residential mixed together. But one issue that we're trying to address is number one, very few people can make it on farming alone anymore. That's something we've recognized. So in the rural agricultural district we're proposing that the Town Town Board Minutes Page 6 May 13, 2008 permit a very wide variety of home businesses and also something that we're calling home industry which is small scale businesses, could be manufacturing, a contractor like heating, electrical, plumbing, excavating contractor. Again, small scale, home based businesses. And a home industry can actually employ actually up to 10 people. Home businesses are up to 3. Home businesses would operate either out of the home or the garage or another building on the property. Finally, the other business that would probably be permitted in the rural agricultural district is the home auto repair because one of the things we discovered in the last 6 months is there's actually about a dozen or so such businesses already out there in the Town, already performing a needed service and doing it very innoxiously without any real impact on the community. So, home businesses, home auto repair, home industry. Of course the other thing is within the rural agricultural district we're introducing the concept of agriculture commercial development and that can be anything from a small farm stand to a very large farm stand to something like the Howard's have where they're selling farm supplies, an implement dealership, implement repair, a grain dealership, a seed or fertilizer dealership. A lot of these things farmers are already doing in many communities throughout New York and Pennsylvania and in a lot of cases, if you actually read the zoning ordinances, they prohibited from having these types of businesses. It works fine as long as nobody complains, but if someone complains to the Code Enforcement Officer the municipality is kind of in a bind. They have to either very quickly permit that type of farm business or shut the farmers down. So, we're trying to make it so that there are ways that farmers can have a second stream of income beyond just farming. The low intensity residential districts are the yellow area. The one change there is currently actually a lot of retail type commercial businesses under the current zoning are permitted in the low intensity district. The zoning clearly states that the Town desires that to be a residential district. And again, there's been several businesses that have been established within the current low intensity district and essentially they are there, they are doing a community service, they're not causing any problems so we've created these highway commercial districts in many ways to simply accommodate what's there and also in some cases allow for expansion. The M1 district, the biggest change there was going back and adjusting things like lot size and lot width and setback lines, really to more reflect what you see in a Village and what you see in the McLean, things like no front yard setback. So, instead of a 20 foot front yard setback, the committee is recommending that the Town just leave that at zero feet to get the village type construction. You can have a store right up to the sidewalk. Another big change, actually the original M2 zoning district was just like the M1. We've taken that and used it to create a district for manufactured home parks, mobile home parks and multiple family apartment type developments. The reason for doing that is to both to permit these but also give the Town a little more control of where they will be located in the future and also more control on the design and quality of this type of development. And part and parcel with the M2 zoning district is our design standards for new manufactured home parks and apartment complexes, things like set backs, number of apartments per acres, amount of open space for the use of residents and all those things. The only other thing is a new section in the new zoning law is Section 363. We have about a dozen or so design standards for various types of development, such as home vehicle repair to make sure that you don't get a whole lot of junk cars in the front yard of these businesses. Design standards for manufactured home parks, self storage facilities, solar power and wind turbines, etc. Article 1 and 4 are sort of the boilerplate sections of the zoning law. Article 1 deals with subdivisions. Article 4, we basically went through and updated that, revised it, Town Board Minutes Page 7 May 13, 2008 strengthened it where we thought it needed it and of course, added that section for special permits. Supervisor Morey - The Land Use Regulations Review Committee took on a monumental task to improve a 1992 document that we've been working on and if we are going to modernize in the Town of Groton we couldn't work on a 1992 document. We owe the committee a great deal of appreciation. The committee was made up of two Planning Board members, Mary Gloster and Monica Carey; two Zoning Board of Appeals members, Steve Thane and Lyle Raymond; and two community members at large, Julie Graham and Doug Albern. Are there any questions for George? George Totman - Yeah, I have a lot of questions, but it might not be the right time. Let me just say that I am very amazed that this is being brought by somebody that doesn't even live in our community and he keeps talking about we, we as the Town of Groton. I'm not a stranger to the Planning Board. I was on the Planning Board for 33 years and we brought up many things. But the Planning Board brought them up, not a paid outsider. That disturbs me. Supervisor Morey- George is just reporting on what the committee has suggested. Mr. Totman - I know, I know George and George knows me. But we've never done this before, never. Supervisor Morey - In 1992 you did. Mr. Totman - We didn't do it this way. The Planning Board presented it, not a paid Mr. Frantz - Well, let just, I've used the term "we" simply because the way I operate with all my client communities is that I don't present something from on high and say here it is, take it or leave it. What I do is, probably this the 5th or 6th draft, and that's really why I say "we" because this is really not my document. There are ideas in that draft zoning law from many, many, many people. So, that's why I use the term "we". And the other thing too, is, you know I get paid the big bucks to be up here and take this. Supervisor Morey - There is a couple things we have to go through. We have to have two public hearings on this, probably September or October before we have a go. Before, I'd like to have at least two planning meetings between the Board so we can sit down and discuss it. I'll give you a week to read it, talk about it. I'd also invite Gary to come as well as April to discuss with the Board. RESOLUTION#08-030 - SCHEDULE TOWN BOARD WORK SESSIONS MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED,that the Town Board hereby sets work sessions for Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 7:00 PM and Tuesday, May 27 at 7:00 PM, at the Town Hall, to review the proposed zoning changes. Town Board Minutes Page 8 May 13, 2008 Rosemarie Tucker, Town Historian - I was contacted earlier this year by Arcadia Publishing. They asked me if I would consider doing a book on Groton. I don't know if you've seen their books before in the bookstores, but I would be pretty pleased to have one just on Groton and not the whole county. So, I sent in an 8-page proposal and they wanted 28 examples of old postcards and things that I have. Last week I got a phone call that they accepted the proposal. So, we're going to be working on a book, like this, of Groton. It's about 128 pages and usually one or two pictures on each page and I have to write the descriptions and things like that. The deadline is the end of December and the narrative part by the end of February 2009. So, I think this is great for us. Ms. Tucker received a round of applause in appreciation. Discussion of the dog control law took place. Clerk Scheffler explained that the dog license fee was composed of a statutory or state fee, an animal population control fee, and a local fee. These three fees added together equal the license fees charged, which are $10 for a spayed or neutered dog and $18 for an unaltered dog. The State is going to raise the statutory fee by a dollar and since our law lists the total fee charged rather than breaking it down, we would then be retaining one dollar less for the Town with the local fee. This local fee is currently $7.50 and this is what pays for dog control. She suggested that instead of listing the total fee in the revised dog law, that they just list the local fee so that the Town will receive the $7.50 no matter what the State does with their part of the fee. Councilman Gamel asked if we were taking in more money than we were spending for dog control. Supervisor Morey and Clerk Scheffler said that they were just about breaking even at this point in time. Clerk Scheffler said that she and Judge Dawson would also like to update the section on impoundment fees and penalties so that the Town law was a closer reflection to Agriculture and Markets Law. RESOULUTION#31 - SET PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#4 FOR THE YEAR 2008 MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets a Public Hearing for Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 8:00 PM to on Proposed Local Law #4 for the Year 2008, which is an update to the Town of Groton Dog Control Law. RESOLUTION#08-032 -PROCLAMATION OF POPPY TIME IN THE TOWN OF GROTON MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey WHEREAS, the Carrington-Fuller American Legion Post #800 Auxiliary works unselfishly throughout the year to aid members of the Groton Community, and Town Board Minutes Page 9 May 13, 2008 WHEREAS, the American Legion Auxiliary annually sponsors the traditional offering of the "POPPIES"to the Groton area, and WHEREAS, by offering these "POPPIES" the Auxiliary helps to benefit the needs of the disable American Veterans by providing workshops and therapy for them through the Veteran's Hospitals, NOW THEREFORE, I, Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor of the Town of Groton, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM, the month of May 2008 to be "POPPY TIME" in the Town of Groton and respectfully encourage all members of the Groton Community to generously support the Legion Auxiliary during "POPPY TIME". Announcements: ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - April 21 at 7 PM ➢ Planning Board-April 15 at 7:30 PM ➢ Assessment Review- May 21 at 3-6 PM ➢ McLean Community Meeting - May 21 at 7:30 PM-Fire Hall ➢ Annual Town Audit -begins June 23 ➢ The Office of Attorney General Presentation - May 21- 11 Am - 1PM - Cornell Cooperative Extension. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 8:36 PM. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk