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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB Minutes 1981-07-21 TOWN OF ITHACA PLANNING BOARD JULY 212 1981 O The Town of Ithaca Planning Board met in regular session on Tuesday , July 21 , 1981 , in Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , N . Y . , at 12 : 00 Noon . PRESENT : Chairman Montgomery May , Liese Bronfenbrenner , James Baker , Bernard Stanton , Edward Mazza , Lawrence Fabbroni ( Town Engineer ) , Lewis Cartee ( Building Inspector ) , Nancy Fuller ( Secretary ) . ALSO PRESENT : Stewart Knowlton , Thomas Bell , Don Ross ( Ithaca Journal ) , Jane Waldman ( WHCU ) . Chairman May declared the meeting duly opened at 12 : 05 p . m . ADJOURNED PUBLIC HEARING IN RE CONSIDERATION OF SITE PLAN APPROVAL OF SELF - SERVICE KEY- ISLAND GASOLINE INSTALLATION IN PLACE AT BELL ' S CONVENIENCE FOODS , 614 ELMIRA ROAD , TOWN OF ITHACA TAX PARCEL NO . 6 - 33 - 3 - 24 , THOMAS A . BELL . Chairman May declared the Adjourned Public Hearing , from July 7 , 1981 , duly opened at 12 : 05 p . m . and accepted for the record the Clerk ' s Affidavit of Posting and Publication of the Notice of Public Hearings , as noted above , in Town Hall and the Ithaca Journal on July 13 , 1981 , and July 16 , 1981 , respectively . Mr . Thomas Dell appeared before the Board and stated that he 1 :. subrnit. ting 0the completed Environmental Assessment Form ( Short Form ) to Mr . Fabbroni and presenting a photograph and profile of the key island as requested . Mr . Fabbroni stated that though he has just received the EAF , he would say that it is a simple enough matter that he would recommend a negative declaration by the Planning Board , Mr . May stated that this completed form really should have come in before the meeting . Mr . Bell stated that he did not realize that . Chairman May asked if there were anyone from the public who wished to be heard . No one spoke . Mr . May recalled that at the last Town Board meeting , Mrs . Beverly Livesay did have some question about Mancini ' s road and some concerns about traffic . Mr . Baker noted that the whole area is pretty congested . Mr . May inquired of Mr . Fabbroni what the fire regulations are as far as need for approvals for gas pumps , for example , fire safety . Mr . Fabbroni stated that he remembered that when they buried the tanks he had a discussion with Chief Weaver and they really do not have a reason to be there , but he more or less told him ( Fabbroni ) that it was fairly carefully regulated in terms of shut - off valves . Mr . May asked who has verified that this has happened , to which Mr . Fabbroni replied , no one to his knowledge . Mr . May asked if that should not be done . Mr . Fabbroni stated that he .- did not , see how such a check could be done without taking the tanks up . Mr . Bell described the situation there and stated that there are no shut - off valves i ;rn any service station , it being direct feed . He stated that Planning Board - 2 - July 21 , 1981 the shut - off is inside the store , or in the case of a gas station , inside the station . He stated that there is a " T " off the regular lines that feed Othe other pumps . Mr . Fabbroni pointed out that there are electrical requirements . Mr . Bell stated that the electrical inspector did give his approval a long time ago on the new island . Mr . May asked how the electrical could be approved without a building permit . Mr . Fabbroni commented that that is not part of his concern because the electrical contractors have to abide by the Fire Underwriters ' Codes and our electrical inspector is a part of the Fire Underwriters ' . Mr . Fabbroni stated that we could have that independent - ly verified because Floyd Ferris is our electrical inspector through our electrical code which empowers him . It was noted that Mr . Ferris would have done - this anyway . Mr . Cartee inquired if Mr . Bell has a copy of the Underwriters ' final inspection with the approval . Mr . Bell stated that they do not keep them , the electrical contractor does . Mr . Cartee stated that he could ask the Fire Underwriters ' Inspector for his record . Mrs . Bronfenbrenner wondered if it were correct that this is in a light industrial zone and gas stations are okay in a light industrial zone . Mr . Fabbroni stated that that was correct and is based on an interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance by the Zoning Board of Appeals . Mr . Fabbroni also noted that there was a lot of discussion about a service road and it was assumed that that would be the access road , however , there has been no new construction there to justify moving in that direction . He commented that that addresses the concerns of Mrs . Livesay and Mr . May , adding that for the interim there is not a whole lot to be done . Mr . Fabbroni commented that one or two more businesses might be the way to justify that parallel road - - it might be a different story . Mr . Bell stated that the store went in about 1974 and that is about it . Mr . May noted that the Board has before it the completed Environmental Assessment Form ( Short Form ) as prepared by Thomas G . Bell under date of July 8 , 1981 , with all questions answered " No " , and to which Mr . Fabbroni has verbally given the Board his recommendation of a negative declaration . MOTION by Mr . Montgomery May , seconded by Mr . Bernard Stanton : RESOLVED , that the Town of Ithaca Planning Board , acting as lead agency in the review of the site plan approval of self - service key - island gasoline installation in place at Bell ' s Convenience Foods , 614 Elmira Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 6 - 33 - 3 - 24 , approve and hereby does approve the Environmental Assessment Form ( Short Form ) as completed ; and FURTHER RESOLVED , that pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act , Part 617 , this action is classified as Unlisted ; and FURTHER RESOLVED , that the Town of Ithaca Planning Board , has determined from the Environmental Assessment Form and all pertinent information that the ® above -mentioned action will not significantly impact the environment and , therefore , will not require further environmental review . There being no further discussion , the Chair called for a vote . Aye - May , Bronfenbrenner , Baker , Stanton , Mazza . Nay - None . Planning Board - 3 - July 21 , 1981 The MOTION was declared to be carried unanimously . MOTION by Mr . Montgomery May , seconded by Mr . Edward Mazza : RESOLVED , that the Town of Ithaca Planning Board grant and hereby does grant Site Plan Approval for Self - Service Key - Island Gasoline Installation , in place , at Bell ' s Convenience Foods , 614 Elmira Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 6 - 33 - 3 - 24 ( See Town of Ithaca Map #471 ) , with the following conditions to be investigated and approved by the Town Engineer and the Town Building Inspector : 1 . That a Building Permit be applied for and that a Building Permit be granted for the key - island as it exists , or , that the key - island be modified to be in compliance with the Building Permit within ninety ( 90 ) days of the approval hereby granted . 2 . That all applicable fire and safety regulations have been complied with . 3 . That any and all Fire Department and Town of Ithaca Codes have been complied with and that any deficiencies are corrected to be in compliance within ninety ( 90 ) days of the approval hereby granted . By way of discussion , Mr . May stated that the island is in place , therefore , no one. has done any inspection at all from the Town office . Mr . Baker commented that the Board is doing this backwards - - it should know what has been done before it approves it . Mr . Mazza noted that . it is not going to be approved unless these things are done , and added that this is the best thing to do from the point of view of the Town liability . There being no further discussion , the Chair called for a vote . Aye - May , Bronfenbrenner , Baker , Stanton , Mazza . Nay - None . The MOTION was declared to be carried unanimously . Chairman May declared the Public Hearing in the matter of site plan approval relative to Bell ' s Convenience Foods duly closed at 12 : 24 p . m . PUBLIC HEARING : CONSIDERATION OF SITE PLAN APPROVAL FOR 40 ' x 50 ' STORAGE ADDITION TO REAR OF STORE # 3 , RITE - AID PHARMACY , EAST HILL PLAZA , TOWN OF ITHACA TAX PARCEL NO . 6 - 62 - 2 - 1 . 121 . STEWART D . KNOWLTON . Chairman May declared the Public Hearing in the above - noted matter duly opened at 12 : 25 p . m , and accepted for the record the Clerk ' s Affidavit of Posting and Publication of the Notice of Public Hearings in Town Hall and the Ithaca Journal on July 13 , 1981 , and July 16 , 1981 , respectively . Mr . Stewart Knowlton appeared before the Board and noted that each of the Board members had received prior to the meeting the following docu - ments : ® 1 . Completed EAF ( Short Form ) , signed by Stewart D . Knowlton , dated July 13 , 1981 , and reviewed by the Town Engineer who recommended a negative declaration under date of July 15 , 1981 . 2 . Completed Application for Building Permit , signed by Stewart D . Knowlton , dated July 10 , 1981 , with attached drawings setting forth the addition to the Rite - Aid being proposed . i Planning Board - 4 - July 21 , 1981 3 . An Exhibit , marked " EXHIBIT " C " , setting forth the terms of the Landlord ' s Work and the Tenant ' s Work , OMr . Knowlton stated that with the proposed addition of 40 ' x 50 ' , there would remain 64 ' to the edge of the Plaza property line . He stated that the addition would . be of the same construction as the existing building . He stated that there will be rooftop heating and air conditioning . He stated that the addition is pretty basic . Mr . Knowlton stated that they will do some renovation on the front but the design of it may be one of about three from which they have to choose . He stated that he would like bricks and wood which is very attractive and goes with their brick and their Texture 1 - 11 and their hand split shakes . He cited as an example , Expressions Unlimited , Mr . Knowlton commented that he was considering a " roof " of some sort over the show windows of hand split shakes and he described Citizens Bank next door and what it looks like having a dark gray marble front . He described these renovations as simply cosmetic and as a part of this proposal . Chairman May asked if there were anyone present who wished to speak . No one spoke . Mr . May stated that he and all the members of the Planning Board had received a copy of a letter from Mrs . Nancy Krook , dated July 14 , 1981 , which had been directed to the Zoning Board of Appeals . It was noted that the members had not received such a copy and so Mr . Fabbroni read the letter in its entirety ., . as follows : . " I urge you to deny the request for a private elementary school in a private house on Honness Dane in the Town of Ithaca . This would further destabilize our already declining shakey neighborhood . A school yard with thirty children i :> noisy and disruptive ; already there are two churches on Honness Lane , one with a three - day nursery school ( on many acres far back from the road in c; afety ) . You can ' t imagine how the quality of our lives in this area has deteriora - ted over the last 16 years . We have enormously heavy tractor trailer traffic every single night ( 18 wheelers ) which speed up and down . RT 79 . Many of these are carrying unidentified chemical and fuel substances or other covered substances with no identification on the truck at all . They are very heavy trucks whose drivers know there is no weighing station from Ravine , Pa . ( outside Harrisburg ) all the way North through Ithaca and on to the West ; the route is also free from tolls all the way through New York State . There is no relief from this destructive , debilitating noise . Pine Tree Road also has constant traffic night and day . Heavy equip - ment is brought into the area at 3 : 00 AM grinding through our residential street to heaven knows where . Besides the commuter traffic we get ALL , I repeat ALL , the gravel and fill trucks from Slaterville off to other areas of the county and Cornell . People on Pine Tree Road who come home from the hospital to their homes to recuperate from severe illnesses must go else - where to recover because they cannot stand the constant noise from the heavy truck traffic . Five houses on Pine Tree have been on the market this year , some for over a year . One buyer said , " I would never buy on this street , this is the route of nuclear fuel in Ithaca ' " What will happen if the RT 79 corridor and Pine Tree become more destabilized ? Will it become a place where families disappear and will it become student housing as much of Eastern Heights has become ? Do you want this ? How do you think we feel when we hear that Cornell wants to put its central freight receiving station on an " East Ithaca Access Route " which a Planning Board - 5 - July 21 , 1981 will connect RT 79 and RT 13 , using the existing residential Pine Tree Road . OThis will be the end of our street as a residential community . It will be constant flight as East State Street - RT 79 has become ; it will be absentee landlords , unkempt property and finally , blight . The six places to buy alcohol or beer at Judd Falls Ellis Hollow have not helped us as has that perfectly stupid curb cut for the Photo Island and Gas Station which has made the dangerous corner even much worse . Twenty - four hour , seven day week grocery and beer shopping gives us no relief from the traffic or the drunken drivers who can fill up on beer at P and C day and night forever and ever . Surely this is bad planning . I wish to remind the Planning Board and Zoning Board that when the property was rezoned for the East Hill Shopping Center it was to be " a small neighborhood convenience center " similar in scope and quality to the original " Corners " in Cayuga Heights . Naturally Cornell would like to have the access route . When it builds the new atom smasher at the airport property ( three times the present one ) it will move millions of tons of earth and gravel ; all will have to go through our residential street . Cornell owes us more than this . We are a community of many Cornell families with upwards of ninety children in one block alone of Pine Tree . We can ' t walk safely ; we can ' t bike safely ; our paper boy is in mortal danger ; already one of our neighbors was killed in our road and thrown over the hood of a car as he tried to pick up his mail ; poor man , he should have known better . ( sgd . ) Nancy L . Krook " Mr . Mazza commented that he was not sure how that letter applies to the Rite - Aid addition . Mr . May commented that it would probably be in the area of traffic . were Chairman May asked if there / any further questions . There were none and Mr . May commented that the only area that he would like to note . is . that Mr . Knowlton ' s plan appears to be creating a little bit of a pocket between the P & C and the Liquor Store , and he ( May ) would ask that he ( Knowlton ) be careful of garbage , litter , etc . . Mr . . - May noted that the Board members had all received the EAF in advance with all questions answered " No " and with Mr . Fabbroni ' s review and recommen - dation of a Negative Declaration . MOTION by Mr . Montgomery May , seconded by Mr . Bernard Stanton : RESOLVED , that the Town of Ithaca Planning . Board , acting as lead agency in the review of the proposed 40 ' x 50 ' storage addition to the rear of the Rite - Aid Pharmacy , Store # 3 , East Hill Plaza , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 6 - 62 - 2 - 1 . 121 , approve and hereby does approve the Environmental Assessment Form ( Short Form ) as completed ; and . FURTHER RESOLVED , that pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act , Part 617 , this action is classified as Unlisted ; and FURTHER RESOLVED , that the Town of Ithaca Planning Board , has determined from the Environmental Assessment Form and all pertinent information that the above -mentioned action will not significantly impact the environment and , therefore , will not require further environmental review . There being no further discussion , the Chair called for a vote . Planning Board - 6 - July 21 , 1981 Aye - May , Bronfenbrenner , Baker , Stanton , Mazza . Nay - None . The MOTION was declared to be carried unanimously . MOTION by Mims . Liese Bronfenbrenner , seconded by Mr . James Baker : RESOLVED , that the Town of Ithaca Planning Board grant and hereby does grant Site Plan Approval for 40 ' x 50 ' Storage Addition to the rear of the Rite - Aid Pharmacy , Store # 3 , East Hill Plaza , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 6 - 62 - 2 - 1 . 121 , as presented by Mr . Stewart D . Knowlton , and as shown on drawings and documents here presented on this date , July 21 , 1981 . There being no further discussion , the Chair called for a vote . Aye - May , Bronfenbrenner , Baker , Stanton , Mazza . Nay - None . The MOTION was declared to be carried unanimously . Chairman May declared the Public Hearing in the matter of site plan approval in re the addition to the Rite - Aid Pharmacy duly closed at 12 : 45 p . m . ADJOURNMENT Upon Motion , Chairman May declared the July 21 , 1981 , meeting of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board duly adjourned . Respectfully submitted , Nancy M . Fuller , Secretary .