HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-01-16 - PB TOWN OF ULYSSES
PLANNING BOARD
01 /16/07
Approved 02/20/07
Present : Chairperson Ken Zeserson, Planning Board Members : David Means,
Rebecca Schneider, John Wertis, Deputy Supervisor Dick Coogan.
Excused : Rod Porter, Darien Simon
Minutes : Mr. Zeserson presented the minutes from the December 5 'h meeting,
Mr. Means made the MOTION to accept, Mr. Wertis seconded the MOTION, vote taken
minutes approved .
Mr. Zeserson called the meeting to order at 7 : 35 . He stated he knows life is complicated
and people miss meetings but wondered if there had ever been attendance issues.
Mr. Wertis stated there is Town Law regarding attendance.
Mr. Coogan read the regulation that states the Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning
Board are required to comply with. The members are allowed 3 unexcused absences
within a year. The law was introduced by Sue Poelvoorde years ago when the Planning
Board did not have quorum at meetings several months in a row. The applicants were
delayed due to the lack of quorum. The Town law also requires training within 6 months
of coming onto the Board. The State instituted this year Board members are required 4
hours of training per year.
Mr. Zeserson asked for clarification as to what advance notice is . If someone contacts
him at 6 : 45 pm would that be an excused absence .
Mr. Coogan replied if you are at the meeting and wonder where a member is, that is
considered an unexcused absence .
Mr. Means asked if there had been any response from the Town Board regarding the
vacant position .
Mr. Zeserson stated he knows of an individual by the name of David Kerness who is
interested, he lives on Maplewood Road and is a very intelligent and outgoing individual .
He is currently active on the West Shore Homeowners Association and is very interested
in the Planning Board position.
Mr. Coogan stated if they would like to support Mr. Kerness ' appointment the Board
could send a letter to the Town Board stating they are supportive of him .
Mr. Zeserson asked the members if they were comfortable with this .
Mr. Wertis stated he knows Mr. Kerness from the Comprehensive Plan Committee.
Mr. Coogan stated he has been very dedicated and instrumental in seeing that the survey
was completed .
The members agreed Mr. Zeserson should send a letter to the Town Board.
Mr. Zeserson asked how they could increase interaction with the Town Board. He
understands Roxanne is the liaison and she did have babysitter issues tonight, but he did
reiterate to her anytime she can come it would be great.
Ms . Schneider stated it was her understanding the Board was supposed to have
representation at the Town Board meetings .
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Mr. Coogan stated he usually does report and they do like to have a member at least on a
quarterly basis report to the Town Board.
Ms . Schneider stated she would be happy to do this as needed, she offered if the members
rotated through it would not be as burdensome on one individual . This was a conflict
Ms . Chiuten had as she could not make this time commitment.
Mr. Zeserson agreed that would be a viable alternative, he asked if the other members
would be willing to do this they agreed they would. Mr. Zeserson stated he could do the
02/ 13/06 meeting and she would do the next months meeting. The meetings are the
second Tuesday of each month.
Mr. Coogan stated another item Ms . Marino and he are trying to make happen, possibly
over the sumMer is have all the Boards and the Town Employees get together so they all
have an idea of who is working for the Town and who they work with.
The members ; thought that would be a great idea and asked to be kept informed if this
progresses .
Mr. Coogan stated another item that helps is if theBoard has taken an action notify the
Town Board when it happens . Then if they are asked about it by the Public they will
know what happened.
Mr. Zeserson ; asked if this could be done via email .
Ms . Schneider asked if they could be sent the minutes .
Ms . Carlisle Peck stated Ms . Marino does get copies of the minutes and the drafts and
final copies are posted on the wall . She sends them to Ms . Georgia and Ms . Marino she is
not sure if they forward them onto the Town Board each time . She had been sending all
the drafts and the finals and received notes from several members they did not want them.
Mr. Zeserson' stated he had an additional housekeeping item and that is the election of a
Vice Chair in case he needs to miss a meeting. He asked if there were any volunteers .
Ms. Schneider stated that with her life situation she is hesitatant to take on more then she
can.
Mr. Means stated he is in a similar situation.
Mr. Wertis stated he is jaded but would with the understanding he never has to function.
Mr. Zeserson asked if he misses a meeting they could deal with it, but there are two other
members that are missing that may be willing.
Mr. Wertis stated he was confused regarding their meeting date, they had been meeting
the third Tuesday, then they started doing double meetings due to time commitments .
Mr. Coogan stated it was decided that they would post for the first and third Tuesday for
the legal notices . It is easier to cancel vs . getting the legal notices out.
Mr. Wertis stated he would like to get back to the one meeting a month. It was his
understanding that the double meetings were necessary when they were working on
getting information for the Town Board, which was never used and this is why he is
jaded .
Mr. Means stated he agrees with Mr. Wertis, he would like to get clarification and
determine when the actual meeting is.
Ms . Carlisle Peck stated they had made a decision a few months ago to have the regular
meeting scheduled for the 3rd Tuesday, and the ls` Tuesday would be a work session.
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01 / 16/2007
Mr. Means stated in the past they have had pressure to review projects .
Mr. Coogan stated they should not feel pressured, the Board should be allowed sufficient
time to review the project.
Mr. Coogan stated they have an application from what is currently the Sleeping Bear
Futon building on Route 96 . They would like to put a daycare center on the site . It is not
a complicated project the changes are additions to the parking lot and lighting. The
footprint of the building will not be changing. This would be listed as an uncoordinated
review, the applicants met with Mr. Rachun, Mr. Zeserson and Mr. Coogan for the sketch
plan conference . He stated DSS has the final approval for the daycare and this is not in
the Board ' s jurisdiction .
Ms . Schneider questioned the septic system for the daycare center, she notes it is 750
gallons and she is concerned with 33 children on the site.
Mr. Coogan stated he has contacted the Health Department and it is their responsibility to
review and approve . He is also sending copies of the plan to DOT and Tompkins County.
The water hook up will be municipal water so that will not be an issue .
Mr. Zeserson asked if they could have Namaste DayCare come in for a meeting on
February 20th , he then realized he would be out of town for a conference.
The Board members decided to meet on February 6th at 7 : 30 pm to have the initial
meeting with the applicants at the Town Hall .
Ms . Schneider questioned the septic and where the septic is, how far from the property
line etc .
Mr. Coogan stated it is not up to the Board, this is the responsibility of the Department of
Health. This is not a coordinated review so it the responsibility of the Health Department
to review for proper septic as well as the SEQR for the septic . The applicants have done a
traffic study and the impacts are so minimal Mr. Rachun and he both agreed this would
be a good candidate for the Short EAF from the Planning Board ' s part of this review.
Ms . Schneider asked if they are responsible with the history of nutcases opening daycare
if this Board approves are they liable .
Mr. Coogan stated the DSS regulations are horrendous, they will be required to bring the
building up to code, Mr. Rachun will inspect for safety, fire etc . as well as NYS coming
in to inspect the premises .
Ms . Schneider asked if there is a problem and somebody sues can they come after the
Town .
Mr. Coogan again stated no , the daycare regulation has to complied with and it is the
NYS DSS laws that are broken and enforced by that agency. This Board approves the
Site Plan not the daycare center. If the building falls down it is not the Board ' s problem,
Mr. Rachun will have difficulty but not the Board .
Mr. Zeserson stated Mr. Coogan had indicated he had items related to stormwater to
present.
Mr. Coogan stated the County does a review on the project if it is on a major road ; they
issue a 239 1 and m . In the County review if they make a recommendation the Board has
to address and if the Board does not accept the recommendation it has to be passed by a
super majority (5 votes) if they review and make a comment the Board can make a
decision with just a majority vote . The recommendations are sent via letter with
recommendations and comments suggested. Starting in July of last year the county has
added subparagraph n, if a project is within 500 feet of another municipality, the other
municipality has to be notified. If Bill Auble puts something in on the North end of Town
they would have to notify the Village, this would be part of Mr. Coogan and Mr.
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Rachun ' s responsibility to notify the other municipality. The process will now be referred
to as a 239 1-m;n by the County.
Mr. Means asked if this was inter-county as well .
Mr. Coogan affirmed this was correct.
Mr. Means asked what power the other municipality would have regarding the project .
Mr. Coogan stated they have the right to be heard.
Mr. Means stated then in the case of the Dollar Store in Seneca County, the Town would
have had to be notified.
Mr. Coogan stated he was informed regarding Stormwater Regulations ; rain gardens are
now a best management practice . When they are looking at something like Kinney Drugs
rain gardens would be allowed. He has the formula for calculating square feet etc for the
rain gardens . The other big change is redevelopment projects . This could be interesting
because they may be seeing one of these fairly soon. The Antique Barn on Route 96 has a
good possibility of becoming the massage school . Because it is redevelopment of an
existing building, if that property has stormwater issues when they review the plan as
long as they are not making it worse it is allowable . They essentially would be
grandfathered in . He stated these regulations are on the DEC website.
Mr. Wertis asked who defines the redevelopment project.
Mr. Coogan stated when the application comes in the applicant would evaluate the
project, but the Board does not make that decision . The Board can ask specifically if that
question is not addressed if a person is rehabbing an old building. The Town Board is still
reviewing the Stormwater regulations, he hopes it will be approved next month.
Mr. Coogan informed the members of different areas working on stormwater and how he
is hoping it will work through the Comprehensive Plan Committee and Stormwater
Committee .
Mr. Wertis questioned the length of time it may take if it goes through the
Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Coogan stated he hoped it would go through the Comprehensive Plan Committee for
acceptance then work through the Planning Board regarding Zoning issues and Site Plan
Review .
Ms . Schneider stated she would like to get the more stringent rules in effect as the
stormwater area involves the steep slopes resulting in control of the lake.
Mr. Zeserson stated he is in full support of stringent regulations, he went to the expense
of updating his septic to protect the area of his property.
Ms . Schneider asked what happened to the Town hiring a person to regulate stormwater.
Mr. Coogan stated he is currently the stormwater sheriff, until the laws are in effect he
has not right to go on property to regulate . He has been working with Sharon Anderson
and the Stormwater Coalition of Tompkins County; they submitted a grant application
and were just notified it was approved . Newfield, Caroline and Ulysses will work
cooperatively with Sharon to develop a services agreement that states in 2008 the 3 towns
will hire a Certified Soil, Erosion Control person. Of the three Ulysses has the biggest
area in the MS4 they have not met to discuss how this will work, but funds have been
provided for the attorney and Sharon. Ulysses has budgeted for a person for next year.
Mr. Wertis asked if there was a time frame the Town is looking at.
Mr. Coogan stated the Town has just hired a new attorney, they wanted the attorney to
review the law .
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Mr. Zeserson asked what the law would do when it is in effect.
Mr. Coogan stated any applicant with a stormwater permit would be under review by the
stormwater person, i . e. the Kehoe project, currently they cannot go on the premises to
make sure the stormwater issues are being handled correctly. This law would take the
fence away and allow the Town on the property to inspect.
Mr. Wertis stated that sounded encouraging as long as the Town moves ahead. He asked
if they should get the Planning Board up to speed and pass a resolution to the Town
Board in support .
Mr. Coogan replied that having Liz and John come and address the Town Board
regarding the stormwater helped to keep the regulations in focus for the Board .
Mr. Wertis asked about the overlay district.
Mr. Coogan stated that is what he would like to see the Comprehensive Plan Committee
deal with . The stormwater committee is looking at doing an overlay. He would like to see
all three committees share what they are working on. An example is any building over
2000 square feet would require Site Plan review, when driving if they see a large building
going up they could get a stop order, they cannot do anything about current buildings .
The stormwater group should not apply anything that the Planning Board cannot enforce.
For example single family homes are an estimated square footage, the other consideration
is that the Planning Board is an all volunteer group, how much more work can they
realistically have to do .
Ms . Schneider stated what is the intent, they have steep slopes, and removing vegetation
increases runoff, they removed the trees on the hotel site then came in for the permit so
the damage was done . How do they get to that first step , there are no rules.
Mr. Coogan stated the Town Board could institute clearing regulations . The Town of
Ithaca is looking into this .
Mr. Means asked where the regulation for clearing over an acre came into effect for the
Kehoe project.
Mr. Coogan stated it is DEC , on the steep slopes it may be a different amount and should
be reviewed as to what condition would be onerous .
Mr. Means asked what is happening on the Kehoe project.
Mr. Coogan stated he received any information, he does not know if Mr. Kehoe is in the
area.
Ms . Schneider commented she drove by the Kinney project and was pleased with the
smaller signage, plantings and does believe they made a difference in the appearance of
the site .
Mr. Coogan stated the project does have a flashing sign and there is a regulation against
flashing signs, they have adjusted the LED display to only change any faster that 45
seconds . As people drive by they will only see one item displayed.
Mr. Means asked about the plans to fence the retention ponds .
Mr. Coogan stated they would be doing it this week.
Mr. Zeserson asked if the Planning Board would be doing anything with stormwater until
asked.
Mr. Coogan replied no, when plans come in - under DEC if a big project comes in they
have 30 days to review, if a small project comes in they review in 5 days . They have not
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reviewed 5 day projects in years . The Planning Board can request Mr. Coogan review
then continue from there.
Mr. Means asked if the Town has ever asked the State to reduce the speed outside of the
Village limits .
Mr. Coogan stated every 3 to 4 years, it had been 55 and was reduced to 45 not that long
ago . The DOT ' s interpretation is to keep the traffic moving vs . reducing speed. There is
legislation working it ' s way through that if they are going to Seneca Meadows they have
to use the Th rnway.
Mr. Zeserson stated he heard Chuck Schumer is working on this legislation, he heard 500
trucks a day are coming into it from New York and New Jersey.
Ms . Schneider asked where this place is and if it is lined.
Mr. Coogan stated it is all done within regulation, it is located within Seneca County,
just off Route, 90 .
The next meeting will be February 6th, 7 : 30 pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 8 : 35 pm .
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Carlisle Peck
Secretary
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