HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board Minutes - December 18, 2014Town of Danby Planning Board
Minutes of Regular Meeting
December 18, 2014 !
Present:
Joel Gagnon
Anne Klingensmith
Ted Melchen
Jim Rundle
Naomi Strichartz !
Absent:
Frank Kruppa
Steve Selin !
Others Present:
Secretary Patty Jordan
Town Board Leslie Connors, Jack Miller
Public Charles Tilton, Ed Fetherbay, Pat Woodworth, Linda Fetherbay,
David Hall !
The Board decided that Naomi Strichartz would run the meeting in Frank Kruppa’s absence. !
The Hall Public Hearing was opened at 7:04 p.m. !
Consider approval of the Subdivision of Tax Parcel 9.-1-9.12, 279-303 Gunderman Road, into three lots of
1.2, 3, and 22.8 acres, with each lot to contain preexisting buildings; AND FURTHER, PUBLIC HEARING to
consider a Recommendation to the Town Board with respect to the proposed change in permitted uses in
Planned Development Zone 10, which encompasses 9.22 +/- acres of said Tax Parcel, with the remaining
parcel zoned Low Density Residential. JLF Holdings, LLC/David Hall, owner/applicant. !
It was decided that comments regarding the subdivision would be heard first, followed by
comments regarding the change in use. Hall handed out a color map of the property with the
PDZ and the three proposed lots clearly marked. Hall stated his main reason for requesting the
subdivision is to make it easier for him to tap into the equity. Ed Fetherbay said that his concern
with the subdivision was the negative impact to the water supply if Hall were to build another
residence. Hall stated that he does not intend to build another residence. Hall also indicated that
if he were to sell in the future, he would include an easement for the 1.2 acre lot so that it would
have access to a driveway. !
Klingensmith read Section 3a from the Town of Danby Local Law No. 1 of 1997 – A LOCAL
LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF DANBY ZONING ORDINANCE RELATED TO
BOUNDARIES AND PERMITTED USES OF PLANNED DEVELOPMENT ZONE 10 AND
Planning Board Minutes, December 18, 2014 Page !1
ADJOINING LANDS. Hall talked about his plans for the commercial building (formerly
Angelheart/Flax). He plans to use a portion of the building for a clinic to train people to work
with individuals with autism. Programs offered through the proposed clinic would include
hippotherapy (horse therapy) and ag therapy. He also plans to rent out some of the space to local
organic farmers who will use the building to prepare food products such as hummus and cider.
He also explained his plan to hold monthly auctions, most likely on Sundays. Members of the
public raised concerns regarding possible disturbances, such as noise and light pollution. There
was also a lengthy discussion regarding the neighbors’ water quality and quantity with concerns
raised about the amount of water that would be needed in food preparation. The neighbors
(Fetherbay, Woodworth, Tilton, and Strichartz) all stated that the amount of water they had in
their homes was directly related to the number of employees in the former Angelheart/Flax
building. Hall stated that the impacts of his proposed usage would be equivalent or less than
previous usage. Strichartz expressed her opinion that the previous water usage by Angelheart/
Flax was too much. !
The Public Hearing was closed at 7:59 p.m. !
The Regular Meeting was opened at 7:59 pm !
Additions/Deletions to Agenda !
Klingensmith had an addition for member items. Strichartz would also like to discuss
nominating Klingensmith for a second term on the PB. !
Approval of Minutes !
Rundle would like “No comments were received” added to the Hovanec public hearing section.
In addition, the Appendix should be labelled as such. !
MOTION – APPROVE NOVEMBER 20, 2014 MINUTES WITH CHANGES
Moved by Gagnon, Second by Klingensmith.
In Favor: Gagnon, Klingensmith, Melchen, Rundle, Strichartz
The motion passed. !
Consideration of Hall Proposals !
There was further discussion of water use with general agreement that it was excessive when the
building housed Angelheart/Flax. There is no record of exactly how much water they used. Hall
said that once Angelheart moved production out of that building, water quality and quantity was
fine in the neighboring houses. It was pointed out that some of Hall’s proposed uses (especially
food production) may also require significant water usage. Hall indicated that he is willing to
have the water monitored and said he would keep it under the limit recommended by the PB. !
Planning Board Minutes, December 18, 2014 Page !2
In response to concerns regarding growth of the proposed incubator businesses, Hall said that
growth is limited by the size of the building. Gagnon pointed out that the PDZ has a provision to
put another building on the property with site plan approval from the PB so it is important to put
a hard limit on full-time equivalents (FTEs) and water use. There was a lengthy discussion about
what those limits should be. It was generally agreed that FTEs should be limited to 40-50.
Number of gallons of water per day was discussed with a suggestion of setting the limit low and
conducting a drawdown test in the spring to determine whether to increase or decrease the limit. !
There was also discussion of traffic concerns given that Hall plans to hold a monthly in-person
auction of low-value items, such as furniture and appliances. Hall expects 50-100 people on
auction days. !
The PB discussed Part I of the Full Environmental Assessment Form. They deleted a sentence
from the “brief description of proposed action” section, changed answers to multiple yes/no
questions, and requested that missing data be filled in. !
MOTION – SET SPECIAL MEETING OF THE TOWN OF DANBY PLANNING BOARD TO BE HELD
JANUARY 5, 2015 AT 7 P.M.
Moved by Gagnon, Second by Strichartz.
In Favor: Unanimous
The motion passed. !
Adjournment !
The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m.
____________________________________________
Patty Jordan, Planning Board Secretary !!
Planning Board Minutes, December 18, 2014 Page !3