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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA Minutes 2002-06-17 TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS J , NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS ALE MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2002 DATE 7 : 00 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, June 17 , 2002, in Town Hall , 215 North Tioga Street, Tioga Street Entrance, Ithaca, NY , COMMENCING AT 7 : 00 P.M . , on the following matters : APPEAL of Ithaca College, Appellant, David Harding, QPK Design , Agent, requesting special approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article IV, Section 11 . 3b and Article XIII, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a roadway and deposit fill material on the Ithaca College Campus, 953 Danby Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No . 41 - 1 -25 , -26, -30. 2, and 42- 1 - 13 . 2, Residence District R- 15 . APPROVED APPEAL of Cornell University , Appellant, Laurene Gilbert, ASLA, Agent, requesting a special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 . 3b, and Article XIII, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct 2 athletic fields, including the movement of 7,500 + cubic yards of fill material near the Cornell Reis Tennis Center and Equestrian Center, at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No . 60- 1 -5 , -8 . 2, -9 . 1 , -9 .2, and - 18 , Residence District R-30 . APPROVED APPEAL of Cornell University , Appellant, Brenda Cartland, Agent, requesting an approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V , Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, in order to modify existing parking lots at the Reis Tennis and Oxley Equestrian Centers , located at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No . 60- 1 - 8 . 2 and 9 . 1 , Residence District R-30. Said modifications include the reduction in the required 180 square foot parking space size (as defined by Article I, Section 1 . 27 of the Zoning Ordinance) to areas of 136 and 153 square feet . A variance from Article I, Section 1 . 27 is also requested . APPROVED APPEAL of William Steele, Appellant, Edward Mazza, Esquire, Agent, requesting a special permit under Article III, Section 4 (2b) of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be allowed to occupy a single-family residence with up to 6 unrelated people at 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No , 54-4-40, Residence District R-9 . APPROVED APPEAL of Nancy Battistella, dba Six Mile Creek Winery, Appellant, requesting a variance from Section 4 .01 - 1 of the Town of Ithaca Sign Law, to be permitted to place a 55 square foot wall sign on the east side of the winery ' s barn , located at 1551 Slaterville Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 56-2- 1 . 1 , Residence District R- 15 . WITHDRAWN Said Zoning Board of Appeals will at said time, 7 : 00 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 : June 7 , 2002 Published : June 10, 2002 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MONDAY JUNE 17, 2002 FILE 7 : 00 P . M . DATE a'L PRESENT : Kirk Sigel , Chairperson ; Harry Ellsworth , Board Member; Ronald Krantz , Board Member; Andy Frost , Director of Building/Zoning ; John Barney , Attorney for the Town ; Mike Smith , Environmental Planner. ABSENT : James Niefer, Board Member, ALSO PRESENT: Joseph lacovelli , 216 Pennsylvania Avenue ; Jutta lacovelli , 216 Pennsylvania Avenue ; Paul King , 779 Ringwood Rd ; David Harding , 450 South Salina St ; William Steele , 121 Kendall Avenue ; Tom Salm , Ithaca College ; Craig Christopher, 330 West State St ; Brenda Cartland , Cornell University; Hollis Erb , 118 Snyder Hill Road ; Jane Hamrod , 16c Strawberry Hill Rd ; Edward Mazza , 307 N . Tioga St ; William Steele , 121 Kendall Ave Chairperson Sigel — Welcome to the June 17th , 2002 meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals . This evening we have five appeals . The first of Ithaca College , the next two are of Cornell University , the fourth is William Steele and the fifth is Six Mile Creek Winery . APPEAL of Ithaca College, Appellant, David Harding , QPK Design , Agent, requesting special approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article IV, Section 11 . 3b and Article XIII , Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a roadway and deposit fill material on the Ithaca College Campus , 953 Danby Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 41 -1 -25 , -269 -30 . 2, and 42 -1 - 13 . 2 , Residence District R-15 . Chairperson Sigel - The first appeal is Ithaca College . If there is someone here that would like to come up to the microphone and state your name and address for the record . You can give us an over view of all the fill that you plan on moving . David Harding , QPK Design - I ' m here tonight with Tom Salm from Ithaca College in case you have any questions that he will need to answer. We ' re on the agenda for the approval of two projects . One being the fill project that you just mentioned at Building 25 , over on the other north of campus and the second project is the construction of a connector road connecting the College Circle Project Apartments to the existing campus road network on the south side of the campus , I brought along an overview map here to point out the two locations of the projects . Here you can see College Circle at the far south end of the site . The tan represents existing pavements and road networks . What we ' re proposing to do is construct a segment of road connecting the existing parking facilities and providing a vehicular and pedestrian access directly from College Circle to the campus so that they do not have to drive out on to the highway . This was a condition of the College Circle Apartments Planning Board approval and this application is to comply with that . The second project , which is the Building 25 grading improvements , as we refer to it because it is more that simply a fill project , will occur over near the Coddington Road entrance to the campus and that involves providing a location for getting excavated materials out of the College Circle Project which amounts to approximately 22 , 000 cubic yards . 1 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17, 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Chairperson Sigel — Is it just an amazing coincidence that it is the same amount? Mr. Harding — No , this project was created specifically to give the contractors for College Circle a convenient disposal site . There was a need for some grading improvements in the vicinity of this project . There is a severely eroded swale coming down the steep hillside , down to the entrance road . It ' s been a maintenance issue that they will heighten with fill up to the top . There are some abrupt grades within the vicinity of the Building 25 structure itself that don 't look natural and they wanted to improve the appearance coming into that end of the campus . It could have been accomplished with a lot less fill , but the objective here was to kill two birds with one stone and provide that convenient place for the College Circle Apartments material . The Planning Board has approved both projects , you may be aware , at the May 21St meeting in a preliminary site plan approval for the connector road and the referral to your board for the fill project . One of the conditions of the fill project was that the project would not take place unless it specifically utilized the fill at the College Circle Projects . I ' ve brought along the two exhibits to show you on a larger scale the nature of the work on the connector road . This is the 15 parking area for the current College Circle Apartment Building . We ' re constructing that short segment of the roadway , as I mentioned and paving some pedestrian paths and creating a segregated walkway to make it safe and convenient for the students . Over at Building 25 , this is Coddington Road over here and the entrance road . Chairperson Sigel — Is the plan to direct bicycles onto the road or on the path ? Mr. Harding — The pathway is an eight foot wide path way so it could accommodate both pedestrians and bicycles . Mr. Ellsworth - What are you doing with the steep grade down at that entrance road , down on campus ? Mr. Harding — Right along the road side ? Well , the erosion that I was actually referring to is above that steep grade by the adjoining road way . It goes all the way back up into the vicinity of the apartment building back up into the hill because there is a storm pipe which discharges water out in those concrete head walls you might notice from the roadway . It erodes a couple foot deep channel . This project limits do not go beyond the top of the very steep slope that you can see right at the roadway. The Board did make mention that that had some erosion on it that they would like to see taken care of and the college had committed at that meeting to do that under their general maintenance program . Mr. Ellsworth — Just a comment that using the fill to kill two birds with one stone and keeping some of the traffic off of the highway . Those are two good things . Chairperson Sigel — There was one condition on the special approval for the Planning Board approval for the connector road that I don 't quite understand , it ' s condition "b . If no application is made for modification of the special approval for relocating the roadway within two years , the surface shall be changed to asphalt . " 2 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 177 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Harding — You had to be there . That relates to the fact that the Planning Board had some concerns that the current proposal is to build an oil and stone road , which is the construction material of the existing parking lot and they would prefer to see an asphalt roadway and we said it doesn 't make sense for a couple of reasons . One is that we would be going from oil and stone to asphalt anyway . Secondly, the college is currently looking at a master plan , in which they have been considering constructing some type of field house facility and the whole arrangement in this end of campus may change in the near future and they didn 't want to invest a lot of money in this project , only to have to revise it substantially . So , we look at this as more of an interim connector road . The Planning Board said " Well , you know if the near future doesn 't arrive too quickly , we 'd like to see you upgrade that to a more permanent solution . " Chairperson Sigel — If it did have to be torn up , is oil and stone less material to have to dispose of , than if you were to tear up asphalt? Mr. Harding — No , it' s about the same amount of material . It's just a less costly application . Mr. Ellsworth — That ' s over 30 10 cubic yard full trucks a day . What are the dust control methods? Mr. Harding — Well , we 've indicated in the plan that ' s been approved that the contractor has to comply with the requirements of the New York guidelines for erosion and sedimentation to implement dust control measures , such as spraying the disturbed areas to keep it from becoming air born . The plan also calls for the topsoil stock pile to be temporarily seeded until that will no longer be a problem . Chairperson Sigel — Has the trucking route plan been finalized yet? There are various options in a number of our documents . Mr. Harding — One of the conditions is to submit the trucking plan as part of the final site plan approval and the College does intend to comply with the recommendation of the Planning Board that the route will enter 96 and head north with the full trucks and come back along the back route and make a continuous circle to avoid some awkward left turns up steep grades around the entrance would be tough for the trucks and it also reduces the number of trucks passing the residential area . Chairperson Sigel — Why did you not decide to just go through the campus with the trucks ? Mr. Harding — The campus , if you have been up in there , has pretty awkward intersections and very steep grades and severe switchbacks . Also there will be pedestrian activity on here through the season when this is going to happen . Some of the roads really aren 't in good enough shape to handle this kind of truck traffic . Chairperson Sigel — I assume the Planning Board was lead agency for the environmental review on both of these . Mr. Smith — On the fill permit , they just made a recommendation , they didn 't make any SEAR determination . The connector road , it was just an unlisted action , it wasn 't coordinated so you want to make the determination . 3 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 7 : 19 p . m . With no persons present to be heard , Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 7:20 p . m . Chairperson Sigel — I ' d just like to make one note before we continue , about the Planning Board ' s resolution . They mention coming back south on Danby Road , but it should be north . Okay , so we have two separate appeals , each of which has a SEQR assessment . ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-031 — ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT— Ithaca College, 953 Danbv Rd , Tax Parcel No. 42 . -1 -13 . 2 , Residence District R- 15 , June 17 , 2002 . MOTION made by Harry Ellsworth, seconded by Ronald Krantz RESOLVED, that this board makes a negative determination of environmental significance in the matter of Ithaca College, requesting special approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals, under Article IV, Section 11 . 3b and Article X111, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a roadway and related improvements on the Ithaca College campus, 953 Danby Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 42. - 1 - 13. 2, Residence District R- 15 for the reasons set forth in the environmental assessment completed by the Town Staff, dated June 3rd 2002. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NAYS: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-032 — Ithaca College, 953 Danby Rd , Tax Parcel No 42 .= 1 -13 . 2 , Residence District R- 15, June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Kirk Sigel, seconded by Harry Ellsworth. RESOLVED, that this board grants the appeal of Ithaca College, requesting special approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals, under Article IV, Section 11 . 3b and Article X111, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a roadway and related improvements on the Ithaca College Campus , 953 Danby Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels 42. 4 - 13. 2, Residence District R- 15 based upon the following: FINDINGS: a . All of the conditions for a special approval have been met. CONDITIONS: 4 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED a . Subject to all of the conditions in Planning Board Resolution 2002-052, dated May 21 , 2002. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NAYS: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-033 — ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT— Ithaca College, 953 Danby Rd , Tax Parcel No. 41 . -1 -25 , -26 , -30 . 2 , Residence District R-15 , June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Kirk Sigel, seconded Ronald Krantz. RESOLVED, that this board makes a negative determination of environmental significance in the appeal of Ithaca College, requesting special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals, under Article IV, Section 11 . 3b and Article XIII, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to deposit fill material and make grading improvements adjacent to Building 25 on the Ithaca College campus, 953 Danby Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 41 . 4 -25, -26, -30. 2, Residence District R- 15 for the reasons set forth in the environmental assessment completed by the Town Staff, dated May 15th 2002. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NAYS: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002=034 — Ithaca College , 953 Danby Rd , Tax Parcel No . 41 . -1 -25 , -26 , - 30 . 2 , Residence District R-15 , June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Kirk Sigel, seconded by Ronald Krantz. RESOLVED, that this board grants the appeal of Ithaca College, requesting special approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals, under Article IV, Section 11 . 3b and Article Xlll, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to deposit fill material and make grading improvements 5 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 179 2002 MINUTES APPROVED adjacent to Building 25 on the Ithaca College Campus , 953 Danby Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 41 . 4 -25, -26, -30. 2, Residence District R- 15 based upon the following: FINDINGS: a . All the conditions for special approval have been met. CONDITIONS: a . Subject to all of the conditions in Planning Board Resolution 2002-50, date May 21 , 2002. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NAYS: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. APPEAL of Cornell University, Appellant, Laurene Gilbert, ASLA, Agent, requesting a special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 . 3b , and Article XIII , Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance , to be permitted to construct 2 athletic fields , including the movement of 7, 500 + cubic yards of fill material near the Cornell Reis Tennis Center and Equestrian Center, at 220-230 Pine Tree Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 60-1 -5 , -8 . 29 -9 . 19 -9 . 2, and -18 , Residence District R-30 . Laurene Gilbert , Cornell University Planning & Design — Before I start , I would like to say that I am here to answer questions and I ' ll give a presentation that will help make a decision , but we are not going to be asking for a vote on this this evening . Chairperson Sigel — Okay . Why is that? Shirley Egan , Cornell Legal Counsel — There are only three members here tonight . It' s unclear if Mr. Ellsworth is going to recluse himself because he has spoken against the project at a Planning Board hearing . Mr. Ellsworth - No , I didn 't speak against it . No one that night spoke against it . They just had some things that they wanted clarified as part of the acceptance . Shirley - I think it would be in the best interest of my client for the vote to be deferred until another board member arrives . 6 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Attorney Barney — I would suggest that maybe you defer the whole presentation and let us go on because we are inquiring right now as to whether the other member is going to be down . I think if you were going to ask him to vote , it would be nice for him to hear the presentation as well . Chairperson Sigel — Would you like to proceed with the paving ? APPEAL of Cornell University, Appellant, Brenda Cartland , Agent, requesting an approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V , Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, in order to modify existing parking lots at the Reis Tennis and Oxley Equestrian Centers, located at 220-230 Pine Tree Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 60-1 -8.2 and 9 . 19 Residence District R-30 . Said modifications include the reduction in the required 180 square foot parking space size (as defined by Article I , Section 1 . 27 of the Zoning Ordinance) to areas of 136 and 153 square feet. A variance from Article I , Section 1 . 27 is also requested . Brenda Cartland , Cornell University Planning Design & Construction — I ' m here to present for the approval for the Reis Tennis Center and the Oxley Equestrian Center parking lot reconstruction project . This project was presented at the June 4th Planning Board meeting and it received preliminary and final approval at that meeting . The project consists primarily of re-paving two existing parking lots . ( inaudible , speaking away from microphone) Chairperson Sigel — So you ' re not going to be paving the large area between the buildings ? Ms . Cartland — That' s right . We ' re not paving this area . The project area is approximately five acres in size . It' s located southeast of Cornell University' s main campus . It's located on Pine Tree Road , south of the intersection with Mitchell St . It's also located on the same site as the Cornell University athletic fields , which will be presented later this evening . This project is necessary because the condition of the existing lots is very poor. They are gravel lots now . There are a lot of potholes that need constant maintenance . It' s also now required because for the preliminary site plan approval for the athletic field , which are located on the same site , the Planning Board required that as part of that project these lots be paved . Chairperson Sigel — As someone who goes to both of those buildings fairly regularly , I ' m very excited for them to be paved . It' s very difficult to get in at any speed over 0 . Ms . Cartland- We think this project will result in a number of improvements . I think the issue for this approval is the size of the parking space that we ' d like to stripe on the lots . For the Tennis Center, we 've sized the parking space the Cornell standard parking space . The same size that we use all over central campus — that' s 8 1/2 by 16 feet long . For the Polo Center, we 've sized the spaces to be 8 1/2 by 18 feet long because the design vehicle for that lot is a little larger, larger trucks frequent that facility more often because there are stables there , people have larger vehicles to haul horse trailers . 7 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17, 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Cornell standard space size is smaller than the Town Zoning Ordinance ' s definition for a parking space , which I understand is 180 square feet . One goal for parking on campus is to achieve adequate parking , but to have as little asphalt as possible , have as little area paved as possible . Less asphalt means less runoff , less visual impact , less impact on the site in general . So this parking spot size that we have proposed for this site is consistent with the Cornell size all over central campus , it 's consistent with the City of Ithaca parking space requirements , it' s adequate for both of these facilities . To put it into perspective , if you were to keep the same number of spaces at this facility , but to increase the space to 180 square feet , which is the Town requirement , we would need about 4 , 080 square feet additional area , not counting driving lanes and that would equate to 25 to 30 more parking space of area . So hopefully , that will help you put into perspective how much asphalt we ' re saving with the smaller parking spaces . That's all that I wanted to say for my presentation . Do you have any questions? Mr. Krantz- I have a question for you , John Barney . That' s clearly a significant difference , that ' s only 136 square feet versus 180 . Why does the Town require such a large space ? Attorney Barney — Well , the Ordinance was drafted at time when the average vehicle was much larger, although that may be changing as we get back to SUV' s . I think the Planning literature now does realize a somewhat smaller space . I think our new Zoning Ordinance , I know we were looking at changing . . . . Mr. Smith — I think it was the same size parking space , but it gives authority to the Planning Board to make a change in the size of a site plan . Mr. Ellsworth — I think this is the same size space that Ithaca College is talking about at College Circle . Chairperson Sigel — It' s the same width . Ms . Cartland — If I could clarify, our parking space is 8 '/2 by 16 feet standard when there is a curb and an overhang and it' s 8 '/2 by 19 feet when there is no curb and overhang . Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 7 : 26 p . m . With no persons to be heard , Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 7 : 37 p . m . ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-036- ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT — Cornell University, 220- 230 Pine Tree Rd , Tax Parcels No. 60 . -1 -8 . 2 and 9. 1 , Residence District R-30 , June 17, 2002 MOTION made by Ronald Krantz , seconded by Kirk Sigel. RESOLVED, that this board makes a negative determination of environmental assessment in the matter of Cornell University, requesting an approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, in order to modify existing parking lots at the Reis Tennis and Oxley Equestrian Centers, located at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax 8 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Parcels No. 60. 4 -8. 2 and 9. 1 , Residence District R-30 for the reasons set forth in the environmental assessment completed by Town Staff. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellworth, Krantz NA YES: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002-037- Cornell University, 220-230 Pine Tree Rd , Tax Parcels No . 60. - 1 -8 . 2 and 9 . 1 , Residence District R-30 , June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Kirk Sigel, seconded by Ronald Krantz. RESOLVED, that this board grants the appeal of Cornell University, requesting an approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, in order to modify existing parking lots at the Reis Tennis and Oxley Equestrian Centers , located at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 60. 4 -8. 2 and 9. 1 , Residence District R-30. An area variance is also granted to allow a reduction in parking space size from 180 square feet to 136 and 153 square feet, as indicated on the applicant's plans. These approvals are based upon the following: FINDINGS: a . The requirements for a special approval and an area variance have been met. CONDITIONS: a . Subject to all conditions in Planning Board Resolution 2002-062, dated June 4, 2002. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NAYS: None The motions was declared to be carried unanimously. Chairperson Sigel — Is a representative for Mr. Steele here ? Yes? Okay . Now we will have the appeal of Cornell University for requesting approval for two athletic fields . 9 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 177 2002 MINUTES APPROVED APPEAL (Continued ) of Cornell University, Appellant, Laurene Gilbert, ASLA, Agent, requesting a special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 .3b, and Article XIII , Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct 2 athletic fields , including the movement of 7, 500 + cubic yards of fill material near the Cornell Reis Tennis Center and Equestrian Center, at 220-230 Pine Tree Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 60=1 -5, -8 .2, -9 . 1 , -9. 2 , and = 18 , Residence District R-30 . Ms . Gilbert — I ' m here to answer any questions you might have and we ' re hear to request special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals to construct two athletic fields and including moving 7500 cubic yards of fill material near the Cornell Ries Tennis Center and the Equestrian Center. Just a quick overview of the project . I ' m not sure how familiar you are with it or not . The two athletic fields are not for spectator sports , they are just fields . There are no bleachers , no lighting involved and no structures . This would also be incorporating a few retention ponds as part of the hydraulic system that was done in coordination with the Town Engineer and our consultant . We feel that would improve drainage within the site . Right now , the way the study was prepared shows that the dripping retention pond , the way it' s built , would be sufficient for this , but we ' re going one step further with that and creating another retention basin in this area down here . Also , we ' ll be including a couple of sedimentation ponds that will remain after construction as part of the conditions . We believe that with all of this added drainage improvement , we would be significantly improving the drainage on this site . Not to mention that the fields themselves , actually will improve the drainage on this site because the existing soil in that area are heavy clay where the water tends to sheet off . These fields will have drainable fill on them and be seeded and that will help filtrate the water that will flow down . Chairperson Sigel — You mentioned that you ' re not planning on these fields drawing significant numbers of spectators , but I assume that you plan to allow members of the public who might want to spectate to come on to the site , or is that not the case ? Ms . Gilbert — I don 't think that they would turn anybody away for watching , if they wanted to . Chairperson Sigel — What sports are anticipated ? Ms . Gilbert — They' re multipurpose fields . There are club sports , pick up games . It would be soccer, ultimate Frisbee , rugby, lacrosse . That ' s why they' re the size that they are , it' s sort of big enough for all of those different sports . Mr. Krantz — Do you think that in future years there will be pressure put on Cornell to put some lighting on those fields ? Ms . Gilbert — I don 't see that happening . I don 't have a crystal ball , I can 't say for sure . That' s not in their plans in the foreseeable future and it ' s been stated quite clearly . If that were the case , then they have to come back for a full site plan review and an environmental review all over again . Chairperson Sigel — It' s already been a condition of the Planning Board . One question I have in regard to the sequencing of the paving of the lots and then building the fields . I was at one of the 10 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 179 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Planning Board meetings and it seemed to me that they had wanted the paving to be completed before any trucking was done , is that right ? Ms . Gilbert The want the lots paved before the fields are constructed , that's the way I understood it . Chairperson Sigel — The reason I ask is because there' s a condition in the Planning Board approval that says that the parking lots be re- built and paved before the first playing field is operational . Ms . Gilbert — Right. Chairperson Sigel — Which would be well after all the dirt' s been trucked in . Ms . Gilbert — When we build the fields , either one of them , which ever one gets built first , that hasn 't really been determined yet . After the construction and seeding , it can 't be played on for a year. So it wouldn 't be until the following year that it would be open for play. Then the second one would be constructed and then that one would have to sit for a year before anyone could play on it . So , it terms of sequence , I think that's the way it would go . The paving project would be completed long before either of those happened . Chairperson Sigel — Do you know when that' s planned ? Is that planned for this summer? Ms . Gilbert — Yes . Chairperson Sigel — John , do you remember if they wanted it paved before they even started trucking dirt? Attorney Barney — No . I think it was before they were operational . I think the feeling is because there will be more traffic . Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 7 : 51 p . m . With no persons present to be heard , Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 7 : 52 p . m . Chairperson Sigel — Now , in this case do we need to vote on the environmental assessment ? Mr. Smith — No . Chairperson Sigel — So we don 't have to find a negative environmental impact , the Planning Board did that . ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002 —035- Cornell University, 220-230 Pine Tree Road , Tax Parcels No 60 . - 1 -59 -8 . 29 -9 . 1 , and —18 , Residence District R-30 , June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Ronald Krantz, seconded by Kirk Sigel. RESOLVED, that this board grants the appeal of Cornell University, requesting a special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18. 3b and Article Xlll, Section 70 of the 11 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17, 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct 2 athletic fields, which will include the movement of no more than 8, 000 cubic yards of fill material near the Cornell Reis Tennis Center and Equestrian Center, at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 60. 4 -5, -8. 21 -9. 1 , - 9. 2, and — 18, Residence District R-30 based upon the following: FINDINGS: a . All the requirements for a special approval have been satisfied. CONDITIONS: a . Subject to all the conditions stated in Planning Board Resolution 2002-060, dated June 4, 2002. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NAYS: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. APPEAL of William Steele , Appellant, Edward Mazza , Esquire, Agent, requesting a special permit under Article III , Section 4 (2b) of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be allowed to occupy a single-family residence with up to 6 unrelated people at 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 54-440, Residence District R-9 . Chairperson Sigel — I ' d like to state , for the record , that I handed out a chart that I made up . I also handed a copy to the applicant and a copy of that will be entered for the record . Would you like to state your name and address and give us a brief overview . Edward Mazza , 307 N . Tioga St — I ' m the attorney for William Steele . This is Mr. Steele , the appellant . We are here requesting a special approval for 121 Kendall Avenue to occupy it by six unrelated persons . I have submitted to you , I believe with my application , a copy of the tax parcel map , which I have highlighted on there the four appeals that you have listed on your sheet as well for special approvals , just to orient you . I ' m sure you folks have been to the property and know the area . Just to orient you , I included that . I have also some photographs here I ' ll pass down , which are looking out the backside of the Steele ' s property onto the Therm property. So that you can see what it is that ' s directly behind his property. In re-doing this application when Mr. Steele came in to see me , I was noting that it was very , very , very similar, almost identical , I believe to the application and the approval given to Mr. Levinsky for 174- 176 Kendall Avenue . There are a few differences ; one it that his is a two family structure , I think the approval was for four in one and two in the other. I believe that another difference was that he was already renting the property out , I guess contrary to the Zoning Ordinance to that many people . Where Mr. Steele is living there with his family. Mr. Steele and his wife raised five daughters in this house , so seven people were living in this house most of the time . I see that in the list that you 've handed out to me , you have noted that the square footage of the lot is 12 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED less than that of the Levisky lot . In regards to that , I would point out that the frontage on the road is identical , the only difference being the depth of the lot and I would also point out that the area behind the Steele property is Therm property , as shown in those photographs that I 've brought . So I really don 't think that there 's much significant difference in the nature of the lot . In the appeal of Mr. Levinsky , you made a negative declaration of economic significance and you indicated that the applicant had met the requirements for a special approval . I don 't know if you folks have gone back and read the minutes for the meeting from February 26 , 2001 , but you indicated very clearly in there that this neighborhood has been occupied by a lot of students from Ithaca College , that it was walking distance from Ithaca College , proposed use is not detrimental to the general amenity of the neighborhood . It will not de-value the neighboring properties or seriously inconvenience neighboring inhabitants . The neighborhood is mainly student housing and you did condition that approval on meeting the building codes , which of course we intend to have this meet all the building codes . The other two appeals were different in that they offered other land for restrictions for no building on it , so that increased the total amount of square footage . Mr. Steele has no other land to offer. He has , like Mr. Levinsky , had his property on the market for sale without any success . I think that he has a situation that is almost identical to the Levinsky approval that you granted and we request that this Board grant approval to the Steele 's . Mr. Krantz — The big hooker to me is the cars , the parking . You 've got room for four cars . Mr. Mazza — I think that room could be made for more cars there . More parking could be put in , that we would accept as a condition to the approval . There has been no need for that up until now because there was no need for more parking spaces , but if there is , they would gladly accommodate . Mr. Krantz — The other three places where the Board gave approval all had sufficient room for six cars . Mr. Mazza — I think that that was probably because , like with Levisky , he was already occupying it by that number of people . There was no need for it up until now and he would gladly put those parking spaces in . Chairperson Sigel — I couldn 't really tell how far over the lot extends to the east . There ' s a boat on a trailer by the road . Is that on your property? Mr. Steele — Not where the boat and the trailer is . It goes to the end of the fence . My father owns that property . Chairperson Sigel — It seems like there is a lot of room there for a lot of cars , actually. Mr. Steele — I have permission to use that , but I can also go the other way to the west . Chairperson Sigel — It seems to me that you ' d end up basically . . . . . It ' s not ideal to turn the whole front of your property into parking . I was looking through all of their appeals . I appreciate the fact that you pointed them out in your packet . I looked through them and I made this chart just because I was having trouble myself , as I read through them , I ' d forget which one was one family , which one was two , how much land , what was given up , so I thought others on the Board might appreciate looking at 13 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED this . In my mind , I feel that the fact that it is just a one family house is a fairly significant difference from Mr. Levinsky3s appeal . The other two by James and Orlando laccovelli , obviously they had significant differences in the buildable lots that were surrendered , essentially, creating if not publicly accessible open space , at least publicly viewable open space in the neighborhood . In trying to balance the benefit or the detriment to others in the neighborhood , I would find it difficult to vote to increase the occupancy to six unrelated in a property that appears to really just , more or less , meet the minimum requirements of that district , to have nothing particularly exceptional about it , like a particularly large lot or that sort of thing . To be honest , in the Levisky case , if you read the minutes , you 'd see that there was some contention among Board Members as to whether that should be approved . You couldn 't characterize that as an easy passage . In fact , one member voted against it . Mr. Mazza — I agree with you , but I do note that no where in those minutes is there any discussion of the size of the lot . That was not one of the issues that was discussed . Chairperson Sigel — That' s true , but that doesn 't mean that we can 't consider it . Mr. Mazza — I understand . I ' m just pointing out that I did read those minutes and that I did notice that and I think it ' s significant that the back of his lot butts up to Therm , which is . . . . If your concern is that the depth of the lot would be that he would infringing on some neighbor in the back , he ' s not going to do that . There ' s not .going to be a residential neighbor as Levisky would have had residential neighbors in that back that he would have imposed upon . Chairperson Sigel — I might even be able to grant you that effectively we could consider the lot a similar size to Mr. Levisky' s , but the fact does still remain that his is a two family house and he was only asking to put four people in one unit . So the most people that he had in one unit , a completely separate dwelling unit , separate kitchen , separate entrance , was four people . Mr. Mazza — I ' m having a little trouble . I know that' s a difference , two units — four in one and six in this one , but I don 't know what the distinction could be as far as the Town and the neighborhood . Chairperson Sigel — I think it affects the suitability of the property to the number of people being requested . A house with one kitchen and a whole bunch of bed rooms is not necessarily that well suited to renting to six unrelated people who maybe hardly know each other when they move in . Mr. Mazza — Like I said , I don 't really see how that's going to effect the Town or the neighborhood at all . There have been seven people living there with one kitchen . Chairperson Sigel — That' s one family , all related . Presumably, you at least strive to eat together. I realize that's not always achieved . Mr. Mazza — It' s not that way in my household , I ' ll tell you that ! Chairperson Sigel — One of the criteria that we do have to look at is the suitability of the property to the request that is , I believe one of the criteria for the review . Mr. Ellsworth — Can you explain the four bedrooms on the assessment? 14 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Mazza — I wasn 't aware that that' s what the assessment said . Mr. Ellsworth — The current 2002 Tompkins County Assessment roll lists this home as a single family with four bedrooms and the applicant states that there are six bedrooms . Mr. Mazza — I think what it is at this point is that there are five bedrooms with one of the bedrooms being open up into a family area , tv room or something like that at this time . Currently , there are five bedrooms . I don 't know what the assessment says . Mr. Ellsworth — It was on the environmental assessment form . Mr. Smith — If you look at the last page of the packet with the property descriptions , the number of bedrooms is four. Mr. Mazza — What are we looking at , I ' m sorry? Mr. Smith — The property description page . Mr. Mazza — Well , is there a question as to how many bedrooms are there ? I think Andy's been to the property . Mr. Frost — I 've been to the property , but the lower rooms were not legal spaces . That' s one of the things that I discussed with Mr. Steele . The windows were two small . Mr. Mazza — He understands that Andy said that and he would agree to meet the building codes . Chairperson Sigel opened the Public Hearing at 8 : 10 p . m . Joseph laccovelli , 216 Pennsylvania Ave- I have lived here for 25 years . I 've seen my neighborhood go from a residential community to Ithaca College town . I ' ve known Billy all my life . A lot of my uncles own property there and they are student housing . In the past 25 years it' s gone , as I 've said from a nice residential neighborhood . On the weekends , you can hear the parties going on . I can tell you at 1 : 30 a . m . on Friday night and Saturday night when the bars because all the kids are coming home screaming and yelling . We wake up in the morning , we see what damage has been done from the nights before , we see the trash , we can hear the cars racing . I don 't think that we need another six unrelated person house in our neighborhood . Unfortunately , there were some other neighbors that said they were coming , unfortunately, they didn 't show up . Bill knows what I am talking about . Billy and I sat out on my steps one night watching the hordes of kids , the cars racing up and down our street . There are very few families left in the neighborhood . The only people who are there now are retired people who cannot afford to move . I have been threatened by the students when I 've gone out to speak with them . I 've been told that I should move , not only by the students , but by one of the landlords who is an uncle of mine and I found that very distasteful . I 've been living there long enough that I am not going to move out . I don 't believe that there is adequate parking space . I went over there tonight and I drove by his house . His father- in - law owns the property adjacent . 15 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED I ' m here to ask you people not to approve this variance . We don 't need another six unrelated house , college student housing . There are a lot of them up there , legal or illegal , I don 't know . We count cars in the morning and I can see six cars , each kid has a car. A better car than I do , unfortunately . Thank you . Jutta laccovelli , 216 Pennsylvania Avenue — I just want to expand on a couple of comments that we 've already talked about . Traffic , increased traffic , the speed that these kids drive their cars . We ' re talking about six parking spaces here , but in reality , there ' s probably going to be at least 12 people parking there . Every student has a boyfriend of girlfriend that spends the night and that' s not even thinking about the parties that block the street . Noise pollution . Joe mentioned that we are woken up at 1 or 2 in the morning on weekends , but it happens during the week as well . Vandalism has gotten pretty bad lately. Parties may have quieted down a little bit because the police are coming up better and have been stopping the parties , but the vandalism , we 've had things stolen off our front porch . Mail boxes have been destroyed . Pretty soon they' ll come up in our driveway and destroy our car, that' s what I ' m afraid of. So again , so we don 't need any more student houses . We have six and eight students in every house around us now , we don 't need another. Mr. Frost — Ms . laccovelli , I ' m well aware of the problems that we 've had around there . You mentioned that some of the other neighbors were going to show up tonight and I ' m actually surprised that they' re not here because I 've had a lot of your neighbors call me . Any idea why they' re not here ? Mr. laccovelli — I don 't know . I found out through them . Like I said , I ' m disappointed that they aren 't here . This is something that in the past year, people have said enough is enough . I think that people think that you don 't seem to get any recourse . You come down here and state your case and it doesn 't do any good . Why waste the night? That' s the view . Mr. Frost — At one point tonight I was wondering why you haven 't spoken up when your uncles have been here , but I think it's obvious . I guess if I were you I ' d be uncomfortable with coming down . Mr. laccovelli — I 've been to a couple of meetings that Orlando was appealing , I found that very uncomfortable . Chairperson Sigel closed the Public Hearing at 8 : 16 . Mr. Ellsworth — We 've had a whole serious of these in the past few months . If this gets approved , we' re going to have more of the same , based on this one . Each time the perimeter, or what ever you want to call it , get pushed a little further. It' s unfortunate for Mr. Steele , but I agree with these people . Chairperson Sigel — I agree . I think that the trend in the last couple have been promising . There have been some trade offs . Mr. Frost -- Nine of the 14 remaining single family homes are at the beginning of Kendall Road . Chairperson Sigel — I ' ll just throw this out for thought . I would be in favor of approving four for this property. It' s the case that three is by right . 16 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Frost- Technically , by definition , two unrelated can make a claim for a non -traditional family and they are entitled to have a boarded . So that's three . Mr. Mazza — I ' d like to comment that there are in fact five bedrooms currently and one that they converted back into a family room area . Those five bedrooms currently exist and he 's having a heck of a time trying to sell this property as a five bedroom . Just like they say , people have been moving out of there . Nobody wants to move into there as a single family . It becomes almost impossible to sell this five bedroom house . Attorney Barney — What kind of asking price ? Mr. Steele - $ 160 . Mr. Ellsworth — How long has it been for sale ? Mr. Steele — Since February . I haven 't had one offer. Mr. Frost — The assessment is $98 , 000 . $ 10 , 900 on the land and $88 , 000 on the house . Mr. Mazza — I don 't know how you can build five bedrooms and two baths for $98 , 000 . Attorney Barney — I think the point is though , Mr . Steele , price has a lot to do with whether a property will sell or not . When one puts a property on the market and doesn 't have an offer, the question comes to mind whether the price is a little bit excessive . Mr. Mazza — Would the Board consider allowing them to occupy the five bedrooms that currently exist? How much different is this than Levisky' s ? If I ' m arguing this case in some other forum about the difference between the Levisky case and this one , I don 't see too many differences . They had six , I ' m suggesting maybe the Board will allow five . Chairperson Sigel — I certainly do sympathize with you situation , but I feel in balancing the benefit to you versus the detriment to the community , that I think four is the better number. Four unrelated . Mr. Mazza - I look at the findings that you must make for a special approval request . These folks , while people may sympathize with them on their plight in that neighborhood , I think they state the case that that is the character of the neighborhood . I think that they emphasize that that is what the neighborhood is , which puts Mr. Steele in the position that he can 't sell his property now. The only " g" . which talks about the lot area . I 've indicated that the depth is the only difference and that' s somewhat mitigated by the fact that it's Therm that ' s behind them , but if you do consider that to be significant , I don 't think that that's knocking off 33% of the acceptable occupancy . I think that you 've done something inconsistent between Levinsky and the Steele 's . Attorney Barney — Let me respond . Number one , the Levisky's could have been a mistake , in my view it was , but it wasn 't challenged . 17 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Mazza — These three Board members that are here voted in favor of it . Attorney Barney — That doesn 't necessarily always make it right or wrong . I look at the criteria " In harmony with the health , safety , morals and general welfare of the community shall be promoted . " I ' m not quite sure how this promotes the health , safety , morals and general welfare of the community . The use would fill a neighborhood or community need , I ' m not sure how this fills a community need . Mr. Mazza — I think the three approvals would be the same considerations regardless of lot size . Attorney Barney — No , I disagree . In two of the approvals there was a very clear quid quo pro , giving up an overall density in a four or five lot area was reduced in which would have been otherwise permitted by the ordinance . So , in those circumstances , there was actually a reduction in the number of people that could be there under the ordinance . If we have to argue this in another form , I ' m not uncomfortable arguing it . Mr. Frost — If I could add too , with most of my experience , particularly on the State level with variances that have been granted , while it's always nice to argue that there is precedent, the State makes it very clear that a variance in one area doesn 't constitute the right to other people to grant variances because it' s quite individual . I think with asking price here is , you ' d have to then start trying to argue what Mr. Levinsky was asking for his house . Mr. Mazza — Mr. Barney stated that that wasn 't really significant . The economics of it wasn 't significant . The Board needs to decide if the application meets the requirements of special approval . Attorney Barney — I think that was a question of whether it meets a variance requiring economic hardship being a basis . Economic hardship per se in not necessarily finite to granting special approval . Chairperson Sigel — We did get off on a rather long tangent during Mr. Levinsky' s appeal , but you ' re correct , it wasn 't really relevant to any of the criteria . We did talk , for quite some time about the rent that he receives and how much income the property was producing . To try and give you some perspective , if this was a different neighborhood , I don 't know that this Board would be granting any increase . We are taking into account the unique nature of this particular neighborhood and how it has changed , in potentially granting one extra individual . We don 't see any applications for special approval in other neighborhoods . In a neighborhood where there weren 't many or any other previous approvals granted we may not grant that at all . Granting one additional , I think , is a concession to the neighborhood in which it is located . Mr. Mazza — If you could just be more specific as to how you 've arrived at that number in relation to the Levinsky appeal , request for special approval and this one . How you 've arrived at six for that one and four for this one . Chairperson Sigel — As Mr. Barney stated , I don 't think we have to justify this in relation to a particular previous approval . 18 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Mazza — I ' m not asking you whether or not you have to , I ' m just asking you what your thoughts on it are and what the thinking on that is , how you 've arrived at it . Mr. Frost — The most number of people that Levisky had in a unit was four. The Levisky' s had a two family residence , and the most people he had in one unit was four. So a single family residence parallels four. Mr. Mazza — So he had four plus another one . Attorney Barney — He had two units . Mr. Mazza — And this one can only have four even though it' s got as many bedrooms? Chairperson Sigel — But it' s a single family house . Mr. Frost — And the problem is that , unfortunately , assessment has assessed this as a four bedroom . Mr. Mazza — Well , assessment makes a lot of mistakes . I don 't think it's fair to even put that into the record they might have not ever been in the house . Mr. Frost — In my travels as a building inspector usually the bedrooms are based on legal spaces . Chairperson Sigel — The number of bedrooms on the assessment is not entering into my decision . I ' m looking at the lot size , the fact that it's a one unit house and just the general layout of the lot , how much parking appears to be conveniently accessible without creating parking all the way across the house . The size of the lot is not much more than minimum size and I think allowing one additional is reasonable . One additional to four from the three that are allowed by right . Mr. Ellsworth — Mr. Mazza , I ' m also looking at requirements for a special approval and a couple of these . A couple of these are leading me to believe that I should not vote for this . The health , we 've heard from testimony from neighbors in the area that the special approval shall determine that " the health , safety, morals and general welfare of the community of this ordinance shall be promoted . " It seems like with what's happening up there , that that' s not the way things are moving . That the premises are reasonably adapted to the proposed use , not like Levinsky, he had a two family home and it will fill a neighborhood or community need by this special approval of this appeal . Mr. Frost — I think the other thing to consider was that Levisky' s was a two family so say they had two non -traditional families in the building , that would be six people . Three people on each side is a non - tradition family. So you would have six in the house as non -traditional families , in a two family home and I think that's also a significant difference . Mr. Mazza — I don 't know if that would have to meet the building codes to put three people in a two bedroom . Chairperson Sigel — For two family, you can 't have a boarder? So it' s just two and two . 19 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 179 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Mazza- Mr. Ellsworth talked about whether there ' s a need for this . I read your motion in Levisky , you said you 've been though the neighborhood , it ' s mostly college students in walking distance to Ithaca College and the proposed use is "not" detrimental to the general amenity of the neighborhood character. When I look at the other ones that were approved , even though there was other land associated with it , it doesn 't change what these folks are experiencing . Whether there's six college students living there and there is some extra land , they' re still going to do the things that these folks say is wrong . They' re still going to have the parties , whether they' re in that house or this house . Mr. Ellsworth — I agree with you , but you ' re asking for two more to be able to do it than four. Chairperson Sigel — In that case , we made the determination that it was better to have the six people in one house and have more open space in the community than to have three and three . It was possible for Mr. laccovelli to build another house . Mr. Mazza — I understand . I was referring to what Mr. Ellsworth was saying about the experience that these folks have , about the students having parties and being loud . Chairperson Sigel — I realize that , but in a case where someone has the right to do something and they' re offering a benefit to the community in exchange for a benefit to themselves , then we weight that and in that case we granted it . Mr. Mazza — Then I ask you , what was that benefit in the Levisky deal , the Levisky special approval . What was the benefit? Chairperson Sigel — I ' m not sure . Any further comments or questions ? Maybe we can take a straw count . Mr. Ellsworth — For how many? Chairperson Sigel — If you were going to vote in favor of the appeal for any of the additional numbers . Mr. Krantz — Four. Mr. Ellsworth — Four unrelated . Mr. Krantz — I ' d like to make a little further comment here too . It's always a hard time trying to draw a line between which is good and which is not good . Such is the matter with this property versus the Levisky property. The have a 20% larger lot , they have a two family home instead of one family , they have six parking spots instead of four, they have two neighbors that support them instead of two neighbors who oppose them . Mr. Mazza — I served on a Planning Board for almost 10 years , so I understand those considerations . How big was the Levisky house , how many square feet was it? Do you know? Mr. Ellsworth — I don 't know . 20 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 173 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Mazza - This house may be bigger. I think you ' re doing something unfair to the Steele 's . Mr. Ellsworth - I guess that maybe those are points you should have brought with you . Mr. Mazza — I don 't have access to that . Mr. Ellsworth -The Tompkins County Assessment has all that information because I had to get it for my house . Mr. Mazza — Believe me , I have many properties in the City and they aren 't right with all of those things by any means . Mr. Ellsworth — Well , I think you ' re doing a good job trying to protect Mr. Steele . Mr. Mazza — Mr. Steele seems to think that his house is bigger than Mr. Levninsky' s . Mr. Steele — I know it is . Mr. Mazza — Mr. Steele has very large bedrooms . Chairperson Sigel — Mr. Barney, what do you have to say about this ? Attorney Barney — It' s really up to the board . Two can be considered a non traditional family and they are allowed a boarder. Chairperson Sigel — I agree that it doesn 't make sense to say that four is okay . Mr. Frost — It sounds to me like you guys are trying to be nice a little by giving them more than is allowed . Mr. Ellsworth — Well , it's a tough call , but 1 agree all the circumstances are different . We have people who came out to speak against this , which we didn 't have with the Levinsky' s . Attorney Barney — The fact that people are opposed or in favor of it is not a legal reason . Mr. Ellsworth — Well , there' s technical language and then there ' s the reality of life . We are supposed to be a board that is here listening to the citizens . Attorney Barney — ( Inaudible ) Mr. Ellsworth — So , what you ' re saying John is that the laccovelli 's were right when they said that their neighbors told them that it doesn 't pay to come here because we don 't listen anyway. Attorney Barney — That's not true at all . They are free to express their views and their opinions and you are free to adopt or not adopt them . All I ' m saying is that this is not a public vote where the number of people here on one side or the other will determine the outcome of the situation . You ' re the 21 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED ones that have the responsibility to make the decisions . Certainly people can enlighten you as to what they think you ought to do . ( inaudible ) Mr. Mazza — If you look at Levisky, as I understand it , was occupying his house illegally before he came in . That's what brought him in isn 't that right . Mr. Frost — That is correct . Mr. Mazza — So he was doing it illegally and he got the benefit . Now you ' re saying because Mr. Steele didn 't move out and rent it to these students that he could be punished because of that . I don 't think that should be a factor at all . He 's trying to occupy it legally and he' s trapped in this big house . Mr. Frost — Well , apparently in 1985 it was occupied illegally. Mr. Mazza — Once he realized that , he has been occupying it legally for the past 17 years . Inaudible (Attorney Barney) Chairperson Sigel — Mr. Barney is suggesting that , in this case , we either approve or deny your request . Not approve it part way . Mr. Mazza — He may have to call his wife because his wife is part owner of this property. Mr. Barney — We could take a break and let Six Mile Creek go ahead because this is going to be running late . Mr. Ellsworth — Is this something that you ' d consider doing ? APPEAL of Nancy Battistella , dba Six Mile Creek Winery , Appellant , requesting a variance from Section 4 . 01 - 1 of the Town of Ithaca Sign Law , to be permitted to place a 55 square foot wall sign on the east side of the winery's barn , located at 1551 Slaterville Road , Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 56-2- 1 . 1 , Residence District R- 15 . Mr. Frost — The Battistella' s are not here tonight , they have a representative here for them . Paul King , 779 Ringwood Rd — She basically wanted me to cover two points regarding the sign . The first point is the fact that it is going to just be lettering up on the side of the barn so there won 't be any backboard . She ' s requesting the variance because it' s hard to see the existing sign . The feeling is that the sign would allow people to see the establishment earlier and negotiate the turn into the winery more safely . Another point that she wanted me to make is that up to 90% of the sales are direct sales at the winery . So that if more people see the sign , she will have more business . She notes that she has seen similar signs in the Sonoma region in California and they were tastefully done and she feels that she can do that here as well . I should also mention that Craig Christopher from Cayuga Signs is here and he has brought some of the lettering we would be using . 22 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Craig Christopher — The letters here are plastic letters . These are 18 inches high upper and lower case , the letters "e" and 'Y' would be 12 inches high . It 's going up on the second story and where "winery" is , this is a nine inch letter, the "winery" would be ten inch letters . Unfortunately, I don 't have an example of the color. The color would be about the same color as the wall , ivory . We have tab mounts on the back of the letters and we would glue these right onto the building . Since the barn has a rough texture , there will be no problem holding it on . Right now the Ithaca Youth Bureau has the same letters . The nice part about this is that being plastic , they don 't ever have to be painted and they should last forever. Any questions? Mr. Ellsworth — So there will be no backboard framing this out , just the letters ? Mr. Christopher — The letters are just mounted right on the building . Mr. Ellsworth — So your capital letters are the size of the . . . . . Mr. Christopher — The lower case letter is about 12 inches and this is a 10. inch letter. Unfortunately , I didn 't have . . . Mr. Ellsworth — So 18 inches is the capital letter? Mr. Christopher — Yes . Mr. Ellsworth — Which side ? So it' s the side facing Slaterville ? Mr. Christopher — Yes . We drove up by there to see how far you could see the current sign . All you can see is the barn and people don 't realize what it is until they' re right on top of it . These letters on the side of the barn would be easier to read . Chairperson Sigel — Do you know how large the sign by the road is? Mr. Christopher — No , I don 't . Mr. Krantz — I ' d like to add another point . The Town of Ithaca , in all it 's wisdom , has decreed that the Six Mile Creek Winery is one of the 20 farm families in our town . I ' d like to add that I ' m another one . So there are only 18 others . Chairperson Sigel — You ' re a farm family Ron ? Mr. Krantz — A lot of our land is farm and this is now actually a farm . These poor farmers aren 't able to sell their damn land to anybody , but we ' re supposed to give them some tradeoffs , like they can have farm stands , they can sell produce and they can have signs . And this is some of the ordinances that are going through and have gone through in the Town of Ithaca . If that sounds like I ' m angry , I sure am ! 23 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr. Ellsworth — When you have these letters positioned what area are they going to frame . Chairperson Sigel — Less than 55 square feet . The Planning Board already ruled that . I approached the winery from the east , which is the direction that the sign will face and I saw the sign , there is a nice blue informational sign on the highway for Six Mile Creek Winery . Which is , I think , an appropriate distance up the road to warn you . Then I found that I couldn 't see the side of the barn at all because of the tree obstruction until I was very close to the driveway . If the first sign I saw, if I had not seen the blue informational sign , I would actually consider that to be a danger because at that point , it' s too late to stop . You can 't see the side of that barn from well up Rte . 79 . There's a huge tree . Maybe in the winter you can see it sort of through the branches , but in the summer you can 't see it at all . In fact , you can read the sign that's already out front pretty well at the point where you can see the side of the barn . Mr. King — Maybe being able to see the sign in the winter time will help because that' s their slowest time . Chairperson Sigel — I agree with the spirit of Ron ' s statements , but I feel that this is quite a substantial variance because there is only four square feet allowed in this district for a sign . Particularly given the fact that it 's really not that visible in the summer months , at least . I feel it' s a pretty substantial variance for a sign for what I thought was going to be a somewhat ineffective and possibly you could argue detrimental sign . Someone sort of driving along at 50 mph , looking for the vineyard and suddenly they see that sign on the side of the barn and they try and turn in and at that point , that's too late . Once you 've cleared that tree and you see that , that ' s too late to have decided that you need to turn . If you missed the informational sign back up the road and you don 't really know what you ' re looking for, then you really need to turn around down the road and come back . I think that having the sign that you have out front , the free standing sign is large enough for the people to see as they go by and see that there is a winery there . Maybe that sign could be re-designed somewhat to be a little clearer. I do agree that ' s a little , it' s an attractive sign , but it is somewhat muted . This is quite a large variance . Mr. Krantz — Although it breaks my heart , I see the sense in what you ' re saying . I do wonder if as a farm they are allowed exemptions . Attorney Barney — That ' s maybe in an agricultural district . This isn 't an agricultural district . Chairperson Sigel — I ' m not opposed to trying to accommodate a sign for them . I just feel that this is kind of large and ineffective . Mr. Ellsworth — I 've got kind of mixed emotions . If the Board were to approve this , I think we ' d have to say special circumstances , it 's on a state highway . Chairperson Sigel — For me , I think if you could see it quite a ways up the highway and you could really feel confident that it was going to be a significant improvement for safety . If most people could 24 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 173 2002 MINUTES APPROVED see it well in advance and know to turn if they wanted to , I may be more inclined , but since you can 't . Really , I was very close to the driveway before I could see the barn at all . Mr. King _ I ' m not sure about the sign . You said that from the east you can see an additional sign . I haven 't driven by to the extent that I know what that distance is . Chairperson Sigel — I don 't know the distance . I know that , at least in my mind , as I was driving , it was significantly before I got to the point where I could see the barn . I saw the blue sign and then I was looking for at least a few seconds for the winery to approach and then I noticed the winery, the sign that's out front . Then it actually took a second drive by for me to actually then see the barn . At 50 mph it wasn 't a safe stopping distance . Mr. King — I ' m thinking that if there' s enough distance from the initial sign indicating that there is a winery and it' s something that people are interested in , then that may be enough for people to be slowing down significantly to then have any sign that may be on the side of the barn catch someone 's attention as opposed to the tiny sign . The sign that' s out front is a very artistic sign , but it just seems to me that a structure sign along the side of the barn would be visible somewhat earlier than the sign out front and if you ' re looking for it , if you 've already been warned , these letters would stand out more quickly . Chairperson Sigel — I do agree , if you could see the side of the barn from further down the road , it would be more prominent and clearer than the sign out front. But you can 't see it further down the road because of the tree . The sign by the road is much closer to the road than the barn is . So you can see that sign from well down the road , you may not be able to read it but you can see the sign . They've got a situation where you can see the sign that you can 't read and you can 't see a sign that you can read on the barn . Not being able to see a sign that you can read doesn 't do you any good . Obviously, your goal is to make the winery more visible . I can 't speak for the other Board members , but I would encourage you to , I definitely would not encourage you to chop down the tree . I would encourage you to maybe visit other ways to maybe improve the sign by the road . Mr. Ellsworth - I guess I haven 't seen what Kirk saw and I live in the neighborhood , two blocks away . Can the sign up the road be larger and still be within our regulations . Chairperson Sigel — The regulation 's only four feet . Mr. King — Another thing is that the winter time is the slower time and the leaves are off the tree . I know what you ' re saying . I went up there too and saw the tree . Chairperson Sigel — There ' s a big tree right by the road . I believe it' s a maple . I has fairly dense branches . Without actually seeing it defoliated , which I 'm not encouraging either, I don 't know how visible it would be . Personally , I would rather see you try to re-work the sign by the road and make that more visible since it is visible further up the road . Possibly , even making it slightly larger. I ' m not necessarily against granting some increase in the square footage for a sign , but such a large amount for what I see as a fairly ineffective sign , I have a hard time setting that precedent for what appears to be little 25 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED gain . It may just end up being the sign that you notice as you ' re whizzing by . It seems that the other Board members feel the same as I do . I think that rather than deny them , should we give them the opportunity to withdraw the application ? You could if you want , just withdraw your application rather than us denying the application . Mr. King — I ' m not familiar with this . What would the difference be ? Attorney Barney — The advantage of withdrawing is without prejudice . If you ' re denied , you could always come back with another application , but we will know that one was denied . Chairperson Sigel — If you do feel strongly about it and you need some more clear signage , we would encourage you to come back , if necessary to request something by the road . Mr. King — Okay than we ' ll withdraw the application and see what Nancy wants to do . Thank you . Chairperson Sigel — Then we' ll resume that appeal of Mr. Steele . Have you come to any decisions ? Mr. Mazza — I have talked with Mr. Steele and he feels that he is boxed into a corner. Mr. Ellsworth — Did you call his partner? Mr. Mazza — His partner? Mr. Ellsworth — Well , you said that his wife was part owner and he had to consult with her. Mr. Mazza — No , he didn 't . He feels that he has got one child living with him now , the rest of the house is too big for them , they can 't sell a five bedroom to a single family, they can 't afford to have less than six people renting it, so what's he supposed to do ? He feels like he has been boxed into a corner. It has five bedrooms , so if he only rents it to four people , he will have to close off a bedroom . Chairperson Sigel — No , that' s not true at all . Mr. Mazza — If you 've ever rented to students before , if there 's five bedrooms there' ll be someone living there . Chairperson Sigel — Well , that ' s an enfourcement issue for the Town . Mr. Mazza — So it' s pointless for him to try to comply with the Town because that' s what will happen if part of the house is left open . Chairperson Sigel — You could obviously make it a tv room or some kind of common room . Mr. Mazza — There ' s another room there that' s already used for that . Chairperson Sigel — Mike , any comments? 26 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 17 , 2002 MINUTES APPROVED Mr . Smith — Nothing that hasn 't already been discussed . Chairperson Sigel — I should have asked you that earlier. ZB RESOLUTION N0 . 2002 —038 — ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT- William Steele, 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No . 54. -4-40, Residence District 113-9 , June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Harry Ellsworth. RESOLVED, that this board makes a negative determination of environmental significance in the matter of William Steele, requesting a special permit under Article Ill, Section 4 (2b) of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be allowed to occupy a single-family residence with up to four unrelated people at 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 54. 4-40, Residence District R-9 for the reasons set forth in the environmental assessment form part 2 completed by Town Staff. The vote on the motion resulted as follows: AYES: Sigel, Ellsworth, Krantz NA YES: None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. ZB RESOLUTION NO . 2002 —039 — William Steele, 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 54 . -4-40 , Residence District R-9, June 17, 2002 . MOTION made by Kirk Sigel , seconded by Ronald Krantz. RESOLVED, that this board grants the appeal of William Steele, requesting a special permit under Article III , Section 4 (2b) of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be allowed to occupy a single-family residence with up to four unrelated people at 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 54 . 440 , Residence District R-9 based upon the following . FINDINGS . a . The requirements for a special approval have been satisfied . CONDITIONS : a . The property meet all NYS building codes . b. Adequate off-street parking be provided on the premises for four cars . The vote on the motion resulted as follows : 27 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS JUNE 177 2002 MINUTES APPROVED AYES : Sigel , Ellsworth , Krantz NAYS : None The motion was declared to be carried unanimously. Mr. Mazza — On one somewhat unrelated matter, could I ask John that the grant of restrictive covenant that I sent you on the Jim laccovelli application in January , if I could have a response to that . I 've got egg on my face with my client now . Attorney Barney —Well , I think that you ' ve fought very well . Mr. Mazza — I have . Trust me I have . I 've held nothing back . I just want to get it wrapped up . Attorney Barney — Yes , I agree . Mr. Mazza — And I sent over the other one . Attorney Barney — Yes . We ' ll take care of it. Mr. Mazza — Thank you . Chairperson Sigel — Good night . Any other official business? Chairperson Sigel adjourned the meeting at 9 : 20 p . m . Kirk Sigel , Chairp rson cA9 'k Lori Quigley, Dep6tydtown Clerk 28 TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS MONDAY, JUNE l7, 2002 7 : 00 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, June 17, 2002, in Town Nall, 215 North Tioga Street, Tioga Street Entrance, Ithaca, NY, COMMENCING AT 7 :00 P.M . , on the following matters : APPEAL of Ithaca College, Appellant, David Harding, QPK Design, Agent, requesting special approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article IV, Section 11 .3b and Article XIII, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct a roadway and deposit fill material on the Ithaca College Campus, 953 Danby Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 41 - 1 -25 , -26, -30.2, and 424 - 13 .2, Residence District R- 15 . APPEAL of Cornell University, Appellant, Laurene Gilbert, ASLA, Agent, requesting a special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 .3b, and Article XIII, Section 70 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be permitted to construct 2 athletic fields, including the movement of 7,500 ± cubic yards of fill material near the Cornell Reis Tennis Center and Equestrian Center, at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 60- 1 -5 , -8.2 , -9. 1 , -9.2, and - 18, Residence District R-30. APPEAL of Cornell University, Appellant, Brenda Cartland, Agent, requesting an approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals under Article V, Section 18 of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, in order to modify existing parking lots at the Reis Tennis and Oxley Equestrian Centers, located at 220-230 Pine Tree Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcels No. 60- 1 -8.2 and 9. 1 , Residence District R-30. Said modifications include the reduction in the required 180 square foot parking space size (as defined by Article 1, Section 1 .27 of the Zoning Ordinance) to areas of 136 and 153 square feet. A variance from Article 1, Section 1 .27 is also requested. APPEAL of William Steele, Appellant, Edward Mazza, Esquire, Agent, requesting a special permit under Article 111, Section 4 (2b) of the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, to be allowed to occupy a single-family residence with up to 6 unrelated people at 121 Kendall Avenue, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 54440, Residence District R-9. APPEAL of Nancy Battistella, dba Six Mile Creek Winery, Appellant, requesting a variance from Section 4 .01 - 1 of the Town of Ithaca Sign Law, to be permitted to place a 55 square foot wall sign on the east side of the winery 's barn, located at 1551 Slaterville Road, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 56-2- 1 . 1 , Residence District R- 151 Said Zoning Board of Appeals will at said time, 7 :00 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 : June 7, 2002 Published : June 10, 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 Monday, June 17, 2002, commencing at 7 : 00 P. M ., as per attached. Location of sign board used for posting: Town Clerk Sign Board — 215 North Tioga Street. Date of posting: June 7, 2002 Date of publication: June 10, 2002 0 (� Dani L. Holford, Building and Zoning Depa ent Secretary, Town of Ithaca STATE OF NEW YORK ) SS. : COUNTY OF TOMPKINS ) Sworn to and subscribed before me this 7th day of June 2002. 1 Notary Public CARRIE WHITMORE Notary Public, State of New York No • 01WH6052877 / � � Tioga County Commission Expires December 28,