HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-25-PH 1
1 PUBLIC HEARING
2
3 TOWN OF ULYSSES
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5
6 REGARDING LOCAL LAW TO OVERRIDE THE TAX LEVY LIMIT
7 ESTABLISHED IN GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW SECTION 3 - C
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9 HELD ON SEPTEMBER 25 , 2013 AT 6 : 45 PM
10 HELD AT ULYSSES HISTORICAL SOCIETY
11 39 SOUTH STREET , TRUMANSBURG , NEW YORK 14886
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14 APPEARANCES :
15 ELIZABETH THOMAS , Supervisor
16 MARSHA GEORGIA , Town Clerk
17 KEVIN ROMER , Board Member
18 DAVID KERNESS , Board Member
19 LUCIA TYLER , Board Member
20 NANCY ZAHLER , Board Member
21 MARIETTE GELDENHUYS , ESQ . , Town Attorney
22
23 HEARING REPORTER : SHAUNA M . POTTER
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1 MS . THOMAS : I ' m going to open the
2 public hearing for the local law override
3 to the tax levy limit established in
4 General Municipal Law . There are some
5 copies of this at the back . So I ' m just
6 going to say some opening remarks here .
7 Oh , let ' s see . I guess I actually have to
8 have a motion to open the public hearing .
9 MS . ZAHLER : So moved .
10 MS . THOMAS : A second ?
11 MR . KERNESS : Second .
12 MS . THOMAS : All in favor ?
13 MR . ROMER : Aye .
14 MS . ZAHLER : Aye .
15 MS . THOMAS : So welcome , everyone .
16 My name is Elizabeth Thomas and I am the
17 Supervisor of the Town of Ulysses , and I am
18 conducting tonight ' s public hearing on
19 behalf of the Town Board of the Town of
20 Ulysses . Before we begin , I ' d like to
21 introduce the other members of the Board :
22 Nancy Zahler here , David Kerness , Kevin
23 Romer , and Lucia Tyler will be joining us
24 and our attorney Mariette Geldenhuys as
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1 well . We ' ll introduce Darby later . You
2 don ' t get to be part of the tax cap .
3 The subject of this public hearing is
4 the proposed local law to override the tax
5 levy limit established by General Municipal
6 Law . Copies of the draft of the local law
7 containing the amendment are available by
8 the door . The date of this public hearing
9 was set by resolution of the Town Board on
10 September 10 , 2013 , our last meeting , and
11 notice of this hearing was published in the
12 Ithaca Journal on September 13th , 2013 .
13 The Town Board of Ulysses intends to
14 stay beneath the tax levy limit and has
15 done so since the tax levy limit was put
16 into law . The Town Board will work over
17 multiple meetings in October to finalize
18 the 2014 budget . Only when this budget
19 work is complete will we know if our budget
20 exceeds the tax levy limit , and at this
21 point , there is not enough time to file a
22 local law to exceed the levy limit should
23 it be necessary . So that ' s why so many
' 24 municipalities have passed the override in
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1 advance of knowing the actual levy and tax
2 rate .
3 So the purpose of this public hearing
4 is to afford the general pub lic an
5 opportunity to make statements and comments
6 about this local law to allow for a smooth
7 and fair process and to ensure that
8 everyone who wants to speak can be heard .
9 This is not a question and answer session .
10 The hearing will remain open until
11 all members of the public who are present
12 at the hearing have been given an
13 opportunity to make statements or comments
14 on the proposed amendments . Sorry it was
15 on the proposed local law .
16 A stenographic transcript of this
17 hearing is being made . Comments presented
18 at this hearing will be taken into
19 consideration by the Town Board when it
20 considers action on the proposed law . The
21 Town Board may take action on this local
22 law tonight , and if not , on Tuesday ,
23 October 8th , 2013 at the Town Hall of the
24 Town of Ulysses . If any change to this
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1 schedule is needed , it will be discussed at
2 our further board meeting .
3 I request speakers sign in at the
4 sheet by the door and those wishing to
5 speak - - well , I ' m going say , ask to come
6 up to the board . What we really need is
7 for you to come up to this area - -
8 MS . GEORGIA : Or that area where the
9 stenographer is .
10 MS . THOMAS : Well , except we ' re
11 recording there .
12 MS . GEORGIA : So but that ' s more
13 important .
14 MS . THOMAS : If you can ' t hear , then
15 let us know . I can say probably if people
16 - - well , with this small crew , I guess I ' m
17 not too worried about it .
18 In order to allow everyone time to
19 speak , they ' ll be allotted three minutes to
20 make their comments . Speakers will be
21 given a signal when there is one minute of
22 their time that remains . I ask that each
23 speaker state your name and address . If
24 you are appearing as a representative of an
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1 organization or governmental entity , please
2 identify the organization or entity and
3 state its address . Okay .
4 Next I will address some
5 administrative matters by asking the
6 stenographer to mark the following
7 documents as exhibits to the hearing
8 transcript . This is the public - - the
9 Notice of Public Hearing and that appeared
10 in Ithaca Journal on September 13th , and
11 then we gave you the proposed Local Law .
12 ( EXHIBIT NUMBERS 1 & 2 WERE MARKED
13 FOR IDENTIFICATION . )
14 So now I ' d like to ask any speakers
15 to approach the Town Board that if you have
16 any statements to be made and please accept
17 the common rules of courtesy and public
18 decorum . Okay . Is there anyone that would
19 like to speak on the tax levy override ?
20 Popular subject . We ' ll leave it open for a
21 few minutes in case one of you changes your
22 mind . Board can decide - - if there or no
23 comments , then the Board can decide if we
24 - - at the end of the public hearing when we
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1 close it , if we want to , if we have time ,
2 we can actually adopt the local law
3 tonight . So be thinking of that , if you ' d
4 like to , we can get that out of the way .
5 MR . KERNESS : Can we do it now ?
6 MS . THOMAS : We ' d have to close the
7 public hearing and open a special town
8 board meeting .
9 MS . GEORGIA : Although I did not
10 advertise the special town board meeting .
11 I didn ' t know you intended to vote .
12 MS . THOMAS : It doesn ' t matter if we
13 do it on the 8th . How long does it take to
14 file though with the state ?
15 MS . GEORGIA : The final meeting , the
16 next morning . I think you ' ve got lots of
17 time .
18 MS . THOMAS : There is a deadline for
19 it ? Someways I ' d rather get this going
20 through the state pipeline . We can go
21 through the process . If Mariette finds the
22 process was flawed , we can do it again on
23 the 8th . How long do you want to leave
24 this open , other members , because we
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1 apparently don ' t have any comments . Is
2 there any comment on this ?
3 MS . ZAHLER : I guess I ' d only ask how
4 long does it take to drive from the town
5 hall here in case someone went to the other
6 location ?
7 MS . THOMAS : Minute maybe .
8 MR . KERNESS : Three minutes . He went
9 to the Town hall and he went to the
10 village .
11 MS . ZAHLER : He get ' s the
12 perseverance award .
13 MR . KERNESS : Seven o ' clock .
14 MS . THOMAS : We have to start the
15 other public hearing at seven .
16 MR . KERNESS : Let ' s do this one until
17 seven .
18 MS . THOMAS : And not pass the
19 override ? We can close the public hearing
20 now and then - -
21 MR . KERNESS : All right . Let ' s do
22 that . I ' m sorry .
23 MS . THOMAS : Okay . Do I have a
24 motion to close the public hearing ?
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1 MR . KERNESS : So move .
2 MS . THOMAS : Second ? I ' ll second .
3 All in favor ?
4 BOARD MEMBERS : Aye .
5 MS . THOMAS : Any objections or
6 abstentions ? So the public hearing is
7 closed .
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10 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
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12 I hereby certify that the proceedings and
13 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the
14 notes taken by me on the above cause and that this
15 is a correct copy of the same to the best of my
16 ability .
17
18 Shauna Potter
19
20 SHAUNA M . POTTER
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1 PUBLIC HEARING
2
3 TOWN OF ULYSSES
4
5 REGARDING LOCAL LAW TO AMEND THE
6 NONCONFORMING USE PROVISIONS OF THE ZONING LAW
7
8
9 HELD ON SEPTEMBER 25 , 2013 AT 7 : 00 PM
10 HELD AT ULYSSES HISTORICAL SOCIETY
11 39 SOUTH STREET , TRUMANSBURG , NEW YORK
J 12
13
14 APPEARANCES :
15 ELIZABETH THOMAS , Supervisor
16 MARSHA GEORGIA , Town Clerk
17 KEVIN ROMER , Board Member
18 DAVID KERNESS , Board Member
19 LUCIA TYLER , Board Member
20 NANCY ZAHLER , Board Member
21 MARIETTE GELDENHUYS , ESQ . , Town Attorney
22
23 HEARING REPORTER : SHAUNA M . POTTER
24
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1 MS . THOMAS : It ' s 7 o ' clock , and for
2 those of you who were already here for the
3 first public hearing , I ' m afraid you ' re
4 going to hear the repetition , but those of
5 you who have just joined us , I will say
6 that I ' m making a motion to open a second
7 public hearing of the evening , and my name
8 is Elizabeth Thomas . I ' m the Supervisor of
9 the Town of Ulysses and conducting
10 tonight ' s public hearing on behalf of the
11 Board of the Town of Ulysses .
12 Before we begin , I ' d like to
13 introduce the other members of the Board .
14 We do have everyone here now , Lucia Tyler ,
15 Nancy Zahler , David Kerness , Kevin Romer ,
16 Marsha Georgia , our clerk , Darby Kiley , our
17 planner . So the subject of this public
18 hearing is proposed local law to amend the
19 nonconforming use provisions of the Town of
20 Ulysses Zoning Law . Copies of the draft
21 local law containing the amendments are
22 available by the door . The date of this
23 public hearing was set by resolution of the
24 Town Board on September 10th , 2013 and
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1 notice of this hearing was published in the
2 Ithaca Journal on September 10 , 2013 .
3 So now Darby Kiley , our Planner for
4 the Town of Ulysses , is going to briefly
5 summarize the proposed zoning law
6 amendment .
7 MS . KILEY : Right . Town of Ulysses
8 Zoning Law includes Article 20
9 nonconformance , and we ' ve run into some
10 confusion over the years with the language
11 that ' s in the existing local law . So we ' ve
12 proposed a new section that will take out
13 all of Article 20 and replace it with
14 what ' s in the proposed local law . So there
15 are copies of it on the back if you would
16 like to see the exact language . We ' ve done
17 two public information meetings on this
18 already . So I ' m just going to briefly
19 touch on each of the sections addressed .
20 Section 20 . 1 covers nonconforming
21 buildings or structures , and that ' s where
22 the structure is built prior to zoning or
23 in a prior zoning that now would not be
24 allowed to be built because of the lot
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1 dimensions or other lot requirements . Then
2 there are some provisions associated with
3 that with whether or not it can be enlarged
4 or what kind of maintenance can be done ,
5 what happens if there are - - if it ' s either
6 destroyed by natural causes or voluntarily
7 demolished .
8 Section 20 . 2 addresses nonconforming
9 uses of land and nonconformi ng uses of
10 building and structures so that ' s where the
11 use or occupancy , whether commercial or
12 residential , is not allowed under the
13 current zoning or if it was a previous use
14 that is no longer included in that district
15 of the zoning law and then there are a
16 number of provisions associated with that
17 about enlargements and also destruction of
18 the facilities . So that goes into details
19 on the uses .
20 Section 20 . 3 talks about dwellings on
21 nonconforming lots . So there are many lots
22 that have existed prior to zoning or zoning
23 has changed and now requires a larger size
24 lot than the house is currently on . So it
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1 says the house can be added on to , but it
2 just can ' t enlarge - - it just can ' t violate
3 the nonconformance . So you just can ' t add
4 on where there already is a nonconformity
5 on the lot .
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6 Section 20 . 4 just talks about the
7 continuance of construction . If you
8 already have a building permit and started
9 building the building , and the zoning
10 changes , you are allowed to continue to
11 build that structure .
12 20 . 5 addresses restoration which is
13 referenced earlier in the section . And so
14 this goes into the details of being able to
15 rebuild if the structure is destroyed by
16 natural causes or voluntary demolition , and
17 that it needs to be in a same footprint and
18 same height prior , as it was prior to the
19 destruction and needs to be completed in
20 two years and used in the same way it was
21 prior to the loss . Then there are time
22 limits set there . We increased that . We
23 had a two year time limit in the previous
24 section , and then it just talked about we
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1 need to ask for an extension prior to the
2 expiration of that two year period .
3 And then 20 . 6 and 20 . 7 both talk
4 about how any decision can be appealed
5 through the board of zoning appeals and the
6 criteria that they would use for making
7 their determination . That ' s it .
8 MS . THOMAS : Okay . The purpose of
9 this hearing is to afford the general
10 public an opportunity to make statements
11 and comments about the proposed amendments
12 to Town of Ulysses Zoning Law . So to allow
13 for a smooth and fair process , and to
14 ensure everyone who wants to speak can be
15 heard , this will not be a question and
16 answer session . At two previous Town Board
17 meetings there were presentations about the
18 proposed amendments to the Zoning Law by
19 our planner and opportunities for the
20 public to ask questions .
21 So the hearing will remain open until
22 all members of the public who are present
23 at the hearing are given an opportunity to
24 make statements or comments on the proposed
0
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1 amendments .
2 A stenographic transcript of this
3 hearing is being made . Comments presented
4 at the hearing will be taken into
5 consideration by the Town Board when it
6 considers action on the proposed law . The
7 Town Board is currently scheduled to take
8 action on this proposal on Tuesday , October
9 8th at the Town Hall , Town of Ulysses . If
10 any change to the schedule is needed , it
11 will be discussed at another board meeting
12 after that date .
13 Written comments can with submitted .
14 Written comments submitted prior to the
15 public hearing will be considered by the
16 Town Board , and the Town Board will also
17 accept and consider additional written
18 comments received at the Town Clerk ' s
19 Office , Ulysses Town Hall , 10 Elm Street ,
20 Trumansburg , New York 14886 no later than 5
21 p . m . on Tuesday October 1st , 2013 .
22 So I request that speakers , if you
23 haven ' t already signed in at the door ,
24 please do . Those wishing to speak are
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1 asked to approach . Our recorder is over
2 here so if you can be somewhere near that
3 tape recorder , that would be great . In
4 order to give everyone an ample opportunity
5 to speak , each speaker will be allotted
6 three minutes to make their comments .
7 Speakers will be given a signal when one
8 minute of their time remains . In order to
9 ensure an accurate transcript , and to
10 enable all assembled to hear your remarks ,
11 I ask each speaker state your name , address
12 and if you are representing an organization
13 or governmental entity , please identify
14 that organization or entity , and state its
15 address .
16 Next I will address some
17 administrative matters by asking the
18 stenographer to mark the following
19 documents as exhibits to the hearing
20 transcript . This is the public notice that
21 appears in the Ithaca Journal - - that
22 appeared in the Ithaca Journal on September
23 13th , and the proposed Local Law . Will you
24 pass that down to the stenographer ? That
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1 would be great .
2 ( EXHIBIT NUMBERS 1 & 2 WERE MARKED
3 FOR IDENTIFICATION . )
4 So now I ' d like to invite speakers to
5 approach the table one at time , and in
6 making your comments , please observe the
7 common accepted rules of public decorum and
8 respect the rights of others who remain
9 different in viewpoints . So would someone
10 like to come and speak ? Anyone ?
11 MR . SMITH : All right . My name is
12 Don Smith . I live at 1329 Taughannock
13 Boulevard . I ' d like to thank the Board for
14 the development . I perceive it to be
15 improved law . I was also pleased to note ,
16 I reviewed , took a chance to review some of
17 the surrounding communities on
18 nonconformance law . I see this is more
19 protective of our property rights . I
20 appreciate it . Thank you .
21 MS . THOMAS : Anyone else ? Is it
22 proper protocol to wait and see if anyone
23 else decides to speak ?
24 MS . GELDENHUYS : Leave it open for
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1 four , five minutes or so .
2 MS . THOMAS : This is the awkward
3 time , waiting to see if something happens .
4 Anyone changes their mind and wants to
5 speak , feel free to get up and do what you
6 wish .
7 ( OFF - THE - RECORD DISCUSSION )
8 MR . ROMER : I make a motion to close
9 the meeting .
10 MS . THOMAS : Can you repeat that so
11 everyone can hear ?
12 MR . ROMER : I say since we ' ve waited
13 15 minutes with one comment , I make a
14 motion we close the meeting .
15 MR . KERNESS : Second that .
16 MS . THOMAS : So there ' s been a motion
17 to close the public hearing and a second .
18 All those in favor ?
19 BOARD MEMBERS : Aye .
20 MS . THOMAS : Any objections or
21 abstentions ? So the public hearing is now
22 closed . It is 7 : 15 .
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1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
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3 I hereby certify that the proceedings and
4 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the
5 notes taken by me on the above cause and that this
6 is a correct copy of the same to the best of my
7 ability .
8
9 Shauna Potter
10
11 SHAUNA M . POTTER
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