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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018_0423_Planning Board Minutes1 Village of Cayuga Heights Planning Board Meeting #78 Monday, April 23, 2018 Marcham Hall – 7:00 pm Minutes Present: Planning Board Members Chair F. Cowett, G. Gillespie, J. Leijonhufvud, R. Segelken Code Enforcement Officer B. Cross, Attorney R. Marcus, Clerk J. Walker, Deputy Clerk T. Johnson, Trustee M. McMurry, Alternate E. Quaroni E. Lindys, Alléchant Restaurant Members of the Public Item 1 – Meeting called to order • Chair F. Cowett opened the meeting at 7:03 pm. • Chair F. Cowett appointed Alternate E. Quaroni a full voting member of the Board for the meeting. Item 2 – March 26, 2018 Minutes • The Board reviewed the minutes of the March 26, 2018 meeting. Motion: R. Segelken Second: J. Leijonhufvud RESOLUTION No. 249 APPROVING MINUTES OF MARH 26, 2018 RESOLVED, that the written, reviewed and revised minutes of the March 26, 2018 meeting are hereby approved. Aye votes – Chair F. Cowett, G. Gillespie, E. Quaroni, R. Segelken Abstained -- J. Leijonhufvud Opposed – None Item 3 – Public Comment • No members of the public wished to comment. 2 Item 4 – Special Use Permit – Alléchant Restaurant/Corners Community Shopping Center • Chair F. Cowett stated that, at its March 26, 2018 meeting, the Planning Board accepted for special permit review the proposed Alléchant Restaurant in the space formerly occupied by JJ’s Café, Corners Community Shopping Center; at its March 26, 2018 meeting, the Board scheduled a public hearing for its April 23, 2018 meeting. • The public hearing commenced at 7:05 pm. • No members of the public wished to speak. • Deputy Clerk T. Johnson informed the Board that 16 notices of the public hearing were mailed to nearby property owners and 15 notices of certified delivery were received by the Village. Motion: E. Quaroni Second: R. Segelken RESOLUTION No. 250 TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING RESOLVED, that the public hearing regarding special use permit review for the proposed Alléchant Restaurant at Corners Community Shopping Center be closed. Aye votes – Chair F. Cowett, G. Gillespie, J. Leijonhufvud, E. Quaroni, R. Segelken Opposed – None • The public hearing was closed at 7:08 pm. • R. Segelken asked the applicant about the location of a shopping center bike rack. • E. Lindys replied that she had asked shopping center owner T. Ciaschi to move the bike rack closer to the entry of the restaurant and that T. Ciaschi had agreed to do so. • The Board discussed the project in relation to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) which it had categorized as an Unlisted SEQRA action. • The Board reviewed the applicant’s responses to the questions in Part 1 of the SEQRA short form. 3 4 5 • The Board accepted the applicant’s responses to the questions in Part 1 of the SEQRA short form. • The Board reviewed Parts II and III of the SEQRA short form. 6 7 8 Motion: G. Gillespie Second: J. Leijonhufvud RESOLUTION No. 251 TO DETERMINE PROPOSED ACTION WILL NOT RESULT IN AN ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT RESOLVED, that the Village of Cayuga Heights Planning Board has determined that the proposed Alléchant Restaurant at Corners Community Shopping Center will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts. Aye votes – Chair F. Cowett, G. Gillespie, J. Leijonhufvud, E. Quaroni, R. Segelken Opposed – None • The Board discussed § 19.3.C of the Village’s Zoning Law, “Factors to be considered by the Planning Board in reviewing special use permit applications,” and made the following findings: o Location and site of the use: The site is located at 903 Hanshaw Road in the Corners Community shopping center in the Village’s Commercial zoning district. The shopping center is approximately one mile north of the Cornell University, one tenth of a mile west of the Town of Ithaca, and six tenths of a mile south of the Village of Lansing. Per Tompkins County, current property class is commercial and its description is neighborhood shopping center. o Nature and intensity of the use: The proposed use is the Alléchant Restaurant which replaces JJ’s Café. The applicant estimates thirty to thirty-six seats and seasonal outdoor seating with five to seven employees. Operating hours will likely be 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The applicant estimates thirty-six to fifty- six customers per day, and the restaurant will be open weekends. The applicant states that truck deliveries will occur at similar frequencies and sizes to JJ's Cafe. o Location of the site in respect to road access: The shopping center is bounded by Hanshaw Road to the north, East Upland Road to the west, and Pleasant Grove Road to the east. Adjacent intersections are Hanshaw/North Triphammer/East Upland Roads and Hanshaw/Pleasant Grove Roads. Access to these roads consists of three driveways on East Upland Road, one driveway on Hanshaw Road, and one 9 driveway on Pleasant Grove Road. The proposed use does not require physical changes to road access or driveways. o Provisions for parking: § 12.3.F.4.b of the Village’s Zoning Law requires that, in the Commercial zoning district, for places of public assembly such as a theater, church, or restaurant, one off-street parking space be provided for every three seats. There are currently thirty-four seats associated with the current use. The applicant estimates thirty to thirty-six seats and seasonal outdoor seating. Because the number of seats associated with Alléchant Restaurant will be approximately the same as the number of seats associated with JJ’s Café, both parking demand and the number of parking spaces required to be provided will be roughly the same as with JJ’s Café. Parking demand is greatest in that part of the shopping center weekdays between 12 noon and 2:00 pm when all spaces are sometimes filled. However, additional parking is available elsewhere in the shopping center and the medical office building site plan review resulted in provision of offsite overflow parking if needed. Therefore, provisions for parking look to be adequate. o Traffic and noise generated by the proposed use: The proposed use’s location in the shopping center faces Hanshaw Road. Adjacent uses are commercial. Hours of operation will be 8:00 am to 4:00 pm seven days per week and outdoor music will not be played. Given these factors, any noise generated by the proposed use will be minimal and unlikely to be a concern. With respect to traffic, given that the number of seats associated with the restaurant will be approximately the same as the number of seats associated with JJ’s Café, it is unlikely that the proposed use will generate a meaningful increase in vehicular traffic either within or external to the shopping center. o Impact of the proposed use on adjacent land uses: Per Tompkins County, current property class is commercial and, per § 7.3.H of the Village’s Zoning Law, a restaurant, deli, sandwich shop or coffee shop is a permitted commercial use in the Village’s Commercial zoning district subject to special use permit approval by the Village’s Planning Board. There are several nearby residential properties including single family homes along East Upland Road and Carriage House Apartments to the south of the shopping center. The proposed new use’s hours of operation and its location facing Hanshaw Road are unlikely to create noise or privacy conflicts with these residential properties. o Impact of the proposed use on the environment: 10 The Planning Board categorized the proposed use as an Unlisted Action under SEQRA, conducted a SEQRA review, and has made a negative declaration of adverse environmental impact and found compliance with SEQRA for the proposed use. o Impact of the proposed use on infrastructure and existing Village services, including sewer, water, stormwater management, solid waste disposal, fire protection, police protection, and road maintenance: The proposed use will connect to public potable water and public wastewater treatment facilities, but its utilization of these facilities will not significantly impact them. o Any other factors reasonably related to the health, safety, and general welfare of Village residents and consistent with the Village’s current Comprehensive Plan: On January 13, 2014, the Village’s Board of Trustees adopted the Village's current Comprehensive Plan which stated as an objective the re-invigoration of the Community Corners area as the Village’s economic and social hub and included as a recommendation the provision of everyday neighborhood retail services in the Community Corners area. The proposed use is consistent with both this objective and recommendation. • R. Segelken asked the applicant if she is satisfied with the shopping center’s provision for dumpsters and trash. • E. Lindys replied that the dumpsters could be closer to the restaurant, but that the provisions for trash seem adequate. • R. Segelken asked about the timing and location of deliveries. • E. Lindys replied that deliveries will be in the morning when the parking lot in front of the restaurant is not busy. • Code Enforcement Officer B. Cross stated that delivery access is also available via a back door in the rear of the building and the parking area adjacent to it. • J. Leijonhufvud asked about the 4:00 pm closing time and whether the applicant had any future plans to serve dinner. • E. Lindys replied that she has no current plans to provide dinner service, but that might be a possibility in the future. • Attorney R. Marcus informed the applicant that, should she want to provide dinner service, she would need to seek from the Planning Board an amendment to the special use permit which would require a public hearing. • E. Quaroni asked the applicant about restaurant operations between 3:00 and 4:00 pm. • E. Lindys replied that lunch would likely be served until 3:00 pm and dessert and coffee would be served until 4:00 pm. 11 • R. Segelken asked the applicant for the date when the restaurant would open for business. • E. Lindys replied that the restaurant would open for business at the end of June or the beginning of July. Motion: J. Leijonhufvud Second: G. Gillespie RESOLUTION No. 252 TO APPROVE THE SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR THE PROPOSED ALLÉCHANT RESTAURANT AT CORNERS COMMUNITY SHOPPING CENTER RESOLVED, that, based upon the findings made by the Village of Cayuga Heights Planning Board in consideration of § 19.3.C of the Village’s Zoning Law, the Board approves the special use permit for the proposed Alléchant Restaurant at Corners Community Shopping Center. Aye votes – Chair F. Cowett, G. Gillespie, J. Leijonhufvud, E. Quaroni, R. Segelken Opposed – None Item 5 – New Business • Chair F. Cowett reported on a recent meeting between Village officials and representatives from Cornell concerning Cornell’s plan to build new student housing primarily on the site of the current CC parking lot on Jessup Road: o Small portions of CC parking lot and the parcel containing Robert Purcell Community Center are located within the Village; o Cornell plans to building housing involve 2000 new beds for freshman and sophomore students; o Sidewalk work, landscape grading, and stormwater management practices will occur within the Village, but not building construction; o Site plan approval will begin with the Town and City of Ithaca in June; o Cornell representatives asked whether site plan review would be required in the Village; subsequent to the meeting, Chair F. Cowett discussed this question with Attorney R. Marcus who advised that site plan review would be required under the Village’s new zoning law, and Chair F. Cowett so advised Cornell representatives; o Village officials asked about building height and the impact of eliminating CC lot parking; o Cornell representatives replied that buildings would be five stories high in the City and three stories in the Town, and that a campus wide parking study has been commissioned that will inform potential parking issues; 12 o Cornell will share parking study results and information on traffic counts and pedestrian flows with the Village; o Village officials will meet with Cornell representatives in May to be updated on the project. • Code Enforcement Officer B. Cross stated concern about the impact of losing CC parking spaces on parking availability in the nearby A parking lot. • Attorney R. Marcus asked whether the A parking lot is contained within Village boundaries. • Code Enforcement Officer B. Cross replied that the Pleasant Gove Road driveways accessing the A lot are located within the Town of Ithaca, but that the parking spaces associated with the A lot are located within the Village. • Attorney R. Marcus stated that, because the A lot parking spaces are located within the Village, a review of the impact of this project on the A lot parking is within the purview of the Village’s Planning Board. • Trustee M. McMurry briefly discussed the reaction of the Village’s Board of Trustees to the Planning Board’s recommendations concerning prospective consultants for the proposed study of traffic conditions in the Community Corners area. • R. Segelken asked Code Enforcement Officer B. Cross if there were any new developments concerning NYSEG’s plans to build a natural gas compressor on North Triphammer Road adjacent to Kendal, to be located either in the Village’s right of way or on Kendal property. • Code Enforcement Officer B. Cross replied that he had no new developments to report to the Planning Board. • The fourth Monday of May being Memorial Day, the next meeting of the Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday May 29, 2018 at the Village Fire Station. Item 6 – Adjourn • Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.