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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-P&DB-1995-02-08 CJfL� Cle/K Approved 3/28/95 Planning and Development Board MINUTES Special Meeting February 8, 1995 Present: David Kay, Chair;Susan Blumenthal; Carolyn Peterson;Denise Rusoff;John Schroeder;Sarah Adams. Staff: H.Matthys Van Cort;Charles Guttman;attorneys for applicant;other interested parties. It was stated that there were three items to take care of,the main item being the discussion about SEQR and site plan review; secondly,the hiring of an attorney; and thirdly,the pressing issue of the RKG presentation next Wednesday. 1. Hiring of an Attorney. At the January meeting there was discussion about getting some additional legal assistance. Scott Chatfield,Esq.,from Tully,was very highly recommended. He has a lot of experience in land use law and agreed to come to today's meeting. The Board stated that they were interested specifically in the work Scott Chatfield had done related to SEQR and environmental law, so Mr. Chatfield spoke about his experience. He stated that he has been doing municipal law since 1977 with various Towns in which he has to deal with SEQR all the time. He has dealt with environmental issues such as wetlands and works very closely with DEC. 2. Combined or separate public hearing on SEQR and site plan review The City Code specifies that site plan review is to follow environmental review. State Code says that it may be concurrent under the new SEQR regulations, so the Board is looking for some guidance. Mr. Chatfield gave his advice on the matter stating that clearly under the regulations, the Board may not grant or approve modifications until the applicant has gone through the environmental review process. SEQR regulations state that SEQR review precedes site plan review; however, where a public hearing is to be scheduled on a DEIS,the regulations state that,to the extent possible, SEQR public hearing should be combined with any other required public hearing. The hearings should either be held simultaneously or immediately in succession. Chatfield recommended that the hearings be held concurrently since under State law the SEQR and site plan review processes are so close intertwined. The process of going through the DEIS involves not only the analysis of the environmental issues but also a look at the alternatives to those issues, the mitigation that may be proposed. These issues are a significant part of the site plan decision-making process as well. Minutes of February 8, 1995 Meeting 2 After Mr. Chatfield answered questions from the Board and staff,Guttman recommended that the two hearings (SEQR and site plan review) be opened simultaneously on February 27, 1995, that the SEQR hearing be closed on February 28, 1995, and that the site plan review hearing be left open. D. Rusoff moved approval of the following resolution. The motion was seconded by S. Adams and passed unanimously. WHEREAS, this Board has previously received an application for Site Development Plan Review approval submitted on behalf of East Coast Development Company for a proposed Wal-Mart department store on Elmira Road in the City of Ithaca, and WHEREAS,this Board is acting as Lead Agency for SEQRA review purposes, and WHEREAS, on December 20, 1994 this Board adopted resolutions accepting the DEIS as complete for filing and public review and established a public hearing to commence on February 27, 1995 at 7:00 p.m. and to continue thereafter as needed, and WHEREAS,City Planning staff pursuant to such resolutions has prepared,filed and distributed a Notice of Completion of DEIS and Notice of Public Hearing for the Wal- Mart project; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED,that the public hearing commencing at 7:00 p.m. on February 27, 1995 and terminating on February 28, 1995 at 12:00 midnight for the purpose of receiving public comment on the project DEIS shall serve as,and shall constitute a public hearing on the Site Development Plan Review application for the project pursuant to General City Law §27-1-7, and be it further RESOLVED,that the Planning staff shall,in cooperation with the City Attorney,prepare an appropriate legal notice of such combined public hearing and shall make provisions for posting and publication of such notice,and be it further RESOLVED,that the Planning staff shall also prepare and submit to the Tompkins County Planning Board on or before February 9, 1995 an appropriate referral of this matter pursuant to General Municipal Law§239-m,and be it further RESOLVED,that Planning staff are authorized and directed to take all steps necessary and appropriate to carry out the intent of these resolutions. 3. Conduct of RKG Meeting Gary Mongeon,of RKG Associates,will be giving a presentation next week of his firm's economic impact analysis report for the proposed Wal-Mart. This is a public information session. C:Kel1}■Thys'Planbnd\2-8mtg.doc Minutes of February 8, 1995 Meeting 3 The Board went into Executive Session, and it was agreed to request$10,000 for legal fees for Scott Chatfield. The public hearing dates were discussed and it was agreed to cut Wednesday and Thursday and to only advertise Monday (7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.)and Tuesday (12:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.- 1:00 a.m.). There was discussion on who was going to chair the public hearings. David Kay agreed to chair the Monday night meeting and Susan Blumenthal agreed to chair the Tuesday night meeting. It was also suggested to set up a series of site plan review meetings so everyone could participate. C:KellyPT hys\Planbrd'2-8mtg.doc