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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-P&DB-1996-08-27 Planning and Development Board MINUTES August 27, 1996 Present: David Kay(Acting Chair),Steve Ehrhardt,Jane Marcham,Ellen McCollister, Scott Whitham, Carolyn Peterson. Staff.- H.Matthys Van Cort,Director of Planning and Development. Other interested persons and media. 1. Agenda Review Director Van Cort reported that Wegmans had asked for a postponement of the presentation of their project. The Board decided that it would hear this presentation at the public hearing on September 17, 1996,and that this presentation would be no longer than one hour. The Board also stipulated that if a great deal of public interest developed about the project before the September 17 public hearing,that additional time could be scheduled and advertised. 2. Privilege of the Floor Doria Higgins' spoke at length about the Master Plan for the Allan H. Treman State Marine Park. There are aspects of the plan that Ms. Higgins did not like and she urged the Board to take whatever action it could to oppose the plan and to oppose sale of the "festival lands"to the New York State park system. The Board took Ms.Higgins comments under advisement and informed her that it might become involved in this issue at such time as the City formally considers transferring the land to New York State parks. John Schroeder spoke on the Downtown Design Plan. He distributed copies of materials on the approved capital project for the east gateway. In 1994 the City approved a capital project for inclusion in the 1995 budget in the amount of$58,000 for some landscaping in the east gateway area and further design work on the proposed Piazzetta on the corner of State and Aurora. Schroeder urged the Board to become actively involved in moving this project through the City process toward implementation. 3. Zoning Appeals Report The following recommendations were approved to transmit to the Board of Zoning Appeals: Appeal Number 2309 at 417 North Cayuga Street The Board discussed this appeal at length but did not reach consensus. Some Board members felt that the uses that would be allowed under this variance would have a negative impact on the residential character of the neighborhood and that the variance should not be allowed. Others felt that this was a fairly benign use of the property and the fact that an apartment remained in the building made the proposed variance acceptable. Those in favor of the variance also noted that the commercial use of the property had been there a long time and that the property had been well maintained during this period. While divided,the conclusion of the Board was that the BZA should look carefully at this variance since it represents a significant change of use from that allowed under current zoning. Some members of the Board felt that the proposed variance for legal office use would help maintain the neighborhood while others believed it would lead to a further deterioration of the residential character of the neighborhood. The Board commented on this case because it felt it was of area wide concern. Appeal Number 2311610-612 Mitchell Street The Planning and Development Board recommended that the BZA not grant the variance because zoning requires that the building be owner occupied. The Planning Board further urged the BZA not to relax the standards regarding variances which concern owner occupancy since a relaxation of these standards would have a deleterious short and long term effect on the future of the neighborhood. The Board was unanimous in this recommendation. No comments on Appeal Number 2310 and 2312 At the conclusion of the discussion of the requested variances,the Board further discussed the question of how to handle zoning variances. The conclusion was that a special meeting of the Boards Code Committee should be called and members of the Board of Zoning Appeals especially Joy Blumkin,Chair, should be invited along with all Planning Board members. Steve Ehrhardt expressed a special interest in attending this meeting. Pat Kennedy and Rick Eckstrom from the City staff should also be invited to attend the meeting. Staff is to set up this meeting based on the availability of the Board members to attend. The agenda of the meeting would be to discuss which variances the Board will comment on and how it would commend on those variances. 4. Downtown Design Plan--Discussion of Implementation Steps Van Cort distributed a draft memorandum he had written several years ago regarding the various recommendations in the Downtown Design Plan. The memorandum was an attempt to identify certain projects for early implementation by the City. One of the Board members commented that maintenance in the Central Business District was suffering. The Board felt this issue should be held over to a future discussion. After discussion,it was decided that Board members would take an additional month to review the study and the memorandum during which time Scott Whitham and Van Cort would meet to select certain projects for implementation. Their recommendations would be sent out with the agenda for the next meeting. There seems to be a consensus among Board members that relatively small high visibility projects should be undertaken in the near future since it appeared the City could do them without too much effort. Further more, these projects were not contingent on private sector investments. 5. Southwest Area Land Use Study Van Cort gave a brief history of the studies that had been performed on the Southwest area of the City. The Southwest Area Land Use Study dated September 1994 recommended that the area zoned for mobile homes,which was not now occupied by mobile homes, should be rezoned for commercial use. This issue had been brought to the Planning and Economic Development Committee of Common Council which had unanimously recommended in favor or rezoning. A concept memo had been distributed in accordance with the City's zoning amendment process. The Board asked whether there would be a buffer between the existing mobile homes and the proposed B-5 area. Van Cort stated that he had drawn the line at some distance from the nearest home and that there was ample room for a vegetative screen. The Board spent time discussing the fact that this area was not suitable for housing because it had been used as a dump during the 1950's and 1960's. The fact that mobile homes had been built in the early 1970's did not make it any more likely that similar construction would be permitted today. Given that the site was no longer practically available for houses,David Kay moved and Ellen McCollister seconded that as follows: WHEREAS, a recent study of the Southwest area in the City entitled Southwest Area Land Use Study September 1994 recommends that part of the mobile home zone in the City be rezoned B-5, and WHEREAS,the fact that the area in question has been previously used as a dump making it a high risk area for residential construction, and WHEREAS,with proper site design and landscaping,the existing mobile homes could be adequately screened from future commercial development,and WHEREAS, a buffer can be constructed between Southwest Park and the area to be rezoned to B-5 and such buffer could be made a condition of any site plan for development of the area to be rezoned,now, therefore be it RESOLVED,that the Planning and Development Board hereby recommends the proposed rezoning from MH-1 to B-5 ,and, therefore be it further RESOLVED, that the Board urges the Common Council to provide notice to those living near to the area to be rezoned of the proposed zoning change. Carried unanimously. 6. CBD Rezoning Van Cort explained the proposed rezoning and the pros and cons of the proposed action. After a brief discussion,Ehrhardt moved and Whitham seconded the following resolution: WHEREAS,the Downtown Design Plan calls for conversion of the warehouse at the foot of State Street to office use,and WHEREAS, such conversion is problematic under the existing zoning,and WHEREAS,the Planning and Development Board has been requested by the Planning and Economic Development Committee of Council to comment on a proposed rezoning of an area at the foot of State Street from B-4 to CBD-60,now, therefore be it RESOLVED,that the Board of Planning and Development does concur with the Planning and Economic Development Committee of Council in recommending that the area in question be rezoned as proposed. Carried unanimously. 7. Staff Vacancies Van Cort told the Board that he is in the process of trying to get the secretarial vacancy filled. The Board strongly supported Van Cort's effort in this regard. Kay moved and McCollister seconded the following resolution: WHEREAS,much of the work of the Planning and Development Department is process oriented, and WHEREAS,the work of the department suffers greatly in the absence of adequate secretarial support, and WHEREAS,failure to perform in a timely manner the many legally required and expected functions of the department leads to criticism of the City,employees,elected officials and Board members and, WHEREAS,these duties are important to the maintenance of the quality of life in the City, now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Board strongly urges the Vacancy Review Committee to approve filling a vacancy created in the department by the departure of Kelly Ross. Carried unanimously. 8. Reports A. Board of Public Works Ehrhardt reported that the Board of Public Works is seriously shorthanded in the Engineering Division as well as the operational divisions. This has led to deterioration of the City's infrastructure and the inability to process capital projects. Ehrhardt also reported that the Traffic Committee of BPW is proposing to install prototype traffic calming devices in the Northside,in Washington Park,on gateway streets,and in dangerous intersections in Collegetown. B. Planning and Economic Development Committee Marcham reported that the Committee had acted on three of the issues on the Planning and Development Board agenda and had taken an action urging the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Flood Control Channel this year. Meeting adjourned at 10:50.