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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-28Page 1 of 6 Town of Dryden Planning Board March 28, 2013 Members Present: Joseph Lalley (Chair), Joseph Laquatra, Wendy Martin, Craig Anderson, Martin Hatch Excused: Tom Hatfield and David Weinstein Staff Present: Dan Kwasnowski and Jane Nicholson (Town Planners), and Erin Bieber (Recording Secretary) Town Board Liaison: Joe Solomon Community Guests: Joe Skaley and Simon St. Laurent. Guests: Todd Fox and Noah Demerest The meeting was called to order by Chairman Lalley at 7:04 PM. Review and approval of minutes from 28 February 2013. M. Hatch moved to accept the minutes (with suggested format changes), J. Laquatra seconded the motion. W. Martin and C. Anderson abstained. All else approved. Agricultural Advisory Commission Liaison: Craig Anderson accepted the position. D. Kwasnowski stated that the Conservation Board is moving ahead with their Open Space Plan and they have reorganized the agriculture committee in favor of the Town approved Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC). They have eliminated the ad hoc committee and will be leaving the agriculture part of the open space plan to the AAC. Valley Creek Luxury Apartments - Todd Fox and Noah Demarest (Stream Collaborative – architect firm in Ithaca, NY) Mr. Fox – provided an updated sketch plan He brought in Noah Demarest to assist with the LEED ND. He didn’t know enough about it himself but Mr. Demarest has worked with LEED ND before. Mr. Fox is planning on ten 2 bedroom townhouses, ten 3 bedroom apartments and then retail space. Mr. Demarest took Mr. Fox’s ideas and plans and then went through the LEED ND checklist. He wanted to ensure that they could achieve enough points. He stated that some of the points can’t be met. For example, Cornell is a mile away. If it was ½ mile they could get points for pedestrian traffic. He believes he can get 41 points. To get LEED, the builder needs 40 points. J. Nicholson thinks that they will get the points as they build. Page 2 of 6 N. Demarest said that the buildings have been pushed to the street because LEED requires a certain percentage of the building to be within a set distance from the property line. LEED is definitely driving the direction of the project. N. Demarest said they are waiting for the topographical mapping. He is hoping that the redistribution of the fill material will permit the driveway to slope down toward the back of the buildings where the parking places are located. Each of the town houses will have garages. Eight of the parking spaces are under the buildings (a walk out situation) and eight are outside. The third floor is actually under the roof and there is going to be an entrance from each building out to the driveway. M. Hatch – asked about the water retention pond. It would have to be at least another story lower than the lowest floor of the buildings. He also asked whether the retention pond was an active pond. N. Demarest responded that it was not an active pond due to DEC regulations controlling the way waste water is cared for. M. Hatch – asked what the green is behind the storm water retention area? N. Demarest stated that it has to be a natural area, cannot be mowed or landscaped. M. Hatch was wondering where the other 3 acres are located in relation to the 2 acres that are being developed. The north side of the project is the other 3 acres. One side of the property is Cornell land with a buffer and then Freese road and route 366 form the other two boundaries. J. Lalley is concerned about on-street parking and the issues that could arise from having vehicles on that road. Currently the plan shows the bus stop in front of the retail space of the project. D. Kwasnowski and J. Nicholson offered a couple options that have been considered: - Switch the bus stop and the parking spots along Route 366 so the parking spots are in front of the retail space, this will allow people to pick up or drop off without creating a sight line issue - add an access road from Freese road to the back side of the buildings D. Weinstein was unable to attend tonight’s meeting but sent an email with some questions attached. Dear Colleagues, I will not be able to attend the sketch plan conference with Todd Fox next Thursday night, March 28th, so I put together a set of questions I hope will be raised at the conference. I especially want to commend Jane, Dan, and the developer for working together so hard to improve his concept to make it a better fit to our stated hamlet plan and design criteria. Page 3 of 6 Here are the questions I particularly would like to see addressed. I recognize that many of these items will not have been thought about in depth by Mr. Fox yet, so we can't expect a conclusive answer at this time. However, these questions should be given a preliminary answer as best as he can do at the sketch conference so that we know he is beginning to think about them, even though they must and will be thoroughly addressed in the detailed materials prepared for us for the site plan review, as required by the site plan review checklist: 1. Night friendly lighting must be required to avoid light pollution. What will be the location, height, intensity, design, and bulb type of all outdoor and external lighting fixtures and illuminated signs, including their direction of illumination and methods to eliminate glare onto adjoining properties? This will all be covered in the formal site plan, it is part of the LEED program. It will also be covered by the design guidelines and zoning requirements 2. Are sight lines adequate (or, in fact, improved) looking east on 366 from Freese Rd. for cars traveling south on Freese Rd, entering the Freese rd = 366 intersection and needing to cross or turn? This will be covered by the Site Plan Review. TG Miller would go out with the applicant and look at the site lines. CAD can be used to analyze the lines. 3. Is enough space being left to install the round-about if we ever get the funds for it, or will this project now preclude the possibility of building that? D. Kwasnowski said that he thought there would be plenty of room, he will put the template over the drawing and verify the space. Dan and Jane both emphasized that the round about would be a “little” one – single lane. 4. Where will the bicycle racks be located? Covered? Bike racks can be placed just off the sidewalk for the retail space but there would have to be a bike storage area in the units for LEED requirements. J. Skaley asked for clarity in regard to the design and the location of the retail space. N. Demarest pointed out where it will be located. The retail space could be 2 or 3 stories tall depending on need. He also pointed out where the dumpsters were going to be located which led to a conversation regarding the imbalance of the parking spaces behind the buildings. N. Demarest said that they added more parking behind the retail space for commercial use. The other issue he addressed was the handicap parking accessible space – having the parking spaces along Route 366 will/can fulfill that. M. Hatch has concerns that if there is a retail space and a couple of parking spots, then people might be tempted to just pull over without getting completely off the road – leaving one set of tires on the road and the other off, etc. He continued by commenting on the fact that the commercial space has been added to the plan after the Planning Board discussed it last month. J. Lalley and M. Hatch pointed out that there is plenty of unused commercial space in Varna already. Page 4 of 6 5. How will the steep sides of the fill around the perimeter of the site be stabilized for the long term. N. Demarest said they would call the Civil Engineers to help with the waste water and retention. Certainly the area would have to have some re-vegetation. 6. What will be the location, type and screening details of waste disposal containers and outdoor storage areas? N. Demarest – a tight board fence that is six feet tall. 7. Will there be any exposed drains, culverts, retaining walls or fences? Demarest does not believe so. 8. Where will the location of fire hydrants be? To be determined but Demarest is assuming on Route 366. 9. What will the location, height, size, materials, and design of all proposed signage be? To be determined. 10. What will the landscaping plan and planting schedule be? To come. 11. What is the estimated project construction schedule? Are they still planning on building and renting one section of the development before deciding whether to proceed and build the next sections? T. Fox said they are definitely planning on doing it all at once. The removal of the retail site makes it much easier to complete in one phase. 12. As we outlined in the last Planning board meeting, the engineering of this site must be very thorough so that we don't suddenly have shifting foundations, cracking the buildings and making them unusable. Chairman Lalley directed the Board to the Planning Department recommendations – see attached. If the commercial/retail space is not implemented then the developer will not include on-street parking including handicap parking. D. Kwasnowski agreed with this provision but suggested that perhaps a firelane can be put in front of the building or an entrance from Freese road for safety purposes. Chairman Lalley then asked the Varna gentlemen if they had any comments: J. Skaley commented on the commercial component. Considering the potential of other proposed population densities, the community might be interested in a coffee shop or pizza place. When the Varna community has talked about the future of the community they tend to envision that particular corner (that intersection) was always seen as commercial space mixed with residential. He said there is no real gathering place right now. M. Hatch asked about the community center in Varna, how accessible is that for a gathering place? Page 5 of 6 J. Skaley responded that the community center is not always available; it is rentable and not always available. C. Anderson brought up the area across the street from this project; it used to be a garage or diner and may be a good place for the future gathering place. J. Skaley also indicated that once the sidewalk plan is implemented there will an increase in pedestrian traffic. J. Lalley said the sidewalk plan should be consistent with the hamlet master plan in terms of fitting in with the network of sidewalks. There is a desire but not a requirement that there be commercial space that might be turned into a gathering place. D. Kwasnowski suggested leaving the space open in the drawing and then they could fill it later on once they have a tenant. J. Skaley said there has been talk about a possible small grocery store that has a coffee shop, etc. in that space. M. Hatch and D. Kwasnowski debated whether there were enough parking spots to support a retail space. D. Kwasnowski pointed out that a pizza shop would be great since no one delivers out there. J. Skaley asked about solar energy and the direction that the buildings face. J. Nicholson feels that there is certainly space for solar power and T. Fox and N. Demarest have already met the LEED requirements in that area. S. St. Laurent stated his appreciation for the time and effort Demarest and Fox have put into the designs. He likes the slope area, the bus shelter and pull off. He also likes the idea of commercial space but if you look at the commercial spaces Varna does have, they are ancient, neglected and generally collapsing. He is not hinging his interest in this project on the commercial space and is hoping it will stimulate/encourage other areas of town. J. Lalley and J. Nicholson stated that the developers had to give their project a name. For the time being it was agreed to call the project the Five Freese Road. J. Lalley offered the following resolution: Whereas, the developers of the Five Freese Road project have presented a clear development proposal that meets the requirements of a sketch plan review; and Whereas, the Town of Dryden Planning Board and the Town of Dryden Planning Departments have made the recommendations to be considered when the applicant submits the project for full site plan review to the Town of Dryden Planning Board; Whereas, the developer is presuming LEED ND certification for the project; Page 6 of 6 Therefore, be it resolved that the Town of Dryden Planning Board approves the sketch plan as presented on March 28, 2013 and requires a full site plan review. M. Hatch made a motion to approve the preceding resolution. J Laquatra seconded the motion. All members of the Board voted in favor of the resolution. A public hearing will be required and the developer is being encouraged to meet with the Varna Community. There being no further business, J. Laquatra moved to adjourn; M. Hatch seconded the motion. Respectfully submitted, Erin A. Bieber Recording Secretary Town of Dryden Deputy Clerk