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Home My WebLink AboutMN-PDB-1994-08-23 APPROVED 3/28/95 Board of Planning and Development Minutes August 23, 1994 Present: D. Kay (chair), S. Adams, S.Blumenthal, A. Clavel,J. Schroeder. Staff: H. M. Van Cort, H. Sieverding,L. Tsang,E.Jacobs. Also, applicants,media,public. 1. Privilege of the Floor. No comment from the public. 2. Final Site Plan Approval A. 304 College Avenue/Novarr Van Cort reported that the applicant has not yet been able to complete the conditions of preliminary approval given last month in order to proceed with final approval. 3. Preliminary Site Plan Review A. 151 Dryden Road/Fane Jagat Sharma presented revised drawings which address certain building and fire concerns. There was discussion concerning additional plantings and the possible future expansion of parking. The following resolution was moved by Schroeder, seconded by Blumenthal, and passed unanimously. WHEREAS, the site development proposal for the construction of a new 6-story residential and commercial building at 151 Dryden Road had been reviewed by the Board at its meetings on 4-26, 5-9, 6-28,and 7-26-94, and WHEREAS, the Board had determined that,because of the plan modifications made as a result of discussions at the previous Board meetings,the proposed project would result in no significant adverse impact on the environment,and WHEREAS, the site development plan has been further revised to address site planning issues identified in the preliminary review of the proposal,and WHEREAS, the public hearing for the purpose of considering approval of the proposed site development plan has been concluded, now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Preliminary and Final Site Plan be approved with the condition that 1. the selected species and variety of the proposed street trees,as well as planting specifications,be approved by the Shade Tree Advisory Committee; 2. design details of bicycle parking be approved by Planning staff; 3. street loading area be provided with the approval of BPW; 4. the plan be modified to allow the possibility of uninterrupted double-loaded westward extension of the top parking deck; and 5. minor planting additions be made in the interior parking area. Minutes of August 23, 1994 -2- 4. Preliminary Site Plan Review/Environmental Review/Public Hearing A. 720 S.Meadow St./Colbert This proposal is for two, one-story attached retail/commercial buildings and parking for 131 vehicles. The prospective tenants are paint store (possibly Sherwin Williams),an iron shop, a cellular phone outlet store and a food store. Mr. Colbert explained the history of the Ufair subdivision and described the project as a high-quality strip shopping plaza. Mr. Colbert said that NY State plans to take possession of the Sherwin Williams building on November 15, 1994, and therefore there was some urgency to swift action on the site plan. A public hearing was held, and no comments were received. Blumenthal, seconded by Kay,moved a Negative Declaration of Environmental Significance, and it passed 4-0. WHEREAS, a proposal has been submitted for Site Plan Approval of a development plan for the approximately 3.18 acres interior parcel (behind Garage de France) at 720 South Meadow Street, and WHEREAS, the proposed development is a 27,620 sf retail plaza with parking for 131 vehicles, and WHEREAS, the proposed development is an Unlisted action under SEQR and a Type I action according to the City Environmental Review ordinance,and WHEREAS, the environmental review of the proposal has been conducted through the completion of LEAF parts 1,2, and 3, and according to procedures described in the CEQR, and WHEREAS, the site development plan was reviewed by the Planning Department,the Fire Department,the Building Department,the Engineering Division and the Water and Sewer Division of the Department of Public Works,and WHEREAS, this Board,being the Lead Agency for environmental review of all Site Development Plan Review applications,has reviewed all the application materials and supporting documents,including comments from the Conservation Advisory Council on the environmental review of the subject proposal, and WHEREAS, the review process has identified,as noted in the EAF parts 2 and 3, potentially large impacts on the land, on water quality,on drainage, on air quality, and on transportation, and WHEREAS, the proposal has been revised to include mitigating measures for the impacts on drainage, and the other identified impacts are determined to be insignificant because of specific project characteristics in this case, and Minutes of August 23, 1994 -3- WHEREAS, the public hearing for the purpose of considering approval of the proposed site development plan has been concluded, now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Planning and Development determine that the proposed development will have no significant adverse impact on the environment,and a Negative Declaration for purposes of Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law be filed according to the requirements contained in Part 617, and be itfurther RESOLVED, that Preliminary and Final Site Plan be approved with the following conditions: 1. move Building"A"northward such that no built structure is within 55' of the NYSE&G overhead transmission line,provided that the turning radius at the northwest corner of the building is enough to accommodate tractor-trailer trucks and fire vehicles,even if it means losing 1 to 2 parking spaces; 2. provide a future 10' easement to the City along the proposed water main on the west and south sides of the proposed buildings; the exact location of the easement is to be approved by the Board of Public Works; 3. delete planting in the 10' easement specified in condition#2; 4. increase the width of the proposed planting strips to meet approval of the Planning Department; 5. revise plant list to include more trees (vs. low shrubs) and species other than Red Oak and Honey Locust which are overused in the City; 6. provide a copy of the legal documentation,to be filed in the Planning Department, of the mutual easement for through traffic between the proposed development and the adjacent properties; 7. if determined necessary by the Building Department, adjust site layout or building dimensions,without decreasing the planting areas (except along the west boundary) shown on the Landscape Plan received August 22, 1994, and without decreasing the minimum dimensions specified in the above conditions,to provide for a more ample loading area; 8. install oil traps in drainage inlets#1 and#3 shown on the drainage and utility plan; 9. report new ground elevations to FEMA and provide a copy of the report for filing in the Planning Department; 10. provide parking racks for 10 bicycles; 11. obtain Fire Department's approval of fire hydrants' locations. Moved by Blumenthal, seconded by Adams,carried unanimously. 5. Zoning_Appeals. Review of Appeal 2237 indicates no issues of long-range or areawide planning concern; this Board has no comment for BZA consideration. Unanimously carried. Minutes of August 23, 1994 -4- 6. Reports A. Director. Sieverding proposed that Clough-Harbour be retained to prepare the FEIS and Findings Statement for the Wal-Mart project. He cited Clough-Harbour's familiarity with the DEIS and extensive experience as consultant for municipalities in the SEQR process as reasons for extending the existing contract. Sieverding stated Clough-Harbour was originally selected by a subcommittee formed by the Board in February after an RFP was sent to, and proposals received from, six other firms. The contract with Clough-Harbour will require them to prepare a list of substantive comments from the public hearing, submit that list to the Board for review and then forward it to the applicant. The applicant has agreed that its consultants will prepare the initial response to these comments. Clough-Harbour will analyze the response and supplement where necessary. Clough-Harbour will then prepare the FEIS. The second phase of the Clough-Harbour contract will require them to work with the Board in preparing the Fundings Statement. The Findings Statement will summarize all the factual socioeconomic and physical issues analyzed in the FEIS and relied on by the Board in making its decision on the project. Sieverding also reported that part of this proposal includes retaining a court stenographer to produce a verbatim transcript of all comments made at the public hearing. This record will be immediately available to Clough-Harbour to initiate process of preparing the FEIS. The total cost to the City for this work(Clough- Harbour and stenographer)is estimated to be $17,500. The Board concurred with this approach. Staff will present this proposal to Common Council for funding approval on September 7, 1994. epj-Aug23min.doc(10/17/94)