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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1980-08-04 IS i1 I i TABLE OF CONTENTS l MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA, NEW YORK - AUGUST 4, 1980 I! �i Page jj APPEAL NO. 5-2-80 William T. Pritchard 2 304-306 S. Cayuga Street I APPEAL NO. 5-2-80 Executive Session 7 i I li APPEAL NO. 1306 Charles A. Fritschler 8 (I 801 East State Street 1 APPEAL NO. 1306 Executive Session 11 APPEAL NO. 8-2-80 Edward Monroe (Empire Bldg Sup. ) 12 332 Spencer Road APPEAL NO. 8-2-80 Executive Session 19 I APPEAL NO. 1312 Evaporated Metal Films Corp. No transcript i 701 Spencer Road i l APPEAL NO. 1312 Executive Session 21 APPEAL NO. 1313 David H. Taube No transcript 319 W. State Street ii �! APPEAL NO. 1313 Executive Session 21 ii I� APPEAL NO. 1314 Edythe & Richard Conway 20 ! 214 Linn Street (last part of the transcript) f j APPEAL NO. 1314 Executive Session 30 i i f APPEAL NO. 1315 M.A. Ashford & J. M. Cox 31 i! 608 East Seneca Street APPEAL NO. 1315 Executive Session 33 ;I i i APPEAL NO. 1316 S. C. & J. S. Zifchock 34 j 1012 North Aurora Street i APPEAL NO. 1316 Executive Session 37 it i I� CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY 38 it J i I �i i f i I' I! .i I I� BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i AUGUST 4, 1980 CHAIRMAN AMAN: I ' d like to call the August meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals to order. The Board operates under the provisions of the Tthaca City Charter, the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and the Ithaca Sign Ordinance. We are starting a little bit later this evening, we are waiting for one additional Board member who hasn' t arrived yet. Present this evening are five of the six members of the Board: Mr. Joseph Gainey Dr. Martin Greenberg Ms . Natalie deCombray Mr. Morris Angell Mr . Alfred Aman, Jr. , Chairman Mr. Thomas D. Hoard, Building Com- missioner & Secy to the Bd Mrs . Barbara Ruane, Recording Secy Arrived 9 : 00 PM Mr. William Wilcox Those of you who are not familiar with the Board' s procedures , I will very briefly tell you what they are. It takes four affirma- tive votes for the proposed variance to carry - that means four out of the five that are present right now would have to be in favor of the requested action, We will take the cases up in order J and ask. that the person requesting the variance speak first and as I succinctly as possible tell us exactly what it is that you want and the reasons for the requested variance, Members of the Board may, and usually do have questions for you and we ask that you respond to those questions , and that you do so up here at the podium. We do not operate under strict rules of evidence, but we do compile a record and we do make our decisions based on the information that we receive here. We have a recorder up here and therefore it is every important that you do come up here and speak at the podium - that you don' t say anything back out in the audience because then it won' t be in our record. As I say, after you have presented you case and have responded to questions from the Board we will then ask for anyone else who wishes to speak first on behalf of the i proposed variance and then those wishing to speak against the variance. AFter we have heard all of the cases we will then meet in executive session to deliberate and after that has occurred we - 2 - will then resume public session to announce our decisions . Mr. Secretary could we have our first case please? SECRETARY HOARD: The first case is appeal number 5-2-80 : Appeal of William T. Pritchard for a sign variance under Section 34 .4B and Section 34 . 6-A-1 to permit the retention of two signs at 304-306 South Cayuga Street and a large free-standing sign at the same address . Currently five (5) signs are located on the premises , three above the permitted number in a �I B-4 (business) district. I f MR. PRITCHARD: I 'm Bill Pritchard from 304 S. Cayuga Street - I don' t live there but I operate a business there. We are in the business of servicing and selling automobiles , We asking for a variance because we feel that it would be an undue hardship if we are made to take down all the signs that exist at our dealer- ship in downtown Ithaca. We have been at the same location since 1922 . As you all know, cars are big ticket items - we need iden- tification. We have three distinct facets of the business ; sales , parts and service. Letters were sent out to all the neighboring property owners and we received, as far as I know, no negative feelings . We had several verbal approvals and one person sent a letter to the dealership approving of any signs that we might be able to keep. We would like to take down our service sign, which I think you have the pictures of there and our used car sign. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Is that service sign - is that the one that says FIAT SERVICE? MR. PRITCHARD: Yes , those two signs in the front would be removed, that ' s right. We would have to take inspection sign and put that back on the building because that is the law and also the repair shop sign that is already there. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Now where are those signs , the inspection . . . MR. PRITCHARD: The inspection sign is attached to the , I believe , the last sign south on Cayuga Street. It' s an orange sign which would be removed - well the whole sign would come down but that sign would have to be placed on the building of the Service Depart- ment. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Okay. ii i+ i! - 3 - ii MR. GAINEY: So the only sign you want to leave then is Dodge Cars Dodge Trucks , right? MR. PRITCHARD: The large free-standing sign. Yes . Seeing that w i are the only store in downtown Ithaca, it makes it a little diffi- cult, especially for first time comers to Ithaca - Ithaca College people and Cornell people because it is pretty easy to go out on automobile row but we are the only people that are right in town - which makes it a little more difficult . MR. GAINEY: So the variance is only being asked for the one sign in front? MR. PRITCHARD: Pardon me? MR. GAINEY: You are only asking for a variance on the sign in front now? SECRETARY HOARD: Well , as I understand it , you are asking for the large Dodge cars - Dodge - Dodge Truck sign? MR. PRITCHARD: Yes . CHAIRMAN AMAN: I can' t tell from my picture , but are there - ther seems to be two smaller signs off to the right of that. MR. PRITCHARD: Those are the two that - one says SERVICE, okay? And the other one says USED CARS. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Okay. I 'm confused. MR. PRITCHARD: Can I show you? CHAIRMAN AMAN: Yes , please. Because I 'm wondering which ones are going to come down. MR. PRITCHARD: Gpointed to display of pictures to explain to Chairman Aman what will happen to the various signs) Discussion wasn' t picked up by recorder. MR. GAINEY: So he is going to leave one of the three , is what he is asking for. What about the signs that are on the front of the building, are they all within compliance? SECRETARY HOARD: The one on the front of the building is in com- pliance. MR. GAINEY: What about the William T. Pritchard that he has got across the front of the building? Are they all within compliance? SECRETARY HOARD: Okay, the WILLIAM T. PRITCHARD, INC. on the brick, I I If - 4 - front building is in compliance. MR. GAINEY: Okay, what about over the service . . . ? SECRETARY HOARD: Now there is a problem in that there is another I WILLIAM T. PRITCHARD sign across the front of the service building MR. GAINEY: That ' s not? I SECRETARY HOARD: That' s not, right. MR. ANGELL: How about DODGE next to that? MS. DE COMBRAY: DODGE DODGE - DODGE? SECRETARY HOARD: Over the parts building? MR. ANGELL: On the front of the building? SECRETARY HOARD: Alright - that one is non-conforming as well . MR. GAINEY: How big is the sign now, that you are asking for? MR. PRITCHARD: The large sign? I don't have the dimensions , mayb I do here someplace. That 's the large overhanging sign there? MR. GAINEY: Right, MR. PRITCHARD: Let' s see if I have something on that. 216" letters - approximately twelve yards long, they have on here . Letters are flat, plastic panels which are - no that' s the one on the wall - can' t do that one , I guess . I don' t have the dimension of that large sign with me right now. Tom, do you have those? SECRETARY HOARD: If I 'm looking at the right figure, it' s 48 square feet. MR. PRITCHARD: Okay. MR. GAINEY: What' s he allowed? SECRETARY HOARD: That looks about right, They are allowed a fifty square foot free-standing sign. So that one . . . MS. DE COMBRAY; What about the overhang on the sidewalk, is that alright? MR, ANGELL: Does that . . . i SECRETARY HOARD: No, that 's a Problem. It doesn' t meet the set back requirements. And as I understand it , you are asking for the variance for that set back so that wouldn't seem . , . MR. PRITCHARD; If you stand up by Woolworths or on that part of Cayuga Street, you cannot tell that there is anything down there a all . MR. ANGELL: You mean you are asking to have this extension on I i i - i ji that left? I MS. DE COMBRAY: No. MR. ANGELL: You are going to put it against the wall , is that it? MR. GAINEY: No , he is just going to take it down. MR. ANGELL: But you had to have the service sign or something? MR. PRITCHARD: No that ' s going to come down. SECRETARY HOARD: You were speaking of the official inspection sig which is in the lower left picture . . . MR. PRITCHARD: It is pretty hard to see there. SECRETARY HOARD: It ' s in the picture - on the other side of the pole from the FIAT sign. MR. PRITCHARD: So what we want to do is to keep the large sign that says DODGE - it has a pennant star up on the top - that 's the sign that we would like to keep - of the three. Plus we would lik some identification on the Service Building so people know where t go for service . MS. DE COMBRAY: The Service Building is this white building? MR. PRITCHARD: It ' s the large building, right, to the south of th other building. MR. GAINEY: What is he allowed on that building? Nothing? SECRETARY HOARD: Nothing. CHAIRMAN AMAN: That ' s the building that presently has WILLIAM T. PRITCHARD on it? MR. PRITCHARD: That's right. MR. ANGELL: Would you be adverse to taking William T. Pritchard o££ and just having letters SERVICE - smaller than it is at the present time? MR. PRITCHARD: Well I ' ll say this , I think the large sign is much more important - MR. ANGELL: But it doesn't say SERVICE. MR. PRITCHARD: It does , but not in that picture. We have a little sign that says SERVICE which is by the inspection signs right by the door - it' s a very small sign, MR, ANGELL: Well I can see that but it ' s not on the building - it out toward the front. I i e ,f E - 6 it i MR. PRITCHARD: No sir. It is out , but that is one of the ones that is going to come down. I MR, ANGELL: So if this says WILLIAM T. PRITCHARD, how do they know I� it is service anyway? MR. PRITCHARD: But there is a place that says SERVICE on that wall which does not show in that picture. Okay? Let ' s see if I have a picture of that here. MR. GAINEY: What are we asking for here, just one sign, right? (A discussion took place between Mr. Pritchard, Mr. Angell , and Ms. DeCombray which wasn' t picked up by the recorder) CHAIRMAN AMAN: So as I understand the dialogue that is going on here, we are talking about a variance request for two signs ; one is the WILLIAM T. PRITCHARD over the service garage and the second is the free-standing sign which is deficient only in set back re- quirements , not in the area - if, assuming the other signs come down? MR. PRITCHARD: Yes. CHAIRMAN AMAN: The PRITCHARD sign across the service entrance is that painted on or is that . . . ? MR. PRITCHARD: Yes . That ' s red letters on the white. Yes , that is painted on. MS. DE COMBRAY; And at present you have no signs on Spencer Road? MR. PRITCHARD: Pardon me? MS. DE COMBRAY: You have no signs on Spencer Road? MR. PRITCHARD; Spencer Road? No, that is Cayuga Street. MS. DE COMBRAY: I 'm sorry, I 'm looking at a different appeal . MR. PRITCHARD: It' s a different appeal . That' s one block south o Woolworths and the Ramada Inn. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions from the Board? Thank you I very much, Mr. Pritchard. MR. PRITCHARD: Okay, Is it necessary to stay until afterwards? CHAIRMAN AMAN: Not at all .. You can call the office tomorrow morning. MR. PRITCHARD Do you have any idea how long it will be? CHAIRMAN AMAN: No, we don' t. it I �I .7 - 1 MR. PRITCHARD: Thank yo very much. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Is there anyone here wishing to speak on behalf of the proposed variance re uest? ( no one) Is there anyone here who wishes to speak against the proposed variance request? (no ona) Hearing nothing further, we will move on to the next case. I EXECUTIVE SESSION 1 APPEAL NO. 5- 2-80 i. The Board considered the 'appeal of William T. Pritchard for a sign i variance under Section 3 . 4B and 34. 6-A-1 to permit the retention of two signs at 304-306 South Cayuga Street and a large free-stand I i ing sign at the same address . Currently five (5) signs are locate on the premises , three above the permitted number in a B-4 district. MR. GAINEY: I move that the Board allow William T. Pritchard to retain the single free-stand j ing sign in the front and that all other non-conforming existing signs be removed. I also move that he be allowed a twenty- five (25) square foot sign which reads "Service" to replace "William T. Pritchar (j on the white faced building. i DR. GREENBERG: I second the motion. VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No ; 1 Absent. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The free-standing sign is a major sign th t the Board felt should be visible from bot directions so the appellant 's business ca be easily identified, since the business if located away from the automobile dealer area. j 2) The appellant was willing to remove all ; other non-conforming signs . 3) he building comes out to the sidewalk an �a the only place where the sign would be visible up and down the street is where i is presently located. i i i - 8 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Ii COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS 'I i AUGUST 4 , 1980 SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1306: Appeal of Charles A. Fritschler for an area variance under Section 30 . 25 , Columns 4 , 6, 11 and 13 to permit the continued use of 801 East State Street as a multiple dwelling. The property, which is located in an R-3a (residen- tial) use district in which multiple dwellings are permitted; however the I� property is deficient in required off- street parking, minimum required lot ' size, and required front and side yard setback. The property had been con- verted to a multiple by a previous owner, in violation of zoning, building and housing code requirements . ! SMR. FRITSCHLER: I 'm Charles Fritschler and I am coming to ask for �i a zoning appeal for 801 E. State Street, some property that I own land the - it' s a situation that the building has been there for over 100 years . The lot size has been the same - I 've up-graded I the building for about a half a dozen years I have made no changes ! j at all in the building. I am merely asking that I be able to con I tinue to use the building as I have been. It would be a severe economic hardship for me if I could not rent out the building and collect the rents . It is one of the few sources of income that I have . i j MR. GAINEY: Is there any off-street parking at all? j MR. FRITSCHLER: Not really. There is a driveway there but it is not in very good shape - that really is not useable for parking. The tenants that I have been renting to are all students who are ! I� living in that neighborhood because they don't have cars . None of the tenants that I am renting to now own a car. Last year none of I the tenants owned a car. Hunna Johns owns a large parking lot i �i across the street which - he never rents all the spaces - there is i not a demand for parking right there. CHAIRMAN AMAN: I 'm sorry, what is across the street? MR. FRITSCHLER: There is a large parking lot that Hunna Johns own li that is very rarely used. There is just not a demand for parking up there. 9 - u i, MR. GAINEY: How many tenants do you have? I ii MR. FRITSCHLER: Ten. i' MR. GAINEY: Ten tenants? ii I� MR. FRITSCHLER: Yes sir. jMR. ANGELL: How many rooms in the house? MR. FRITSCHLER: Ten. MR. ANGELL: Ten rooms? i MR. FRITSCHLER: No, it is two apartments . MR. ANGELL: Two apartments . Five rooms each? MR. FRITSCHLER: Four and six. MR. GAINEY: What is the make up of the apartments? MR. FRITSCHLER: Sir? MR. GAINEY: What is the make up of the apartments? MR. FRITSCHLER: Four bedroom and six bedroom. MR. GAINEY: No living room, no dining room? MR. FRITSCHLER: Oh, yes there is - the four bedroom has four bed- rooms , a kitchen, living room, bathroom and the six bedroom has i six bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and bathroom. MR. ANGELL: Then there is sixteen rooms? MR. FRITSCHLER: No there is - two apartments, one has six bed- rooms and one has four bedrooms . When you asked how many rooms there jwere , I just said ten - there is four and six. tMR. ANGELL: There is sixteen rooms in the house? MR. FRITSCHLER: No. There is two apartments. CHAIRMAN AMAN: But the kitchen and living room are separate rooms in these apartments? MR. FRITSCHLER: Oh, okay, I misunderstood your question - I guess there are maybe sixteen rooms there. w MR. GAINEY: You're talking four bedrooms and six bedrooms and a kitchen living room and bath in each apartment? MR. FRITSCHLER: Yes . i MR. GAINEY: There is no room for off-street parking? MR. FRITSCHLER: There is no off-street parking. i. j MR. GAINEY`; Is there room for off-street parking? You said you I have a driveway that' s . . . ii ii l - 10 - I i' MR. FRITSCHLER: There' s a driveway which is shared with the house next door and there is a back yard behind the house. SECRETARY HOARD: The trouble with the driveway is that it is badl eroded. I have pictures of it here. It' s grown up with vegetatio i and I 've seen cars parking across the sidewalk but not going down into the driveway. CHAIRMAN AMAN: How long has this been used as a multiple dwelling MR. FRITSCHLER: I don' t really know - I think over ten years thou;h Ibut I 'm not sure. I 've been involved with the property about six � or seven years and prior to that it was. DR. GREENBERG: You weren't aware that there was a zoning violatio when you bought the building? MR. FRITSCHLER: No, I was not really aware of it when I became in- volved with it - I was not really aware of much at all about the zoning requirements or the zoning laws . I guess - I had kind of assumed since the building was there - it was there. DR. GREENBERG: Your attorney should have told you. SECRETARY HOARD: When did you buy the property? MR. FRITSCHLER: I bought it under land contract in 1976 and got a 4� deed to it in 178 . I had been leasing it prior to that for a couple of years . DR. GREENBERG: Have you notified your neighbors of this appeal an has there been any reaction either way? MR. FRITSCHLER: I notified the neighbors as I was required to and I have had no personal contact and as far as I know Mr. Hoard hasn't had any. SECRETARY HOARD: They were here at the last meeting when Mr. Frit schler didn' t show. They were also at the Planning Board meeting. ,I MS. DE COMBRAY: Were they in support? SECRETARY HOARD: No. DR. GREENBERG: They wereallowed to speak last time weren' t they? SECRETARY HOARD: No. The notes - the minutes of the Planning Board meeting - Sean Killeen of 111 Orchard Place addressed the Board i about what is being done. He said in principal he would object to i the variance. Parking in all the adjacent areas is very tight . If I l j - Ij Chris Anagnost also appeared in opposition as well as Mary Yeno of I� 903 E. State Street. �j CHAIRMAN AMAN: What is the character of the houses in the immediate i area? MR. FRITSCHLER: They are - I rent to almost completely college 9 students and the houses on either side are also rented to college students . Across the street it ' s virtually all rented to college students - in the immediate vicinity. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any other questions from the Board? (none) Than you very much. Is there anyone here who wishes to speak in support of the variance? (no one) Is there anyone here who wishes to speak against the requested variance? (no one) I ' ll call the next case. EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1306 : The Board considered the appeal of Charles A. Fritschler for an area variance to permit the continued use of 801 East State Street i� I� as a multiple dwelling. The property in an R-3a use district is deficient in required off-street parking , minimum required lot size , j and required front and side yard setback. The property had been converted to a multiple by a previous owner, in violation of zoning, building and housing code requirements. DR. GREENBERG: I move that the Board deny the requested area variance. MR. ANGELL: I second the motion. VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent DENIED Findings of Fact: 1) The property has no off-street parking. 2) The property is deficient in the minimum lot size required for the use , and thus the density is greater than permitted in the zone. 3) The conversion was made without the required building permits and without the required variances from the Board. i I i I� - 12 - li 'I jl BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AUGUST 4, 1980 SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal number 8-2-80 : I I Appeal of Edward Monroe (d/b/a Empire Building Supplies Retail of Ithacay for a sign variance under Section 34 . 5-B-1 l to permit the retention of eight signs totalling 410 square feet in area at 332 Spencer Road. Only one five square foot sign is permitted in the R-2a (residential) use zone in which the property is located. Only one of the existing signs was erected with a sign permit ; the remaining signs have been erected in violation of the Sign Or- dinance. I MR. SELDIN: Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals , my name is I. Bill Seldin and I 've been asked by Mr. Monroe, who is sitting to my left, to speak for him tonight. I think it would be helpful a the outset, and I ' ll try to make this as brief as possible, if I define what the problem is - at least from our point of view. What it we have is a building supplies company which is owned by Mr. Monroe, was leased to him by Don Lucente, Don Lucente being the owner. A far as we can determine , the business - that is to say - construc- tion oriented business , has been on the Spencer Road area since lapproximately 1948 with the exception of the time when it burned jdown back in ' 74 and it was rebuilt a few months later - it has b en in existence since that time. Now the predicament that we find j ourselves in is that, unbeknownst to Ed, the Sign Ordinance pro- hibited his painting signs on the building. For the most part , I that' s what these signs amount to. I understand that you all hav pictures available to you of the signs in question. We too had problem with physcial identification in this respect. Ed has found through his experience in the business that in order to survive as that type of business - construction oriented - it is I must to have visibly identifiable advertising identifying the i building as Empire. The situation is somewhat unique in that the building and property is bisected - that is to say part of it is situate in an R-2a zone and part of it is situate in a business district which is B-5 . Under the best interpretation, that is to it li !I +i I! 13 - ! say if we were to interpret this enterprise as residing solely !within a business district , the maximum signage that he could have - lthe maximum allowable would be 2 . 25 per linear foot per building, Inot to exceed 150 square feet combined. In other words , you can have - as I understand it - have two signs not exceeding 150 squar feet. What Ed has is - facing Spencer Road on the building - he has got a sign which we approximate to be 75 square feet - painted on the building. And then there is another sign which does not face - in our estimate, does not face the right-of-way - which is 1 75 square feet - which is also painted on the building. In additi n there is a two to three square foot sign facing northerly. There ! lis another 75 square foot sign which can be seen from Spencer Road I if you happen to look in the driveway element off of Spencer Road. And there is a 32 square foot sign which again faces - that would ' be north and there is a 75 square foot sign which faces to the west , and which would be in the direction of Elmira Road and in addition there is a seventh. sign which is 75 square feet which faces to the south which cannot be seen from any right-of-way - but only is visible to the property in question. Now the hardship involved here can be probably a subject of extreme debate. I 've had people suggest to me at the Planning Board that while - you know - drivin down the road and I see that sign but it isnot really that sign that draws me in from Elmira Road. But that 's one experience. It E has been Ed' s experience that most of the people who come into his shop come in there because they can identify the building in terms of where it is located as Empire and they can see that from Elmira Road. It is sort of a unique situation because we are half in and half out. We are half in a business district and we are half in a residential district and yet, under the interpretation of the Sig Ordinance and the zoning laws as it stands today, we've got to comply with the most restrictive situation. The most restrictive ! R-2a restriction under the Sign Ordinance permits five square feet hof signage. I've got to point out at the outset that this was no I is flagrant violation in spite of the square footage involved here . I Ed did not say to himself consciously "well , I know there is an s, 14 - ! Ordinance and I 'm going to go paint the signs all around the build ling" - that isn' t the way it happened. He thought that because he was in a business district that this was permissible - this kind o identification. When we found out that this was not permissible there i was no delay in seeking this Board' s attention and consideration o this appeal - in other words, we didn' t try and put off or delay our application we filed the application, I think, within a couple o weeks or three weeks from the time we received the notice of the violation which is not always true in every case. Now the hardshi involved is directly related to advertising as I pointed out. And � if you can' t see the sign from Elmira Road - it is very difficult for patrons of Ed' s business to identify the location of the build- ing - with the nature of the business. It should be pointed out that 50% of Ed's patrons of the store are home improvement people. It' s not 90% contractor, big contractor type oriented - most of th ( people that come to Empire Building Supplies are do it yourself people trying to improve their own homes and are not always familiar with the business or its location. It 's also important that the business be identified from Spencer Road from one particular aspec . There have been numerous instances when Ed's suppliers have had to park along the road at 3: 00 o ' clock in the morning because they weren't able to tell where the business was until the daylight hou s when they could wander back and forth. in the road and peek in and see hey there it is - which was one of the reasons why he put up the signage that he did facing Elmira Road, I've already explaine that it is unique because it is both in a business and a residents 1 district. T should point out that in giving notice to all of the owners within 200 feet of the business that seventeen of those owners were business oriented, nine of those owners were residents l ; Ito include Mr. Lucente, his mother, Mr. Monroe and his family and l'Mr. Dockstader and his mother, Now I point out those people because we have received numerous responses which, for the most part, were i lwri;tten on the back of the 200 foot notice that we gave to all the ;1adjacent property owners and I, request that they be made a part of 11 adjacent record. I won't take up all of your time reading what is in l f l' i, I I - 15 - I !; the letters because they pretty much speak for themselves but I ! would like to point out and if I might read from at least a few of !!; those letters . Mrs. Marianna Lucente who obviously has a vested ' interest, in a way, because her son owns the property says that she ` lives directly across the street from Empire at 343 Spencer Road and ! I have found that the signs that Empire has placed on the building iihave in no way affected my lifestyle and standard of living. I thought that was fairly interesting , and not surprising, however, i ; think it is pleasant that we have a letter from Mr. Dockstader who (!! also lives across the street from Empire , who writes : "I , William `1C. Dockstader, Sr. who has resided at 341 Spencer Road (you can tell f1he is a police officer) for the past fifteen years see no reason fl ( why the work 'Empire' (and he capitalizes the word) has to be re- i ! moved from the sides of the outsides of Empire Building Supplies . i i ! These signs and/or word Empire no way afford me, or my family, as matter of fact, we think it looks good. I have on several occasions I ' witnessed tractor-trailers , loaded with lumber go by the business land then either backed up or go around the block simply because jthey didn't and/or could not locate the business . Since the Empire 1was painted on the wall of the outside of Empire Building Supplies not one tractor-trailer has gone by this business . I wish to repe t that I wrote the above, the word 'Empire ' in no way offends me or i Imy family and I see no reason why it should have to be removed. " 10f course we have a response from Donald Lucente which is favorabl land a number of responses from business people who are in that i ( shopping center - kind of mall area - which is adjacent to Empire ! who are supportive because they recognize the problems that Ed' s ! business faces in terms of being able to advertise from that area. ; Now, I know that you have pictures available to you but I would also ; request that these four pictures which Iam about to offer, be mad la part of the record because they are taken R at least three of them - lare taken from or standing on Elmira Road, looking at the Empire I l, sign and you can see a Cole Muffler sign adjacent to it and so on. I" Tt gives you some perspective of what we are trying to demonstrate . !! CHAIRMAN AMAN: I 'd like to interrupt a minute if I can. You say I' l I ; - 16 - ,I i jyou are half in a residential zone and half in a business zone? MR. SELDIN: I don' t mean area-wise , I mean that the property itself, okay, is bisected by the B-5 , R- 2a line so that part of the busine s is situate in a business district and part of it is situate, physi cally, in a residential district . CHAIRMAN AMAN: And the business district that it ' s in would allow a maximum of 150 square feet? MR. SELDIN: Two signs that do not exceed an aggregate total of 150 square feet. Now we maintain, as letters support . . . CHAIRMAN AMAN: Just to make sure I understand this now - you say E ! how much of the property is in a residential zone and how much of ; it is in . . . I IMR. SELDIN: We've heard conflicting reports but from what we 've b en ' able to determine we believe that a substantial portion of the lan las well as part of the building is in the B-5 district. Tom, do you have any feeling for that? I I SECRETARY HOARD: That is pretty hard to tell . There is quite a wide band of R-2 that goes along Spencer Road and I don't know how deep your property is from Spencer Road. IMR. SELDIN: From what I 've been able to gleem from Mr. Lucente , who is the owner , a substantial portion of the land and part of th building resides or is situate in the business district itself. IMR. GAINEY: Which building are we talking about? IMR. SELDIN: There are two buildings and I believe the line bisect the building that is closer to Spencer Road on a diagonal approach starting off with less residential in the northern area and more ! residential in the southern portion of the property so it runs in diagonal line and bisects the building that is adjacent to Spencer ` Road. 1 DR. GREENBERG: On the free-standing sign identifying the Ithaca Commercial Center, why is the name Empire left out there? Which ; would be an identification to people on Spencer Road at least tha I on these premises Empire exists instead of this vague building I , supplies? !IMR. SELDIN: That particular sign we didn' t believe was going to i f i 17 - I i ii Pe the subject of this proceeding because it is not part, as far it I! as we know, of Ed' s business . iIDR. GREENBERG: I know, but it would make unnecessary a lot of the ( other signs that appear facing Spencer Road, if this free-standing sign had the name of the firm on it . . . IMR. SELDIN: The problem is that it doesn't identify the business i Ias well as the Empire sign on the buildings. i iIDR. GREENBERG: When a truck sees Empire Building he knows where h its going to go - at least he knows the location. i MR. SELDIN: Ed brought up a good point the entrance for the business has always been and continues to be on the Spencer Road area not on the Elmira Road area. The reason for that is that the I ( business is set up such in terms of deliveries and so on, that all the supplies are able to be received from the Spencer Road conduit I , and not from Elmira Road. You'd have to totally revamp the entire A ! business to have the entrance from the Elmira Road area. I iMR. GAINEY: If that ' s the case then we can scratch sign number 8 1 and you'd have none in compliance. i � MR. SELDIN: Pardon me? i ! MR. GAINEY: If that' s the case we can scratch sign number 8 which its on this big commercial center and then you would have no signs �lin compliance. 1 MR. SELDIN: There are smaller signs on the side of the building. 'IThere is one within the five square foot . . . , MR. GAINEY: They are not within compliance. 1 IMR. SELDIN: There is only one sign that is within compliance on the i ( side of the building . There is one there that is about three squa e `i ! feet. I I MR. GAINEY: Three sq uare feet? Where is that? That is one we don't Leven have listed so there is another sign. IDR. GREENBERG: To continue the discussion, assuming that Elmira Road is not considered the entrance, but Spencer Road is , so you'd ' be willing to scratch off the Elmira Road sign? ;iMR. SELDIN: We realize that we are in a very real illegal bind here !' and that in terms of what we would like to salvage - okay . . . i. is �i !I I - 18 - I { , DR. GREENBERG: Yes , why don' t you try to give us what you'd like Eto salvage? MR. SELDIN: That was the remark I was going to try and get to. What we would like to see ideally, and what we could live with, is ! the big sign facing Elmira Road and the big sign facing Spencer Road and we would delete everything else . That' s what - after �Ispeaking with Ed, that' s what we would find acceptable. But to . . MR. GAINEY: Let ' s make sure we 've got this correct - now, you are looking at this sign here - you' re saying that sign is okay? You could live with that one? CHAIRMAN AMAN: Could you identify those by number? I 1MR. GAINEY: Sign number 2 and sign number 6. i SMR. SELDIN: Now those two signs are each each one of them is labout seventy-five square feet - from what Ed tells me . We 've i ialso heard that it is 88 square feet but we believe it to be 75 square feet, SDR. GREENBERG: So you would be in compliance essentially with the icommercial zone , !MR. SELDIN: With the B- 5 zone. I IDR. GREENBERG: And you'd be willing to break down all the other signs: i � MR. SELDIN: No, it is just painted flat on the building - you can't I Itell it from that this is not a color photograph. - let me just s e � whlch. is which. here . Just so you know what we are talking about - i color-wise - I 'd like to offer these two color photographs to show ; the - they are not harsh- or particularly bright type of colors . I I ; ask that they be made a part of the record, ICHAIRMAN AMAN: So what we are talking about is a requested variance ' for two signs - sign 2 and sign 6 and the other six or seven signs - you are willing to takedown? MR. SELDIN: Yes . CHAIRMAN AMAN; Since much of the dialogue took place out there I just wanted to make sure that that is all on the record. IMR, SELDIN: Well the question that was asked of us you know - what dare we really looking for - that' s what we are seeking. IICHAIRMAN AMAN: You understand the Board has to live with this Hii � decision. i i jl - 19 - �I 1IMR. SELDIN: Yes. I ( CHAIRMAN AMAN: Are there any further questions from the Board? Ii Is there anyone here wishing to speak in favor of the requested ( variance? (no one) Anyone wishing to speak against? (no one) lWe will move on to the next appeal. EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 8-2-80 : The Board considered the appeal of Edward Monroe for a sign variance funder Section 34 . 5-B-1 to permit the retention of eight signs total - ! ling 410 square feet in area at 332 Spencer Road. Only one five i square foot sign is permitted in the R-2a use zone in which the property is located. Only one of the existing signs was erected with a sign permit; the remaining signs have been erected in violation of the Sign Ordinance. MR. ANGELL: I move that the Board grant two signs ; sign number 1 and sign number 6 in the exhibit prepared by the e Building Commissioner. Sign number 1 is the 3' x I� 6 ' sign "Empire Building Supplies" which faces Spencer Road and is located on the Main Building and i Sign number 6 is the 4 ' x 22 ' sign "EMPIRE" locate on the lumber storage building and which faces Elmira Road. The Board also moved to deny the re- i � quested variances as to all other non-conforming I signs . ! MS. DE COMBRAY: I second the motion. VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 No. FINDINGS: 1) No major opposition from the neighbors who live opposite this building . 2) These two signs are not illuminated. 3) The second sign approved is facing the B-5 zone. 4) Given the character of the establishment which con- sists of a number of large buildings and is fronte I by a cyclone fence along Spencer Road, the sign which faces Spencer Road, an R-2 zone , is not, and r w these circumstances , inappropriate. �I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS I� COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS I; CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK I� � SECRETARY AUGUST 4, 1980 HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1312 . Appeal of Evaporated Metal Films Corpora- tion for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns 11 , 13 and 14 to permit construction of a 1000 square foot additi n at the rear of the building at 701 Spence Road, in a B-5 (business) use district. The property is now deficient in required front yard, and the proposed addition will result in deficient rear and side yards . ( NOTE: THE NEXT FORTY-FIVE (45) MINUTES OF TAPE WAS BLANK, THERE- !FORE THERE IS NO TRANSCRIPT OF APPEALS 1312 (see above) , or 1313 - 1APPEAL OF DAVID H. TAUBE at 319 WEST STATE STREET AND THE FIRST PORTION OF APPEAL NO. 1314, APPEAL OF EDYTHE & RICHARD CONWAY FOR 214 LINN STREET. ( APPEAL NO. 1313 : Appeal of David H. Taube for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns 4 , 10 , 12 and 13 to permit the conversion of the existing building at 319 West State I Street (Boykin Building) to an office II building in a B-2a (business) use distri t. The property is deficient in required sid �! yards , the maximum permitted lot coverage is exceeded and will be deficient in off- street parking for the proposed use . I APPEAL NO. 1314 : Appeal of Edythe and Richard Conway for i an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns 10, 12 , 13 and 14 to permit the change in use of the property at 214 Lin Street from a one-family dwelling to a multiple dwelling. The property is lo- cated in an R-3b (residential) use zone where mutliple dwellings are a permitted use ; however the property exceeds the i maximum permitted lot coverage, and is deficient in both side yards and rear ya d. (LAST PORTION OF THIS APPEAL FOLLOWS) MRS. HARTMANIS: The poor quality of the properties that are being rented, so they really wanted to do something different they wanted to rent property that was high class and they bought a ve y nice house in a nice neighborhood and as they mentioned they spen $7 , 000 to make it even nicer. Then these five nice students came along and they rented it to them - or they are expecting to rent it to them. That' s how it came about that it was rented to five. Now I would like to point out one more thing - you asked whether they could get along with four - well I ' d like to point out that (continued on page 23) 'i - 21 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i i AUGUST 4 , 1980 i EXECUTIVE SESSION jAPPEAL NO. 1312 : The Board considered the request for an area variance under Secti n 30 . 25 , Columns 11 , 13 and 14 to permit construction of a 1000 square foot addition at the rear of the building at 701 Spencer Road, in a B-5 use district. The property is now deficient in required front yard, and the proposed addition will result in deficient rear and 1 side yards. MS. DE COMBRAY: I move that the Board grant the area variance requested in appeal number 1312 . DR. GREENBERG: I second the motion. VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 NO Granted FINDING OF PACT: 1) The proposed addition observes the spirit of the Ordinance and doesn't change the characte of the area. I 2) Practical difficulties have been shown in that i the lot shape is irregular and is bounded in the rear by a dead end dirt road and Buttermilk jl State Park. I APPEAL NO. 1313: The Board considered the request for an area variance under Secti n Ii 30. 25, Columns 4 , 10, 12 and 13 to permit the conversion of the existing building at 319 West State Street to an office building in a B-2a use district. The property is deficient in required si e yards, the maximum permitted lot coverage is exceeded and will be deficient in off-street parking for the proposed use. MR. GAINEY: I move that the Board grant the area variance re- quested in appeal number 1313 with the condition that appropriate screening between the parking lot and the adjacent houses be provided. i CHAIRMAN AMAN: I second the motion. i i i .i I, li - 22 - i �! EXECUTIVE SESSION - APPEAL NO. 1313 (continued) I VOTE : 6 Yes ; 0 No Granted with conditions FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The proposed building will improve the character of the neighborhood. 2) Parking is not a problem in that there is j adequate off-street parking including a I i municipal parking lot. i 3) As redevelopment of West State Street is i being encouraged, it would improve the character of the neighborhood. w I I I II I i s i I 9 I I i r s I I i i I i I i I I I i I i! I! I I; 23 - this particular large masonry structure which is in the back of t ei property which was once used commercially and for which they had I, to pay, of course , when they bought the property, is now being used privately and it will , in fact, create a lot less traffic i �i than it ever did before so if the neighborhood is concerned about operating or down grading the neighborhood because of the fact that the Conways have bought the property, they should basically rest at ease. If anything, I think there will be less traffic because of the ownership. Mr. Conway likes to do wood working - strictly on his own as a hobby - he owns a large sail boat which he would like to store there in the winter. That sail boat isn' t going in and out there are no twenty cars coming to be repaired every day, so I think all in all the neighborhood stands to gain by this particular conversion - like some of the neighbors have gained by houses that I have bought and converted in Collegetown 1 and I hope to actually do more of it and I hope others will do the same . Thank you. MR. GAINEY: How can you say there is going to be less traffic when you have five people who are going to be living in the house- hold and before you had two people living in the household with one vehicle? ! MRS. HARTMANIS: Two people in the household with twenty cars I calling on this particular mechanic. SMR. GAINEY: Every day? Twenty cars? IMRS. HARTMANIS: Up to twenty cars every day. MR. GAINEY: Every day? ; MRS. HARTMANIS: That' s-the record shows that , yes . MR. GAINEY: I think you are mistaken. I ! MRS. HARTMANIS: Well it may be . . . 1MR. GAINEY: They just came before us not too long ago on this use , and there was talk of maybe three or four cars a day that they were working on. So I think you are . . . MRS. HARTMANIS: Well , I think the record . . . iMR. GAINEY: Misstating what we are talking about. MRS. HARTMANIS: Well, I have read this and I have accepted this I, �i 24 - i �j as something that has possibly been verified but , of course , I have not been there to count the cars . But he was a working mechanic and there possibly were days when he had only one or two cars but there were obviously days when there were more cars call 'i ing on him - surely more cars than five people who - probably som ,I of whom would be walking to Cornell or sharing rides up the hill I MR. GAINEY: You hope. I SECRETARY HOARD: He did say in his testimoney - ten to twenty cars per day when he presented his appeal. I MRS. HARTMANIS: Right. DR. GREENBERG: May I ask one question? I live in an R-3 area so this is pertinent - do you have any way of telling students how late they party, the noise they make , the blare - that type of polution - five people can bring in twenty. Because I know the I F circumstances of what happens and I 'm really inquiring this be- i �I cause I think you may not be aware of what takes place in the I multiple residence setting and if you do know, have you solved this problem with your tenants? i MRS. HARTMANIS : Well , I wish my neighbor across the street were j here to answer for me at this point . Mr. Scoones from Ithaca I College who lives on Elston Place across the street from the house that I rent there - it is a multiple zoned house - I happen to have fthree apartments in it and they are all student occupied. I limi it only by careful selection as well as putting clauses into the lease that say noise is not permitted after 11 : 00 , etc. and I have by and large , not had any problem. But I do think that the landlord is very important in trying to enforce this and I think the Conways are just the kind of people who would because, as Mr. i Conway pointed out , he has not really bought this because he particularly needs the extra income - he bought this particular property because he fell in love with that garage and he wanted it for his sail boat. I� I MR. GAINEY: But you can see what these other neighbors are getting at? MRS. HARTMANIS Yes I can see that. t i �I i I� 25 - I .i i MR. GAINEY: Their major concern is what these other landlords have not done in the area. MRS. HARTMANIS: Right. But I think it would be unfair to condeMIL a new landlord just because of what other landlords have done in the area. I think that is just not fair and this multiple zoning has been in existence for something like thirty years in that are - Ij so its nothing new and I mean - all of a sudden to try to go afte i e j a new landlord seems somewhat arbitrary I think - even though I I can understand their concern - I really do. If there are no i I further questions - thank you. CHAIRMAN ARAN: Anyone else wishing to speak for the requested variance? (no one) Anyone wishing to speak against it? I MR. RHOADS: My name is Dan Rhoads - I live at 201 W. Lincoln Street and I am chairman of the Fall Creek Civic Association. I i am here tonight with two hats , so to speak - one representing our Association and another one representing the residents and owners I� of Linn Street. They have sent a petition to both the Board of Planning & Development and also to the Board of Zoning Appeals which �I I would like to read, if I may. In fact, I was asked by ex-chief I i Charles Weaver to present this petition to you. Now this petitio was signed by twenty different owners in the 200 block of Linn .i Street plus other individuals on the side streets surrounding i Linn Street. The petition says : "WHEREAS, We the undersigned ar residents and owners of property near 214 Linn Street, and WHEREA i only five of thirty-three dwellings in the neighborhood are multi le dwellings , and WHEREAS, only thirteen of the properties are on lots as wide as fifty feet , and WHEREAS, this very old section of i our north side residential neighborhood is already suffering from excess density, and WHEREAS, the neighborhood is deficient in off- street parking especially in daytime use due to the business dis- trict, and many of the original single family dwellings have been j converted to two apartments, NOW, THEREFOR, we petition that the t appeal No. 1314 be denied, and FURTHER, (the reason that they sub I I ISII mitted this to the Planning Dept. and also a copy has been sent t i 1 the Board of Zoning Appeals is because they are also petitioning E I I I I 26 I I i' I; the Planning Board to have the area zoning code changed from R-3b back to R- 2b) that the Planning Board consider a change in zoning classification from R-3b to R-2b in the 100 and 200 blocks of Lin 'i ii Street to correspond with the rest of the Fall Creek neighborhood Dated: July 29, 1980 SIGNED: Charles M. Weaver 221 Linn Street Kenneth. R. Hansen 301 Linn Street li Carol C. Reeves 303 Linn Street Francis M. Hansen 301 Linn Janice A. Keane 223 Linn i Margaret C. Keane 223 Linn Charles P. Rock 222 Linn Suzanne D. Robertshaw 222 Linn Beatrice J. Weaver 221 Linn Charles L. Auzmin 215 Linn Raz J. Saari 211 Linn Joann Saari 211 Linn Robert L. Cornish 207 Linn Theo Cornish. 207 Linn Anna M. Joseph 210 Linn Charles Barber 206 Linn Gladys L. Barber 206 Linn Demetra Manos 108 Linn William P. Rush 118 Linn ! William J. DuBorgel 119 Linn I! Norma R. DuBorgell 119 Linn ' Ray Melvin 134 Linn Dom Ambearge 142 Linn ! Roland Banfield 220 Linn Myrta Sullivan 405 E. Marshall St. Irene M. Smith 511 N. Aurora St . I� Mary J. McCarthy 515 N. Aurora St. II P. Kennedy Reeves 303 Linn Ed Walsh 145 Linn Samuel Hall 217 Linn Carmen L. Canestaro 201 Linn" Now there is one other thing that I would like to . . . CHAIRMAN AMAN: Isn' t that the fundamental problem? MR. RHOADS: Yes . CHAIRMAN AMAN: It may be improperly zoned. MR. RHOADS: Yes and I - this is an interesting thing. This is the only area of Fall Creek - the two blocks there - that is zoned I ! R-3b, the rest of it is R-2b - just about the rest of it I think except for a couple business instances - where there are business s . I 'd like to say something else if I could. Our organization has fought long and hard to get this zoning code. It took us a long r time to fight for it and a long time to get it because we were - as has been mentioned here - we were besieged by slum landlords movinginto our neighborhood. Now Cornell has a g problem up there. E The problem is that they are short of housing. Collegetown is I` i I I' i' 1 1 2 / - i I full - the only area that they can move down into as far as housing is concerned and still be close to the University right now is Fall i Creek and the Linn Street . That' s another reason that we are opposed to it . Now one other point was brought up - now this gentleman may be a very find landlord and may take really good care of that property but supposing he sells it to one of these absentee I landlords - who takes care of the property then? We 've had too many instances down in our neighborhood and we 've been fighting a long time down there for - to get some of these properties cleaned up down there. We've got a number of them down there right now that we have problems with and the thing is - you know - there has to i i come a time when we have to start saying no and continue to say j no because the area just won' t support it anymore our density down there is so large now that it just plain won' t support it. I guess that is all I have to say. DR. GREENBERG: The Fall Creek Association was active in the formulation of the present zoning code? MR. RHOADS: Yes sir. DR. GREENBERG: (comment not clear) MR. RHOADS This was something - I cannot remember there was reason that the city gave us at the time that they did it - why t ey put - but I cannot remember what that reason way - why they zoned those two blocks of Linn Street. I think one of the reason i that they said at the time was I don' t think that they really took a good look at the area down there because I think they thought that there was many more multiple dwellings in the area than what I the statistics show there are -- you know by going house to house i and that' s what we did in this instance go house to house and c n- firm what was two family and what was a multiple dwelling and it really surprised us because we thought there was a great many mor i multiple dwellings there and there isn't _ there is only five in that immediate area. And, like I say - we 've had this problem before and we just we fought it a long time . DR. GREENBERG: Don' t you feel as with the appellant that it is being up-graded from the commercial use to a residential use even i I s' 'i 28 - I! ; though it is used as a multiple residence but now that the garage alis no longer going to be there, this will be an improvement? I' lMR. RHOADS: It may be an improvement but the problem comes down !' to this - what guarantee do we have that it won't go into the same i useage as many of the other properties - slum landlord properties I jthat we have down there? You see , that is the thing. We - you f ! know - we 've been this road before we 've seen properties that wele ! changed and they did a great job at first taking care of and then ! few years go by and all of a sudden - you know - the property star s i deteriorating - in fact they do it for - sometimes I think some of r , the landlords down there - slum landlords , do it for a reason - th y can cut the taxes down on the place by cutting the value of the place by letting it deteriorate plus what they were doing in essen e when we started the zoning code they were doing a form of - what y u might call blockbust ,ng because what they were coming in there and ( they were buying a house and letting it deteriorate and all the neghbors would complain and when nothing would be done about it - I they would put their own houses up for sale and who would be there 1with an open checkbook but the slum landlord and that' s what they + were doing that ' s one of the reasons we pushed through this zoning control zoning code. We wanted to stop that before it got out o 1hand - before we got this same situation that we have up in colleg - town right now. Many of those houses - in - shall we say disrepai iwelve got a good neighborhood down there and we want to keep it th t way. MR. VI,LCOX; While you are up here Mr. Commissioner, has the i Planning Department made a recommendation to Common Council yet - that you know of? ( SECRETARY HOARD; On rezoning? No, they have not. IMR. RHOADS: Thank you very much. ! CHAIRMAN AMAN: Ts there anyone else wishing to speak against the variance? SMR. PEER: Mr. Chairman, may I make a few comments about this? ! CHAIRMAN ALAN: If you will be very brief, I think we have the cas i ; well in hand. IMR. PEER: That point comes down to simple economics - the previou I ! 29 - I I� 1i1! speaker wants to know what guarantees that he has and its the same I1' guarantees that basically keeps the rest of the business world goi g Fits economics and profitability. I have seen it over and over again (;! that when an interested party puts finances up front and time into I ala property, into a boat, into their car, into anything - that im- proves its value and then we see it constantly in our line of ; business that you do not have the problems of someone spending a i 11ot of money upgrading a property and then having to worry about t at I ! individual selling it to a slumlord who does not want to buy any ,Iproperty unless it is priced right and it is priced right only if its really dirt cheap which means its in deplorable condition - which I ; is not the case in this type of a situation or any type of a situa- tion where individuals really pour money into a property. Now these ((particular individuals have the option of putting it into two apart- ments and would not have been at this Board, if my understanding is (correct - if they had gone the route of dividing the property into ,two apartments.. SECRETARY HOARD; They would still have to come before this Board. MR. PEER: They would? But again - that is within their perogative I las in that particular zoning. My point here r very briefly again - I lis that the simple economics of the situation that this type of con- cern to upgrade a property - of expenditure' of money gets - as Mrs . (Hartmanis pointed out it qualifies your tenants - it gets good `tenants - people who do not stay up late at night partying - who ar serious about thier business they want a good apartment, good Isurroundings that are enjoyable - they pay a better dollar for it - that qualifies your tenants, it gives you a better base of operations u don' t have to worry as a landlord about having your property de Glued by damage and derelict attitudes of the individuals who are renting it. What it all comes down to -t basically - improvements - �onetary improvements to a property which will be passed on to ever pth.er person When this property is up for sale it will not go on the market to be bought up by an individual who isgoing to be a �lumlord, It just will not happen i.t will go on the market and b i � urchased by an individual who wants a good, going concern with a �istory of profitability because it was marketed properly as far as i�. �I ii 30 - rental property goes . Thank you very much. i CHAIRMAN AMAN: If there are no further comments in this case we I !will take the next case. i BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS �I CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AUGUST 4, 1980 EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1314 IThe Board considered the request for an area variance under Sectio ,30. 25 , Columns 10 , 12, 13 and 14 to permit the change in use of the 1property at 214 Linn Street from a one-family dwelling to a multiple I jdwelling . The property is located in an R-3b use zone where multi- �1ple dwellings are a permitted use ; however the property exceeds the !maximum permitted lot coverage and is deficient in both side yards and rear yard. �DR. GREENBERG: I move that the Board grant the area variance I requested in appeal number 1314, I !CHAIRMAN AMAN: I second the motion. NOTE: 2 Yes ; 4 No Denied I !FINDINGS OF PACTS : 1) Complaints were received from the neighbors i with the reasoning that the neighbors feel i the increased density would cause problems i' with noise and traffic. �i 2) Given the density of the neighborhood, strict l (; adherence to maximum permitted lot coverage, (i side yard requirements and rear yard require �i i' ments is , in the judgement of the Board, necessary in order to preserve the character i i of the neighborhood. i 3) No demonstration of financial hardship was male by the appellants . i i Ii is I s it I! I; 31 - 'I I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS i. CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AUGUST 43, 1980 i SECRETRY HOARD: The next appeal I Ais appeal number 1315 : Appeal of Marguerite A. Ashford and James M. Cox for a special permit for a home occupation at 608 East Seneca Street. Th appellants would reside in the house and would use part of the house for a psycho- therapy office. A special permit is req- uired for a home occupation in the R-2a (residential) use district in which this property is located. IMS. HOLMBERG: Good evening, I 'm Laura Holmberg, I 'm representing I ,' Margue�ite Ashford and James Cox . . . 'ICHAIRMA►N AMAN: Excuse me, Ms . Holmberg, if I could make one state i 'Iment . !Members of the Board - since we are all Ithaca residents , naturally know many people who come before us all the time and we can' t excuse (sounds like) ourselves because of that. However, I shouldlsay that the present owner of the house in question is also , the dean of the law school and my colleague and I think in view of 11that Ilpersonally - there is no technical conflict of interest , no lido I personally feel that I could not be fair in rendering a judge �iment but I think appearances of propriety and all that I should ! abstain from this case so I thought I should say that up front be- { fore we heard the case that since I am on the faculty I won't be I' 1participating. SIMS. HOLMBERG: Thank_ you. Well this is I think a simpler , problem than you've had otherwise tonight. Its to have a special jpermitlfor the purpose of maintaining a home office for psycho � therapfy. Dr. Cox and Mrs . Ashford presently have their offices on ii '! the Commons, downtown, Their practice largely comes from the down town and Cornell communities and they wanted a large house - that ' liquiI et where the atmosphere will be amenable for their kind of � businoss . They have found that being on the Commons is noisy and it i �1has been difficult for them to find the kind of space they wanted. !, I have the there is plenty of parking on the property - there is i( iia garage with an apron in front of it and a long asphalt driveway. I I� I' - 32 - i I thi k the drive itself measures some 71 feet and the driveway is , some hirteen to eighteen feet in width. That will be more than enough space for any automobiles that would be arriving there as a 1part c f their occupations . The house is large - it has five bed- rooms 'upstairs and a large porch, a living room, study, downstairs dinin room and kitchen and they plan to use only a couple of the I ; downs airs rooms for their practices . The - I might point out tha Dr. Ktaut has his office on E. Buffalo in an apartment and Dr. iComarhas his in a home on E. State Street - in the same general area. We've had no adverse reaction at least come to us from the i Inotic6s which were sent out and one letter from a neighbor support � ing i ' - being relieved that the house was not going to be convertcd I to ap rtments . I might point out that in this neighborhood, among ; the some thirty-two notices which were sent that only about five I fare o ner/occupied residences . Almost all of them are absentee ( landlord and all used for rental housing. I have - we have sub- � mitted a plot plan - the lot is 66 ' wide - I have a picture of the west _s'ide of the house and the driveway if anyone would like to se ' it . nd I don' t believe that there will be - there will be no employees on the premises - no additional persons coming in - ther {will result in no additional noise or problems for the neighborhood . ! If yo have any questions I 'll be happy to answer them, IDR. GREENBERG; Would th-e variance be required if they asked for !this as a medical facility? i ( SECRET RY HOARD; It still would be. IMR. AN'GELL: Are they agreeable to the stipulation that there be n I group therapy? MS. HOLMBERG; Well I they do not practice group therapy at the ,present time. I can't say that they wouldn' t some time have a group at their house, but as far as I know- their plan is not to engage in that as a practice. MR. ANGELL: Mould they be adverse to the stipulation? IMS. HOLMBERG: Well I n no, as far as I know they will not. At 'least when my discussions with them, they made the point that the'r I1practi'ce wars not one of group therapy. I don't forsee that as a i - 33 - problbm. Is that all? Thank you. jCHAIN AMAN: Anyone here wishing to speak for or against the Ivaria ce? (no one) I ' ll call the last case. :f SECREARY HOARD: We did have a letter that came directly to the loffic , Mr. Chairman. I hope this isn' t the kiss of death. It ' s to th Board of Zoning Appeals . "Dead Sirs : I have no objections oIto th enclosed application for a variance. Very truly yours , ! Jason, Fane. " I IMS. H�LMBERG : We did not solicite . BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS Ii j AUGUST 4 ,1980 EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1315 : The B and considered the request for a special permit for a home loccuption at 608 E. Seneca Street. DR. G EENBERG: I move that the Board approve the request for a special permit with the condition that there be no group therapy performed !, on the premises . 1 IMR, ANGELL: I second the motion, I!, VOTE: I 5 Yes ; 0 No ; 1 Abstention Granted i �" IFINDI GS OF FACT: 1) This occupation meets the qualification o a home occupation. I ! 2) This occupation will not increase the traffic unduly. j 3) A relatively small part of the premises will be used as office space. f 4) No additional employees will be on the I premises . i 5) This type of occupation is one in which i ! there is a small number of patients in a day, therefore it will not change the character of the neighborhood. f Ij - 34 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS i; CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK j! COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1! AUGUST 4 , 1980 I 'SECRETARY HOARD: The final appeal is appeal number 1316 : I Appeal of Stephen C. and James S. (� Zifchock for an area variance under j Section 30 .49 (regulations for enlarge eni of a non-conforming structure and use) I and Section 30 . 25, Column 14 (required I! rear yard depth) to permit addition of �i a small equipment enclosure on the roof of the non-conforming building at 1012 North Aurora Street (Fall Creek Laun- dromat) . The property is located in a R-2b (residential) use district and is deficient in required rear yard depth, and the use as a laundromat is a legal I� non-conforming use. kR. ZIFCHOCK: Good evening. I 'm Jim Zifchock, one of the operator gyp£ the Fall Creek Laundromat located on the corner of Lincoln and I � urora Streets . Our intention here is to phase in the solar water heating and this building adapts itself to that. It is a single I tory - flat-roofed structure and what we are requesting at this time is an area variance that will allow us to construct a small �nclosure on the roof to house control and heating equipment and i torage tanks associated with the solar heating. Does anybody have i any questions? MR. GAINEY: What' s it going to be - construction look like? Just 6 ' . . . . ? e R. ZTFCHOCK: Yes.. No higher than 61 we anticipate - 8 x 8 . 'here is no windows , doors , and it will have the roof will be I emoveable on it - we will be able to pick it up with a crane if we a,nt to take equipment in and out of it. R. GAINEY: Well , is there equipment going in the enclosure? i R. ZIFCHOCK: Insice, yes . I I R. GAINEY: Is it fully enclosed? R. ZIFCHOCK: It it totally enclosed. I R. ANGELL: What is it a box structure or a frame or . . . R. ZIFCHOCK: No - it is probably a frame - steel studded - covered ith material that meets the fire code. R. WILCOX: I was just curious, are you building your own or are i �I f I� i:. I - 35 - I', you buying already made solar or what? OR. ZIFCHOCK: No , we are building our own - we are buying components fits pretty much our own design. }SIR. ANGELL: What is it just storage tanks and the circulating poin ? li MR. ZIFCHOCK: Yes and the back up heating unit. i R. ANGELL: You mean you are using the existing heating unit? SIR. ZIFCHOCK: No the existing heating unit is extremely inefficient�his is one of the reasons we launched into the project. The exist �ing unit will probably be done away with. It 's much too large in any event . The back up unit will be much smaller. i �R. ANGELL: The heating unit is going to be on the roof too? IMR. ZIFCHOCK: Right. For technological reasons it should all be i close together. �R. GAINEY: What are you going to do with the space that you are aking the heaters out of in the downstairs? R. ZIFCHOCK: Probably be used for storage , other equipment of ome sort. We haven't got into the panel system totally yet. This - s our first phase into it. Panels will probably go out on this f ' game . R. GAINEY: What are we talking , panels? R. ANGELL: You mean upright panels? I$ R. ZIFCHOCK:No , they pretty much lay flat - you know, it hasn't I �een engineered completely yet. Panels won' t be visible from the street. I guess there is some angle to them but . . . �R. GAINEY; What you are saying that roof area would come off an that would be in that enclosed 8 x 8 area? �R. ZIFCHOCK; The control equipment, not panels. R, GAINEY: Where would the panels be? R. ZIFCHOCK; The panels would be laying flat on the roof. This I enclosure is in one corner of that building and the rest of the i goof - it's a 1500 square foot roof area. i �R. GAINEY: Are these panels going to be visible? i MR. ZIFCHOCK: I doubt very much. I envision sometime in the futur sking for permission to put a mansard type periphery on that roof. R. GAINEY: To hide everything? �k i ji i� - 36 - I MR. ZIFCHOCK: Yes . I� MR. ANGELL: You go up higher than the roof anyway, now, right? MR. ZIFCHOCK: Excuse me? MR. ANGELL: The roof is down here and then the side is up? i MR. ZIFCHOCK: That ' s right. I MR. ANGELL: So the panels - even if they tilted slightly, you i I ( wouldn't see them anyhow, right? MR. ZIFCHOCK: No. It is very unlikely. �{ SECRETARY HOARD: Are you counting on a lot of sunshine in Ithaca? i MR. ZIFCHOCK: Yes, hopefully. It is very surprising the amount o hot water you can produce with the little sun that we do have. It is very effective. 1 MR. GAINEY: You don' t want to put a shot in your . . . I 've got a i I chart - I went to a seminar in Chicago on solar energy. New York State is a poor state - the federal government wouldn' t even make they wouldn't even make a trial run in the State of New York. The farthest north they came was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. MR, ZIFCHOCK: Yes , it 's not - the conditions aren't . . . I MR. WILCOX: I thought they tried it in a school - Groton? MR. GAINEY: Lansing. MR, ZTFCHOCK: It 's not an ideal situation but you can still gain I; some benefits out of it if it is done properly. i MR. ANGELL: You could have done well this summer. I MR. ZI'FCHOCK: Yes I know. Any other questions? Thank you. CHAIRMAN AMAN: Thank you, No further questions? (none) The Board will meet in executive session now. We 'll reappear , I can' t I i say when but we will announce the results of these cases . You are welcome to stay otherwise you will be notified by mail or you ca call Mr. Hoard's office tomorrow, i I �I i I pp i !j i li - 37 - I f BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AUGUST 4, 1980 l j EXECUTIVE SESSION I �i APPEAL NO. 1316 The Board considered the request for an area variance under Sec- tion 30. 49 and 30. 25 , Column 14 to permit addition of a small i + equipment enclosure on the roof of the non-conforming building at 1012 North Aurora Street. The property is located in an R-2b 0 use district and is deficient in required rear yard depth, and th use as a laundromat is a legal non-conforming use. MS. DE COMBRAY: I move that the Board grant the area variance requested in appeal number I 1316. MR. WILCOX; I second the motion. VOTE; 6 Yes; 0 No FINDINGS OF PACT: 1) Practical difficulties were shown in that the existing building is too close to the rear lot line. There is no practical way to correct the situa- tion. 2) The addition of solar heaters on the roof of the building will not exacer- bate the present existing area defici cies nor will it adversely affect the character of the neighborhood. I !f �i I� i i I; {j Sj I is 38 - i I , BARBARA RUANE, DO CERTIFY that I took the minutes of the Board I of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals l numbered 5-2-80 , 1306, 8-2-80 , 1312 , 1313 , 1314 , 1315 and 1316 j on August 4 , 1980 at City Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; that I have transcribed same (with the exception of appeals numbered 1312 , i 1313 and the first part of 1314 - the tape was blank) , and the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the minutes of the meeting and the Executive Session of the Board of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca and the whole thereof to the best of my ability. i i f U Barbara C. Ruane Recording Secretary i I j Sworn to before me this day of 19-80 I Notary Public JEAN I HANKINSON NOTARY PUBLIC, STATE OF NEW YORK N.. 55-1660800 QUALIFIED IN TOMPKINS COUNT r MY COMMISSION EXPIRES MARCH 30,19 r I i 1� I �i 1 U ��I