HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1980-05-19 �I
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA,
NEW YORK - MAY 19 , 1980
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APPEAL NO. 2-2-80 JVRC Enterprises (POSTPONED) 2
602 W. Buffalo Street
APPEAL NO. 3-2-80 Nate' s Floral Estates 5
402 S. Meadow Street
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ii APPEAL NO. 3-2-80 Executive Session 9
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APPEAL NO. 3-1-80 John Petrillose 10
202-204 Dryden Road &
j 206-208 Dryden Road
APPEAL NO. 3-1-80 Executive Session 13
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APPEAL NO. 4-3-80 Mr. & Mrs. Francis Wolcott 14
701 South Meadow Street
y (Kenton Plaza Motel)
APPEAL NO. 4-3-80 Executive Session 20
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APPEAL NO. 1297 Dudley & Virginia Greenwood 21
!i 214 Linn Street
(no one showed to present case)
APPEAL NO. 5-1-80 Co-op Consumer's Inc. 21
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609 W. Clinton Street
I APPEAL N0, 5-,1,80 Executive Session 26
(I APPEAL NO. 5-2-80 William T. Pritchard (DEFERRED) 27
304-306 S. Cayuga Stye-et
APPEAL N0. 1298 Anthony Albanese 27
�! 102 Adams Street
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it APPEAL NO. 1298 Executive Session 31
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APPEAL NO. 1299 Normand & Laura Mainville 32
I 105 First Street
I' APPEAL NO. 1299 Executive Session 39
I� APPEAL N0. 1300 Wesley Foundation of Ithaca 40
401 Thurston Avenue
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i( APPEAL NO. 1300 Executive Session 48
APPEAL NO. 1301 Dale & Patricia Oesterle 49
1302 East State Street
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I� APPEAL NO. 1301 Executive Session 51
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APPEAL NO. 1302 Richard T. Cutia (DEFERRED) 50
2061-2 Second Street
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CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
j COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
1 CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
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MAY 19, 1980
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,! CHAIRMAN AMAN: I will bring the meeting of the Board of Zoning
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Appeals to order. For those of you who may not be familiar with
the Board' s procedures I will very briefly tell you what we do
I1here tonight. The Board operates under the provisions of the
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jIthaca City Charter, the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and the Ithaca
Sign Ordinance and it takes four yes votes on any requested vari-
lance which means that there are five members of the Board present
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tonight and you must have four of those five members voting in you
! favor for a variance to be granted. We take the cases up in order
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as they have been filed and we simply ask the appellant to come
' forward and tonight, if you would just take this chair at the end
1' of the table , and briefly and concisely state your case, tell us
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! what it is that you are requesting and try to do that succinctly
Ijand try to stick to the facts of the case. At that point members
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, of the Board may or may not have questions for you based on your
; presentation and based on the papers that you have filed. After
I' we have finished asking questions , if we have any, I will ask
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! whether or not there is any one in the audience who wishes to spea
Iron behalf of the variance and whether or not anyone wishes to
.' speak against it. Those people will then have the right to come
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Ijup and to make their presentations as well. We do not operate
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ijunder formal rules of evidence but we ask you to come forward be-
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cause what you are saying is being recorded and we do have a recor
Hof sorts and the Board bases its decision on the evidence it takes
it
!] here at the meeting.
! Present this evening are five of the six members of the Board:
Mr, William Wilcox
Ms . Natalie deCombray
ii Dr. Martin Greenberg
Mr. Morris Angell
Mr. Alfred Aman, Jr. , Chairman
Mr. Thomas Hoard, Building Commis-
sioner & Secy to the Boaid
' Mrs. Barbara Ruane , Recording Secy
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ABSENT: Mr, Joseph Gainey, Jr.
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Mr. Hoard, if you would call the first case?
SECRETARY HOARD: The first case , Mr. Chairman, is appeal number
12-2-80 : Appeal of JVRC Enterprises for a variance
under Sections 34. 4b, 34 .5 , 34 . 8 , and 34. 3
to permit retention of the existing sign
at 602 West Buffalo Street (Joe 's Restaur-
ant) in a B-4 (business) use district. Th
!j existing sign projects more than eighteen
i' (18) inches from he face of the building,
exceeds the total area permitted, and
projects within eighteen (18) inches of a
sidewalk. The appellant is also requesting
designation of the sign as an historic
sign. This appeal has been held over at
the request of the appellant.
MR. VAIL: I 'm John Vail, President of JVRC Enterprises . Basicall
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we were refused historic status because we did not have pictures
and could not find pictures . We went through the Ithaca Journal
( microfilm, we went to the State Liquor Authority, we went to the
; family who had previously owned the restaurant before us and they
' did not have pictures of that particular sign,
; CHAIRMAN AMAN May I interrupt you? When you say you didn't have
1pictures , does that mean you didn' t have pictures showing that it
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was in place as of 1950?
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MR. VAIL: 1950. That is correct. Right. I took pictures to the
Landmarks Preservation Committee. They were also given affidavits
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(by employees, one of the owners of the place, during that period o
! time - that showed that the sign in question has been there approxi -
mately, forty- two (42) years forty some years anyhow. It is a neon
sign. Basically, we don't really know where to go from there. We
!don't have much. of an intention of tearing it down until we are
forced to but the affidavits by people that are very credible were
insufficient. The family did not have any receipt for this sign
when it was put up. I think I can understand that, forty some
jyears . But basically that ' s our appeal ^ it ' s on the basis of the
,Landmarks Preservation Committee historic landmarks,
!DR. GREENBERG: Did you submit your affidavits to the other group
Qr . . .
SMR. VAIL: Oh, yes.
DR. GREENBERG: But not to this group?
MR. VAIL: Not to this group, no,
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SDR. GREENBERG: Tom, you don' t have the affidavits?
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! SECRETARY HOARD: Yes , I did have them, but I must have given the
back to the Planning Board.
1IMR. WILCOX: I remember the sign.
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DR. GREENBERG: Forty years ago?
MR. WILCOX: About thirty. 1950 .
MR. ANGELL: Tom, have they accepted affidavits in the question of
, any other signs?
! SECRETARY HOARD: I don' t know, I don' t attend the Historic Land-
marks meetings and I don't know what, if they did accept affidavit
lin other cases.
MR. WILCOX: The Landmarks people turned you down?
MR. VAIL: They wanted - they said go to the Ithaca Journal and ge
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; pictures and go to the State Liquor Authority and get pictures from
! them. Well none of them have pictures.
�' MR. ANGELL: Well I don't think the State Liquor Authority require
1pictures of the sign . . .
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MR. VAIL: No, just the bar.
!! CHAIRMAN AMAN: We don' t seem to have a copy of the affidavit.
MR. VAIL: I would be happy to get new affidavits if you like -
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1 from the same people.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: A copy would do.
1MR. VAIL: I gave them the affidavits - the Historical Landmarks
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!! Preservation Committee.
; SECRETARY HOARD: Did you go through the Planning Board after
the . . . ?
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SMR. VAIL: I don' t think so.
1MR. ANGELL: How many affidavits do you have?
MR. VAIL: Three. I could get a lot more than that - believe me -
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'; from residents of the City.
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MR, ANGELL: Why don' t you get two or three more. . , and
! SECRETARY HOARD: And bring them to this Board.
! MR. ANGELL: Yes .
;SMR. VAIL: Okay. The next meeting?
SECRETARY HOARD:HOARD It would be June 2nd, But you do need to go to
! the Planning Board if you haven' t and it dawned on me as we were
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! talking about this , that maybe you hadn' t gone through that , after
! the Historic people.
MR. VAIL: Okay. What do I do there? Who do I have to see?
, SECRETARY HOARD: Well , give me a call tomorrow and I ' ll set it up.
SMR. VAIL: Okay. Is that it for me then?
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Unless we have any other questions.
MS. DE COMBRAY: Why was there no action at the Planning and
Development?
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MR. ANGELL: He didn' t go before them.
IMS. DE COMBRAY: Oh, he just . . .
SMR. ANGELL: So that is what we are suggesting he should do now.
SECRETARY HOARD: This would have been on the last Tuesday in
April .
IMR. VAIL: Is that something I 'm supposed to know to do? It is
; general knowledge?
SECRETARY HOARD: Yes , but I can understand why, in all the things
` that have gone on - you've been sent back for more information, I
scan understand why you didn't do it. The Historic people are
supposed to tell you that that's the next step.
MR. WILCOX: Well, can we discuss it subject to the affidavits?
ICan we still take it up in executive session?
CHAIRMAN AMAN: I don't see why not.
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SECRETARY HOARD: I 'm not sure whether since he hasn' t been
(through the Planning Board whether this Board can act. I don' t
(think. it can act. I 'd suggest taking the affidavits to the Plan-
Ining Board next month, or at the end of this month - they will
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!meet the last Tuesday in the month, as it now scheduled and
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then they' ll they' ll hear it and then you can come to the June 2nd meeting
of this Board.
MR. VAIL: Okay, So that is sufficient. Now can I contact you
Itomorrow?
(SECRETARY HOARD: Yes.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Thank you. We' ll pass over appeal no. 3-1-80 for
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the moment and go to appeal no. 3-2 .80.
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( SECRETARY HOARD: Appeal No. 3-2-80 :
Appeal of Nate' s Floral Estates
for a sign variance under Section
f 34. 4f and 34 . 5a-4 to permit reten-
tion of the sign at 402 South
Meadow Street in a B-4 use distric .
' The sign is located on property
other than the premises on which
the advertised business is located
and thus falls under the definitio
i of a billboard, a prohibited use .
The sign also exceeds the maximum
size permitted for a directional
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IMR. WEINSTEIN: I 'm Fred Weinstein, I 'm the attorney for Nate ' s
Floral Estates and I 'm appearing here at the request of their
lofficers. The sign in question is a sign approximately 5 x 6 and
( I 've got a photograph here of the sign. It' s located on the west
! side of Meadow Street, slightly to the left as you approach Meadow
Street on Clinton from town. The sign is located on the Smith.
Hardware property with the consent of the owner of Smith Hardware
jCompany and I have a letter addressed to the Board approving of the
(sign on their property. I previously submitted to the Building
IiCommissioner a letter from approximately twenty people residing
l ,n the area with. the request that it be submitted to the Board.
Addressing the sign itself, the purpose of the sign is brought
about by a rather unique situation that exists , street-wise, in the
city. I don't know of any other part of the city that has a similar
isituation. I've drawn a little rough sketch here and you will have
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Ito pardon it - it is rather homemake - and I 'd like to point out to
'you the location of the Nate' s Floral Estates , which consists of
quite a few mobile homes. It is a park on West Clinton Street
approximately at this point (pointing at the sketch). The topo-
graphy, the area of this the street layout in the City of Ithaca
s as you come down Clinton Street, past the Co-op and you reach
eadow and cross the road you are not crossing onto Clinton Street .
ou are entering Fulton Street, As you go west on Titus and you
Ireach. Meadow Street you cross the road, you don' t continue on
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Meadow Street, you are on West Clinton Street, So that a person or
ersons seeking to go on West Clinton Street and coming westerly
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�n Clinton past the Co-op or going south on Meadow - when they reacli
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lthe corner of Fulton would naturally assume that if you have Clinton
on .one side of the street , you have Clinton on the other side of the
street. As a result, this sign drawing people' s attention, as
` primarily facing Clinton toward the Co-op, that you cross the brid e
land its the first right past the bridge, is just about the only wa
lanybody that is not completely familiar with the area would be abl
pito find West Clinton Street. The sign itself stands by itself -
lin back of it is a big sewer pipe which is hidden by the sign and
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!on the corner of W. Clinton and Meadow there is a different sign -
the West Commercial Park Sign, approximately - my best guess and
lit' s only a guess - I 'd say about 600 feet on which there are listed
Ifourteen various commercial establishments , Wallace Steel , Tryon,
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'all the other factories , etc. that are located there. We have no
desire to put a sign next to that because nobody wants a prolifer-
ation of signs blocking everybody' s view. The signstands by itself,
it is not a high sign, it's got the arrow on it and it is primarily
for the purpose of telling people where to go. The people that
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`live at Nate ' s Floral Estates are primarily retired people and
people that come visiting thea are usually in the same age group
i,and they do have a difficult time finding the place. I have had a
difficult time myself finding it until I learned my way around
{there. The sign faces , as I said, the Clinton Street primarily and
�is for their purpose. Your Ordinance provides various criteria for
Ithe Board to use in determining whether or not a variance should be
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granted. The purpose of the sign being one of those things to be
(considered and we submit to the Board that the purpose is a worth
hile purpose. The sign - the size of the sign is not excessive,
as I say - it is 5 x 6 and in order to be visible to the people tha
must see it, the driving public, who are proceeding on that point
to either slowing down from 40 or hitting 40 - the sign would have
,to be legible to them - it would haveto be legible across to the
pth.er side of the road. The Ordinance takes into consideration the
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.fact that you should consider whether or not there are other signs
land again I say the sign stands by itself. In fact, it is camou-
,�flage for that sewer pipe as to which I' spoke. The character of
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' the neighborhood is , and I am sure you are all familiar with that
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( part of Meadow Street , is not a residential area primarily, there
1, have been no objections that we have learned of from anybody.
!' Everybody in the area appears to be in support of it. It would no
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! change the character of it, it would not in any way degrade the
` neighborhood, harm it, it is merely providing a directional sign i
substance for those people who are seeking to visit the many
people that live at Nate' s Floral Estates . And we ask the Board
for such a variance. I would like to submit the sketch, I would
, like to submit the picture. And I 'm submitting the petition and a
letter from Mrs. Colangeli, owner of Smith Hardware. There may or
may not be people present from the park, I have no idea.
,! CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any questions from the Board? Thank you very much
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Il Is there anyone here wishing to speak on behalf of the proposed
variance?
GROVER BARR: My name is Grover Barr, Nate 's Floral Estates , 719
! West Clinton, Lot 29. I would like to see that sign stay because
when anybody comes to visit they can' t find the place. I 'm just
asking if you would.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: How many people live in the park?
MR. BARR: There are ninety-one homes set up in the park.
, CHAIRMAN AMAN: Thank you very much.
IMR. BARR: Thank you.
CLAIRE UPDYKE: I 'm Claire Updike and I live at 719 W. Clinton
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, Street in the Nate' s Floral Estates , lot 33. I 've lived in Tompkins
County all my life and been somewhat in politics for quite awhile.
I 'm not now but I think that sign ought to stay. We have a lot
of people come to see us from Syracuse and if they can't find Nate
Floral Estates , they can' t find us , so we tell them about the sign
and I can' t see where it is doing any harm and it certainly not
Igoing to fall down and hit somebody on the head and I would like
to see it stay there.
; CHAIRMAN AMAN: Thank you very much.
� MR. PERRY; Harold Perry, lot 105 , Nate' s Floral Estates. I run
j!! Hap' s Wrecker Service. I 'd like to see it stay because nobody can
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even find me down on Brindley Street - they don't know where the
streets are or anything else. You try to tell them how to get to
Clinton Street - they don' t know.
! CHAIRMAN AMAN: For my own information, on Clinton Street, at the
( park itself, is there a sign?
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MR. PERRY: On the park itself?
( CHAIRMAN AMAN: Right.
MR. PERRY: Not that I know of, no. Yes - there is on the fence -
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la sign on the fence that says Nates. But when you come down the
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street you tell people to come to Clinton Street, they come to
Clinton Street and there is no extension of Clinton Street there
until you cross the bridge and then you've got to find Clinton
Street that way. So a lot of people from out of town can't even
, find me down there in that corner. And I run a business there
( I 've been there for ten years now there are very few people that
lcan even find me until I 've taken and explained to them exactly
( how to get to the place .
'MS. DE COMBRAY; Do you have another sign . . . ?
MR. PERRY: There is a sign on that post there that I paid to have
put up there. But a lot of people don't even look for that big
sign because its not lit up or anything else , you know. You are
coming fast right along you don't see it - where over where that
sign is - you hit the light on this side of the bridge, they are
stopping before they get to it and they've got a chance to see it.
But the other sign on the other side of the bridge you don' t see
it until you try to explain to them that they've got to stop
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; before the brodge. Okay? Thank you.
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CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone else?
LIZ MANN: I 'm Liz Mann and I reside at 24 Nate' s Floral Estates.
II consider the sign very inconspicuous , really. Far from being
too large it - in most people' s opinion - is too small , because th t
! intersection is so busy and traffic is so heavy that its - you nee
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something to stop them before they get to West Clinton - which is
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, just over the bridge in order for them to locate the park. And
the park sitting back from the street so far is inconspicuous and
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jI think the sign is the only way you know it is there .
( CHAIRMAN AMAN: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on behalf
! ofthe proposed variance? (no one) Is there anyone here wishing
to speak against the proposed variance? (no one) .
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i EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 3-2-80
( The Board considered the request for a sign variance under Section
� 34 .4f and 34. 5a-4 to permit retention of the sign at 402 South
Meadow Street in a B-4 use district. The sign is located on
property other than the premises on which the advertised business
is located, and thus falls under the definition of a billboard,
a prohibited use. The sign also exceeds the maximum size permitted
for a directional sign.
DR. GREENBERG: I move that the Board deny the sign variance
requested in this appeal.
MR. ANGELL: I second the motion.
IFINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The sign in question is a billboard, which i
a prohibited use.
2) To the extent that there is difficulty in findin
the mobile home park, this difficulty should be
remedied by better street signs erected by the
proper city agencies .
3) It is suggested that the appellant contact prope
city authorities to obtain adequate marking of
West Clinton Street.
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4) Given that the problem raised in this appeal can
and should be dealt with, with adequate street
signs , we do not feel that it would be in the
public interest to create an exception for a
billboard which is designated by the Sign Ordi-
nance to be a prohibited-ruse .
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5) There is no indication in this record that finan-
cial hardship will be incurred if this sign is
removed.
VOTE: 5 Yes : 0 No ; 1 Absent . Sign variance request de ied
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
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COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
May 19, 1980
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SECRETARY HOARD: Okay, the next appeal is appeal number 3-1-80 :
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Appeal of John Petrillose for a sign
variance under Section 34 .4b and Sec-
tion 34. 8 to permit the retention of
II the existing signs at 202-204 Dryden Road
and 206-,208 Dryden Road (Johnny' s Big
Red Grill) in a B-2b (business) use
district. One sign, on 202--204 Dryden
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inches from the face of the building,
the maximum projection permitted. This
j sign has received historic designatio
from the Landmarks Preservation Commis-
sion.
ommi -Sion. The second sign, at 206-208
Dryden Road, is a pole sign which is
i? set too close to the public right-of-
way, in violation of the setback re-
quirements of the Ordinance.
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{ MR. PICHEL: I ' ll speak first - I 'm Mike Pichel and I 'm appearing
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! on behalf of John and Ruth Petrillose , the owners . I ' ll speak first
, about the Johnny' s Big Red florescent sign and I 've got pictures o
Ithe sign. That sign received historic designation - we had the
' building permit for 1949 and we have the 1949 menu that showed a
Ipictoral designation of the sign. I don' t know whether the appli-
' cation for that is proforma or do you want me to speak more to thi
! issue? It' s a landmark in the collegetown area and I think removal.
!' would be a great expense to the goodwill of John and Ruth Petrillose ' s
11business , I think it is something that alumni of Cornell University
look for when they come back here. Many generations have been fed
fiat Johnny' s. St' s steel with neon illumination - it ' s a rarity in
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' contemporary sign building and I think the removal of this sign
' would deprave the collegetown community of a unique historic land
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mark.
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�ICHAIRMAN AMAN: That ' s been designated?
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11MR. PICHEL: It has been designated so . . . The other sign which al! o
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' shows in the picture is the Johnny' s carry-out sign. I will pass
! the pictures back around. It ' s the sign it ' s on two poles , it ' s
slit from inside - it has - it is set into the concrete with two poles.
� I,f you take a look at the pictures you' ll see that the sign - the
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, base of the sign itself, there is no encroachment and it is okay
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, it is essentially - the apostrophe "s" of Johnny's overhangs too
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far. I don' t want to belabor the issue I think the sign could
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�! be moved, I don' t think the city would really gain anything at all
�1by moving the sign. It would be set back, I think about 18" to 2 '
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It is set into concrete with two poles. There is underground
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,! utilities that run to it R there would be expense to the Petri!
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Moses and I think the benefit to the City of Ithaca would be small
I come to you with an approval from the Planning Board for retenti n
lof this sign. The Petrilloses I don't think the sign - if they
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!! need any permit for the sidewalk overhang - they are willing to
,! apply for the permit if they get the designation and pay the fee .
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, Both- of the owners are quite elderly in their 70' s - I don' t
,, think that it is a sign that you are going to have to contend with
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after that - after they close their business. And I think the gaim
: to the city just would be negligible. If you take a look at the
ilphptograph, you'll see that the sign really doesn't protrude any
Hfurther than the Johnny' s big red sign or the Johnny' s building
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; and really not any further than the shrubbery in front of Baker
! Travel Agency. When it comes around - I 've tried to take pictures
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yup the street that would show that..
IICHAIRMAN AMAN: Any willingness to remove the apostrophe "s"?
11MR. PICHEL: Well I think that if you denied the application, that
they would bit the bullet and move the sign. There is no danger -
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'; the Planning Department didn't see any danger of anyone - you know
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; it ' s not that it is too low or anything like that. The only thing
1wrong with this sign is that it overhangs the - it encroaches more
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1than the Ordinance allows - up on the top. You are permitted to
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i! have the sign up there that high and the base is okay, it ' s just
;! probably if anybody had thought about it back when they put it in
they would have set it back a few more inches .
11DR. GREENBERG: Tom, is the size and all other features appropriat
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! SECRETARY HOARD: Yes, I think that is the only - as I recall - that
his the only problem with that one.
That' s it.
1MR. PICHEL:
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IiMR. WILCOX: That the combined square footage of both signs?
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'jSECRETARY HOARD: Well there are actually two separate properties.
IMR. WILCOX: Oh they are .
SECRETARY HOARD: So there is no problem with the number of signs ,
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for square footage.
!MR. WILCOX: Oh, okay.
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!MR. PICHEL: I think that the Johnny' s Big Red Grill with the his-
lItoric designation actually sticks out further, but that has the
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historic designation.
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iCHAIRMAN AMAN: Are they roughly the same height?
MR. ANGELL: No.
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IMR. PICHEL: No , no. Here you can see the height. There was dis-
Icuss on about it at the Planning Board and I think that they just
! felt that there wasn' t that much that the City would gain by re-
1, quiring it to be moved. I can' t tell you that it is the end of th
,world if they have to move it.
JCHAIRMAN AMAN: Any questions from the Board?
IISECRETARX HOARD: I think we just need one set of the pictures .
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jMR. PICHEL: Can you send them back when you are done? I ' ll leave
Ithem all , if I could get them back I would appreciate it. If you
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: would just let me know, I ' ll send somebody down to pick them up,
iII 'm not going to wait. Thank you.
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CHAIRMAN AMAN: It occurs to me that when I opened the meeting I
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jldid not - I failed to mention that the Board will set in executive
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( session after we hear all of our cases and then we will resume and
announce our decisions. Anyone wishing to stay is welcome to. Yo
cannot be in the room while we deliberate but if you want to find
, out how the case came out you can find out tonight - otherwise you
will be notified by Mr. Hoard by phone or by mail. Is there anyon
' wishing to speak for the proposed variance? (no one) Anyone wish
ling to speak. against it? (no one) . Next case.
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MR. PICHEL; Thank you.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
!I CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
I! May 19, 1980
EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 3-1-80 :
The Board considered the request for sign variances under Section
34 . 4b and 34 . 8 to permit the retention of existing signs at 202-
3204 Dryden Road and 206- 208 Dryden Road (Johnny' s Big Red Grill)
in a B-2b use district. One sign, on 202-204 Dryden Road projects
more than eighteen (18) inches from the face of the building, the
( maximum projection permitted. The second sign, at 206-208 Dryden
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Road (Carry-out) is a pole sign which. is set too close to the
! public right-of-way, in violation of the setback requirements of
, the Ordinance.
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jiDR. GREENBERG: I move that the Board approve both signs on
j Johnny' s Big Red Grill and Carry-out Service at
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�! 202-204 Dryden Road and 206-208 Dryden Road.
' MS. DE COMBRAY: I second the motion.
VOTE: 5 Yes , 0 No, 1 Absent. Sign variance approved
FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The sign at 202-204 Dryden Road has received
historical classification from the Landmarks
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j Preservation Commission and thus qualifies as an
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�f exception under Section 34 . 3 of the Sign Ordinance .
2) The second sign at 206-208 Dryden Road is non-
conforming to the extent that it projects into
the public right-of-way, but this projection is
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minimal.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
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CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY 19, 1980
( SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal number 4-3-80 :
Appeal of Mr. & Mrs. Francis W. Wolco t
i for a variance under Section 34. 6-A-1
1 (permitted number of signs) and 34 . 8
1 (required setback for signs) to perm;
retention of the existing pole sign a
701 South Meadow Street (Kenton Plaza
Motel) in a B-2-A (business) use dis-
trict . The existing pole sign consis s
of several individual signs which ex-
ceed the total area permitted and project
over the public right-of-way.
SMR. WOLCOTT: Gentlemen. My name is Francis W. Wolcott , my wife
land I own and operate the Kenton Plaza Motel on Route 13 which is ,
'cif you are not familiar with it , it 's a one-story wood frame
! structure located on approximately four acres of land. It has bee
! there - built , as far as we can find out between 1953 and 1954 and
as far as I know, also some sort of the sign certainly has been
, there and I can' t find out for sure the date on this particular
':, sign - if this is the original sign. We applied originally, as yo 'l1
notice on the zoning appeals forms , to the question of undue fi.nan
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ficial hardship as well as the close proximity to a B-5 business zon
;which., on Route 13 is totally commercial , at least around - and I
wish that we had been in the Common Council chambers again so that
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I. I could use the map because the map shows it up very well , as I
; showed the Planning Commission. In lieu of that , since I knew we
iweren' t going to be here, I took some pictures today to show the
; non-residential shots. This is a shot from the roof of the Kenton
; Plaza Motel showing the sign as well as the construction across th
! street of Tops Market and Garage deFrance which is now located di-
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rectly across from us - it will be as the construction is complete
This particular shot here is from across the street of Route 13 at
the corner of Wood and Meadow Street showing the sign and also
� showing the four approximately four acre field ball field, par
! that the city owns adjacent to that , showing that there is no ' resi
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denti.al property within even five hundred feet. We had to dig
I1rather deeply just to find out wh.o owned the Plaza that is on the
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done side of us - if you are familiar with it. Across from us is
BTS Tire - will be Garage DeFrance, Tops Market next to that and
; the ball park on the other side and then the high rise behind us.
; This again is another shot. And also Route 13 is a forty mile an
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; house zone and the restriction on that particular signage in a B-2
; zone and I 'm not familiar with why it was classified B-2a zone but
( the particular - that'a a four-lane highway, forty miles an hour
land the sign setback according to what 34 .6-A-1 is not to exceed,
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# I think it is fifty square feet , that ' s approximately a four by
eight sheet of plywood and our advertising is limited mainly to
Ithat sign. We are an independent motel , we are not affiliated wit
any chain. We need that sign for the traveling public to see and at
forty miles an hour in the middle of the night , a four by eight
! sign, if it were even able to be constructed, which we are not able
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to - the supporting financial documentation is there. . .
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'MR. WILCOX: You mean six by eight don' t you?
MR. WOLCOTT: Fifty square feet. Approximately a sheet of plywood -
�Itwo feet larger than a piece of plywood. We live on the property
mover the office area and, as I say, according - you may look at the
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`(supporting documentation - there is a financial statement there . I
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!also have a - we have just been through the Assessment Board with
their new assessment and we are in need of a $55 ,000. roof this
!year in order just to save the property and I have that bid here
(also, as well as the Assessor's Office granting us a new assessment
,1a lower assessment because of that and I would hope after reviewing
this that you would agree with the Planning Commission, the Planning
Board, and one of the big problems I might also mention because it
will probably come up in your executive session- you may want to
Task some questions on it - and that is the uniqueness of this prop-
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lierty as compared with the Meadow Court Motel which you people have
(already denied an appeal to . Again, if we were in the Common Coun-
cil Chambers it shows up very well on the aerial map and I - hope-
!fully showed you with these pictures the distinct characteristic
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hof this motel because the Meadow Court is located totally surrounde
Ion all sides by a residential property. Our property is not - its
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;; surrounded by the high rise which is six, seven hundred feet behind
gus - a ball field on one side , the Ithaca Shopping Plaza on the
" other and now Tops Market and Garage deFrance and rather than change
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, the zone, we would hope that you would give us a non-conforming us
! forour sign. It has been there - it hasn't caused any aesthetic
; negative values to the community. It has been there, as far as I
1Iknow, since the Motel was built approximately twenty-six years ago
lIt is constructed of I-beam steel and, again the cost of a new sig ,
Hand I had a letter sent by Mr. Hoard to the Meadow Court denying
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( theirs and also listing the cost to set the sign back to conform
would be minimum $4, 500. To put a new sign up, would be somewhere
lin the neighborhood of $15 , 000 to $20,000. That has already been
! documented for this Board as to the sign. I would be glad to get
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more estimates if you like. The business is young - we 've only
! been there five years and we do not have the capital to support th
! pay back of a roof and a sign. And without a sign we are out of
jbusiness , it is that simple. We rely totally on that sign.
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! MR. WILCOX: So what does it exceed the . . . ?
iMR. WOLCOTT: In a B-2 zone it exceeds by 106 feet. In a B-5 zone
, it would be over the limit by six square feet.
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IMR. WILCOX: That is a total of the three signs?
IMR. WOLCOTT: And it is a B-5 zone directly across the road within
' thirty feet of us , And it is also on the left side of us where
the Plaza . . .
iMR. WILCOX: So that is all three sides that is on .
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IMR. WOLCOTT: Right , that is the total signage , yes sir.
! CHAIRMAN AMAN: How far back would it have to be set to conform?
iMR. WILCOX: May I see the pictures?
IMR. WOLCOTT: Surely.
IMR. WOLCOTT: Under the Section 34. 6 -A,1 , one free-standing sign n t
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Ito exceed fifty square feet in area including the frame work, not
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exceeding thirty feet in height . . . erect or maintain such . . .
, within eighteen inches of a public or private right-of-way. Mr.
!
` Hoard probably has the information as to the projection over the
!! sidewalk.
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' SECRETARY HOARD: The sign itself should be set back at least ten
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;! feet from any public highway or street right-of-way.
MR. WOLCOTT: Whic is different for the city and the state. The
iistate and the city do not agree on that according to . . .
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j! MR. WILCOX: What is the lower sign for? Specials of the day or
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something?
� MR. WOLCOTT: Yes sir. Right now we do it . . .
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MR. WILCOX: There isn't any way to eliminate one section of the sign
under the square foot?
MR. WOLCOTT: No sir, it' s one total sign.
DR. GREENBERG: What was the Planning Board recommendation?
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SMR. WOLCOTT: They would not accept any information on financial
( hardship. They only acted on the distinct location and the proximity
Ito the B-5 zone.
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! SECRETARY HOARD: And that was so long ago that I don't rememb er .
�MR. WOLCOTT: It has been three months , yes . I 've been waiting, I
was in hopes - I knew it was a touchy issue and I wanted to wait f r
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all six members being present and the last two meetings there were
only four - that is the reason I waited.
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CHAIRMAN AMAN: What was their decision?
iMR. WOLCOTT: They- voted in favor of the variance.
IDR.. GREENBERG: On the basis of its proximity to a B-577
IMR. WOLCOTT: To, again, the Tops Market , it' s a non-residential
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urea and, as I said, I 'm not familiar why they ever classified it
a B-2 zone or a B-2a zone. But with one hundred fifty foot signag
Iwe would only be six square feet over which I - I 'm hopeful it
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iwbuld not be necessary to move that..
ICHAIRMAN AMAN: You would still have right-of-way problems though
Ino matter what zone it was.
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MR. WOLCOTT: Yes , but the state will go along with the right-of-way
1problems , at least , so I understand through the Petrullis ' who own
ilthe Meadow Court because it over a $1 ,000 hardship. The state
uses a classification of a $1 ,000 as a hardship figure and which
th.e city apparently does not . Considering that they were shown
estimates of ranging from $4 ,500 , to $20,00.0 . it didn't affect any
thing. But again, that was on a different property which is in
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lithe heart of other structures - it is right in a residential area
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Mand I 'm not here to debate that point, I am here to maintain our
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,!sign which is - without it we are out of business - it is as simple
that.
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!CHAIRMAN AMAN: Where did this $4 , 500 figure come from? Do we
lihave that estimate . . . ?
SMR. WOLCOTT: That was presented to you on the moving figure through
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11the letter that was brought in by the Meadow Court - the estimates
II have that I don' t have with me at the present time but I would
The glad to submit them - range from $4 , 500 upwards to $20, 000 for a
Inew sign. $4, 500 to move it and, as you can see from the financial
�Iinformation I submitted, we are not capable of supporting it. Be
!glad to answer any questions you might have.
{MR. ANGELL: Bill asked the question that the bottom thing can't
�be removed. You say no -
IMR. WOLCOTT The marque parte I 'm not familiar with it - I
,haven' t had an estimate on that at this time. Okay, the marque
art is the white part at the bottom that currently I think we are
advertising lounge entertainment on.
�R. ANGELL: You do have the square footage of that?
R. WOLCOTT: That particular part of the sign? No sir I don' t.
R. ANGELL: Do you have it Tom?
SECRETARY HOARD: No. I don' t have it broken down, no.
R. WILCOX: How many motels- there areal t too many motels actual
ly in the city are there?
�R. WOLCOTT: In the city? Probably the Ramada, the Meadow Court
End myself. In the collegetown there would probably be one in the
ity also. Other than the major chains on the hill. And I would
just say, that was the and I was unable to obtain, since we just
(ought the property approximately 4,1, to 5 years ago, records were
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of very accessible because it was run out of New York City by a
Tnan that let the property deteriorate quite badly. But in any case
I� t was not available and I 'm not sure if that sign is even old
�nough for historic reasons but even if it was not , our main con
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jtention, of course , is the financial hardship that it is going to
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if cause on us as independent motel operators . And, of course , a
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smaller sign in that forty mile an hour area . . .
MR. ANGELL: What is the total area of that sign?
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;; SECRETARY HOARD: 156 square feet.
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MR. WOLCOTT: 156. And rather than appeal to change the zone en-
tirely we hope you will see it here.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any questions?
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MR. WILCOX: A very thorough presentation of it. There ' s a lot of
data there.
�IMR. WOLCOTT: Thank you. Well it ' s a - fortunately as small busi-
Iness owners we responded to a program that the S.B.A. offers for
hotel school in conjunction with. the S.B.A. does - if you ask them
jthey come in and will evaluate your property in any particular are
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�jthat you want. They did an area on finance for us . They did an
�jarea on zoning appeals . A girl that spoke in favor of us - as Mr.
!, Hoard might remember - from Cornell University that was working on
; this with me. She had to go back to California so she is not
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available to make any presentation but I have more supporting docu-
mentation that they have done, federal cases and validity of pro-
I visions for this . Tank you very much. Do you need those
pictures?
, SECRETARY HOARD: Yes we need those for the file.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone here wish. to speak on behalf of the re-
quested variance? (.no one) . Is there anyone here washing to spea
ljagainst it? (no one) We' ll move on to the next case, then.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
May 19, 1980
EXECUTIVE SESSION
iAPPEAL NO. 4-3-80 :
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IThe Board considered the request for a variance under Section 34. 6-
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IA-1 and 34 . 8 to permit retention of the existing pole sign at 701
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, South Meadow Street (Kenton Plaza Motel) in a B-2-A use district.
, The existing pole sign consists of several individual signs which
lexceed the total area permitted and project over the public right-
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iof-way.
!MS. DE COMBRAY: I move that the Board grant the sign variance
requested in this appeal.
!MR. WILCOX: I second the motion.
1�VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent
I�FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) Undue hardship given this is a locally owned
motel that depends heavily on its sign for
attracting its clientele.
2) Though the motel is located in a B-2a district ,
it is immediately adjacent to and across from
a B-5 district which allows a 150 square foot
sign to exist.
3) The sign in question exceeds the 150 square
foot maximum by a minimal amount .
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY 19, 1980
SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is - is anyone here for appeal
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number 1297? Appeal of Dudley and Virginia Greenwood? (no one
showed for this appeal) .
Appeal Number 5-1-80 : Appeal of Co-op Consumer' s Inc. for a
variance under Section 34. 6-A-1 to permit
retention of the free-standing sign at
j 609 West Clinton Street (Co-op) in a
li B-2a (business) use district. The exist-
ing sign exceeds the maximum permitted
area for a free-standing sign in that
zone.
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MR. CORRIGAN: Good evening. I am Hugh Corrigan and I 'm president
I of the Board of Directors for the Co-op Consumers Inca We acknow-
ledge that the sign as it stands is in violation of the Ordinance
and we are not appealing it. We are not , tonight, going to ask for
! a variance. We acknowledge we are in violation. We are requesting
from you a one year stay of execution if that' s what you will call
it. Give us a year to bring our sign into compliance. We have
three reasons for this request, One, economic hardship to the
jco-op Consumers Inc. I think you've all been reading the papers
jand you know that we are - that we closed the food store last
December and this caused a loss of forty jobs and a half a million
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dollar a year annual payroll. There is no way of measuring the loss
to the local merchants in the Plaza. We are trying desperately to
get some refinancing and retain our identity. If we are made to
take down this sign at this time - that ' s really an undue financial
hardship, we hardly have the moneys to pay to have it hauled away.
Reason number two is financial hardship to the merchants in the
Plaza. Ever since we closed the doors of the food store which was
the anchor store of the Plaza, the traffic there has - as obvious ,
has gone down, down, down and the merchants are really suffering.
I 'm not talking about a little bit, but a lot. Some of them are
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having a great deal of difficulty meeting their rental payments ,
I� several of them have indicated to us that if they did not have a
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j lease they would be out of there tonight - so that there is a real
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,ieconomic hardship to the merchants in the Plaza. If you take the
sign down, you are making their situation worse yet and I think
, that all of us have heard and read in the papers that the local
1government - the city government, I mean if we really want to
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jjencourage business , this is not the way to do it. However , to go
back to my original point - we acknowledge that we are in violatio -
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we are merely asking now - give us time to see if we can get our
own act together, if that is what you want to call it and if we can
eget the Co-op back and running and then let us address ourselves
to this. Now the third point, and I have received several calls
( from people in the neighborhood and I never thought of it until
just the other day - when I was reminded the fact that the light
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is on - the big - the sign that is too big to meet your requirements
its on all the time at night - apparently is a deterent to local
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vandalism, muggings , rapes , whatever you want to call it and I 've
!had several calls and I 'd be glad to provide names , or whatnot , that
this
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this is in fact, a deterrent to vandalism, rape and what not. So
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!we rest our case on economic hardship but we are asking for a
stay of execution for one year.
' SECRETARY HOARD: Would you also - I thank this question should be
masked - if the Board couldn' t give you a permanent variance unless
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iyou asked for it.
MR. CORRIGAN: We are not asking for a variance, sir. I 'm asking
for a - for you to give us a stay of execution for one year. We' re
'agreeing that we are in - that we are not in compliance, we agree
ith. that. We are not arguing that all we are asking is that - will
ou please give us one year to get straightened out because if you
(force us to take this sign down now it will cause a large outlay of
money and really put the final death knoll on the Co-op Plaza and
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we are right at a point now where we are negotiating new financing
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�nd trying to get this thing back together and get a food store
�� tarted again and it would just kill business that will be the
�inal death knell for business in that Plaza.
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DR. GREENBERG: I think you anticipated Mr . Hoard' s question. At
least the question that I thought he was going to ask was whether -
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!' in view of your honesty the Board might actually go and give you a
variance. I have never heard such an honest presentation.
; SECRETARY HOARD: If you don' t ask for it the Board can' t grant it
IMR. CORRIGAN: We ' ll take it.
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MR. ANGELL: Isn' t it in our jurisdiction to grant an extension?
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( SECRETARY HOARD: Well you could.
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�! MR. CORRIGAN: But if you are so inclined to give us a variance,
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; we ' ll take it.
!! CHAIRMAN AMAN: When did the store reopen?
IMR. CORRIGAN: The store has not reopened. It was closed in Decem
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1� ber and here it is May going into June and, if you can appreciate
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the loss of traffic and volume there I can speak for at least
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done of the merchants who runs a liquor store there - his volume is
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111down like 500 . The drug store - he really would not like to be
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1there - if he didn't have a lease he would be out of there. Several
. other tenants, without mentioning names , are having real difficult
meeting their obligations and there is no question about it - the
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; traffic and anybody who knows anything about Plazas - you have to
(! have an anchor store and the food store isn't there and that is wh t
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! was pulling the people in.
; CHAIRMAN AMAN: When do you estimate it will be open again?
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� MR. CORRIGAN: If we get the refinancing that we are seeking there
; is a possibility that we would reopen around the first of Septembe .
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( But that is all very iffy iffy. That is why I come to you asking
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! for a delay because I don' t know what our own future is . And it
11would certainly be understood that if for some reason that the
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; owneof the real estate changed hands then that is a differen game, but as of now we, the Co-op, are owners of the real
!' estate we are responsible and that' s our appeal. But I think in
' your our executive session, if you wish to give us a variance, we ' ll
; take it.
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�! MR. WILCOX: You don't have any photographs do you?
jMR. CORRIGAN: Yes I do.
IIi MR. WILCOX: I 'd like to see them.
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they are taken by an
'; MR. CORRIGAN: Yes . They aren' t very good -
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+ insurance agent who rents an office up in the . . .
IMR. WILCOX: Well I just wondered, you know - if a new tenant shou d
modify the sign too.
�' MR. CORRIGAN: There' s a batch of photographs taken from various
11angles in the area and we ' ll donate them to your committee.
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MR. WILCOX: How much does this exceed the - is it set back too?
ljMR. CORRIGAN: One interesting side note on this is that sign was
Input there sixteen or seventeen years ago by Ithaca Plastics and
it has never had service and - believe this or not - the kids have
Inever
thrown a rock through it . Don' t ask why but that sign has
never been serviced, and they have never had to come back to repai
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'j it.
�I MR. WILCOX: How much does it exceed?
MR. CORRIGAN: It exceeds the - by about twice. In other words ,
� we are twice as big as I understand - we've got about one hundred
fsquare feet in that sing. And I think you . . .
SECRETARY HOARD: Fifty square feet.
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MR. WILCOX: Fifty is the . . .
MR. CORRIGAN: So we are about twice as big as . . .
H SECRETARY HOARD: But if it were in a B-,5 zone shopping center,
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it would be allowed 150 squre feet. They are halfway between the
two.
IMR. WILCOX: Well , what does that measure - both sides of the sign
or the total - well there are two signs really. Is that the way
YO
u look at it -t two signs or one?
! SECRETARY HOARD: No, just one face - you only see one face .
MR. WILCOX: Oh, okay.
i' MR. CORRIGAN: Face area on one side? Alright , it is still 100
square feet - Bill , its 100 square feet on one face.
is MR. WILCOX, Oh., I see. I just didn' t remember it that big. Well ,
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it doesn't look like that sign could be modified too much for a
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{ new tenant but . . .
MR. CORRIGAN: Well it is a free standing sign on heavy steel beams .
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� It would be - I didn' t .get a firm quote but it would be up in the
four figures to take it down and haul it to the County Landfill.
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Well up in the four figures . And the Plaza would be dark.
�IMR. WILCOX: I ' ll knock it down for $100. 00.
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! CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions from the Board?
IIMR. CORRIGAN: Thank you very much.
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ICHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone here wishing to speak on behalf of the
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requested variance?
SMR. FOSTER: Charles Foster, I 'm one of the vice presidents of the
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Cooperative Consumers Inc. and I also have the unhappy task of
running the real estate at this point too. I just want to reiterate
! what Hugh said in regards to the merchants �- their advertising is all
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keyed off the Co-op Plaza or the existence of the Plaza and the
�Isign is very noticeable from Route 13 to entice people to try to
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make it across that intersection and get in there and buy somethin .
Just in passing, you mentioned the revamping - it ' s a single unit
unfortunately its pop rivi.ted together so I climbed up there one
; Saturday with the idea that maybe we can rip some of these panel
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, out of here and make the fifty square feet but that' s not the way
pit is. If it were to be brought within the fifty square feet it
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!: would have to be taken down and reconstructed in some fashion to
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;; meet the fifty square feet. Mr. Hoard, I kind of got the feeling,
din fact in looking through your minutes here on the - your nomen-
Iclature - you talk about an annual renewable variance. Is that
I
something within the realm of possibility - we are looking for a
year stay of execution is it , would it be conceivable to grant
lia variance for twelve months renewable at the end of that period -
,
I' at the descretion of the Board - something on that order? Or
;
! simply go - I 'm throwing that out as a possible thought , I don' t
i know.
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IISECRETARY HOARD: The idea of an annually renewable variance h.asn'
worked very well in the past. It sort of gets forgotten. One of
the other cases that was on tonight involved a year-to-year renew-
, able variance that was granted in 1949 and promptly forgotten and
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then when the gentleman came to sell his property why, we dug it
,
�lup again and so he had to be back before this Board. So , it' s not
,ia recommended way for this Board to go. The stay of execution is
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�janother sort of question.
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SMR. FOSTER: Well that is about all I have. Its basically that it
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would be an economic hardship to the current situation - Co-op
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iConsumers Inc. - also to the merchants who are struggling to sur-
ivive in the Plaza and in a years time perhaps we could reopen, who
knows? We can better address the situation at that time. Thank
you.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone else? (no one) We' ll call the next case.
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 5-1-80:
The Board considered the request for a variance under Section 34.6-
A-1 to permit retention of the free-standing sign for a period of
done year at 609 West Clinton Street (Co-Op) in a B-2a use district .
iThe existing sign exceeds the maximum permitted area for a free-
standing sign in that zone.
(MR. WILCOX: I move that the Board grant the variance to the
Co-op Food Store for their sign for a period of
I
one (1) year.
'CHAIRMAN AMAN: I second the motion.
VOTE: 5 Yes; 0 No ; 1 Absent.
FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) Because of unusual economic circumstances
to wit - the closing of the anchor store causing
undue hardship at this time, the sign is vital
for the remaining merchants.
2) It will not change the character of the
neighborhood.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
M.
�! MAY 19, 1980
' SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal number 5-2-80 :
Appeal of William T. Pritchard for a variance
under Section 34. 8A and SEction 34. 4-B of the
Sign Ordinance to permit retention of two signs
on the face of the building at 304-306 South
Cayuga Street , and a large free-standing sign
at the same address. The signs exceed the
number permitted in the zone and do not meet
the setback requirements .
JUnless someone is here, this one was held over. The next case is
1appeal 1298 : Appeal of Anthony Albanese for a use variance
under Section 30 . 25 , Column 2 to permit rental
of space at 102 Adams Street (Ithaca Calendar
Clock Building) for a rare and/or out of print
book buying and selling business . The property
is located in an R-2b use district in which
businesses are not permitted.
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MR. ALBANESE: Thank you. I 'm Anthony Albanese and this variance
! here - well we had a previous appeal for the Printer's Gallery and
! due to a lapse of time or something they changed their mind so we
! don't have that tenant anymore. However, we have this new one
we've made him put down a down payment this time. So he wouldn' t
! get away and he wants the same area which sets which is about
3 ,000 square feet of the second floor in the front of the building
E
He will have an entrance to the building from the Dey Street side
! where we have another business that is on the first floor which will
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be using the same entrance. And we 've tried to keep this building
(lat a low profile and we find this gentleman here by the name of
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!, Charles Garvin will sell the books that are rare and out-printed
1book.s and it won't be a retail type of a sale . The sales will be
I!made by appointment only so we welcome him aboard if we can secure
!the variance for this. That's about all I can say that' s all that
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! I know and there would be just mainly storage he' ll have an office
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; there and right now there is going to be just one person working i
! there , possibly five people total. This is including the perspective
jbook buyer and I was rather pleased with trying to keep this at a
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flow profile because of the - being in a residential zone we have
Mall kinds of parking so that is not going to interfere at all . He
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his - we have his first months rent. The last time we didn' t have
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; any tangible thing so we didn' t - I don' t know what happened the
' last time but this is for real this time, I hope.
' DR. GREENBERG: Is this a new business or is he reopening at this
ilocation?
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If MR. ALBANESE: He had a place in Oregon, I believe.
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SDR. GREENBERG: Oh, but not in town?
MR. ALBANESE: No , not in Ithaca, no. He has a display of books
( which are on shelves which he brought in - in fact he is starting
Ito store things there already and , because he had no place to put
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i' it - so we caught him on the fly and he was kind of interested in 1he
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( landmark part and I was also interested because it is a - it relates
Ito the building - historical books of that nature , so we were kind
� of concerned about him. And especially being just one person work
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ing there. It is not going to interfere with entrance ways or - w
have one little problem of secluding an area which I have had one
lof the people down from the Building Commissioner's office to
Istraighten us out on doorways but outside of that there will be no
! changes in the building. Just inside and that would be just to
( secure doorways between business places . There will be no change
'; at all other than that.
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IjCHAIRMAN AMAN: You mentioned five people at one point.
�! MR. ALBANESE: Well this is what he tells me that it would be
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; limited to one person -- he is the sole proprietor and he does his
own selling and evidentally what happens is - he has a client -
jwh.o comes in there and finds books that he - that they want to
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purchase they have to make an appointment and he does this by
1himself so it would be he and his customer and maybe two or three
(; others in there at one time which is well 3 ,000 square foot of
v
space we had had a previous variance which had been accepted on
( something on a little bit larger scale of employment. This is rather
' minimized and this is what I 've been looking for - I mean - I have
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is business down on the first floor and I have other businesses
there- and this minimizes the congestion and the parking. This
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! seemed to fit the ticket.
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! MS. DE COMBRAY: Who would the other two or three people be?
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MR. ALBANESE: People who were buying these books . It is not a
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( retail type of thing, no. The people who would buy these books
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would come in by appointment. Not like a retail store .
i MR. ANGELL: Well you said five people - we understood it to be
jfive employees or four employees.
If MR. ALBANESE: No, no more than five people, I 'm sorry. This is
the way - the way I understood it. Not more than five people.
MR. ANGELL: You mean - not employees , he is the only employee?
MR. ALBANESE : Right, at this time. Now he may, this is - but I
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couldn' t see how he could be any bigger but this is exactly what h
told me and I have a letter of verification.
DR. GREENBERG: We usually interrogate the party who is taking the
T ease. I believe we have in the past and I assume he is not here
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Ito be interrogated?
jMR. ALBANESE: No. He was here at the last meeting, but he couldn' t
!' make this one.
IMR. ANGELL: How about the piano people . Did they move in?
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IMR. ALBANESE: Yes ,
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IMR. WILCOX: Is this space that has been used in the past or are
jyou using up empty space?--
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pace?=i
MR. ALBANESE: No, this has never been rented.
11MR. WILCOX: You are opening up new space in the building?
IMR. ALBANESE: Right. It was used, really, for storage and then I
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let the book club use it for their books to sort books - like
that. This same area had been previously a variance had been
passed here I believe it was - in April and that was the Print is
! Gallery.
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; CHAIRMAN AMAN: The parking, you mentioned that that is not a preb em.
Is that because of off street or . . .
MR. ALBANESE: All off-street parking that 's all taken care of.
; CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any questions?
l! MR. ALBANESE: The other appeal - 1291 - the same area - had been
cancelled due to the tenants decision not to occupy the requested
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h area. And I don' t know what really happened I think probably
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with all the high interest rates and that , he didn't want to expan
, this building at this particular time so he didn' t take it . It
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! does propose quite a problem, you know, to go through all of this
; this variance because we have to send out possibly forty some
, letters to the neighborhood - which we 've done here in this case
land all the cases and for every tenant that I have in that building
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4I have to have a variance for - so it is rather a hardship all the
; way around to get a tenant and I 'm not trying to knock the previous
tenant but there wasn't any contract signed or any money secured t
�jhold it until we had - until we had the variance passed and this
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1constitutes quite a problem sometimes. I 've had several tenants
sand by the time - of course - if they are not that decisive about
pit - in two or three months maybe I don' t want them anyway but at
least it gives them a chance to change their mind but the last
1
one - I was so sure that - in fact , I didn' t have anything to do with
it - this came through a realtor - and I was shocked to think that
after we got the variance that he had changed his mind and there
hadn' t been any contract or leases signed pending on the variance
for anything.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any questions from the Board?
SMR. WILCOX: There is no letter saying - no problems with the
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! neighbors? Tom?
SECRETARY HOARD: No, I 've had nothing no correspondence on this
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Thank you sir.
MR. ALBANESE: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Is there anyone here wishing to speak on behalf of
the requested variance? Anyone here wishing to speak against it?
I (no one) Hearing nothing further we ' ll move on to the next case .
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
i� MAY 19 , 1980
i
EXECUTIVE SESSION
i
!APPEAL NO. 1298
The Board considered the appeal for a use variance under Section
i
130. 25 , Column 2 to permit rental of space at 102 Adams Street
t
(Ithaca Calendar Clock Building) for a rare and/or out of print
`book buying and selling business . The property is located in an
IR-2b use district in which businesses are not permitted.
iMR. WILCOX: I move that the use variance requested in
appeal number 1298 be granted.
jMR. AMAN; I second the motion.
i
'VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent Use variance granted.
FINDING OF FACT: 1) The requested use will be a low traffic
i operation for the storage of books and the
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selling of books by appointment only.
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2) This use will require a minimal number of
I� employees.
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3) There is enough off-street parking to
j accommodate the business .
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I�+ BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
E COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
�i MAY 19, 1980
i
SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1299 :
1 Appeal of Normand R. & Laura J. Mainville for
a use variance under Section 30. 25 , Columns
1 and 2 and an area variance under Section
30. 25, Column 4 to permit use of the property
at 105 First Street for plastercraft classes
and the sale of plastercraft supplies . The
property is located in an R-3a (residential)
use district in which the described business
is not a permitted use. The property would
also be deficient in required off-street
parking.
MR. MAINVILLE: I 'm Normand Mainville . What we are trying to do is
open up a plastercraft - which. is something like ceramics . I do
most of my pouring at home and some stuff we buy already poured an
we buy our paints and stuff. We 've talked with the fire chief and
the fire chief says there would be no trouble with them getting
;through. as long as they park legal on the road.
IMR. MAINVILLE, JR. : That question was brought up at the last meeting.
I
SECRETARY HOARD: At the Planning Board meeting one of the neighbors
!brought up the questions .. . .
,j MR. MAINVILLE, JR: I 'm Normand Mainville, Jr.
I+!SECRETARY HOARD; Brought up the question of parking and blocking
the fire exit.
SMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : We've talked with. the fire chief and he came
�Idown and checked First Street over and he said that as long as the
parked legal there would be no problem at all.
IMR. MAINVILLE, JR: And he said he would make that available to you.
SECRETARY HOARD: He spoke to me about it , yes . He said there would.
The no problem.
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : And if I have to, I've got a long driveway
( they can park into and I can open up the back yard for parking if
I have to.
1MR. MAINVILLE, JR. ; And we 've checked into retail property that is
jin the proper zoning and for a small business starting out, I mean
bents like anywhere from two to five hundred dollars per month. plus
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land just starting out - we have to limit our overhead and if we have
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oto come to the point where we have to rent out it is going to -
the whole thing is going to be a waste of time.
!MR. WILCOX: How many people do you expect at the classes?
!MR. MAINVILLE, SR: Oh, probably three or four or five a night at
lthe most. There is only three nights a week that we plan on doing
lit.
,MR. MAINVILLE, JR: Two nights and one afternoon.
SMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Mostly not more than two or three cars at a
time.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Let' s see , in addition to the lessons you are talk
ling about renting a retail?
4
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Well some stuff is retail and some stuff is
� I pour myself which is they are plastic molds - I pour the
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plaster . . .
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : It would be more or less incidental sales to
�Ithe people coming for the classes .
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Would you have any regular hours that you would be
open to . . . ?
( MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Not any basic regular hours. Our basic thing
,would be during the classes and if there was a total demand for it
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then we would have to establish. regular hours but hopefully by that
Mime we would be able to afford the overhead for retail space .
MR. WILCOX: Are there any photographs of that?
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( SECRETARY HAORD: Of the property or the plastercraft?
MR. WILCOX: Property or the street or . . .
1DR. GREENBERG: Are you maintaining the building for residential
i
purposes at all? Or will it be entirely taken over by this?
,MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : No, it will be residential also.
(IDR. GREENBERG: You will reside there?
!MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : I am residing there plus we have one apartment
I
upstairs that we rent out .
;MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : And also there is one store within one block
; distance. There is Northside Pharmacy, Hallam' s Discount , South
shore Automatics , all within two block maximum radius .
iMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Finger Lakes Typewriting just around the
�icorner.
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� MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Finger Lakes Typewriting. These are all other
businesses within the locale and there have been no problems - just
Ithe traffic or any problems at all .
�!DR. GREENBERG: Is this an application in the sense for a home
occupation?
SECRETARY HOARD: Well it' s a retail type outfit - they sell things
land it does not become —remember we had that problem with the
;figurine or the dragons and dungeons , or something?
IMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : But they do have a ceramic shop on Aurora
jStreet, in a house. The 800 block of Aurora Street. I 've seen the
sign there - ceramic job.
MR. WILCOX: Anyway the sales - any retail sales are incidental to
your students primarily, right?
1MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Right.
MR. WILCOX: But then a student could get done with a class and
occasionally buy equipment or . . .
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Right. I£ they bring their friend.
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : That' s about the traffic we are talking about
!!here.
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MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Mostly it would be after working hours. I
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work for the Water Departm ent all day so I . . .
4MR. WILCOX; Were there any objections from the neighbors?
IMR. MAINVILLE, JR. : The one neighbor said that hetias worried
�ibecause the traffic - in case of fire , a property owner . . .
MR. WILCOX: Do we have something in the file?
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MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : We also have a . . .
IM R. WILCOX: Somebody replied to you then instead of the Building
(Commissioner?
,MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : No, they came to the last meeting.
MR. WILCOX: Oh, that' s when it was . . .
SDR. GREENB,ERG: You say your driveway will accommodate three other
(cars besides your own?
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MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Yes. I can open the gate and put my car in th
back yard.
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : It used to be a four car garage in the back an
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� we have now taken it down - right after we moved in - and it is a
11blank area there , a patio. But that was the only problem that the
;could find, was the fire hazard to the other property owners and
1'after consulting the fire chief, they come up that there would be
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ono problem to that affect at all.
I
SDR. GREENBERG: Can you give us an idea as to the dimensions of the
,Ispace that you are going to use?
�;MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : 13 x - approximately 13 x 36.
SDR. GREENBERG: Any storage?
�IMR. MAINVILLE, JR. : The storage would be in the basement which
�is . . .
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MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : We have a 9 x 12 room in the basement.
DR. GREENBERG: That would be sufficient?
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SMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Right.
IMS. DE COMBRAY: What kind of equipment do you need to do this?
IMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : All I need is water and plywood. It' s a
molding plaster and I have plastic mold that I mix plaster in and
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(then pour it in the mold and let it set for awhile. What it is is
figurines , and wall plaques . It ' s about the same thing as ceramics
I
I!only you don' t have to fire it .
IMR. - MAINVILLE, JR. : And during the summer months business is going
I
Ito be much slower because people are getting out doors more and it
his more or less - we are creating hobbies for the people who are
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!stuck indoors during the winter.
� MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : You see we sell everything unpainted, we sell
the paint and everything and they take them home and paint them ,
,
it as their own they do as they want to paint them.
DR. GREENBERG: Do you make your own molds?
IMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : No, the molds I send away for.
1DR. GREENBERG: You send away for them?
IMR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Right.
MR. ANGELL: Well what are the classes for. Are the classes to
i
teach them how to pour this plastic or to . . . ?
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : No, it teaches them a basic how to paint them.
How they should look after they are painted.
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';MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : How to finish pieces.
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : We have some painted products so that they ca
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iisee what they look like.
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;CHAIRMAN AMAN: You mentioned that you sell the paint as well?
i
SMR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Yes we sell the pieces plus the material to
finish. They are totally unfinished pieces and we just sell the
jmaterial to finish it . We show them how to use the different
Ifinishes .
IMS. DE COMBRAY: So they don't do any of the pouring or . . .
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MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : No, no we do that.
I,MR. ANGELL: So basically this is a retail operation?
{MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Right.
R. MAINVILLE, JR. ; Right. Because we ha ve no set fee, we don' t
charge for the classes .
IR. WILCOX: Well no, I wouldn't say it was basically a retail
loperation. If their sales are in - -- or their students then a
commercial location is not so important. I was wondering why they
11
couldn' t maybe get a room at one of the schools - one of the public
buildings at a very reasonable cost. It' s how many times a week
probably?
R. MAINVILLE, SR. : About three days a week.
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MR. WILCOX: Three days a week. I mean, it would be convenient to
ave it in your house but the trouble is there is a lot of . . .
R. MAINVILLE, SR. : Well we do have to have a display area you
now. Like our wall placques and statues. . .
R. MAINVILLE, JR. : We 'd have to rent or buy a vehicle to transport
�he display and then you get damage to the display and to the product.
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R. WILCOX: It isn' t something you could do in the Cornell foundry
r something like that?
R. MAINVILLE, SR. : No.
R. MAINVILLE, JR. : No .
I' R. MAINVILLE, SR. : I looked in their store and they wanted $300.
month for the one I looked into so . . .
R. WILCOX; Yes, but you don' t need a good location for something
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ike that. Not for plastic. Later if it grows for retail you will
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MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : We do have some stuff that we put on display.
ii MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : We have looked at multiple possibilities .
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DR. GREENBERG: What are your plans for advertising?
11 MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Very little.
1'
II MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Mostly mouth to mouth.
DR. GREENBERG: No newspaper, no radio?
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MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : No, not unless it becomes necessary. We are
hoping that won' t be because of the cost of that.
DR. GREENBERG: Any signs?
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MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : No signs, we don' t have any signs .
DR. GREENBERG: You won't have any?
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Not unless we move into a retail area that is
already zoned for it then we will have to go in front of the
ij Commission to see what legal signs we can have.
H MS. DE COMBRAY: How do you sell your statuettes and placques now?
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Right now we can' t .
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Right now we are not selling them.
MS. DE COMBRAY: You are not selling them at all?
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Not until we can.
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : We 've got them all on display in the house
1
now but we can' t sell them until we have the approval.
MR. MAINVILLE, JR. : Your friends come in, "Oh that ' s nice, yes . "
I
Sorry - that' s as far as it goes .
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any further questions? Thank you.
MR. MAINVILLE, SR. : Thank you.
MR. MAINVILLE , JR. : Thank you.
i� CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone here wishing to speak on behalf of the
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requested variance? (no one) Anyone here who opposes the request.-d
variance? (no one) We' ll move on to the next case.
SECRETARY HOARD: There is a letter here Mr. Chairman. This is
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from Ben V. Boynton Sr. of Realty World:
j� "Board of Zoning Appeals
City of Ithaca
i City Hall E. Green Street
Ithaca, New York 14850
"Dear Board Members ,
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�! "The Mainville family have been considerate enough to send a letter
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
j MAY 192 1980
(� EXECUTIVE SESSION
1
APPEAL NO. 1299
i
The Board considered the request for a use variance under Section
30 . 25 Columns 1 and 2 and an area variance under Section 30 . 25 ,
E
Column 4 to permit use of the property at 105 First Street for
I
plastercraft classes and the sale of plastercraft supplies . The
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property is located in an R-3a use district in which the describe
business is not a permitted use. The property would also be
deficient in required off-street parking.
MR. WILCOX: I move that the Board deny the variances
requested in appeal number 1299.
j DR. GREENBERG: I second the motion.
VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No ; 1 Absent Use $ Area variance
denied
FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The requestedsuse is not considered a
jhome occupation as retail sales are involved;
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retail sales are not permitted in a residen-
tial district.
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2) The property is deficient in off-street
�i parking.
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i 3) Financial hardship was not demonstrated to
any degree .ree.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY 195, 1980
I
SECRETARY HOARD: The next case then is appeal number 1300 :
j; Appeal of the Wesley Foundation of Ithaca
for a use variance under Section 30. 25 ,
Column 2 and an area variance under Section
jj 30. 25, Column 14 , to permit conversion of
the single family house at 401 Thurston
Avenue to a multiple dwelling. The propert
is located in an R-2a (residential) use
district in which multiple dwellings are no
permitted, and the Assessor' s map shows that
the property is deficient in required rear
yard depth.
MR. ANKRUM: My name is Paul Ankrum and I am secretary of the
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Wesley Foundation, Inc. I prepared the material but I have the
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president and treasurer of the Corporation here. May I have them
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join me or would you like to hear us one by one's
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Well we'd like to hear you one by one but you
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might want to perhaps move up here. Everyone will be prepared to
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l respond to questions without playing musical chairs .
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�I MR. ANKRUM: This property at 401 Thruston Avenue has been used
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as a parsonage for the Cornell University Methodist Chaplain
j�
ii since its acquisition in 1952 . Since that time it has also been
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l used for religious services and for programs of the Cornell Wesle
Foundation, A change in use of this property will occur on July
l because it will no longer be used for a parsonage. The Wesley
Foundation chaplaincy will become a half-time position, the other
half of this individual ' s time will be spent at St . Paul ' s Metho-
d
I! dist Church- downtown. He will be living in one of the parsonages
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1 owned by St. Paul ' s Methodist Church_, So something must be done
ji
with- the property different from the way it has been used in the
past. Our proposal is to make it a cooperative housing unit -
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housing Wesley Foundation students at Cornell but , of course , with
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i its present zoning the maximum of three since it is limited to a
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single individual or family plus two unrelated individuals . So w
are requesti.ngg a change, in order to be able to continue to use
the property for the program even though it will not be occupied
I
There are a number of
by the University Methodist Chaplain.
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- 41 -
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arguments in one of the more recent statements I have legal
i opinion that - I don't know whether - I guess you've had time to
read this - I won't read it to you unless you wish, indicating
l that it may be construed as a church and related buildings , which
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is permited since it has been used for almost thirty years for
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(I religious services . It is a seven bedroom house - there is very
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4 little liklihood that it will ever by occupied by a single family.
�f The cost of utilities are very high something like $3,000 a year,
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I we've been paying for utilities . We've looked into the possibility
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of renting it to a family although we want to retain it for
program use - for church use - for religious use . Because of the
high utilities , high utility cost - it was considered not very
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attractive as a rental property. There isn't another single
�i family house single family residence on Thurston Avenue within
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two blocks. Going toward the campus there are none. Going west
down the hill , the first single family house is , I think 205
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Thurston; this is 401. There are single family houses in back.
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Our original request was to have permission to house up to eleven -
�' up to twelve, I guess - because we had hoped that we might get
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foundation support to make it - make the necessary alterations to
�i house a larger number. Since then we've had it inspected and found
j' that it is quite costly - perhaps prohibitively expensive - since
it is a three story frame structure - to go above five, so we've
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(' revised the request from the original request - revised it down
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to five, if that makes a difference, in your consideration I
don' t know whether your action is to simply change it from a
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multiple - I mean, if you took an action whether the action would
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include the number or not. But I request at the present time
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is to be permitted to house five. We have five students who hope
to live there next year as part of a cooperative housing unit.
It seems . . .
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Do you have parking for all five?--
MR.
ive?:MR. ANKRUM: There are four parking spaces - parking spaces for
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four vehicles which I understand, is what would be required for
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telve. Itl:seems if we can' t use it for program that we will have
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to sell it. Although there is a possibility that we might go
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back to a full time Chaplaincy, in which case we might return to
the previous use . But I 'm not at all sure of that . Cornell has
expressed an interest in buying the property and they own most
of the property in the vicinity so that it would seem like the
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most likely purchaser. The property on one side to the east
toward the campus is sorority, the property is on the corner of
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Thurston and Roberts Place. Across Roberts Place, on Thurston
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is Cornell University Press and going west down the hill , Seal
'i and Serpent Sorority, then an apartment house after crossing
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Highland Road or Highland Road Extension. To the rear Cornell
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owns and has a parking lot directly to the back. There is a
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f private residence on Fall Creek Drive. It doesn't join the
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property but it is within 2001 . All the rest of the property is
either Cornell owned or is owned by sorority or fraternity or
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across the street, Highland apartments .
�j CHAIRMAN AMAN: When you say that these students are part of the
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program, what exactly does that mean?
MR. ANKRUM: This means that they are active in the program at
Cornell . At least two of them will be officers.
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CHAIRMAN AMAN: Are they is there any selection procedure or
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anything of that sort as to who would be allowed to live in the
house or how would that work?
MR. ANKRUM I 'm not sure. We originally had nine hoping to live
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there.
MR. ANGELL: Will they be charged a rental?
MR. ANKRUM: They will be charged, right.
MR. ANGELL: Is this property now tax exempt?
MR. ANKRUM: It is tax exempt,
MR. JOHNSON: This is not an unusual situation because there is
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i another process here and the L & L Foundation has the same arrange-
ment.
rrang -
ment. They are always their own students .
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MR. ANGELL: If they are charged a rental it becomes a commercial
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venture and then is removed from the or put back on the tax
rolls, Isn't that right?
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II SECRETARY HOARD: Would you identify yourself for the record?
! MR. JOHNSON: I 'm sorry. I 'm Warren Johnson with the Wesley Foun-
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! dation Board. Your question was what now?
iMR. ANGELL: It becomes a commercial venture when you are renting
Ito the students. Therefore it should be put back on the tax rolls
MR. ANKRUM: We don't think so according to the attorney who is on
Ithe Board.
MR. JOHNSON: And not according to other organizations in town.
IMR. ANKRUM: There are two similar organizations , Young Isreal and
the Lutherans have a similar organization in collegetown on Oak
Avenue and neither of these have gone on the tax rolls because it
is operated - it is owned by and operated by Wesley Foundation
( which is a non-profit corporation associated with the United
IMethodist Church - it is part of the United Methodist Church.
j' DR. GREENBERG: The variance would go with the property and it would
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! be easier to sell it and it would be undesirable for us to give
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! this variance assuming it wasn't kept in the church' s ownership.
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Would you respond to that at all?
iMR. ANKRUM: Well, other than the most likely purchaser is Cornell
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and Cornell is already expressed an interest in operating as a
IICo-op and I believe they would not be downed by any variance or
ordinance.
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�IMR. ANGELL: Yes they would. Yes they are.
SMR. WILCOX: Are you right next to the public recreation area?
IISECRETARY HOARD: Cornell University if they use the building as
part of their mission for housing of students or for part of the
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educational mission, they would be exempt from our zoning.
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! MR. ANGELL: They would be?
(, SECRETARY HOARD: Yes.
II MR. ANKRUM: I 'm sorry I didn't
� MR. No I just - I see where ou are on Thurston here - bWILCOX:W 7 you
at the zoning map - in an R-2a. How close are you to the
1public - that must be an open lane? P-l?
SECRETARY HOARD: P-1 is Cornell University.
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MR. WILCOX: Is that next to your property? Is that open? Do you
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have any photographs?
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j; SECRETARY HOARD: Cornell University is zoned P-1 .
j; MR. WILCOX: Oh, Cornell .
j MR. ANKRUM: Going east there is a sorority, then Fall Creek Drive
then Cornell , tennis courts , then Ridley Hall , etc.
I MR. WILCOX: Okay - so you are like in the middle of that R-2a
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I section?
MR. ANKRUM: Right.
MR. WILCOX: Which kind of jobs down from Wait to Thurston. And
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then you've got Cornell land on both sides of that whole section
of zone there. East of that is R-3a I guess that is where those
tennis courts are . Dorms?
MR. ANKRUM: Tennis courts and Prudence Risley Hall - a dormitory.
MR. WILCOX: Do we have anything in the file - did somebody come i
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I last week? Do we have any letters?
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SECRETARY HOARD: We do have a letter - one letter which we can put
in the record at anytime - maybe now would be the time that they
I could respond to it. This is from RAB Company, Highland House
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Apartments , 2641 East Atlantic Blvd, Rm. 301C, Pompano Beach,
Florida 33062.
"Board of Zoning Appeals
108 E. Green Street
Ithaca, New York 14850
"Re : 401 Thurston Avenue, Zoning Variance - Appeal No. 1300
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I "Gentlemen:
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"We are the owners of Highland House Apts . at 312 Thurston Avenue.
j We strongly objecto to the major zoning variance requested by
Wesley Foundation of N.Y. regarding 401 Thurston Ave. We feel that
any change from residential will set a pattern which will be used
by others to change the character of the neighborhood adversely.
"Yours truly,
RAB Co - Highland House Apts.
by /s/ George Rabinor
jGeorge B. Rabinor, Partner"
i I don' t know what they are talking about .
1MR. ANKRUM: They certainly changed the nature when they erected
i` thoseapartments.
DR. GREENBERG: We' re dealing witha very fine division here , you
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; are part of the Cornell University religious works and they don't
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i come under the umbrella of the University because of this?
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MR. JOHNSON: We are a part of the CURW program at Cornell , yes .
However, we have status on the campus as their approving of our
chaplain and our program. And we become a part of their program
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but it is financially supported only through the church and no
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! funds come from Cornell University excepting through some assis-
tance, you might say, in housing our on-campus offices .
MR. ANKRUM: Is it possible for you to give us some kind of
II exception that would apply just to us?
DR. GREENBERG: Yes , that' s what I 'm trying to do .
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MR. ANKRUM: Rather than to leave it wide open to any . . .
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DR. GREENBERG: Yes, right. This is what I am trying to ask abou
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because it seems to me that the line is so thin between what
Cornell can do and what its affiliate like yourself might be able
�{ to do. I could see that - I would be agreeable to a variance in
situation like this where I may not be agreeable to a variance on
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I the property. Where if it is maintained under your auspices I wo ld
be more agreeable to grant it,
s MR. ANKRUM: That certainly - we would be happy that is all we
want.
j DR. GREENBERG: Somehow we would have to state this .
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j MR. WILCOX: Do you have anymore financial information that you
can give us? Anything else you mentioned $3 ,000 to heat it .
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MR. ANKRUM: Pardon?,
1 MR. WILCOX: You mentioned $3,000 to heat the house or for utili-
ties. Do you have any other financial data concerning the house?
MR.. SCOTT: I'm Norman Scott , associated with Wesley House. The
cost during 1979 amounted in terms of utilities , not just heating
but all utilities and insurance to a figure of $3,000 plus .
MR. WILCOX: What about ground care?
MR. SCOTT: Well , , .
MR. WILCOX: Add that to or . . .
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I MR. SCOTT: We've been so strapped financially in terms of opera-
ting things that we have not engaged any expenses in relationship
� to ground care or other items such- as that.
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MR. WILCOX: So if they sell it to Cornell then Cornell can do
whatever they want to anyway, right?
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SECRETARY HOARD: Yes , so long as it was part of the mission of
i! education.
MR. WILCOX: But you want to keep it - to keep your options open,
I� is that it in the future possibly be a parsonage again?
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MR. ANKRUM: Right, or at least to use it for the student program
Ij in religious exercise . We began negotiating with Cornell regarding
ja lease and the students came on very strong, much more so than w
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had any idea, with concern about not having it available. It
j apparently means more to their program than I had realized so our
present feeling is - at least my interpretation of our present
feeling is - to try to retain it for .use by Wesley Foundation.
MR. WILCOX: Do you have any background on the upgrading of the
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zoning to R-2a, three years ago? Background about that or how
that happened?
i SECRETARY HOARD: Well there was back in 77 as I recall there
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was quite a strong feeling from some of the remaining single family
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I home owners that they wanted to keep it as a - some wanted to eve
rezone it to R-1 . R-2 was as . . .
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MR. WILCOX: You say remaining -are there some left?
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SECRETARY HOARD: Yes . I don't know what the count is . There are
some local owners of single family properties or one and two
family properties.
MR. WILCOX: Are there any other letters there?
iSECRETARY HOARD; No. There were other people at the other
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I meeting, but .
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MR. ANKRUM: And within the 200 ' there is one privately owned
residence and the Jensens came to the meeting,
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MR. WILCOX: Oh the Jensens came to the meeting - the one that
we canceled, right?
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11 SECRETARY HOARD: Yes.
MR. ANKRUM: yes,
MR. JOHNSON: Do you understand their position? I think Mr.
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�i Hoard does but
MR. WILCOX: Well , I know where they live.
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MR. JOHNSON: With regard to our petition?
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DR. GREENBERG: Are they in favor of the . . . ?
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MR. JOHNSON: Well you back me up or knock me down as to what I
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understand it to be . They would prefer it to remain as a one-
family residence - without question. They would prefer to see us
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retain it than for us to sell it to Cornell . Is that they way you
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understand it?
s SECRETARY HOARD: That' s my understanding.
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MR. WILCOX: Well , what about the parking?
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DR. GREENBERG: One thing - you won' t have any drinking parties
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there.
MR. JOHNSON: That is correct .
MR. WILCOX: What about the parking situation?
SECRETARY HOARD: Four off-street parking spaces.
MR. WILCOX: But there is room to make more isn't there?
MR. JOHNSON: Well , we really do not anticipate needing - for the
present time there is only one of those five students , if we go
through with this - that has an automobile .
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MR. WILCOX: But if you do put twelve people you will need how
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many spaces?
' CHAIRMAN AMAN: Oh, but we are talking about five.
MR. JOHNSON: We can' t afford it any other way.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Are there questions? Thank you very much.
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MR. ANKRUM: Thank you. When can we hear from you? We've got
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these girls wondering where they are going to live next year.
MR. JOHNSON: Oh, they will tell us tonight if we want to wait.
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MR. ANKRUM: Well , if we stay.
SECRETARY HOARD: If you want to sait or you can call the office
in the morning.
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MR. ANKRUM: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Is there anyone here that wishes to speak either for
j or against this proposed variance? (no one)
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY 19 , 1980
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
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APPEAL NO. 1300
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The Board considered the request for a use variance under Section
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30. 25 , Column 2 , to permit use of the single family house at 401
Thurston Avenue for housing five (5) unrelated individuals.
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�) MR. WILCOX: I move that the Board grant the use
variance reugested in appeal number 1300
ll with the condition that the number of
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residents be limited to five (5) indivi-
duals .
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MS. DE COMBRAY: I second the motion.
VOTE: 4 Yes ; 1 No; 1 Absent.
1. Use variance granted with one condition.
FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The requested use will not adversely
affect the character of the neighborhood.
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2) A reasonable financial hardship was
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3) The rear yard depth deficiency is minimal .
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j BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
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MAY 19, 1980
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SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1301 :
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Appeal of Dale and Patricia Oesterle for
an area variance under Section 30. 25 , Colu n
11 to permit the extension of the east end
j of the single family house at 1302 East
State Street, and the addition of a screened
} porch to the same house. The property is o-
cated in an R-1b (residential) use distric ,
and is deficient in required rear yard
setback.
MRS. OSTERLE: My name is Pat Osterle and I am co-owner of the house
ii with my husband. Our house is bordered by East State Street , Wood-
crest
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crest an alley at the rear of the house and our neighbors house
1306 E. State Street. As we understand it , as the house stands
now it violates the setback requirement between the house and
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I Woodcrest Avenue because it is considered to have two front yards -
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one on State Street and one on Woodcrest Avenue so in order to ma1e
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any additions to the house we need to have a variance. What we
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I propose to do is tear off an existing screened-in porch which is
located on the side of the house adjoining our neighbors property
i at 1306 E. State Street and replace it with. an extension of our
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i present living room into that area and add a bay window which.
will extend three additional feet beyond the area of the present
screened-in porch. This addition will not violate any current
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side lot requirements , as I understand it, because it will be a -
there will still be ample space for the side lot requirement be
j tween our house and our neighbor' s house . We also propose to add
a screened-yin poxch. to the rear of the house which is between the
house and the alley. Neither of these additions to the house in any
way change the present violation which is between our house and
Woodcrest Avenue. All we want to do is tear off our existing scr ene(
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in porch and replace it and add a screened-in porch at the rear o
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j the house .
CHAIRMAN ARAN: So the net result of all of this is that the sam
area problems that existed ever since the house was there would
remain the same?
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!' MRS. OSTERLE: That ' s right .
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MR. WILCOX: And the porch would be how far from the nearest
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neighbor?
MRS. OSTERLE: As it exists now it is approximately ten feet from
their yard and we would add a bay window which will extend three
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I feet beyond the present line so we will still have seven feet
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between the addition and their side yard.
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MR. WILCOX: Okay, how far are you from their house though?
i MRS. OSTERLE: Oh, its a long distance because they have a double
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lot and the extra lot is the yard between their house and our
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house.
MR. WILCOX: Any objections from the neighbors?
j SECRETARY HOARD: We have not received any objections . The legal
ij
ad - at the time that I wrote the legal ad, I hadn' t seen the plot
plan and I think I showed it as being deficient in required rear
yard setback when the problem was the setback of the second front
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yard.
MR. WILCOX: Any photos?
MRS. OSTERLE : No there were a couple that you had takenthat were
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at the planning hearing but I didn't bring any.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Any questions? If there are no further Questions . . .
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j thank you. ,
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MRS. OSTERLE: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Anyone here wishing to speak for or against the
requested variance? (no one) The next case. . . .
ISECRETARx HOARD: The next case - I just have to read it into the
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record. Appeal number 1302 : Appeal of Richard T. Cutia for a use
and area variance under Section 30. 25
Columns 2 and 3 and Columns 4 , 6 , 7 ,
10 , 11, 12 , 13 and 14 to permit con-
tinued operation of a produce busines ,
and an addition to the existing structure
at 2062 Second Street (Cayuga Foods ,
Inc. ) . The property is located in an
R-3b (residential) use district in wh ch
a produce business is not permitted , nd
the property is also deficient in req ir-
ed off-street parking, minimum lot si e ,
minimum street frontage, maximum lot
II coverage , and front, side and rear yard
setbacks .
This appeal has been held over until the next meeting at the re-
, Quest of the appellant .
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i! BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
li
MAY 19, 1980
EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 1301 :
The Board considered the request for an area variance under
Section 30. 25 , Column 11 , to permit the extension of the east
end of the single family house at 1302 East State Street , and the
i
faddition of a screened porch to the same house . The property is
located in an R-1b use district, and is deficient in required
second front yard and side yard.
�I MR. WILCOX: I move that the variances requested in
appeal number 1301 be granted.
DR. GREENBERG: I second the motion.
VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent . Area variance grantel
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FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The additions would not adversely affect
j the neighborhood.
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2) The degree of non-conformity is altered
! minimally.
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3) Practical difficulties have been demonstrated.
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j! I , BARBARA RUANE, DO CERTIFY that I took the minutes of the Board
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i; of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals
numbered 2-2-80 , 3-1-80, 3-2-80 , 4-3-80, 5-1-80, 1298 , 1299, 1300
E and 1301 on May 19, 1980 at the Hall of Justice, 120 E. Clinton
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Street, Ithaca, New York; that I have transcribed same, and the
j 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.
;
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Barbara C. Ruane
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Recording Secretary
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Sworn to before me this
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day of 1980
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l Notary Public
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1�UT71ANT-N, pro�`'N
! Notary Public, State of New York
f No. -64i22.3
:n in i rn.:pl;ins county_
Term Expires 1Iarein 30, 19 .
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