HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1978-01-23 i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA,
NEW YORK - JANUARY 23, 1978
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!; APPEAL NO . 1186 Reeder Gates 3
307-3072 College Avenue
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'' APPEAL NO. 1186 Executive Session 8
13
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APPEAL NO. 1187 Ralph S . Marvin Associates 9
212 Center Street
I1APPEAL NO . 1187 Executive Session 36
APPEAL NO. 1188 Group Homes of Tompkins County 37
616 N. Cayuga Street and
103 W. Yates Street
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1APPEAL NO. 1188 Executive Session 40
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APPEAL NO. 1189 Bettina Herbert 41
812 S. Meadow Street
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': APPEAL NO. 1189 Executive Session 43
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';' Certification of Recording Secretary 44
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
CITY OF ITHACA
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ii January 23, 1978
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' Secretary Hoard called the meeting to order. This is actually the !
January 9th meeting which was postponed until today because of the ;
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blizzard. Present here today are : Joseph Gainey, Jr.
Peter Martin
Gregory Kasprzak
William Wilcox
Thomas Hoard, Bldg. Comm.:
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$ Secretary
l Barbara Ruane , Recordingf
Secretary
Absent : Dr. Greenberg
li Judith Maxwell
11MR. HOARD: The first order of business is to elect a new chairman !
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lEfor the coming year. The chair will open the nomination for the
! office of chairman.
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j MR. KASPRZAK: I 'd like to nominate Peter Martin.
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IMR. WILCOX: I second the motion. {
IMR. KASPRZAK: I move that the nominations be closed .
iMR. WILCOX: I second the motion
All voted in favor - 4 . Mr. Martin elected unanimously.
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; CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Let me thank you for the confidence you have
! shown. I will try to earn it this year. Let me just say, without ;
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jlfilling up too much of tonight ' s hearing with it, a couple of words;
{ about the role of the Chairman . . because during the hearing, which
is the public part of the meeting , the Chairman tends to be more
;;visible than the other members of the Board or more vocal , at least.
The chairman, when the time comes to cast votes on the ultimate
business of the Board, and that ' s making hard decisions , has simply;
one vote as another member of the Board. The Chairman' s function
on the Board of Zoning Appeals is to try to conduct a hearing, giving
everyone a full and fair opportunity to be heard, but at the same
time trying to keep things somewhat orderly and with a bit of an
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eye on the clock so that we don't put undue burden on all of those ;
( here to present cases or those who have to decide them. The second
important part of the Chairman' s job , as I understand it , is to try!
11to make the proceedings understandable for those of you who don' t
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`! sit here month after month in Board of Zoning Appeal meetings but
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j! only encounter them once or twice over a very long period of time
,; as you yourself are personally involved. And so that is somethings
(! else that I will work at over this next year. This being the first
Ijmeeting of the new year, we have one other housekeeping chore to
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iaccomplish and that is to adopt rules and regulations for the Board' s
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jloperation over the next year. So I will move that the Board readopt
, the rules and regulations under which it has operated for at least
'Ithe past five years . I 'm not sure that all members have copies but
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11let me assure them that they will receive copies if they don' t, ana
11that they are, if adopted, subject to amendment at any subsequent
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� MR. KASPRZAK: I second the motion.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, it ' s been moved and seconded that the
IlBoard readopt the Rules and Regulations which are available at the ;
Building Commissioner ' s office for anyone to consult, under which
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it ' s operated in last year and years before . All those in favor?
I1 ALL : Aye.
'ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any opposed? No . The Board has readopted the
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JRules and Regulations under which it operated last year which are
jin a written document that says at the top of it : "Rules and Regu
dations of the Ithaca Board of Zoning Appeals" . Let' s then turn to
y! tonight ' s business . For those of you who have not been here before
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! let me explain briefly that the Board operates under the provision$
ii of the Ithaca City Charter and the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance forming ;
the functions that are defined in those two documents . Our hearings
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! are a bit informal . We are not governed by strict rules of eviden�e
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but we do follow an orderly proceeding . We take the cases up one
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! after another and in numerical sequence , the same sequence in which
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�Ithe original applications were filed . We have the person seeking
some relief from the Board, first present the case and respond to
! questions from members of the Board, we then invite anyone else here
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who would like to speak in favor of the requested relief, whether
i: it be a variance or interpretation, to speak, and then we invite
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'; those who might be opposed to speak . Having heard everyone on oneil
j case we then move on to the next without deciding. We hear public
11testimony on all of the cases and then the Board goes into executive
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! session to deliberate over what its heard and reach decision. We
( then reconvene in public session to announce the decisions , not only
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;! the vote but the findings , the reasons on which the Board has voted
1' as it has so that we have a public session, an executive session,
ilreconvene
in public session to explain the Board' s vote. For the
fl Board to grant any affirmative relief, a variance , to anybody - it '
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requires , under the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and under New York State
Ilaw four affirmative votes. Your eyes will tell you that there aro
` only four members of the Board present this evening, two members
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knot being able to be present, which means that you have to obtain
the votes of all four members present to get the relief you are
seeking. That brings us to the first case .
g SECRETARY HOARD announced the first case to be heard:
, APPEAL NO. 1186 : Appeal of Reeder D . Gates for an area varl
I' iance under Section 30 . 25 , Column 13 , to
construct a new two-story building with a '
retail store and four dwelling units at
307-3072 College Avenue , in a B-2 (business)
use district. If the building is construq-
ted as proposed, one deficient side yard
�j will result .
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' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there someone here to present that case?
Would you come up here to the podium and the mike?
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IMR. GATES: My name is Reeder Gates and, as Mr . Hoard pointed out , !
� I am in the process of purchasing a piece of property located at 3q7
Land 3072 College Avenue . My intent is to demolish two buildings
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, that are presently there that are apartment buildings and construct
�! a two-story masonry building which would house the Hill Drug Store ,
Ilon the ground floor and four apartments above it. And being in a
IB- 2 zone it requires two side yards ; one 10 ' and one 5 ' and the reµ
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Ilief that I am seeking is an area variance for one side yard. I 'vo
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�1handed out sets of . . .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is that the only variance - you are also seeking ,
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� an off-street parking requirement variance?
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;SMR. GATES : No .
1CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You have all of the off-street parking the ordi- i
!mance requires?
MR. GATES : Yes . We are in compliance there. �
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11CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay.
MR. GATES : I feel that there are five special conditions and prac-
tical difficulties that make it unreasonable for me to build in the
middle of the lot as I will show you as we go through the four dif-!
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� ferent plans . The first, and I think it is most important, is by
obtaining the variance to put the building one foot from the north
property line is an accessibility to the development . If you will
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Inotice - the first three plans - parking plans show the building i
i1 ' from the north property line and the last proposal which is 1 b
t' it ' s in the corner - the right hand bottom corner - shows the building
lin compliance in the middle of the lot . If we are not allowed to
put the - if we are not granted the variance , we will be forced to
put the building in the middle of the lot and it will result in a
`one-way drive around the building and the area is already congested!
;now and I feel that this will just make the situation that much
worse for our trucks coming in with merchandise and just for general
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parking. It would also eliminate, as you will notice , one and if
Inot two parking spaces from the other proposals - with the buildings
on the north line . I think the double driveway is much more acces-j
Isible than a one-way drive around the building . The second conditiIOn
lI think is important, is the maintenance of the property once it isl
developed and that - with the one-way drive would be much more diffi-
cult to maintain with regard to snow removal and other maintenance
IIthat had to be done . The two-way drive, again, is much more acces-i
Isible . The third thing is the aesthetic factor - I think that by j
lacin the building on the north
�p g g property line we would have some
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side yard to the north of us and we would also tie in with Egan' s
parking lot which would make more of a commercial development and
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�in an isolated area whereas if we put the building in the middle ofl
ythe lot we are going to have a piece of property with a cement
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;; building on it and black top all around it and I don' t feel that
( that' s in the best interests of aethestics . I think , you know, if
1we could share the side yard with the City of Ithaca it would look
�fmuch nicer. Parking is the fourth concern that I think - on all
jIthe first three plans you will notice provide more parking than I
�Ithe last plan which shows the building in the middle of the properiy
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jand I think that - the area being as congested as it already is , I )
jthink it behooves us to provide as much parking as we can and plan !
finumber 1 shows us being able to provide six spaces on our own. !
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Point 5 ties in with point 4 with regard to parking - that ' s the
ipossibility
of a future agreement with Egans IGA to come up with
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some plan to combine the parking areas . Now I have no reason to bo-
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Illieve that this will be done but it is a possibility and as you wi1
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linote on the parking scheme 1 b we are able to provide even more
parking than on parking scheme 1 a which is the third copy - there
is even more parking to be gained. And if the variance isn' t granted
'( with the building in the middle of the property any possibility ofi
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Jdeveloping a future agreement with Egans would be eliminated becau�e
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we would lose that space from our south property line - we would
! only be left with 12 ' so we would never be able to make an arrange
f ment - any parking arrangements with them. At the present time th
two houses are occupied by ten people and there is only four parki g
( spaces . With our proposals - with the variance granted we would bo
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, able to provide six parking spaces and we would have approximately '
six tenants which is definitely an improvement over the parking sii#u-
� ation there now. I feel that these are the five major points that J
( have to make for the variance and to make it the best development
possible and I would hope that you people would support me and grant
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� me the variance under those conditions .
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(( CHAIRMAN MARTIN : Questions from members of the Board? 3
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� MR. KASPRZAK: You mentioned that you are providing six parking spaces
�ffor the apartments upstairs . Are
P p you planning any parking for they
! Hill Drug Store? I
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I`MR. GATES: Yes I am. I 'm only required to provide four spaces fol
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! the apartments upstairs .
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j! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And you are providing, then, how many for the
jdrugstore?
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SMR. GATES: If granted the variance , I would be able to provide si�i
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IMR. KASPRZAK: Six so that two extra . . .
MR. GATES: I would have two extra spaces . Curb cuts are also one
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thing I failed to mention. With the building in the middle of the
property we would have two curb cuts on the street which would eli*_
inate one - there are two curb cuts there now. If the variance is j
l�granted we would only have one which would possibly add another spajce
Ion the street.
&R. WILCOX: Reeder, what about supermarket people parking on your
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1Iproperty? It won' t be paved right across unless you have this deal
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I�lwith Egan?
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IMR. GATES : Well - we are - we have talked with them. At this point
hI can' t tell you that we are going to come to an agreement - I don'
1,have any reason to do that . What we would like to do is to make a
common parking lot for both places . I don' t know that we will be j
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fable to do that but that is a possibility - that they would park in
i�our lot and our customers will park in their lot . I mean, they
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palready have a problem now.
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R. WILCOX: The apartment people would be in back?
R. GATES: Yes .
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kR. KASPRZAK: Until you come to that agreement are you going to ha-re
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phis separation between the two - the access to your parking and the
4an' s parking lot?
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i R. GATES: No, I don' t think so . We are waiting for a topographical
'Irurvey to show the grades of the property. I think what we would do
would be to try to level our entrance - our south drive - level wit .
ans regardless if we had a
g g parking agreement or not. In other
Fords , rather than to have Egans enter in on a lower level and us orf
jhigher level , I ' d like - we 'd like to keep them the same .
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R. KASPRZAK: Is there a possibility and this is just a suggestion,
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ou know - if you come to an agreement with Egan, is it possible foxy
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;' you to consider one entry to both parking lots rather than have . . .
HMR. GATES: That' s what we would do , that' s what - well , one agreet
�iment that was discussed but nothing . . .
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MR. KASPRZAK: We aren' t going to hold you to anything that we areq
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talking about . . .
IMR. GATES : No - not official - was that in plan number 1 as you see
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in the front that you' ll see the curb cut over site - where it says
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site plan
,ling
that would be an entrance - well , excuse me - go to patk-
,ling scheme 1 a, that ' s the third plan. Under site of site plan,
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the words - that would be an entrance possibly or an exit and have �a
common traffic pattern for both businesses . But again that dependA
(' on an agreement that hasn 't been made yet . But as you can see , the
j possibilities are there with the variance granted, where they woul4n' t
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otherwise be.
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f� MR. KASPRZAK: The site layout that you are proposing that we con- 1
sider is 1 c I believe . You have 1 a, 1 b and 1 c?
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MR. GATES : Yes , that is correct .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: All three of those involve the location of the
building that requires the variance?
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IIMR. KASPRZAK: Right but the actual decision making plan will be
11 c , if I understand you correctly?
MR. GATES: That ' s correct, at this point . There are possibilities
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othat it could develop into 1 b or 1 a, depending on our neighbors .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there further questions from members of the
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( Board? I guess not. Anything further you want to add? Thank you.1
�MR. GATES : No. Thank you.
ilCHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there anyone else who would like to be heard on
this case? First are there any others who would like to be heard i i n
! favor of the requested area variance? Is there anyone who would like
cyto present testimony in opposition? We will move on to the next case .
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' BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS I
CITY OF ITHACA
JANUARY 23 , 1978
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!j EXECUTIVE SESSION
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I! APPEAL NO. 1186 :
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I move that the requested area variance irk
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li Case 1186 be granted.
MR. KASPRZAK: I second the motion.
(! FINDINGS OF FACT : 1) That the dimensions of the lot on which
the proposed structure would be placed male
it difficult to comply with the yard sizer!
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i� requirements and at the same time furnish !
! adequate off-street parking and access .
The location of the building which requir�s
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the variance of the side yard requirement ,
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makes it possible to furnish additional
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off-street parking spaces and have better
it access to it than a plan which would have
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the building placed so as to comply with
the yard size requirement . i
2) Requested variance does not pose serious
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li fire fighting or in terms of natural light]
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and air to the proposed building .
IVOTE: � 4 Yes ; 0 No . j
i Area Variance granted, unanimously. i
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11SECRETARY HOARD announced the next appeal to be heard:
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, APPEAL NO. 1187 : Appeal of Ralph S . Marvin Associates for
an area variance under Section 30 . 25 , 11
�! Columns 10 - 14 , to permit construction of
a 5000 square foot addition to the wareho4se
at 212 Center Street, replacing a smaller {
building which now exists on that site .
i. Construction will result in deficiencies n
front , side and rear yards , and will exce d
the maximum permissible lot coverage in to
'i R- 2b (residential) use district in which he
property is located.
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! RALPH MARVIN: I 'm going to ask a question first. At the Planningl
; Board the planning recommendation was providing that I went to thej
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Planning Board. Was that to be read at this time or will it be talen
into consideration?
f� CHAIRMAN MARTIN: The Board has received, at least the Chairman ha -
ilhave copies gone to other members of the Board? All the members o
the Board have received a copy of the report from the Planning sta f,
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j� following up that recommendation. We also always receive the full
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lIrecommendations of the Planning Board so that all the members of tle
, Board have that .
iMR. MARVIN: But is that made public at this time? I
l� CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You can choose to do so if you would like .
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MARVIN: I don' t have it, so I don' t know.
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( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, why don' t you present your case and then
I will fill it into the record so everyone can hear it , okay?
,IIMR,1
. MARVIN: Fine . I have brought with. me some photographs of thej
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'lproperty as it existed in 1915 .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Excuse me , could you identify yourself for the
record?
IIMR. MARVIN: I 'm Ralph Marvin, I 'm the owner of the property locat d
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at 210 Center and 212 Center Street . And according to the history !
lof this particular piece of property it was built some wheres around
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th.e turn of the century. The next two photos show the building as
slit was when I purchased it, which was in the early 50 's -1957 it I
Isays here. There are three such photos and then there are also th4ee
�lph.otos of the building as it exists today. When I appeared before
11th.e Planning Board I requested that I be permitted to add a building
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1kand I would like to also state that the front yard variance was
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�Igranted in 1967 because the property itself exists too close to tho
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I1front to comply with the present regulations and so no building was
�imoved so that the front yard remains unchanged. The new plan thatlI
! first called for was to leave the old building, which is a small
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( building at 210 , put a large building on toward the rear of the
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'( property. But upon discussion with the Planning Board, their first -
�iplan number 1 - was exactly as I had requested it with the excepti n
that they laid it out slightly differently to include trees , shrubd ,
�isome screening and some fencing. The second suggestion which we d L-
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cussed at the Planning Board was to have both buildings flush at t e
gear and with a 100 ' building that would merely leave 3' in the front
from being flush at the front of the new building and a third plan )
jwas to offset the old and new buildings and so the plan number 3 i�
the plan for which I am asking the variance. The building additio�
would b set back approximately 23 ' from the front - it would b 4
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�lapproximately 12 ' - if I remember correctly from the side and woul�
! leave parking space in the rear for ten vehicles . There would be
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( fencing and screening. And the improvement to the area would be tYe
!; removal of a small building which, as you can see, from the 1915
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photo , if you have seen it , wasn' t in too good shape at that time .
It has been stuccoed, covered up to look like a more presentable
building, however, the inside is still not in very good shape and o
! there vuld be an improvement of the building. The hardship of the ;
11situation is the running back and forth between two buildings in all
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sorts of weather to get merchandise from one area to the other and !
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also to attend to customers in one place or the other.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Could you list for us now the deficiencies or put
it the other way around, the precise variances that are required q!r
! you to put the addition on?
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IMR. MARVIN: Well , since I don' t know the numbers , if you who haveI!
�pthe papers would tell me what we are asking for on the side yard,
! yes I can tell you that. Side yard - 10 ' one side ; 5 ' on the other;
is the requirement . And since the existing building is the one that
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his not in compliance there is nothing we can do on that one , but t e
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± new building would be more than 10 ' from that side .
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j! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: It will be 13, do I remember correctly?
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' MR. MARVIN: It will be 1218" .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright. I
MR. MARVIN: The - in front - I don' t see my notation as to what toe
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front yard was necessary but there are 23 ' and I believe that that
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lis within the regulations . The back yard would be approximately 6 t
and the back yard was something like - I don' t recall - was it 35% l
Aback yard - something of that. I
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j MR. HOARD : 25% is required.
MR. MARVIN: 25% in other words , 1/4 of the overall which is - it is
approximately 1/3 , so you have the back yard. It is 165 which would
mean I would only have to have a 40 ' back yard.
iCHAIRMAN MARTIN: And you have much less than that right?
, MR. MARVIN: I have more , approximately 60 . When you are talking
aback yard the Center Street has to be considered the front and ever
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though it is a side lot , the back yard would be the back of the
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1building so there is approximately 60 ' there which is . . .
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MR. HOARD: That ' s with scheme 3?
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� MR. MARVIN: That is scheme 3 . That is correct . That is the one s
that I am requesting a variance . So . . .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, then finally we have lot coverage . . .
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MR. MARVIN: Which, if I recall . . .
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! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: 35% am I right? Is what the ordinance says .
iMR. MARVIN: It' s 35 and . . .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And what you are proposing will be above that so
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1 that also requires a variance .
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� MR. MARVIN: I believe that ' s the only variance . You see the exist-
!+ ing building is the one that is not in compliance .
�ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Right , but you are expanding an existing non-
; compliance building and that itself requires a variance . At least !
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iIthat' s been the - I mean - even if you were expanding it in a dimert
! sion which created no further problem, you are making something th4t
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(lis not in compliance, bigger and that itself requires a variance .
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I( So that all of those front yard ones , for example , are theoreticalljy
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(! before the Board but what you are saying is that the expansion you
are proposing is creating no additional problem in terms of the ori
,Idinance with the exception of the minimum lot coverage?
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MR. MARVIN: Minimum lot coverage , right.
! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: In every other area requirement you comply. Thil
! is also an expansion of a non-conforming use , right?
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( MR. MARVIN: That is correct. i
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ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: And that slo requires a variance , it requires a
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use variance so that that ' s the full bundle that we 've got here . `
MR. MARVIN: Right. And do you have the percentage of lot coverago
which th.e new building would be?
CHAIRMAN MARTIN : Well the figure 40o appears on a mark up that wei
have but it wasn' t clear to me whether that applies to this parti- i
cular plan.
MR. HOARD: That applied to an earlier plan.
MR. MARVIN: That was the same dimensions . 50 x 100 was the addit on
ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright , so it applies to this one .
MR. MARVIN: So going from 35° to 40° lot coverage .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So you are asking us for a use variance which isl
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required because you are expanding a use which is a legal non-con- 1
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! forming use at the moment , but by expanding it you require a use
( variance, since this area is residential one and an area variance
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is also required because of the lot coverage . Okay.
I MR. MARVIN: Correct. �
lMR. KASPRZAK: Can you expand on this expansion of a non-conforming
use because you basically didn' t tell us very much about it . Because
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MR. MARVIN: You mean, why an addition is required? j
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!l MR. KASPRZAK: Well , you have to prove hardship to us for one thing
and you haven' t even touched upon that .
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(j MR. MARVIN: The problem of getting between buildings in all sorts !
of weather and using an old building which I won' t call a fire tra�
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y!but is definitely not as fire resistant as the building next to it
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I1which is mainly the cement block .
�'MR. KASPRZAK: How long have you been separated like that between the
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jtwo buildings?
IMR. MARVIN: Something about - about will all the time that I 've owned
}i the property but the actual separation occured somewhere ' s in the
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s11920 ' s or 19301s .
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IMR. KASPRZAK: You mean between the two buildings?
�!,MR. MARVIN: Originally they were connected.
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;IMR. KASPRZAK: As I understand, you have two operations ; one on thq
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j� Center Street and another one somewhere else and you have to commute
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4i between the two of them.
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� MR. MARVIN: No , they are both on Center Street but they are two side
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�by side buildings .
�!MR. KASPRZAK: I was confused along the lime somewhere .
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OR. MARGIN: Here you have two separate buildings , side by side .
!'MR. KASPRZAK I see , so when you say - yes, I am familiar with
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your operation , when you said two separate buildings I assumed,
Eerroneously, of course , that they were on different sites .
s
SMR. MARVIN: No, side by side , although they are two different ad-
dresses ; 210 and 212 Center Street . Did you wish to see these
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(pictures) ?
ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: One possibility of course , is for your additional]
space needs , you would go elsewhere and then these buildings beings
non-conforming ones but somewhat smaller than you proposed, would be
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used for some other non-conforming use but not your larger expanded;
operation. Help us think that one through. To what extent are yo14
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increasing your business , the traffic flow and other things that
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' might hurt a residential neighborhood with this expansion? Will
there be any change in the character of what you do there?
;MR. MARVIN: No the main reason for the required additional space
'aside from the fact that there has been an increase in the business;,
Put that ' s normal , and we hope that it continues because if we don"t
Igo up we go down but aside from the increase in business there has
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been the increase in size of products. There are a lot more products
which are made in foam and stryofoam takes up a lot more space . Irk
�laddition we are carrying more of the packaging materials or packin�
materials which is of a cellulose nature , which requires a lot mora
space. It is no where near as compact, and therefore , on both
libasis , the basis of a slight increase in business and the vast in-
crease in the size of the products , it is necessary that we have more
( space.
MR. KASPRZAK: Have you considered moving to another site , totallyi
out of the residential area?
IMR. MARVIN: It' s been considered but that would then leave a vacant
building and its hard to say if it could be re-rented and if it is !
left vacant it becomes more of a hazard than being a business opera
ation.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is it being re-rented something that is unlikely (
or would it . . . ?
MR. MARVIN: I have no idea.
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . In other words , we would have to - I
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( think - to be persuaded that indeed was a likely prospect , an
lunrented and vacant building before we would worry terribly much
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about that as creating evidence of hardship in this situation.
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IMR. MARVIN: It is a probability because there is - I don' t know
that there is a large demand for a large warehouse within the city !
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, limits at the present moment . Generally speaking the demand for
`( warehousing would be if the property had much more parking . And
isince it does not have much more parking, if we can limit it to a
type of business where most of the business is conducted on someonj
( else ' s premises where our salesman accepts an order and then the
( merchandise is delivered to them rather than having a type of busi
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( ness where it attracts a lot of customers . So , from my way of j
thinking, I doubt that the building will have many prospective
i) tenants
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IjMR. KASPRZAK: Judging by the history of your appeals , you have been
. before this Board every five years , roughly speaking. You are runming
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�s
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;, out of land - if we assume that within the next five years you are ;
going to be back. Is that a good possibility or is this . . . ?
ig
IMR. MARVIN: I doubt it but let ' s o back before that 25 - that 5
+
Ii years .
JIMR. KASPRZAK: I just have a record in front of me that you were
,
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j well the business was here in 166 and then in 172 and now in 178 .
ilIMR. MARVIN: May I show you these three photos which were the reason
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!! for the need for a variance . . . ? r
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MR. KASPRZAK: Well you are missing my point . I
IiIN:
,IMR. MARVIN: No I 'm not missing . . .
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1MR. KASPRZAK: This is irrelevant that you are here as a non-confor m-
E
ing use okay? And if you keep continuously coming back and expand]
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ding and growing into the residential area we have a problem that wd
have to make a decision upon.
IMR. MARVIN: Right.
,' MR. KASPRZAK: I 'm wondering whether we shouldn' t make the decisio4
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tonight or whether we should let you go and then come back in five
' years and make the decision then.
! MR. MARVIN: I have no intentions of being back in five years . If '
;; I had thought that that might be a possibility, I would ask for a
much larger lot coverage at this time.
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� MR. KASPRZAK: You know, I asked the same question at the last he#_
Ming, and I am not sure it was you or somebody else but I was on the
4
iBoard.
IMR. MARVIN: It was me.
1
IMR. KASPRZAK: I was on the Board then and I believe I asked the same
lquestion and the same answer came back and I am afraid that in five]
years I will have the same question and we will have the same ans�er
Jagain. I 'm being nasty a little bit, just in case you hadn' t no-
liticed.
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SMR. MARVIN: I 'm sorry, but I cannot reciprocate in kind then but , lI
don' t feel that there is any probability of doing any such thing .
,
IjCHAIRMAN MARTIN: This addition you are asking for is sort of the f
natural outer limit of your operation there and at that point why
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!pit' s intrusion in the residential neighborhood will be at its maxi-j
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pum.
IMR. MARVIN: Yes . I ' il make a promise . I promise that I will neve
jiagain return. !
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!SMR. KASPRZAK: Don' t do that .
11MR. MARVIN: If granted, I ' ll put those two words in.
IlMR. GAINEY: Where is your proposed entrance to this building?
'MR. MARVIN: This is an addition to the old building - there would
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The a proposed . . .
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�MR. GAINEY: You are replacing that . . .
1MR. MARVIN: The walk-in entrance right in back here .
MR. GAINEY: You've got shipping . . .
�MR. MARVIN: Yes , well there would also have to be a side - a back
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door there .
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R. GAINEY: Your existing entrance is now on Center Street right?
11 �
IMR. MARVIN: It would be - remain right here. This would not have
Many openings . i
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R. GAINEY: What you are saying is that you are kind of eliminating
parking and the pedestrian traffic that is now on Center Street and
!!
I1you are moving into the rear of the building which will be in parking.
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R. MARVIN: That' s right .
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!CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there any further questions from -members of j
the Board ?
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R. GAINEY: Is this addition that you are putting on, are you going;
to be eliminating a wall here so that it is all one building or are!
you just going to have entrances between the two buildings?
!
R. MARVIN: Break through. Retaining the wall .
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R. GAINEY: Isn' t that what you have now? Don' t you just have a
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;doorway that you go from the small building into the larger building?
ER. MARVIN: No. There is complete separation. There is a 3 foot
alleyway.
R. GAINEY: Which is covered? it' s not in the open?
R. MARVIN: No, it ' s not covered.
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IIMR. GAINEY: It seems to me that I 've been in the building when
Epeople just walk through the door into a warehouse area . Maybe I
11missed something when I walked into the door . I
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`I MR. MARVIN: You walked into the office of the new building.
�iMR. GAINEY: I walked into the office in the building on the right !
hand side where your office area is .
SMR. MARVIN: Yes , okay. Well the other building is completely sep4-
i
rated by an alley.
!i! MR. GAINEY: Your offices now are in this building?
] CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Can you describe for us the kind of traffic, noiie
and other problems that your operation, with the addition, will ha4e
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(i and how good or how bad a neighbor are you in a residential zone?
IMR. MARVIN: I like to think of myself as a good neighbor basically
because , aside from the fact that I do take pride in taking care of
the building, as you can see from the present photos but I 'm afraid
m going to have to leave that question to be answered by someone ]
else .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well , in order to grant you a variance we have to
'4
, find that the proposed addition will not adversely affect the neigl -
Iborh.00d, alright? So I am asking you to tell us about your operat�on.
MR. MARVIN: Oh, I 'm happy to tell you about the operation but not !
i
whether I 'm a good neighbor or not .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, I 'm not you misunderstand, I 'm asking yo�
about the affects of your operation. The kinds of things that we ,
quite appropriately, would take into account in deciding whether
for not the use variance you are asking for is compatible with the
( neighborhood in terms of its affects on the neighborhood.
MR. MARVIN: Well , the use variance is a continuation as it exists ;
today. We have a business whereby we have several salesmen that 90
out , call on customers , they bring their orders in which are filled
hand then delivered to the customer. We also have available to -
� and this is primarily to churches and their organizations - suppli4s
i� where they can come in and see what we have, pick out what they want ,
lithey can even pick them up at the time , or they can place an order ,
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to be delivered later . We do have some walk in trade but our pri- i
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1mary business is the wholesale taking an order and delivering it
ei
to a customer .
j CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, and could you give us just a sense in j
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�iterms of daily volume, of the comings and goings of your sales sta�f
Mand your deliveries . How much. traffic is coming out of this . . . ?
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ii MR. MARVIN: Generally, let me say that we probably have any where !
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' from four to ten large trucks making deliveries , sometimes they all
congregate on one day and sometimes they will spread over a week.
�eWe have two vehicles of our own which make daily deliveries and in
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most cases our trucks will go out once each day. Return sometime in
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!Ithe late afternoon. Our sales staff - at the present there are for
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�Isales persons and they report to the office either for a half hour
� in the morning or for a half hour in the evening and so for the
(,major portion of the day, we are limited to office staff which con-!
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� sists of four people .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And to repeat what I think you have already told !
bus , you don' t envision any of these things changing with the addi- i
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` tion? That you will simply be able to accommodate the business yoLJ
P�now have more efficiently but it will not materially change .
'MR. MARVIN: That ' s true.
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�ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Further Questions from members of the Board?
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�MR. WILCOX : Is there a percentage applied in your industry for nori-
imal or usual cost for warehousing space? Does your business , your
industry, require a low cost warehousing as opposed to a high cost
I
warehousing like perishable foods?
MR. MARVIN: Yes . Low cost .
!
MR. WILCOX: Is your warehouse heated?
(NIR. MARVIN: Partially. The second and third floors are not and thie
IItemperature in the warehouse along with God' s help, unfortunately
remains in the low 60 ' s most of the time.
`MR. WILCOX: But moisture and things like that you have to control
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�Jyourself. You have paper products don' t you?
IMR. MARVIN: Yes , but they are minor. No problem.
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lMR. WILCOX: Well , would you say then that in your business low coot
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'; warehousing is a must or is not that important? j
iIMR. MARVIN: It ' s preferable .
MR. WILCOX: Oh sure , but it may be demanding . . .
4
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iMR. MARVIN: Well higher cost warehousing would be a temperature c '
jItrolled, certain products that are requiring it .
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(SMR. WILCOX: I mean, if you had to construct a new warehouse else-
! where, would those costs be prohibitive?
MR. MARVIN: New warehousing, yes . Starting from the beginning
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jcompletely new warehouse or complex would be prohibitive .
! MR. GAINEY: Did you ever consider that idea before along with thio
! idea of building a complete new warehouse in another location?
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MR. MARVIN: Well we had thought about it but construction costs would
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i! be in excess of $200 ,000 .
IMR. GAINEY: What is the proposed cost of this?
11MR. MARVIN: Between 30 ,000 and 50 ,000 .
l! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Further questions from members of the Board? Dol
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1you have anything further that you want to add, Mr. Marvin? j
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[ MR. MARVIN: No , I think that will do it . j
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, now let me , as you asked, let me before !
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�. we move to testimony of others , read into the record memorandum '
1which. the Zoning Board received from the Director of Planning &
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{ Development , Mr. Thys VanCort. We have in this case as in all cas�s
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! a recommendation from the Planning Board a recommendation based on !
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a hearing that many of you may have attended. And in this case the
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; recommendation we have had a contingency attached to it that Mr . i
'! Marvin work with. tlhe Planning $ Development Department to landscape
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the property, to complement the goals and objectives of the neighbc r-
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Ih_ood as much as possible . The memorandum we have summarizes the
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results of those that working of Mr. Marvin with the Planning &
Development Department:
H
!! "In accordance with the directive of the Board of Planning and De- '
I
velopment regarding this case , the staff has worked with appellant '
I1to develop a site plan for the proposed addition which it is felt
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should satisfy objections raised at the December presentation to
lithe Board.
11 "The staff prepared several acceptable alternatives for appellant ' $
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selection, and scheme 3 (copy attached) met with his approval . This
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jscheme was developed with the following objectives in mind:
eliminate rear yard encroachment of original proposal
ii reduce exposure of addition and of total of both structures
I to Plain St. and to properties adjacent to east
. consolidate vehicular activity (parking and loading) , thus
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eliminating proposed parking and loading area off Center St .
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and closing existing curb cut on Center
. adding to existing fencing both to partially screen inten-
sified use and to inhibit use of premises as informal short-
j cut through block
1 add plantings of trees and shrubs around perimeter to
i soften effect of addition, especially on Center, and
partially screen bareness of parking and loading area
"Specific types of plant and fencing materials are left to appel-
lant ' s discretion. It is not felt that plantings at any point shogld
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be so dense as to screen completely any portion of the property,
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but they sh.ouid be sufficiently extensive to break up unrelieved
expanses of building wall and parking area. A mix of evergreen
and deciduous plants would probably be most effective.
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"Appellant has been advised that certain standards exist in the
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Zoning Ordinance concerning screening and surfacing of off-street
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Iiparking areas . A combination of planting and fencing similar to tat
f� suggested in the attached schematic site development plan should
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effectively provide the desired visual barrier.
+ "Department staff is willing to discuss details of the final schema
' with appellant, as necessary, in order to help meet neighborhood
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11 concerns. "
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1ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, so that that is what we have by way of
[Ifollow up on the condition that the Planning Board attached to their
( recommendation of your appeal . Let me invite anyone else here who ;
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;!who would like to be heard on this case to present testimony. Fir 't
!! let me ask anyone who would like also to speak in favor of the re- i
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;, quested area and use variances , to speak. Would you come forward
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1please?
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( SANDY WHITTAKER: My name is Sandy Whittaker and I live at 211 Center
' Street which is directly across from Mr. Marvin' s paper company. I!
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1Ifeel Mr. Marvin has been a very good neighbor . I 've lived there for
11ten years and I think something that might be taken into considera2
ition is - you know Mr. Marvin has maintained the building, he has put
a new roof on it , the building is not objectionable in color or in
i
size , the new addition will eliminate the smaller, older building iln
llithe front and our main concern as neighbors directly across the
street was getting out of our driveway. Center Street is a narrow
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street, it has narrow driveways and parking directly across from oufr
home makes it very difficult if we have a large car to get out of
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our driveway. This new proposal that Mr. Marvin has , I feel , will
eliminate this problem because the parking will then be in the rear.
I think something that should be considered is the fact that if he
his forced to move his business elsewhere , we may have a tenant that3i
Ps a lot less desirable than Mr . Marvin. I think he has cooperated;,
1he ' s talked to us on Center Street extensively, of his plans and hijs
plans for the shrubbery and I think he is making an effort to cooper-
�ate with the neighborhood. You know, what must be taken into con-
sideration is this business has been there for over twenty years anki
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lits been an accepted part of the neighborhood up until now. So I 'ml
Ijreally not opposed to it at all . I don' t think it will change any-'
I
�lthing that much and I think the planting and the shrubbery that they
11have planned with the Board of Zoning Appeals would be more than
1
11satisfactory to me.
I
CHAIRMAN MARTIN:. Thank you Ms . Whittaker . Are there any questions;
from members of the Board? Is there anyone else who would like to r
speak in favor of the requested variance? Is there anyone who would
!hike to speak in opposition?
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NS . CUMMINGS : My name is Susan Cummings . If I could speak from hefe
re have some slides we 'd like to show.
l�CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . The problem with - oh, you have to run
;she slides . Alright - speak sufficiently loud that we can pick you (
p on what becomes the public record.
f1
MS. CUMMINGS : I ' ll try. Fine . Is this working?
I�
I0AIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, we still , even with that help - for the folis
1�n the back you have to kind of shout so we get you on this tape .
ISIS. CUMMINGS : Alright - fine . First of all I ' d like to say that I %
,represent a group of neighbors in the immediate area who are concer�ed
I
with maintaining the residential quality of the area.
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay - you live - I missed your address . You liv�
lin the area . . .
��S. CUMMINGS : fi live in the area, I live at 214 Fayette Street - MY
I0 roperty abuts Mr. Marvin' s property in the back. ,
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright .
I
S. CUMMINGS : Okay, before I start showing these slides I think I I
;
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!have my facts straight. Mr. Marvin is here as the owner of the
1Ilproperty, is that correct? Now you've been answering questions and
��granting some sorts of assurances for the business and the future o�
the business . Now, it is my understanding through the Chamber of !
I
Commerce, that you have sold the business to William Grippi , that ho
� is actually the owner of Harbeck Paper Company, is this the case?
s
R. MARVIN: That is true , it' s Harbeck Industrial Supplies - I 'm
I
istill active in the business.
IMS. CUMMINGS: Yes , I understand that you are still working with hii
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��and will be for a few years but when we are talking about five year
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guarantees and things like that, there is someone else who will be
' running the company. Now as we look at these slides and see the
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impact on the neighborhood I think we should consider that there wi l
be someone else in charge of the industrial end of it . Someone who
his perhaps not as good a neighbor as Mr. Marvin has been. Some pe
ole
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I1in the area have had occasion to deal with the new owner and have !
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I�found him not as responsive to neighborhood concerns . I believe this
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jlwas the description actually used, that perhaps Mr . Grippi was an
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j!ambitious , eager person interested in getting ahead. I would ques -i
tion how much business may or may not expand. Okay. Now what I
would like to show you is the character of the neighborhood so that;
you can see the impact that commercial expansion will have on our
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Iblock. I think it will be enormous . Okay. When we bought our
house three years ago , we took a look at the neighborhood before wef
bought . In our back yard we knew was a commercial structure . We
Iwanted to know what the zoning was . We found out it was an R- 2 areja
! therefore , we assumed that the commercial structure behind us wouldn' t
lexpand any. So we went ahead and bought the house . We 've been work-
ing on our house as everybody in this neighborhood has been in the
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past few years . The turnover in property to new, younger owners
who have a commitment to the area and are going to be staying here
for awhile , is enormous . The city also has a commitment to the are±a .
f
Notice the trees which have just gone in, this is part of the Ithaca
. Neighborhood Housing Services target area devoted to improving the j
';neighborhood, concerned with residential concerns . We are trying
Ito make the neighborhood a better place . This right here is Plain
`Street, kidde-korner from the Paper Company. This is Plain. Okay
i now we are going to look at Center Street , also a very nice street .i
;Lovely turn of the century homes . This - the Paper Company is down'
�Ithere kidde-korner - you' ll see it . Now we come to the commercial
area of the neighborhood and now we are going to see what a bit of
commercial expansion will do . Some of our drawings here were done
'i before we realized that Mr . Marvin zeroed in on the last proposal -
�1t
the one which would put all the parking in the rear so , excuse those ,
�ibut you will get an idea. The building , I understand , will be 20 '
I�
tall . Now, I 'm not sure - I believe that this is a Butler Pre-Fab
,building - that 20 ' is to the eaves rather than the ridge pole?
10kay, that' s about a two-story building. In all of our proposed
f1drawings here are done to scale - you' ll see exactly the size and
exactly the set back. f
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j(MR. WILCOX: Will you slow down a little bit
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IIMS. CUMMINGS : Okay - I didn' t want to bore you with the character ]
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1of the neighborhood.
SMR. WILCOX: You can back up a bit.
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MS . CUMMINGS : Sure - okay. Alright, now this is the small buildi4g
' that Mr. Harbeck would like to remove . A view of it with the park ng
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,oto the side. There is space right htere now for about three or four
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�Ecars . Okay - it is used sometimes , sometimes it' s not . It ' s a loi
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easier for people to just pull up in front of the building and par
j� in the street . Take a look at our streets right now, during this
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(!` snow storm and you will realize how terribly narrow they are when
!; you have a lot of parking. It ' s narrow during the rest of the yeas
Mr. Marvin mentioned that loading and heavytraffic salesmen !
Itoo . r
hakes place in the morning. I know because I run by Mr. Marvin' s I
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business every morning and there is a lot of parking on the street,
" It probably clears up a little during the day but there is congestion
there during the prime commuting time . My question with the parkiig
will be how many people will park off the street when it ' s there?
I
INow we slip into a projection. This is the 20 ' building - this is `
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the farthest set back, the one that Mr. Marvin is not going to be
using. Alright , now we ' ll show you the impact of this property ha$
Iron the neighborhood. It is located at cross roads , it' s visible
from many directions . It has a tremendous impact on the character
It ' s a large structure and the structure that he is going to build
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is also large.
I' MR. WILCOX: Hold it for a second please?
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MR. GAINEY: Am I right in understanding that these doors that are !
i
in the front of the building are going to be eliminated?
� MR. MARVIN: That is in the proposal , yes .
MS. CUMMINGS: I believe the loading will not - there will not be any
filoading taking place on Center Street anymore , is that correct?
jMR. MARVIN: That ' s one of the improvements .
MS. CUMMINGS : Alright , one of the improvements would be that it
! would remove all of the loading and heavy traffic from Center Strut .
rHowever, I would question whether it ' s all going to fit in the arei
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; provided for it directly behind and also directly across from the
j� parking lot for the housing complex. Okay, now you can see this is
!
! the block that it is on - you can see what a substantial portion o
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lithe block it will occupy. You can see the grey buildings and the
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,projected new building . The areas show the impact in all directio s ,
I� into everybody' s back yard, across back yards , across the street ,
pit ' s highly visible from everywhere . We don' t have our garages
sitting at the back of our lots screening it conveniently for us . i
Alright, now I ' ll give you an example of how this will look from I
Hanother view. Here are a couple of buildings , small buildings , belinc
land on Plain Street. Note the contrast in the character. These are
i
kind of cute buildings , they are rather sweet . A lot of work was done
on the church building recently - painted, roof. Alright . Now you,
; see the open space that' s behind Harbeck now. You can see houses
` trees , open space , occasionally some of the children will be found {
! on weekends from the housing complex across the street , playing ball
lin the back yard. There you start to fill it in. This is with the
1
warehouse all the way back. Here it is with the warehouse with thei
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set back that ' s being proposed. That' s to scale - that ' s the heighjt
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!of the warehouse. These are the plantings drawn according to the !
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(plans from the Planning Department . DeQiduous trees and the two
corners there and low shrubs . The low shrubs are necessary for visi-
bility so that the vehicles moving in and out can see , but they donl' t
do much of a job screening but you' ve got to have them that low, so{
that the trucks can see -, so that you can watch out for the childre
across the street and in the street . Here it is from across the
street this is the parking lot with the housing development j
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housing project. There is how it would be . That 's a lot of traffic
! !
; exiting out of one small curb cut and exiting from the parking lot
at the same time . Here is an elevation view showing you the parking
! area , to scale again and cramped, I would suggest. There is supposied
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to be room for ten cars in there . Both shipping and receiving wills
I
iltake place from the back lot . The trucks that bring in the goods afire
lithe large trucks , then there are the smaller panel trucks who delivler
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'Ithe goods and then the other medium sized trucks . I don' t quite s4e
jhow you are going to be able to get all those vehicles moving arou4d
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jin there freely. I am not sure that I want to live with my yard
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`; abutting next to all of those vehicles . A parking lot is not an
t aesthetically pleasing thing to have next to you even if it does h�vt
! slight screening of evergreen trees behind it . There won' t be room
' for screening the lower side on the left - that will be a fence ,
; possibly redwood stockade fencing how well can stockade fencing l�e
` maintained after four or five years? How many times will it take
lit when a car runs over the curb and knocks the fencing? I 'm raid
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! ing questions of maintenance right now. I would suggest that the
Imaintenance is not all it could be. It ' s difficult to maintain be4
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cause it is in a residential area . If this property were in a com�
mercial area where you don' t have kids , where you don' t have peopl�
! around there it wouldn't be as difficult . We didn' t want to play
up - do a lot of muckraking slides for you so we didn' t take pictuies
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of all the broken bottles and broken glass but there is a lot of i -
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just even along the side walk. Not in the back lot. There are
broken bottles there because it ' s a residential neighborhood, people
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Ith.row things around. You've got to pick them up all the time . A
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; commercial business doesn' t have time to do all that maintenance .
Alright - here' s some of the other things we have to look at for
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maintenance . At this point I was supposed to say something about
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` how I didn' t want to stand in my backyard and look across at a parl -
j� ing lot . I think that is what it was - how I didn' t want to stand !
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there and get fumes from the parking lot . I was also supposed to
raise questions about grading the parking lot and have a run-off,
! what happens - we have a very touchy water table down there . You
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raise the parking lot a little bit with some gravel , are we going
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� to get all the water pouring in our back yard? We ' re concerned with
our back yards as much as the front yards and how the fronts of oux
' houses look. And so are our neighbors right here who also would bei
11close up against a warehouse. Everybody' s gardens are out in back1
!iher.e. Okay, this is the section on magnets . Unavoidable I assume ,'
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jalso rather dangerous for children, I assume . Now remember this
Iistuff is piled up here - it ' s going to have to be piled up in a
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jparking lot - the parking lot is already Quite full . As far as ma�n-
k
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!' taining the current lot and current ladnscaping, I know Mr. Marvin
lhas had people out there cutting the grass and cutting it back - I
jappreciate that that ' s a job but it ' s not the sort of job apparently
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Ithat there are a lot of funds to allot to. Now someone was out th4re
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1Ilast year cutting it down, this sort of stuff, lightweight sumacks !
;hand berry bushes with a chain saw. It doesn' t do too good a job .
Maintaining this piece of property is a lot of work and I would asl
whether a larger property could be maintained. This is the building
once again that Mr . Marvin would like to remove . He says it 's a i
jdisaster - or unsafe at any rate. I ' d like to suggest in response
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that perhaps it ' s not all that bad. You've all asked what would hIP-
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if Harbeck had to move - what could be done with the buildings .!
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Well , I would suggest that this building has more adaptive uses
9lthan does a warehouse . Mr. Marvin said himself, well it' s hard toj
.1 are
!bent warehouses in the city - so when you/building a second wareholse
hand Harbeck does outgrow the second warehouse in - maybe not five
!but ten years , then you've got two warehouses to rent . This building
lhas a long history of use . It was used by an electrical contracto ,
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I` it was a neighborhood grocery store, it could be tidied up with very
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little effort. It could be rented again to low traffic business
an Ad Agency, a design firm, an architect , it ' s in character with the
neighborhood - it ' s rather an interesting building, it has some
parking. It doesn' t have to look that bad. Thank you. Are there
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any pictures anyone would like to see again? Also , we have a peti-i
tion here - signed by the neighbors in the immediate area . This
; petition was started several weeks ago when the first plan was intro-
duced and this one is expressing general concern about the neighbor�-
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I1hood maintaining residential character and there are about twenty-five
for so names on here. These areeo le
p p generally, whose property I
abuts directly or are facing the property.
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, CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there any Questions for Ms . Cummings? Yes - We
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ffhave a question or two , would you come up and answer the questions)
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11MR. GAINEY: Have you seen his latest scheme that is proposed?
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111MS . CUMMINGS: Yes I have , I went into the Planning Department Fri
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i' day and looked at it .
;l MR. GAINEY: And your major objection is whether - if I read this
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1correctly - is the amount of traffic that is going to be in that
back parking lot - also the maintenance of the building? I
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MS. CUMMINGS : The fact that it ' s a commercial structure in a resii
dential neighborhood yes we think the parking lot isn' t big enough,
111we think there probably isn' t enough space , we don' t want to live
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next to a parking lot , we don' t want the noise of trucks or the
pollution from the fumes but most of all we don' t want to look at
�IS ,000 square foot warehouse - it does terrible things to property
I� values . ,
SMR. GAINEY: Could you show me on here where your land?
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� Ms . CUMMINGS : Where our land . . . ?
� MR. GAINEY: Right.
SIMS. CUMMINGS : The property lines go like this our land abuts - 4e
share about 15 ' here. We are this way (pointing) the house with the
lilittle white picket fence that I showed you the back of is here , so
1we are over here.
MR. GAINEY: What else abuts your land? j
MS . CUMMIGNS: What else abuts - was that little church building
, that I said had been cleaned up recently - cleaned up and repainted -
! the white building with the beige trim.
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MR. GAINEY: And what you are saying is you have a common boundary ;
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with Harbeck and also with the church?
MS. CUMMINGS: We have a common boundary with both Harbeck and thel
church es and I 'm not t
- y just speaking for our property, I m speal�-
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Jing for some of th.e other . . , i
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MR. GAINEY: And what is the name of the people that lave here?
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MS. CUMMINGS : The people who live here - Raymond King they are
11Raymond and Beverly King, 'second one down. That piece of property '
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!! incidentally was divided into three units and it recently, in the
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;Oast two years it has been converted back into a one-family dwellin' .
hhe grocery carts have been removed from the front lawn and it has
Been fixed up nicely. I
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SIR. WILCOX: I 'm curious , is Art Pearce going to speak on this?
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ibkay, I ' ll ask the question of him.
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Help us place it against the base line which exists
i!that is a non-conforming use , a commercial use . Help us see in wha�
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Ildimensions this will be worse than what ' s there now. In other word
you ask us to imagine it fixed up with some more attractive use mad
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f the smaller structure . You don' t mention what might happen to t e
larger one. But let ' s just compare it against what ' s there now.
hat ' s there now is legal , non-conforming use . And the appellant
1 ould have us view it as something that was really more compatible
ith the addition. That it would take the traffic off Center Stree ,
that we ' d have this clump of off-street parking, etc. and that what
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is proposed fits better than what ' s there now, i
�S. CUMMINGS : Okay. The initial impact is visual . Visually it' s
going to be enormous . It' s going to look enormous . There ' s a big
difference between living 10 feet from the side of another house,
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looking at people ' s windows, that sort of stuff and living ten feet )
from the side of a steel warehouse , okay? You see people out in th�ir
ards when you live close to people . Here you just see a warehouse ;
!right behind you. It ' s visually unappealing, other than being larg� ,
I' t ' s going to cut out sunlight from three yards , that sort of thing,
lright, as far as taking traffic off Center Street , alright it has `
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taken some traffic off from Center Street , but it ' s brought all of the
�itraffic that has been split between two streets , Center and Plain,
land put it in one street, Plain. Now the traffic, as a matter of
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act , the trucks can be a problem, occasional) they y go down the wring
street , Fayette Street. About a year ago one of the big trucks went
i own our street, ripped the phone wires , TV cables off from three
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mouses in a row. My concern is that I really do see expansion, morn
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((trucks , more shaking and vibrating of the land and cracking of the
mouses . I think that a parking lot brought into the cranny of ever*! -
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!! body' s back yard - it' s an intrusion, it' s an invasion. When you
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, buy a residential home you do expect that your back yard is going
Ito butt up against another residential back yard and, as I said, wq
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ICnoticed when we bought what we had and we checked it out because w�
' wondered whether it could expand.
11CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And so the appropriate question I think for us now
is - you know it was obvious to anyone who would have bought the�e
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that there was this non-conforming use and the question is , is what '
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proposed making it somewhat better or worse? And in your judgement
it ' s making it worse . The first thing that you mentioned and I ma
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The misjudging, but I think perhaps the most important , is the shee�
bulk. It' s more dramatic with the addition than it is . . .
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MS. CUMMINGS: Not only that, but it' s out of character , there is
,, such a thing as maintaining the character of a neighborhood. You
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( could even make an Elmira Road look good, if everything were simil r ,
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had the same sorts of set-backs , if things were all in character,
if signs were all in character I mean, you know, take a street that
1, looks like a hodgepodge with assorted signs , put them all in one
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!! character, as they are trying to do on the Commons and suddenly,
Ithings look better. This would be tremendously out of character
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�with the other homes there.
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; CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there other questions from members of the Bozlyd?
! Okay. Thank you. Now - who else would like to be heard on this case
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!' in opposition to the requested variance? Could you come up to this
;;mike unless you've got slides too?
IMR. SPENCER: I 'm Joseph Spencer of 306 Center Street and I don' t
j+ have a petition in front of me but I have objection of thirteen resi-
idents that live down on S. Plain Street and Center Street and they !
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are concerned about the matter of the extension because they don' t ';
like they would like to have a business area in that sectionto have it extended, otherwise. Sue Cummin s made it g clearly - I,, feel
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don' t want to make it too long but the residents are concerned and ;
the Southview Apartments on Center and Plain Street - there are twl
e�nty
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!! six units , twenty-four families of which over fifty children -
1Itotal population is eighty-three , is that there is a lot of children
11 that district and there are residents that are concerned about
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I� the extension of the Paper Company and I don' t have any more to sa�l .
This is the paper.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are you going to be able to leave that with us?
For the record?
( MR. SPENCER: Yes.
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( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. Any questions? Thank you. Anyone
!. else who would like to be heard on this case?
MS. JONES: My name is Margaret Jones and though I am not a residefit
Iof Southside I have great concerns for that area. I serve as the
,1chairman of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services . I also work for
Ilthe Ithaca Housing Authority, of which we do have the Southview
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1Apartments . It was to my great surprise to find out that now the I
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traffic had been rerouted to Plain Street I am even more concerned ;
now. As Sue showed the traffic would then be coming out - also
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facing the parking lot of the Southview Apartments . That' s an awful
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lot of traffic on a very narrow street. I just don' t see how the
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( trucks and the cars are going to avoid hitting somebody' s child. I
Ireally don' t see how we are going to be able to avoid many accidentis
�lin that area - of trucks and cars . I think it is also unfair to the
(small community church to expand this building . Certainly there may
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Pot be business going on on Sunday but the church does have servicers
and businesses going on during the week. And that will be an awful!
lot of noise right at their side windows . To the neighborhood itse�f
it would certainly be a big change . And to the committee that work 6d
( very hard on the rezoning of the neighborhood - we took into cons!-
� deration everything that came forth from the neighborhood and all that
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!`we heard from that area that they wanted to remain a residential
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area. We realize that this structure was here but to expand it , and
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again maybe in five years or ten years to have someone back to chane
it again, I think that is doing an injustice to the neighborhood.
( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any questions? Thank you. Is there anyone else `.
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11who would like to speak on this case?
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�IMR. PEARCE : My name is Arthur Pearce, I 'm with INHS, 520 W. Green '
, Street . I think that just about everything has already been said, ;
'; that slide show helped clarify some of my thinking. My concern asl
ithe Executive Director of the Neighborhood Housing Service is thati
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our program is designed to encourage individuals to invest hundreds
'Jof thousands of dollars in their homes in the southside neighborhood
over the next several years . We currently expect to help people wiith
.! loans through our program of something in the neighborhood of
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11 $400 , 000 . in 'the southside and the way we are working now - that will
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( mean another $2 million dollars will be invested by individuals bor-
rowing from other sources. So we are tlaking about perhaps 22 million
! dollars worth of residential investment in the southside community.;
lWe have just gotten started with this but the back bone of our program
is to assure people and to demonstrate the stability of the neigh- i
lborhood and the merits in making such an investment in individual
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properties . That this is a good place to live , it ' s a residential
neighborhood, we are concerned with the schools , we are concerned
with the traffic , we are concerned with housing and we are concerned
( with commercial uses . I am not opposed to commercial activity, I 'm
actively interested in what' s happening on W. State Street and I ark
( trying to get the city to explore redevelopment and new activities ':
bion W. State Street but I cannot see it fitting into our program to ::
have that section of Plain Street become anymore commercial than it,
lis. In fact , I look forward to perhaps working with the Paper Comp
Iipany as time went on to see if we could work with them to come up
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! with. some landscaping improvements on the existing building and I
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also agree with whoever - I think it was Sue Cummings - mentioned
that their existing offices could be improved and made more attrac+
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jtive without the incredible investment . It could be done that
building is not beyond repair . But I would like to voice my objec
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; tions to the expansion and also would like to sort of work both sides
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iof the street , offer the services of NHS to the Paper Company in
janyway that we can help with the existing building and existing
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; grounds in terms of planning and improvement . Thank you.
( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there Questions? Yes .
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IMR. WILCOX: Are there any INHS projects on those streets now? Are,
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, there any projects started already.?
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�IMR. PEARCE : Yes . We 've got projects , we've done things on Plain ;
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, Street , corner of Plain and Center , we 've got three or four projects
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(igoing right now on Center Street - we have several more going on Plain
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Street - that' s right in the core of our target neighborhood, . . .
IMR. WILCOX: Any estimation on the amount of money put in at this
point or even a future amount?
MR. PEARCE: Well I think the numbers I was using a few minutes agq
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are the best estimates we have right now is that we will spend clole
Ito 411 thousand dollars of community development money, making loans -
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( long term loans to southside residents and the ratio as it stands clow
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is there will be roughly five times that much worth of bank borrow
ling in response to our programs so we are talking about - say 22
million dollars invested in the southside neighborhood.
{ MR. WILCOX: Okay. Rick isn' t here is he?
IMR. PEARCE: No , he is at the other meeting.
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MR. WILCOX: Maybe you'd know, what are the chances that there is
going to be some other federal money that might help the situation
for example help the owners move the business . What would you say ;
the chances are - better than even that there might be a Distressed
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City Program?
MR. PEARCE: Yes , I 'm trying - we are both on the same committee ghat
I - the Community Development Advisory Council - there is some Question
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Ilabout whether Ithaca will be eligible for a Distressed Cities Program
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1lwhich would allow economic development monies which, I think , might
! fit into this kind of thing. I don' t think they have heard yet.
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IMR. KASPRZAK: I am not involved in any federal programs right now ;
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but I 've got a feeling that it is going to be very tight because
businesses , as you probably know, and the government - don' t support
each other financially. Morally, yes , but financially no . Since
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jIthe Urban Renewal "fiasco" it is no longer - you know - so it wou1
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?' be my feeling that there would be very little , if any, money coming
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! in.
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MR. GAINEY: Havey you helped to secure any loans for these people
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� in the general area? You are talking, you know, 21-, million dollar .
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Are you talking the whole southside or are you talking. . .
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iMR. PEARCE: That' s the whole southside. That particular intersect
Ition across the street is the Southview Terrace Apartments - let' s
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iisee - the other corner we haven' t made a loan on any of those - the
two other corners .
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MR. GAINEY: So you have made a loan on any of those three streets
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MR. PEARCE : Yes .
IMR. GAINEY: You do come in contact with . . . j
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IMR. PEARCE: Yes , we' ve done - we have - as far as our direct loan ,
�Iwe've made on all three of those streets . Center, Plain and Fayetie .
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We have made direct loans on all three of those streets and we hav�
also . . .
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MR. GAINEY: They are adjoining to the business? or are you talkini
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just streets? i
IMR. PEARCE; I 'm talking just streets . As far as contiguous with
that parcel , I ' d have to look at a map and see what the names were ]
( because if we are talking about Fayette Street backing on would
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, really be the only place , right? And that one house on Center Strellet
we didn' t do that , Fayette Street backing on to it - now that ' s the! -
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is that the even or the odd side of Fayette Street that backs onto
that?
�MR. GAINEY: That' s the even side .
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IMR. PEARCE: No we haven' t done that .
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IMR. GAINEY: So what you are saying then - you have no loans that
are outstanding to anybody that is adjoining to the property?
iIMR. PEARCE : No , we have an inquiry from . . .
�iMR. GAINEY: You do in the general area.?
,MR. PEARCE : Oh, yes and I think it' s if you drive through the
llineighborhood, the question earlier as to what this change would mean,
I think the slides do more than words can do .
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MR. WILCOX: If 2 million dollars 2 . 7 million dollars - that' s
I� supposed to represent the amount that should accomplish what you
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i� want to accomplish in the southside?
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MR. PEARCE : That's in terms of residential investment?
MR. WILCOX: Yes .
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IMR. PEARCE: Yes . As you know, the City' s . . .
IMR. WILCOX: Can I put you on the spot and say that if you are going
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to spend 2 . 7 million to accomplish what you want to do in the neig}�-
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borhood, could you put a price tag on this for removing it?
MR. PEARCE : What it would be worth to have it relocated?
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MR. WILCOX: Yes - to the total project. I 'm curious because you're
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a guy who is really working in the middle of this thing. . .
MR. PEARCE : I would - okay, you asked, I ' ll try, why not? To have]
�ithat out of there and to have conforming uses , say two single family
ihomes built on that site , properly landscaped, that 's got to be worith
$ 75 ,000 . to $100 ,000 . to the long term program. We are talking aboPt
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spending maybe 70 to 100 thousand dollars on Plain Street alone in
the coming year rebricking sidewalks and doing that kind of thing.
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I think it would probably be worth another 100 thousand to change
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that use.
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MR. WILCOX : Yes , because the Chairman brought up a good point , I
mean, they are already there legally and there isn' t anything you clan
ado about that really. And if you are going to go ahead with these
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,monies and improve the neighborhood and if they feel that strongly i
about this location, it just might be something to kick around.
R. PEARCE : What has occurred to me is the discussion of the south
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est area that we 've talked about in the Advisory Council . The
(economic development of that whole parcel and also west State Stree� .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Further questions? Thnk you very much. A�e
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ithere any other people here who would like to be heard on this case?
iISeeing none we will move on then to our next case .
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
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j CITY OF ITHACA
JANUARY 23 , 1978
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�! EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 1187 :
IjCHAIRMAN MARTIN: I move that the requested area variance i
Case 1187 be denied. j
� MR. KASPRZAK I second the motion. j
i( FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The proposed addition represents a sub-
stantial expansion of a commercial use
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! with associated traffic and other problem
�! in a residential neighborhood in which th�
improvement of the residential properties
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is being actively encouraged by the City.
A
2) The testimony of the hearing presented
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Ii no clear showing that the property as it
is presently used does not yield a reason
i able return.
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; VOTE : 3 Yes ; 0 No ; 1 Abstention }
i�� Area variance denied. �
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I� SECRETARY HOARD announced the next case to be heard:
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!! APPEAL NO. 1188 : Appeal of Group Homes of Tompkins County
II for an area variance under Section 30. 25 , '.
ii Columns 4 and 10 - 15 , to permit restora
tion of the building at 616 North Cayuga
Ij Street and 103 West Yates Street to a two
family dwelling. The property is deficie;t
!' in front and rear yards , and the percentage
of lot covered by buildings exceeds the
!I maximum permitted in the R-2b (residential )
I� use district in which the property is to
cated. The property had been converted f om
l a two- family to a single- family use as a
group home in 1974 ; the owner now seeks a'
variance to reconvert so that the propert
4
may be sold. !
MS. YANOFF : My name is Elizabeth Yanoff and my partner David Swar z
is the attorney for the Group Homes but he is out of town tonight
and I am standing in his stead but I am also happy to add that Mr.
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( Clarence Reed, who is the president of the Board of Directors of
�JGroup Homes is also here and has much more familiarity than I with !
f' the physical aspects in yardage and footage , etc . than I . As I
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I understand it , this is a rather straight forward request for a var�
dance that the property which is located on a corner - that is the
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corner of Cayuga and Yates Street was used legally as a two-family !
f� dwelling but by an unusual circumstance in 1974 was converted back
Ito a single family home but it was done for the purpose of housing
the Group Home so that it wasn' t what we might think of as a conve -
tional one-family home but fell legally within the definition of al
one-family unit. Right now then, it ' s a one-family unit for this
I! rather unconventional family and would be difficult to sell .
�E i
ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Excuse me just a moment - could those of you who ;
are carrying on a separate conversation move on out so that we can
! pay attention to this next case , please? Thank you.
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MS. YANOFF : So , as I say, it is much larger than what one would tYink
of as a conventional family home because it didn' t have a conventional
family in it. Since 1974 it has housed the Group Hom. The Group
llHome has now purchased another residence outside of this neighborhood
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land thus seeks now a variance to return to a two-family unit . Thee
lare entrances there are two entrances , one on Yates Street and o#e
!! on Cayuga Street. There is a total street frontage of approximately
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1119 ' . Granting the variance in this case would simply return the
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jbuilding to its use prior to 1974 . As far as the hardship is con
Verned the Group Homes does have a prospective buyer who has made
! his offer to purchase based on a representation to him that it wasa
!, two-family house and frankly I don' t see that there is any - would '
be any detrimental aspects to the neighborhood if there were two
single family dwelling units I should say, or two family units or
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�jif it were one large home with a number of people in a family, such;
las it is now.
(CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Could you put in physical terms the - what it is f
itoday and, in particular, the difficulty which you have alluded to f
of having this large , now single family structure sold for a single!
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!family. When the conversion occurred were second kitchens and other
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i,appertanences of a second unit removed and is it now truly, physi-
Ically one unit?
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IMS . YANOFF : I don' t know. Mr . Reed may know the answer to that .
I R. REED: To make it into a group home , there were some extra doors
�ut in to open the Cayuga Street side to the Yates Street side of
the house . Those kinds of things , but there were no kitchens taken
out and that sort of thing because some of the space was used for tie
parents of the group homes so they had some privacy in the area andO
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o it ' s no problem to convert it back, it' s just a matter of shuttitg
ff some doors on the inside and going back to it ' s original use whin
roup Homes bought it it was a two-family dwelling and we had to
wet the Zoning Board to give a variance to allow it to be a single !
!1 ome.
HAIRMAN MARTIN: So what we 've got at the moment are two units with
onnecting doors essentially in terms of the equipment and rooms on
`both sides , they are the full complement of rooms for two units . Hqw
any bedrooms altogether in the whole thing?
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�R. REED: I don' t know the exact number of bedrooms but there has to
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e something like at least six bedrooms in the whole structure . I
on' t know how they are divided, I can' t remember.
��HAIRMAN MARTIN: So we've got roughly six bedrooms , two kitchens arid. .
1R. REED: And baths and other facilities . The house even exists
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;,with an attic that was divided.
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'! MR. GAINEY: Am I familiar - there are two entrances , one on Cayuga
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'` Street and one on Yates?
l!! MR. REED : One on Cayuga Street and one on Yates .
iICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there further questions from members of the
Board? I don' t hear any, thank you. Is there anyone else who would
11 like to be heard on this case? Mr. Reed you have more that you want
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to say?
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SMR. REED: I guess I 'd like to point further that the need for thio
variance being granted because I guess everybody here - we hate to
ibring up the difficult past -- if you remember this summer the resit
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Idents of the Fall Creek area really desired rather strongly that w@
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close that house , which we have now done and it puts us in a -
definitely in a hardship position if we cannot sell that house and ;
la person who stands to sell it as a single family dwelling unless
someone has ten children and a lot of money but that house is not
and we are stuck with the house unless we cad
sell it to the present buyer who wants it for a two-family dwelling
like it once was. So we think there is some hardship in our situat
tion if we are going to move out of that neighborhood as we have
tried. We have already bought another property and we 've got a little
money tied up in that house and we need to get it out.
MR. KASpRZAK: Any parking?
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MR. REED: No , it ' s on the street. On-street parking but there ar�
two streets .
MR. GAINEY: There ' s no yard whatsoever, is there?
MR. REED : Very limited yard. That may have been one of the probloms
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that we had for using it as a group home was the minimum yard space .
MR. GAINEY: Who is the proposed buyer?
MS. YANOFF : His name is Richard Dennis . I don' t know what else
I� you want to know about him. He ' s a resident of Ithaca.
,) CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any further questions? Thank you. Is there anyr
one else who would like to be heard on this case? Anyone who would
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like to be heard in favor of the requested variance? Anyone who
would like to be heard in opposition? We ' ll move on then to the next
�I case .
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
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CITY OF ITHACA
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i1 JANUARY 23, 1978
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( EXECUTIVE SESSION
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1APPEAL NO. 1188 : f
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�IMR. WILCOX: I move that the area variance in case
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I) 1188 be granted.
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MR. GAINEY: I second the motion.
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; FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) That it is returning to a compatible use ;
in the area .
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2) It would engender some hardship on the
owner .
3) It does not change the character of the
district. ,
4) No neighbors testified against the
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NOTE : 4 Yes ; 0 No .
i� Area variance granted.
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11SECRETARY HOARD announced the next case to be heard:
j� PPEAL No. 1189 : Appeal of Bettina Herbert for an area var- 1
�j iance under Section 30 . 25 , Columns 11 and
13 , to remodel the single-family home at
812 South Meadow Street, providing addi-
tional living space on the second floor of?
the building. The property, located in a
j R-2a (residential) use district , is defi-
i cient in front yard and one side yard.
HAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there someone here to present that case?
R. PEER: My name is David Peer and I am the contractor who has
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uccessfully bid the job . I basically worked with the client to come
ip with some designs and floor plans - would you like to see them of
Jo you want me to pass them to one of the members of the Board?
HAIRMAN MARTIN: Why don' t you pass them around?
R. PEER: Alright. The top section is the existing first and secoAd
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floor and the bottom is the proposed. We have a shed porch in the
ack and again in the front. The proposal is to make this shed a
lwo story. . . .
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�HAIRMAN MARTIN: We are not getting anything of what you are relat ng
�n our tape - if it ' s important then . . . We should manage to do than .
�R. PEER: Okay. Basically the zoning deficiencies are in the front
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nd side yard. I believe the side yard is only like 4 to 6 feet
rom the line and the front is about 12 to 15 . The front yard de-
iciency is from the front porch, I believe and there is an intent {
o bring the front porch into the living space of the main house .
he work contemplated, again, would be to eliminate the back porch,
hick is a shed single story and to mkae it a two story addition io
ouse a new kitchen and two bathrooms in the second floor. The ap-
f eal is necessary because of the lot line deficiencies . The house
Itself is rather old - it ' s about thirty-five years old. There are
o heating facilities for the second floor besides registers and tho
lectrical is hardly up to code . I am going to be rewiring it and
utting in 50 amp service. I am rewiring the entire house . Basically
is just a remodelling job to - what I would consider - salvaging a
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ouse which was picked up for - you know - a reasonable sum because ;
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hit ' s not a good useable structure . The floor systems were inade-
quate for housing a multiple story living space and with the proper
11amount of razing and structural work it attempts to appreciate the
1property such that the client will have a saleable and marketable
!! good.
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Are there questions from members of the M
Board? It will be still single family and the external dimensions
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of the structure are being changed how much, taking off the shed?
MR. PEER: The external structure - right and the new addition will
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Ibe the same - to the dimensions , it' s just it ' s going to be two-
story.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Two story instead of one?
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jMR. PEER: Instead of a single story - right. The entire roof - !
existing roof line will be eliminated and brought back to encompassl
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the shed so it' ll be somewhat aesthetic .
lMR. KASPRZAK: You are also bringing the front porch into the livinlg
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area right?
MR. PEER: Yes , it is my intention to bring the front porch into the
( living space , right .
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MR. KASPRZAK: Will you be required to put new foundations there orl
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is this already there?
IMR. PEER: There is a foundation there already and that seems to be!
good. In the back we are going to go through the - the foundation
is tile and its a core tile which is not filled. There is certainly
better structures than that. In the back where we are going to be
putting up the two structure , we are going to go through and cap itj
off and repour over - solidify - put some rerod in and basically
two just will h stories instead of just the ono
bring it up so that it o t o .
(CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there further questions? Thank you. j
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MR. PEER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there anyone else here this evening who would
like to be heard on this case - first others who would like to speak
yin favor of the requested variance? (none) Is there anyone who
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{would like to speak in opposition to it? (none) Brings us to the neat
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incase.
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j BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
CITY OF ITHACA
ii JANUARY 23 , 1978
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
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!�lAPPEAL N0. 1189 : I
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IMR. GAINEY: I move that the area variance be granted !
in Case 1189 .
(` CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I second the motion.
FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) They are improving the neighborhood.
I2) No objections were received from any of
the neighbors .
3) They are not in any significant sense
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the property.
IVOTE: 4 Yes ; 0 No .
!� Area variance granted.
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I , Barbara Ruane , Do Certify that I took the minutes of the Board
;!of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals
{;Numbered 1186 , 1187 , 1188 and 1189 on January 23, 1978 at City Hall?,
;;City of Ithaca, New York ; that I have transcribed same , and th
'`foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the minutes of t e
'meeting and the Executive Session of the Board of Zoning Appea s ,
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;City of Ithaca, on the above date , and the whole thereof to th
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1best of my ability. Also minutes of Appeal No . 1162 . j
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Barbara C . Ruane
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'! Recording Secretary
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1! Sworn to before me this
day of 1978 .
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I, Notary Public Nu York`; e ct ew
Nota S
, x6'1223
;11 1 unip>ins CO19
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
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JANUARY 23 1978
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IlSecretary Hoard announced the next appeal to be heard:
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APPEAL NO. 1162 : The appeal of Mark A. Clemente and Wayne D.
Stokes for an area variance to convert pre-
mises at 305 Stewart Avenue from a garage to
a tavern in a B- 2 use district . This appeal
!� was heard by the Board in July and special
conditions were set by the Board concerning
i parking. The appellants are appearing with
a proposal for meeting this condition for the
Board' s consideration. This will be the only
ii matter in this case being heard by the Board
at this time .
� Mr. Clynes is here to present this case .
✓ JUDGE CLYNES : Mr. Chairman and members of the Board, as you know
'you' ve just heard from the Commissioner , this is the fourth time
�ithese particular people have been here . This is the first time I
have appeared.
(CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . Let me interject that while two members;
, of this Board have been the full route, two members are fresh to
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the case.
I�JUDGE CLYNES : Right, I understand that.
;CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So that we have to go over some of the old ground.
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'!JUDGE CLYNES : Well , I was hoping that we wouldn' t because , on re-
viewing the the record, it seems to come downas to what will satisfy
`1the city with regard to parking. And there have been - as the
khairman knows - and it ' s not - I talked to the Commissioner the
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other day, there isn't a new proposal but what I thought we could
;do at least , if I don' t serve as an advocate, I could serve as a
catalyst. And rather than having separate groups meet with dif-
lferent parties , etc. , I have sought to bring everybody together so
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kjthat this group would know exactly the limit that each of the other!
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parties was willing to do , so perhaps there would be no need for a
Ilfifth hearing. Now if you will all come up; we have Mr . Burns , who!
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IIrepresents the landlord, RHP, Inc. and I would like all of these
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(Ithings entered on the record as stipulations as to what the parties'
�Iwill do. The landlord will rent 305 Stewart Avenue to the appellants
�!for a ten year period, the appellants having already obtained the
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Ijnecessary State Liquor Authority approval . I 've asked Mr. Ralph j
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,! Barnard of Cornell ' s Counsel Office, who is here tonight . Cornell !
11is willing to rent my clients thirty (30) parking spaces in an ad- I
`J acent parking area owned by Cornell University; the stipulation
; being that Cornell can cancel on ninety (90) days notice but how-
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�jever, in the lease with my clients Cornell would be willing to
11notify this body at the same time they notify my clients of any
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acancellation within that ten year period. My clients , further, thO
j' third stipulation, would be willing to sign a lease with RHP , the
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j� parking spot lease with Cornell and further stipulate and agree
that within this ninety (90) day cancellation notice period that
they would return to this Board with alternative methods of solving
the parking problem and if they could not resolve that - within this
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ninety (90) day cancellation period - with this Board they would
: close up business . And that we offer to the Board.
: CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Now let me . .
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JUDGE CLYNES: Do you want to all come up because you are more
knowledgeable on this than I am. You have been here before .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Let me for the two new members I 'm looking
� to see if I ' ve got the precise language here - but let me attempt
� to paraphrase . . .
JUDGE CLYNES: I have the three Minutes if you like . . .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright , and if I paraphrase with any degree of
error, catch me . The case came up originally in context of re-
quested area variance which the Board granted but it granted sub-
ject to a condition that was in effect the Board' s sense of what
I the Ordinance required in terms of off-street parking. When the
off-street parking requirements of the Ordinance were to be satis
I fied by property that was not within the control of - or not withih
the ownership of the business in question. The Board' s condition
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was that there be assurance of the continued availability of the
I� requisite parking for a period of at least ten years which was the'
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! Board' s paraphrase of the language of the ordinance . The ten year:
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: period is not in the Ordinance. What the Ordinance says is as-
; surance of the continued availability without any specified time I
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;; limit . So that ' s the Board' s condition that we have in several
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jsubsequent sessions been focusing on, to see whether or not, in
sthe judgement of the Board, various arrangements for that parking
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lIspace with Cornell satisfied the Board' s original condition. The
problem, if I can read the Board' s mind with subsequent proposals , ;
flhave involved Cornell ' s right to cancel . That while what Cornell
�loffered was a ten year lease it was a ten year lease with a ninety
!� (90) day cancellation provision and the Board did not see a ten
year lease with a ninety (90) day cancellation period, providing
continued availability of the Cornell lot for a period of ten yeard, .
So that is what brings us to where we are . Alright? And so the
Tissue for this Board, including two new members is whether what is
Hnow proposed satisfies the condition which the Board originally r
attached to the variance . It has - as I understand it - to be , thq
( Board has to be persuaded that the condition is met . If what we I
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are talking about is a modification of that condition then that
(!would have to be separately noticed and we would have to 0 you
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1� know - open up the ball game again.
HJUDGE CLYNES : Well what we are suggesting, and I think the - what ;
pit is that may be additional tonight, not having attended the othet,
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�lmeetings is that in the lease with Cornell this Board would re-
�Iceive the same notification that my clients do . My clients would
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also stipulate that within that ninety (90) day notice period, while
; they are still operating, they would satisfy this Board on the part
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ling or shut up shop .
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Well that undertaking - .the notice provision
hof lease is something new. The undertaking on the part of the ap-
pellants that they would shut up if the parking vanished has been
� something that p
t they've resented us with before .
JUDGE CLYNES : And as the chairman can appreciate , I 've explained
this to my clients and they you know four, five years down the
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11road could undergo a great financial risk. but they are willing to Jo
! that based on conversations with Mr. Bugliari and Mr . Barnard that,
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1you know, Cornell and - I don' t want to speak for Cornell , Ralph,
{ but I brought him here so you could question him - is that they
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�Idon' t make these changes overnight but that isn' t to say that they
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might not . But on the other hand, there would be plenty of time fo'r
Amy clients to make adequate provisions to satisfy the then Board
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that sits here. What we are trying to do is - reasonable people -
� and get everybody together rather than having different groups . . .
4CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Now the last time the case was here , which was ini
December, the representations were made by the appellants . Again,
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!Cornell in the exercise of that cancellation clause, that it might
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l�indeed, it was suggested to the Board there was a rather tight list?
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of things that would warrant Cornell ' s cancellation of the lease .
;While members of the Board expressed the view that as they read the'
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lease it gave Cornell unfettered right with ninety (90) days notice;
to cancel .
OUDGE CLYNES: Well , my clients , being novices were basing their
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then representation on a letter from Mr. Bugliari , dated October 26 ,
11which limited the ninety (90) day termination should the University;
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decide to sell or itself develop the property but through subsequent
conversations with Mr. Matyas , etc . they didn' t feel that they could
. do that unless they went to the Board of Trustees . So we are not
talking about - we are just talking about an automatic ninety (90)
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day, but coming back here .
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i�CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . So the Board' s understanding of the lease
as correct.
JUDGE CLYNES : Absolutely. And so was my clients because that was
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the then letter.
i!CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Right, but at that point there was also the lease
!which the Board had at the same time .
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FUDGE CLYNES : Right .
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liCHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, are there questions from members of the ;
! Board, especially those of you who are new to this case , ought to . . .
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EiMR. GAINEY: Is the parking area that we are talking about - is
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Yes. j
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MR. GAINEY: Will they have just thirty (30) spaces , I take it for !
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granted and is this the whole area?
,' JUDGE CLYNES : Bob?
MR. BURNS: No .
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11MR. CLEMENTE: I could probably answer that .
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11JUDGE CLYNES : He is one of the appellants .
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I1MR. CLEMENTE: The capactiy of that lot is approximately 110 cars . ,'
j! At this time Cornell is renting approximatly 70 of those spots and
there is more than that in parking left over for us .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And as I understand from prior occasions , your
spaces will be segregated?
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MR. CLEMENTE : Yes they will be .
j CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And identified and indeed controlled in some
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NJUDGE CLYNES: Is that right Bob?
SMR. BURNS: Yes , that' s right . ipi
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IIMR. CLEMENTE: They will be policed by the . . .
' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So that we are talking about an arrangement which
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Swill have an identifiable, blocked-off thirty spaces for this tavefn?
IJUDGE CLYNES : Right?
MR. BURNS: Right.
IMR. CLEMENTE: Right .
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JUDGE CLYNES : Let me say this , the reason I brought you all here , if
' there is some misunderstanding - let 's get the record straight.
i! They will be identifiable .
MR. CLEMENTE : Yes , Cornell not only wouldn' t allow that, they wou�d
j' require that .
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! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: That 's right . Okay.
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} MR. WILCOX: Cornell regularly plows it and maintains it?
+ MR. STOKES : That would be our responsibility, I think, in the
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! lease - to maintain the lot, that would be designated as our parti-
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j cular spot .
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1MR. CLEMENTE: To plow our section of the lot.
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I� CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So that the maintenance would be on you as the
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tenant?
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� MR. CLEMENTE: Yes , right. I
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: To clear and . . .
MR. CLEMENTE: And posting signs .
MR. GAINEY: This will be patrolled regular?
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�IMR. CLEMENTE : Yes it will be . . . i
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�iMR. GAINEY: There is another tavern that is in the area and quite ;
la few people utilize that parking facility, if I 'm not mistaken?
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i1MR. CLEMENTE: That 's right, but that' s not official that ' s . . .
IMR. GAINEY: Right , they just do it by first come first serve , right?
!' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: To what extent does Cornell presently control the,
sparking in that lot to assure that people who do not have the 70 i
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( some parking arrangements are not using it?
JUDGE CLYNES : Ralph?
�IMR. BARNARD: I would like to ask John Bentkowski to answer that
question.
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' JUDGE CLYNES : John?
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CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Would you come up front? We 've got a whole bevy ;
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Ii of folks here and if we are going to get it all in the record then
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we need you all up close to this mike, that ' s the access to the
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MR. BENTKOWSKI : My name is John Bentkowski , I am the manager of
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real estate for Cornell University. The cars - the tenants that usIe
jthe parking lot have stickers - are affixed to the bumper and they;
j are marked "ST" for Stewart stickers . They are not university typo,
�Jof sticker, they are just a anybody can rent the space and we af�ix
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; the marker on the bumper.
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jICHAIRMAN MARTIN : Right. 3
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MR. BENTKOWSKI : What other problems we have as this gentleman
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;'alluded is , how do we keep the strays from coming in there . We do fav
da problem, especially in the evening, Fridays and Saturdays .
�iCHAIRMAN MARTIN: And do you - what do you do on Fridays and Satur-1
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idays to keep the Chapter House folks from . . .
MR. BENTKOWSKI : We give warnings on cars , we ask the city police t�
tag them and we try to have them towed away but at 12 : 30 and 1 : 00 I
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fat night they advise us not to for the simple reason that we can i
create a disturbance when they come out of the tavern and they see
, the police car towing a car - see the wrecker towing a parked car,
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which is illegal in there - we might create a problem that way. Sol
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i e try to avoid it , we just warn them and warn them and after awhil�
e control it but it ' s a continuous chore . We figure that by leasing
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it to somebody in the area that they will control the parking on a
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street to remove some of these cars .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay.
I�R. WILCOX: How many entrances and exits to the lot ,
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��R. BENTKOWSKI : Th'ere:,is one on Stewart and two on Williams .
HAIRMAN MARTIN: Now the thirty spaces that will be rented to the
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proprietors of the tavern. . . .
R. BENTKOWSKI : They will have two entrances . They will have the
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entrance on the Williams Street and they will have the exit onto
I�Stewart Avenue .
HAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, so they will have to get on by way of
Williams but they will exit onto Stewart .
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R. BENTKOWSKI : They have to exit onto Stewart Avenue because of t}le
i ne way street . j
IJUDGE CLYNES: Williams is one-way, down.
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HAIRMAN MARTIN: Right . Further questions?
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j R. WILCOX: Well , I had heard that there was competition in the
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1�eighborhood for spaces there but you are saying that that ' s -- thoso
eople are squatters then? Unless they are renting. . . ?
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R. BENTKOWSKI : If they area squatter during the daytime we tow them
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f6 ut .
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1PR. WILCOX: Okay, but I mean a neighborhood complaint that that '
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going to use u some of the available space in the neighborhood
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! for parking is really not valid because they can' t park there any
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11MR. BENTKOWSKI : That ' s right . They have to . . .
1JUDGE CLYNES : I think what Mr. Wilcox is alluding to is you are nct
taking thirty spots away from other people that you've allocated
1them to . The thirty that might be using them have no right to be
! there. I 'm talking about the thirty other than the seventy.
; MR. WILCOX: I was under the impression that maybe you rented some ;
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lof the lots and then - I don' t know - didn' t do much about the oth4r
Iside , if they wanted to park there . . .
�, MR. BENTKOWSKI : No, No, No. We try to rent up the whole lot.
MR. GAINEY: These spaces were available without assigning thirty
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! spaces to these fellows here - no one was ejected or thrown out ori . ?
MR. BENTKOWSKI : No, there are still some left over spaces . I
! MR. STOKES : At the last zoning meeting we had taken pictures of t4reE
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( consecutive days - which happened to have been the last week of
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school - at times when we thought the lot would be most utilized,
, being 11 ' o ' clock in the morning and 1 : 00 o 'clock and at each one
Ilof those times - each one of those days - the pictures show that j
�Ithere were more than thirty spots available in that lot . So even
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1with the people who do park there illegally there is still room foo
US . It ' s not as though we would be taking people out of that lot . j
They would, say, be parking illegally on the street or what have you.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: If we are harkening back to prior hearings , one
! should also fill in by saying that in the earliest of hearings
there were neighbors who were quite upset about the proposal and
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(` made representations about parking being a serious problem in the
neighborhood, that the existing tavern does generate a lot of
traffic. Much of it parks on the streets in no parking areas ,
blocking people ' s driveways , etc. and they suggested that whatever ,
provision was made for off-street parking might not fully be utilised
I by clients and so that one was creating an additional parking probe
' lem. I simply I mention that to - if you will mitigate slight!'
your testimony about a prior time . Mr . Bentkowski?
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MR. BENTKOWSKI : We have written Mr. VanBoven, who is the owner of !
, the Chapter House requesting or asking if he would be interested irk
jrenting space from us . And he wouldn' t .
! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . Are there further questions from membelts
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sof the Board? j
MR. KASPRZAK: Well , since I am the old member of the Board, as th4
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saying goes , I have one question, or maybe a question and a comment .
II don' t think there was ever any accusation regarding that there was
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Ino parking available on that parking lot, by the way. I want that '
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understood, at least on my part . My question is that since there
�! is such a tightness in parking in that area generally, how, if Cor
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i nell decides to withdraw its lease a year after you sign it , how ante
I you going to come back to us and say - well we can find parking
E� somewhere else , which I , at the moment, and the facts will bear mel
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11out later on, I don' t think you can - so you are going to be losinj
Ila heck of a lot and causing a lot of problems to us again in a
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�iyear - that ' s the question, and the comment is ; I drive in that ar a
Ii every day twice , and I don' t want to dramatize it anymore than I
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have done in the past to some other people , but to me that is an j
extremely critical area for traffic to alight and load people in
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front of that particular building and I do not , at the moment, see '
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that putting that use there and putting that parking situation on
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the critical steps as it is right now, is going to help anybody in
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the long run. So it ' s basically common that I find it very diffi- j
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, cult to convince myself to make or to accept their agreement or tol
! partake in an agreement where I see a very dangerous situation
{ myself.
JUDGE CLYNES : Well Greg, let me ask you, your question is kind of
two-fold. I . . . .
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11MR. KASPRZAK: It is somewhat , yes . j
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�iJUDGE CLYNES : I made the remark with regard to the financial end
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lIto the chairman that I have explained that problem to my clients
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!` and they are willing to undertake that - namely, if after a year acid
I' a half they can' t satisfy you people on the parking the financial I
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;; loss is theirs , so that answers your first one. And the second and
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' is , we are not going to come back to you, we have ninety days and
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say we are looking for parking, within that ninety day period. We
; either have it or we are out . I
w '
I� MR. KASPRZAK: Yes , I understand that.
!; I
'! JUDGE CLYNES: So I don ' t know how we can be fairer than that .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Now let ' s - let me pursue Greg ' s point . I mean, '
the financial risk involved in this for the appellants - we 've
jltalked about.
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JUDGE CLYNES : Right.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: But the requirement of the zoning ordinance that !
Ithere be firm assurance that the continued availability of off-str�et
parking represents a risk if you will , of the public which is to say
that uses - which would otherwise not be permitted, because of their
toff-street parking requirements , will be permitted if there is firm
!
assurance . Convert this to a tavern and you' ve got a heavy invest
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� ment in there and a compelling case for doing something with a
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fairly high intensity commercial outlet of some kind, if the off-
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street parking falls through. So that , we in a sense, get the city
or the public into a bad situation if the contingency occurs .
Cancellation is there and no alternative parking is found within
I the ninety days .
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( JUDGE CLYNES: Then we are out.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright . So Greg ' s question, what likelihood isj
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there that an alternative thirty spaces could be found if Cornell
, cancelled after two years - three years?
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t ,
( JUDGE CLYNES : That ' s like predicting when you are going to die .
Who knows when this occurence will occur, if it ever occurs?
r
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Greg is asking you to imagine that it occurs aft r
� a year or two .
MR. KASPRZAK: In a year, let ' s say. I
( JUDGE CLYNES: A year or two, they 'd be out .
1MR. KASPRZAK: Okay, why don' t they find the same parking spaces
know so that we don' t have the problem in a year or two or ten or
t j
!! fifteen?
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�111JUDGE CLYNES: They've tried, they can' t . j
,!' MR. KASPRZAK: That ' s exactly my point . I know the area and it ' s
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{; going to be awfully tough . . .
�'IJUDGE CLYNES : They recognize that. I 've been over it with them.
E �
I! MR. CLEMENTE : That ' s why we would be looking for an alternative
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! parking area . . .
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11! JUDGE CLYNES : Once they open, if they are permitted to open, they '
dare going to be looking for that . I
�1MR. STOKES: At this point also we don' t have the financial invest
j' ment to be looking for a permanent place for us topark. A year orl
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two from now we would be in a different situation.
MR. GAINEY: Are we talking then that what you are hoping for is tc�
I� beE d m u with the capital to maybe buy an exist
able to open an come p p y y
E�
ding structure of some sort that is in the general area? Let me asl
! Cornell , do you foresee anything within the next year? You must
R
; have one year plans and five year plans that you work on.
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! JUDGE CLYNES : I hope they are more than one year.
SMR. BARNARD: I don' t think that one necessarily I know that our
j�planners have thought about this from time to time and I think the
p '
important ortant point here is that Cornell - the letter which was allude
�
to - its the kind of letter that said, well legally there ' s a leas
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and it is a ninety day cancellation. On the other hand, as we go
down the line and without a legal obligation, you see something co -
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ing along - we are going to be talking to these young people . We
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( are very pleased for these young men that try their hand at this acid
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� I am sure they will be very successful at it and have - we want to
s
The helpful and as you know, Mr. Bentkowski has a problem that in a
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sense that it is good for the use for this property at this time but
bias timegoes - there will be a development on that site and perhaps]
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! there will be parking on that site , but Cornell does not know exactly
!what will happen to that site at this time and, in talking it over ;
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;!with these two young fellows and their legal counsel it' s very -
1they feel confident that this is an enterprise they want to get into
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Mand there seems to - there ' s no need and Cornell does not intend to
!;limit its right to terminate . On the other hand, we will be talki g
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Eito them from time to time . . .
± JUDGE CLYNES : But I think that . . .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Can you help us as a Board, alright? We r
'; observed the lease. We see that the lease does not - you know the !
�iterms of the legal commitment of Cornell for those spots does not
assure that they will be there for ten years . We don' t see any
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; ready alternative in the neighborhood . The appellants are candid
with us - they don' t see any alternative spaces in the neighborhood .
i
We 'd be helped if we knew Cornell ' s intentions - a best guess about
whether that cancellation clause would be used in the ten years .
I� Can you give us that? What are the odds that Cornell will cancel
! within the ten years?
MR. BARNARD : I can give you -- the thing that I see Mr. Martin is
this , that your Board seems to think that they have to get the leg4l
! obligation from Cornell in this area and it is not Cornell ' s inten-I
11tion to undertake a legal obligation beyond this , in other words
t
Iten years but with a ninety day cancellation . . .
I
! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay, so that ' s your legal obligation with the
appellants .
IMR. BARNARD: Now what we think is - that , down the line , that if I
something is done that that ninety days will be a shorter time than
,we actually need in terms of giving them notice . In other words ,
we could probably give them six months or a year notice . And
furthermore, there is some likelihood, when this was developed,
that that particular site might have parking that would be available
i
! to them, depending on the circumstance . Now, these are deep things!
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land there is no need for Cornell to make a commitment because it ' s ;
E i
, too much. crystal ball .
I!
JUDGE CLYNES : I think he is asking you to look into the crystal ball .
I;
11CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright but you may not feel the need and indeed !
it makes perfect sense for you not to hem yourself in with the
11appellant, but I am asking you now to direct yourself to this Board,
!, 4
who has been offered this package and said to see in it the assur-
11ance of the continued availability for ten years of parking. Now 1
�e e
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!� 13
;; helping us to determine whether, without the legal commitment, the�e
!
jlis nonetheless strong likelihood the parking will be there for tend
!; years . It would help us to know what your best guess is about what,
Il Cornell will do when, there? Maybe Cornell doesn' t know.
ii
�IMR. BARNARD: I 'm not sure that I have a guess but I do know that
jthere were the beginnings , probably eight years ago of a development
on that site, that didn' t go . It didn' t go at all and that was
probably eight years ago , now.
I
JUDGE CLYNES : Which one are you talking about?
&R. BARNARD: I 've forgotten how many years ago it was .
( JUDGE CLYNES: Well that wh Greg , when you asked about a uess
Y� g � Y g , i
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j! I represented the Park group and obtained that variance .
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11MR. KASPRZAK: I didn' t ask for a guess .
JUDGE CLYNES : Well , if you ask me when I left that meeting that
I !
11night I thought everything was going to go up . It never did.
I
lMR. KASPRZAK: I remember that - that was about ten years ago . j
( JUDGE CLYNES : I thought it was longer than that , to be truthful .
1MR. BARNARD : I think, Mr. Martin, I 'd like to answer if I - havino,
�jyou think about when capital construction will pick up in terms
j
I �
of that sort of thing and when things will get back to the roaring
1160' s . That ' s the kind of thing but we - none of us have good crystal
,I
( balls and I certainly don' t want to be in the position of using and
for Cornell .
JUDGE CLYNES : Well let me just try to add a little . Certainly
Cornell University, if it had any, and I 'm not trying to put words )
Un your mouth, if it had anything on the drawing boards in the
f
13reasonable foreseeable future , would not encourage two of their
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alumni to invest substantially in a business enterprise knowing
j
' Cornell was going to cancel . j
BARNARD: Well , I want to - we are not encouraging them, we ar
l agreeing that they can lease it. We think we 'd like to see them
in other words , its available to them for - we don't know of an
I Y
' other plans but we are not encouraging them to do it , we are sayin
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if you want to , proceed, and I see - hear them telling you, the I
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, Board, we are ready to take the risk and they are also saying that !
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!lif we don' t - if it doesn' t work out , we are prepared to move out .
1The conditions are before you and I think they are going a little
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ffar but it seems to me that you're thinking in terms of their con-
cern. i
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: No we are thinking in terms of the concern of the
' public represented by an ordinance that tells us there has to be
I
continued assurance of the availability of this parking . I
E
!JUDGE CLYNES: But Mr . Chairman, we are doing that . There ' s nothing
lin the ordinance that says ten years . We have a ten year lease, if!
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I� it isn' t cancelled, it ' s all set . If it is cancelled, we either
1 I j
come back and get it for you or move out .
I
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I can see that the ordinance does not say ten years .
That was the Board' s interpretation of the ordinance or application,
iof it in that condition it attached to the area variance . The Boar
f
was concerned by testimony of those early hearings about the sen- I
E
Isitivity of that neighborhood, the nearby residential neighborhood �-
`that ' s a very small commercial zoned pocket in - with adjacent singe
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!family homes on Ozmun Place . And the substantial intensity repre-
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!jsented by bringing a tavern in there with the off-street parking re�
iquirements associated with it, was what led the Board to attach that
!condition. Condition that , picking up the words of the ordinance ,
asked for continued assurance of the availability of parking, not
just for the next year or so and that ' s what the Board has been
�ursuing ever since .
R. GAINEY: In that general area, you say single family residents . .
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well we heard plenty of testimony from people on
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I�zmun Place who already feel the brunt of the traffic from the
Chapter House.
GAINEY: That was from Ozmun Place?
a
FHAIRMAN MARTIN: From Ozmun Place.
J�R. GAINEY: Isn' t the surrounding area all apartment houses thoughi -
!�ther than Ozmun Place?
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!! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: There are lots of student rooming houses and other
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;! multi unit structures on Stewart; there are a few duplexes on Stewo.rt ;
;; there are single family homes . . .
i
IMR. GAINEY: We are talking a very small residential one-family arta.
�ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: And a very small commercial pocket in it , too .
+ Right , there ' s only that one block that ' s zoned commercial . I
�lMR. GAINEY: I don' t think my question has really been answered.
IlMost major corporations have a five year plan and I was mainly ask ng
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for a yes or no - is there anything in your next five years at
I
i
Cornell that call for anything on this building site?
i
MR. BARNARD: Pardon me?
i I
; JUDGE CLYNES: Is there anything, to your knowledge on the drawing !
)!board by Cornell in the next five years for any different use of t 'e
premises? i
1
,MR. BARNARD : No , not to my knowledge.
CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Mr. Bentkowski?
`I
I�MR. BENTKOWSKI : No , not that I know of.
IICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay.
I
MR. BARNARD: That doesn' t mean that something might come along.
,
MR. GAINEY: I 'm aware of that . f
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liJUDGE CLYNES : That three years from now something might come alongj.
(CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You're not making any representations or commit- '
,r
Ilments about Cornell ' s plans for that lot, okay? Further questions
from members of the Board? Anything more you want to add for us?
((JUDGE CLYNES : No , I think it all hangs on the interpretation of
` assurance and frankly, my opinion is we 've given it to you. Thank
r
you.
I�
1ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. 4
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
j' CITY OF ITHACA
JANUARY 23 , 1978
!' EXECUTIVE SESSION
�1APPEAL NO . 1162
I
MR. KASPRZAK: I move that Case no . 1162 rehearing be E
tabled until the next official meeting of thej
Board where more members will be I.Present . I
t
MR. GAINEY: I second the motion.
( VOTE : Yes 4 ; No 0 .
j Decision on this case is that it will be
held over until Tuesday, February 14 , 1978
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