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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1978-12-04 I 'i 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA, i NEW YORK - DECEMBER 4, 1978 j j Page 1 APPEAL NO. 1223 Mark Waldo Haag (No one appeared 1 i 1 Willets Place to present the appeal) 'iI.APPEAL NO. 1231 Newton Williams (.Cayuga Electric) 2 310 Dey Street APPEAL NO. 1231 Executive Session 21 i ,APPEAL NO. 1236 Karl & Sophie Hitzelberger 22 126 Farm Street ; APPEAL NO. 1236 Executive Session 25 ,I ; APPEAL NO. 1238 Family & Children' s Service 26 I: 204 N. Cayuga Street I' 11APPEAL NO. 1238 Executive Session 31 ;( APPEAL NO. 1239 Oak Hill Manor Adult Home 32 602 Hudson Street ; APPEAL NO. 1239 Executive Session 35 I I� 1APPEAL NO. 1240 William Lower (POSTPONED) 453 Floral Avenue E� 'I APPEAL NO. 1241 Phineas K. & Carol C. Reeves 36 303 Linn Street 1 ! APPEAL NO. 1241 Executive Session 38 a� 11APPEAL NO. 1242 Carol U. $ Daniel G. Sisler (POSTPONED) 423 E. Lincoln Street 11' CERTIFICATION OF RECORDING SECRETARY 39 i ii i .S '� II i, i : I J f I� 1 I I� I! I! I� 'I �I ii i .J it BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS j CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK r COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1 DECEMBER 4,1978 f LCHAIRMAN MARTIN: Let me call to order the December meeting of the ;, Ithaca Board of Zoning Appeals . The Board operates under the pro- visions of the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, the Ithaca City Charter, !!the Ithaca Sign Ordinance and a few other Ordinances that give us j� ysome jurisdiction. A full Board is present this evening. PRESENT: Mr. Gregory Kasprzak Mrs . Judith Maxwell Dr. Martin Greenberg Mr. William Wilcox Mr. Joseph Gainey, Jr. Mr. Peter Martin, Chairman ?� Mr. Thomas D. Hoard, Building Commissioner $ Secretary to the Board Mrs . Barbara Ruane, Recording Secretary f „For those of you not familiar with the Board's proceedings , let me joutline them briefly. The Board takes up the cases in the order in i ;;which appeals have been filed. We first hear the case of the appel j Pant, the person seeking the variance or some other relief from the !'Board. We then invite anyone else present who has testimony to 1present relevant to the appeal, first those who are in favor of it 'land then others who may be opposed. We ask that everyone who speak ''come to the front of the room, identify themself by name and add- jress and then limit their remarks to the issues that are in front ,of the Board, limit their remarks to the kinds of things that we j 11are interested in hearing. After hearing all of the cases , through ,both testimony of those in favor and those against, the Board goes 14 Tinto executive session to deliberate on what we have heard, and ;afterwards we reconvene in public session to announce the results f both what we have decided and also our findings of facts and con- f 'clusions on which our ultimate decisions rest. Mr. Secretary what lis our first case? ;;SECRETARY HOARD: The first appeal Mr. Chairman is one that we I , held over from the August meeting, is appeal number 1223 . ;;APPEAL NO. 1223 : Appeal of Mark Waldo Haag for an area variance of Section 30 . 25, Columns 6 , 7 , 10 , 14 and 15 , to permit continued use and occupancy of the i ii 'l 2 'i apartment house at 1 Willets Place as a three family dwelling. The property, located in an R-3a (residential) use district, had been changed in use without establishing rights I as a pre-existing use before the district was rezoned, but the change was to a lower density. The property is non-conforming in that the lot is on a public right-of-way, and the property is deficient in required depth for one side i; yard and the rear yard. This appeal was held over at the request of the Planning $ Develop - ment Board at its August 29 , 1978 meeting. j� SECRETARY HOARD: Is there anyone here on this appeal? (no one �I lappeared) . The next appeal is appeal no. 1231 . ! APPEAL No. 1231 : Appeal of Newton Williams for a use variant under Section 30 . 25 , Columns 2 and 3 to permit use of the property at 310 Dey Street for a driveway and parking area for a business, an for future expansion of the business . The property is located in an R-2b (residential) use district, in which business uses are not permitted. This appeal is carried over from the November 13 , 1978 meeting , when no one I' appeared to represent the appellant. j 1CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Let me say as we begin, that while no one was here to represent the appellant at our last meeting, there were several , neighbors who were here and so as not to frustrate them at having i an opportunity to present their views on the case, the Board did open the hearing at the last session. We heard testimony from i' them that was to the effect that the proposed change would isolate `i is particular home, Mr . Longo ' s home with no other residences imme- diately around it ; that it was an area in which there was a fair �lamount of traffic, a concern for safety which this proposed drive- 1 way and parking area would, the neighbors thought make worse. Andl ; finally they expressed the view that there was already adequate f parking. These views were expressed by Ray Bordoni on behalf of jiseveral neighbors and a petition was introduced and a letter . I mention that so that we don' t have to go back over the same group r this evening but I want to remind all of the Board members that that is part of the record of this hearing already and I want to acquaint the appellant of that. IMURRAY LEWIS: My name is Murray Lewis and I am the attorney for !I ; Newton Williams . Mr . Williams was unable to be at that last hear- !ling. He was out of town, and unfortunately there was some misun- ( derstan ding on his part I guess , of his being present so that is � - 3 - why we are here tonight and Mr. Williams is out of town tonight on ,lousiness but he has had come to this meeting his Vice President, ii k Mr. Ed Austin. I 'd like to just say initially, and then I 'd like ,!Mr. Austin to give some testimony, that we wouldn't be here this ± evening if there was adequate parking. Mr. Williams has operated ; this business now for a number of years and Mr. Austin can give yo ' more of an idea on that but it' s a good, clean operation and - I 'm ;,going to have Mr. Austin tell you the nature of the business , etc. ;'They employ about fourteen people , they have an expanded business ii j�so that means they need more parking. Now the reason they want to I�make this investment in this additional space is to keep the cars toff the street. As a matter of fact, Mr. Williams has told me, and i ;!this can be verified, that he has allowed neighbors at night to '!park in his parking lot and many of the neighbors in that area have 1:'Itenants and he has given them permission, through the neighbors , tol i ;'park and use that parking lot at night because of the parking prob 4m i , in that area. Mr. Williams is a taxpayer of the City of Ithaca, he , pays a substantial property tax there. He also pays a substantial sales tax and he really wouldn' t be asking for consideration here i ', he had adequate parking. Now I have some pictures here which I wit !introduce through Mr. Austin but I would like to point out that there jjis traffic in that area but you want to remember that that area is , adjacent to Rt. 13 and that Rt. 13 by its very nature generates I ,quite a bit of traffic throughout that area. Now the interesting i ; part of it is that Mr. Williams ' s business and parking area are ;'adjacent to Rt. 13 so that the traffic doesn't have to pass through I ! too much. of the neighborhood in order for it to find its way to !, Cayuga Electric but the point is , if the neighbors are complaining `i bout the traffic by virtue of Mr. Williams being there or not being i here, that isn' t going to generate the traffic that I believe, most ,respectfully, they are complaining about. I think it is Rt. 13 that' s generating that traffic and the connection - there is a majo jConnection there at Dey Street with Rt. 13 and I want you all to be Ij ' aware of that. Now, I'm going to ask Mr. Austin to come up here an ppeak and I 'm going to ask him some questions and I 'm going to ask I� 4 - i ,i ; him to answer those questions and then if he ' s got some comments vi �Jto make, I 'd like him to make any comments that he has in that re- I I 1! gard. Now Mr. Austin are you an officer of Cayuga Electric? 'IMR. AUSTIN: Yes I am. MR. LEWIS: And what is your position there, sir? i MR. AUSTIN: My position is Vice President. i I i MR. LEWIS : How long have you been associated with them? MR. AUSTIN: Twenty-five (25) years . 0 MR. LEWIS: And more specifically, Mr. Austin, did a time come whe I !i Cayuga Electric purchased a piece of property located at its f� present location? !i MR. AUSTIN: Yes . I MR. LEWIS: About when was that? (MR. AUSTIN: That was a little over ten (10) years ago, it was the II i former Rocker Rug Co. building - it had been in disrepair and had j,not been used for several years - that' s the piece of property we i� i 11purchased. �i SMR. LEWIS : Where is that located - what is the address there? !MR. AUSTIN: The address there is 307 W. Lincoln Street . ij MR. LEWIS: And would you describe the property - did you see the I !!property at the time it was purchased? ! MR. AUSTIN: Yes . AR. LEWIS: And would you describe it for the Board? �MR. AUSTIN: Well it, of course the building was in disrepair and partially boarded up it was in need of either being torn down or redone. IICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Questions? :SMR. GAINEY: I 'm curious - what this has to do with what you are i asking for? MR. LEWIS: Well sir, we are trying to establish the type of opera- 'i !, tion that was there before - what the property was like before and Ito introduce the type of operation that there is there now - to ;i IIgive you an idea of what this business has done for that neighbor- 1 j hood. i ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Now toget a use variance, which is what you are �a j �I - s - lrequesting, you will also have to move on and then show us that th I� particular property in question - the one on which the house will i 41have to be torn down cannot reasonably be used for the use designa ted, namely, residence, right? I SMR. LEWIS : Yes sir. j CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright. jMR. LEWIS: Go ahead Mr. Austin. IMR. AUSTIN: Okay. I was just going to point out that that corner lot that we did purchase , of course , was weeds and debris covered it was certainly not an asset to the neighborhood there . We did d Ila lot of fill and cleaning it up and paving it. 1 MR. LEWIS : And did you put up a building there? 'IMR. AUSTIN: And we did put an addition and redo the building that Iwas there, yes . '1MR. LEWIS: And is this a picture of that building? (Exhibit 1231-1 ) 1MR. AUSTIN: Yes that is . MR. LEWIS: And does that depict the condition of the premises at jithe time - at the present time? i MR. AUSTIN: At the present time yes . II MR. LEWIS : Who shall I give these photos to? CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You can give it to Mrs . Ruane. These are - you i can leave with- us as exhibits in the case? I j MR. LEWIS : Yes , yes. I want to leave them with you as exhibits . i 1IDo you want to mark that as exhibit 1? Now adjoining that propert is their parking lot and is this the photograph of the parking lot . 1, (Exhibit 1231-2 ) And is that a fair and accurate representation 11of the present condition of that parking lot? } '1 MR. AUSTIN: Yes it is. I � MR. GAINEY: How many cars does that park now? ;SMR. LEWIS: How many cars will that park.? MR. AUSTIN: Oh, gosh. . . MR. LEWIS : Approximately - to the best of your knowledge? i j MR. AUSTIN: Maybe thirty (30) cars. I I! !IMR. GAINEY: Pardon? ;IMR. AUSTIN: Maybe thirty. I ,i 6 - CHAIRMAN MARTIN: " Thirty (30) cars. And you said you have fourteeil (i (14) employees? 11MR. AUSTIN: Yes we do . I� 11CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright. So that furnishes parking, not only fo 11your employees but for your customers? ' MR. AUSTIN: That is the customer parking lot that ' s what we try ;land use it for. We use the one side toward the center of the lot �ifor employees. We need the room for trucks to pull in and be able ,i to turn around and get back out. - CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright so that it not only serves as a parking i allot but an area in which trucks come and make their deliveries ands I turn around and . . . I' MR. AUSTIN: Right. ) MR. GAINEY: How- many off-street spots would you say, roughly, thele i are? You have two streets right, that you can park on? '! MR. AUSTIN: Well actually to park on Willow Street, that 's a very i narrow street, we don' t do any parking on Willow Street. MR. GAINEY: There are never any cars parked there? iMR. AUSTIN: Not from our line to the corner. If they are, they j� aren' t any of ours. We have parking. . . . + MR. GAINEY: Who would be parking there? MR. AUSTIN: Occasionally people fishing along Willow Creek. We probably have - maybe ten (10) spaces in front of the store that ii are available. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You mention trucks coming in and turning around, `show many trucks do you have coming in the course of a week? Pre- I� ,1sumably they come in off from 13. . . i; MR. AUSTIN: Trucks come in 13 , they swi,ng •in - there is one house they by-pass , the one on the corner, that would be the only resi- dential house - they swing into our lot, turn around and go back out the same way. There are several trucks a day - there is quite i a f ew trucks . . . 1ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Several trucks a day? MR. AUSTIN: Yes. jiMR. LEWIS: And is that - those trucks are connected with the oper - i, it i! 7 - ! ;! tion of your business regarding the loading and unloading of supp- ! ; lies , is that right? i ;SMR. AUSTIN: Correct . JMR. GAINEY: Do they have any difficulties that you know of, de- !' livering to you - with the way the existing layout is made? IMR. AUSTIN: Well we keep it clear so they can get in and out . IMR. GAINEY: So you have no problem as far as delivery - you have i lino complaints from the trucking lines as far as being able to get i Tinto your area and deliver? � MR. AUSTIN: No. �MR. LEWIS: Is it a fact, Mr. Austin, that you need this extra i1parking place - extra parking space? jiMR. AUSTIN: We do need extra parking. MR. LEWIS: And why is that sir? For what purpose? I ! MR. AUSTIN: We intend to keep the people off the street if possible Mand we encourage our customers to park in our parking lot. We hope. . . !CHAIRMAN MARTIN: How do you encourage them? I l MR. AUSTIN: Well we make it handier for them to park in our parking !( lot. All our pick up and delivery is at that side of the store . ( The only parking in front is usually some residential lighting fix- ' ture people coming in to look at fixtures . We do have a parking i ( problem on the street now - we have a neighbor that has quite a few i ! employees - there were none there before - and they are taking a lot ! of parking area. !JMR. LEWIS : Street parking. it SMR. AUSTIN: Street parking and it is full down there most every da lion the street. ; MR. GAINEY: Is that the building next door? !'MR. AUSTIN: Yes it is the building on the left. . . , MR. GAINEY: On the left toward Lincoln Street? 'l ! 11MR. AUSTIN: Yes it is . 'I,MR.;SMR. GAINEY: You say he has a problem with parking? I i i, MR. AUSTIN: He has quite a few cars now. And they have virtually no off-street parking. ,SMR. GAINEY: What is the name of the business that is in there, are II !jyou familiar . . . ? i! § r 8 - i� i MR. AUSTIN: I 'm not sure what it is - it ' s an electronics firm. 'r It ' s been there . . . ;i MR. GAINEY: They are not associated with you in any way? MR. AUSTIN: Yes, that is correct. I ii I MR. WILCOX: In fact, aren' t they going to move to the Industrial , ;j II Park? I 1 f, MR. LEWIS: I know- nothing about that . i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: You need parking you say for your customers - � I to get them off the street? i' MR. AUSTIN: Yes , we need to get the employee ' s cars out of the ,r way so that we have more customer parking. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, so you - this property at 310 Dey, whe I I was that acquired? I MR. LEWIS : Let me just say this , that 310 Dey Street is under pur I chase offer. I � I MR. GAINEY: So you haven' t bought it yet? 'r I MR. LEWIS: No. i MR. GAINEY: Are you a partner in this firm? I; MR. LEWIS: He is a vice president. ii i MR. AUSTIN: Vice President of the Corporation. j MR. GAINEY: Where is Mr. Williams tonight? i 1 MR. LEWIS : Mr. Williams was called to a special meeting out of I !J town - of a society of dealers that he belongs to and it was pre- set sometime ago and he had no alternative but to go to that I meeting tonight, so that is why Mr. Austin is here instead of Mr . � Williams . �I r CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well , why don' t you proceed to tell us about what i. � you would like to do with the property at 310 Dey Street and why 'I f you contend that it can ' t reasonably be used for the purpose for I which it is zoned. it MR. LEWIS : Alright. I have another witness on that but I would �j j like Mr. Austin to testify what he intends to do with the propert ?i sir. r CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright. Okay. i i MR. LEWIS: Would you just tell us , Mr. Austin, what you intend tq I I 9 - ,I _ do with the property? it MR. AUSTIN: Well the property would be fixed up for an employee parking lot. We would hope to park most of the cars on that lot . At this point , I 'm not sure that the house would even be taken down. i MR. LEWIS: I see. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Could you - do you have drawings to show how {r much parking this will add - someway you can describe for us what it it is that you do intend to - you say, you don' t know whether the house will come down or not? MR. AUSTIN: At this point. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: It ' s not clear, what you intend to do there? !I MR. LEWIS: Well they know what they want to do , sir. They know what they want to do . . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well what are they asking us to allow them to do? ii MR. LEWIS: Well , they are asking you to allow them to use this property for their business uses which, right now, are parking. 'j Now they haven' t made a decision as to whether or not to take thi !I house down but there is no question that they are going to utiliz ' i j that for parking of the employee vehicles and if necessary, take the house down. MR. GAINEY: Are you asking for a driveway out onto Dey Street? i MR. LEWIS : Mr. Austin, would you explain that? MR. AUSTIN: I believe that we would like at least a roadway so w 's P s� can get a vehicle through there, yes . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: But with a use variance , the Board really needs a rather clear picture of what it is that will be done because weinot only have to find that it can' t reasonably be used for a residenc� i but we also have to find that what 's proposed - and that means li I specifically what ' s proposed. I� MR. AUSTIN: It would be a parking lot for vehicles . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Parking lot for vehicles . Alright, how much I parking will this add then for you? MR. AUSTIN: Well it' s 40 foot wide, I believe, and roughly 100 feet in depth. That probably would park fifteen (15) cars . i !' I ; I - 10 - i� CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Fifteen (15) cars , assuming the building comes J I { down? i MR. AUSTIN: Assuming the building is down, yes . ;I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And that' s what you are wanting to do? MR. AUSTIN: That would be the eventual thought of it . I� j MR. GAINEY: You want the building down or up? I� MR. AUSTIN: Well I assume eventually it would - the building i' j I �I would want to come down. MR. GAINEY: Well, it seems to me that you don' t know what you want to do. Do you want it down so that you have a parking area or do you want it up so you have a driveway? iiMR. AUSTIN: Okay. I don't think the building would be torn down i� today. i MR. GAINEY: You don' t think it would be? j I MR. LEWIS: Today, he means, in the immediate future. i i+ `j MR. AUSTIN: In the future . . . i I; MR. GAINEY: Well , what we are going to grant is for the future , ii after today. i MR. LEWIS : Well that is what he is going to tell you, now. ii i; li MR. GAINEY: That ' s what you are here to ask for? 'i ii MR. LEWIS: Right. And that ' s what he is going to do . 11 MR. GAINEY: Okay, what are you going to do that ' s what I 'm asking . 11 i MR. AUSTIN: We are going to build a parking lot. I !� MR. GAINEY: A parking lot? i. i; MR. AUSTIN: Yes, with the building down. i 1 I 11 MR. GAINEY: With the building down? ii MR. AUSTIN: Yes . l MR. GAINEY: That will give you an additional fifteen (15) spots? MR. AUSTIN: I would say at least fifteen C15) spots . I) MR. GAINEY: And you are asking for the driveway to go to Lincoln Street or to Dey Street? I` MR. LEWIS: To Dey Street. I I MR. GAINEY: That ' s what your alternative is? il MR. AUSTIN: That would allow us to pass through to Dey Street. if MR. GAINEY: Finally got to it after 25 minutes. �I ! i' 1! 1V II j� MR. LEWIS : Are there any more questions of Mr. Austin? DR. GREENBERG: This seems to be a contradiction to the statement it to your number 5 "Reasons for Appeal" which it states after the i! first sentence : "to rebuild on this site for expansion of the i Cayuga Electric business operation. " So you are deleting that? i MR. AUSTIN: Any expansion would be on the lot that it 's on. It I would not be on that lot. s MR. LEWIS: It would not be on that lot , no. `! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well you are planning to expand the main building? �+ MR. LEWIS: No, the question was , is he planning to expand on this lot and he said if there was ever any expansion it would be to the it present building and it wouldn' t be on that particular lot. It ' s j� sort of a hypothetical thing but there are no plans - immediate i plans for any expansion of the building itself. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. MR. LEWIS : But they are not planning, You are right Doctor , they If are not planning to build a building on that lot. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: The application does repeatedly make reference I I� to the expansion of the Cayuga Electric business operation. '! MR. LEWIS : Well, yes , that - you see they consider that parking lot !i 3� enabling them to expand their general operation, in other words , I i' mean they would have more parking spaces for their customers , etc. i MR. GAINEY: But I thought the reason for this additional area was !I to expand the parking problem, not to create a new parking problem f by expanding. If you expand you are going to be out all of thosei spaces again. i MR. LEWIS: They need . . . ji MR. GAINEY: What we are allowing you to do is expand - if we give i it to you - we are allowing you to expand in a residential neigh- borhood, where now you are asking for additonal parking area. You !I seem to be contradicting yourself. MR. LEWIS: I 'm sorry, I don' t quite . . MR. GAINEY: You are here asking for additional parking right? i! MR. LEWIS: Yes , correct. MR. GAINEY: But all through step 1 , 2 and 3 is all you talk about i ii i� - 12 - i '' is possible future expansion. Okay? !i MR. LEWIS : Well , I 'm not talking, I don't know how that got in i! j' there - all I can say is . . . i ;SMR. GAINEY: I don' t know either, you people must have filled it H out. MR. LEWIS : All I can say to answer that question is that their plans are to use that for a parking lot because they have a press- ] ing need for additional parking. Because of their expanding busi- ( i Inness . In other words their business has expanded. They have more i , customers now than they did two years ago. li JMR. KASPRZAK: The way I read it, the way you are talking, and the Tway what it says in here, it states to me that Cl) you want to i remove parking from existing parking space to another lot and expand i your existing building . . . i �f �� MR. LEWIS : No. I� MR. KASPRZAK: Well , that' s how you say it and that 's how it reads i i please be clear. Whatever we grant if we grant - we will not grant you what you think you are getting . . . MR. LEWIS: They do not the plans - we are not asking tonight fo the expansion of the existing building. what MR. KASPRZAK: I know what you are asking tonight but/you have It i1stated here is not what you are saying in words , so I want you to �� say it clearly so we understand and if we decide anything , you don' t ii ` ' i come back tomorrow and say well you were wrong in deciding what yoo ii ;! decided because there is no recourse unless you go to the Courts - i i after tonight. Please be clear because as I read it you are tryin4 i. � to expand the building by removing parking from one space to anoth�r If you are not doing that, then say so and that will be part of th ] record. Is MR. LEWIS : Well , very simply, what we are trying to do is expand !ithe parking area. In other words to have additional parking faci- IIlities . We are not planning to make any expansion of the physical plant , is that right Mr. Austin? MR. AUSTIN: That is correct, all we are asking for . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: There is no present plan or hope to expand the I ii 13 - i �I jmain building? 'MR. LEWIS: No sir. ; CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Then this was all a mistake here in the applica- i, i! tion? i !MR. LEWIS: Well , I guess so, because I never saw that application I to be frank with you, so I would just have to say that that is right, its that your understanding? i JMR. AUSTIN: That is my understanding, that we are just looking for i ( parking space. ! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: It was signed by Mr. Newton Williams originally. MR. LEWIS: Well . . . i 'IMR. GAINEY: Maybe Mr. Williams should have been here . i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, you said you had someone else on . . . MR. LEWIS: Yes, may I just talk with him a second and then I will have him come up? Thank you. Does anyone have any further questi ns l of Mr. Austin? MR. GAINEY: I 've got a couple of questions here - did you notify all the neighbors of this existing plan? it MR. LEWIS : There was an ad in the classified section. I , MR. GAINEY: Did the neighbors come back to you with any flack? I' jIMR. AUSTIN: Well I believe they were here to the Planning Board . MR. GAINEY: No, I mean to you or to your associates? �IMR. AUSTI'N: I have not - no, not to me. I have talked with one jneighbor. MR. GAINEY: And you say this parking lot is full the majority of the time? SMR. AUSTIN: Yes sir. You should come down and see it some time. MR. GAINEY: Ilive right down by there. I 've been by there quite a few times within the last week and at no time did I ever see a i, space not available. i MR. AUSTIN: I'm not saying that you can' t find a space in it but pt is full most of the time. i! MR. GAINEY. : Thank you. j! MR. LEWIS: Are there any other questions of Mr . Austin before he i1 :; sits down? i1 ! - 14 - �j i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Guess not, thank you. 1MR. LEWIS: Mr. Johnny Vasse, a local real estate man, as I believe '' he is known to most of you, is going to also testify here regardin i. this situation and the need for the property and also the use aspe t . i1MR. VASSE: I just want to say this , that our Company was involved ! !with Newt Williams . Newt saw the sign on the property offered for , sale. Asked questions what the price was . The property is not much l, of a house - it ' s a one-bedroom, a basement subject to flooding, it ' s Ion a lot 34 x 132 . We 've had it for sale for a year, we finally i ; submitted it to multiple listing - no takers . Newt came along and I Hthink out of the goodness of his heart, says this is something I !probably ought to buy, if I can. buy it right. It would lend to his parking area. As far as I am concerned, I don' t see where Newt needs any more structure, but I do see where he could use some additional; i parking and get some of those employee' s cars off the street. If ;!you notice, the north side of Lincoln Street has got cars bumper to e bumper right to the intersection. �1MR. GAINEY: Pardon? ?R. VASSE: The north. side of Lincoln Street, in front of the Cayu a J!Electric Company has cars parked there every day, 8 to 5 , bumper t libumper. I won' t argue that point, I 've been there, I 've seen it. lHowever, my attitude is this , if the neighbors in the direct vicinity ; are particularly worried about increased traffic, it' s my interpre- t; 'Itation, that to help Newt out and to satisfy the neighbors , perhaps ! something could be worked out where you grant a deed restriction whereby if there ever is a driveway developed on that side of the I ' street it would be strictly for cars and not trucks - no truck exit` ! or egress allowed on that side of the street I 've had this worked out in the Town of Ithaca, on some property we 've just had rezoned i44 ,Ion the Danby Road. Accessability would be made through Coddington j Road and not on a street that was heavily traveled like Danby Road. ,JI think that the property does serve a functional use for Newton IWilli.ams and I don' t see where it 's going to make much- of a reside ce i 1for anybody and I do not believe that the present property owner i !! Florida will ever realize any decent sale price out of the property, l if If Ij 15 - I� i' based on the quality of the merchandise. I i 1MR. LEWIS: Are there any questions of Mr. Vasse on this? 'IMR. GAINEY: Yes , if you lived in the 300 block of Dey Street and ou i ;! had three young children and already have a traffic problem, would , you like cars exiting and entering on the side? �IMR. VASSE: I don't think Newt 's business is going to increase by that much more or is adding that much more traffic . You've got a �i across road there now, you've got cars dashing in from Auburn Street it ! down Dey into the intersection and I don' t believe Newt Williams i { going to be the generator - it ' s the growth of the community that �I is going to be the generator. That 's why I would reserve truck traffic to the far side of the structure. MR. GAINEY: You going to be down there to police it? MR. VASSE: Are you going to be down there to police it? MR. GAINEY: I ' ll probably end up, yes . It' s easy to stand up her s ; and suggest things but to have things become a realty as far as . . I !( limiting . . . IMR. VASSE: You can' t stop the growth of the community and the traffic ii is going to be there whether Newt Williams puts it there or somebody else. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Can we get back to the house now? Why is it that folks - I mean, folks lived there, right? IMR. VASSE: The house has been rented for the past couple of years . �ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Yes. SMR. VASSE: The owner is in Florida. I� ; CHAIRMAN MARTIN: The owner is in Florida but has managed to rent it? SMR. VASSE: Managed to rent it for $100 . a month which is not a feasible rental . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is it a sound structure? I 'IMR. VASSE: It ' s sound - it's a one-bedroom - it ' s very difficult into rent a one-bedroom house. It 's a wet cellar. ,CHAIRMAN MARTIN: It ' s been listed for a year? At a reasonable iiselling price? 'i MR. VASSE: Asking $21 , 000 ; it ' s down to $18 ,000 . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any particular circumstances that make it a hard �I I" 1� - 16 - i) house to sell, distinguished from other houses on that block? I MR. VASSE: Just recently within the last couple weeks , I under- stand that a member of the Board here tried to buy that house and { couldn' t get bank financing. The banks don' t like one-bedroom f houses . I i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any further questions from members of the Board. Who was it, I 'm curious . I# iMR. GAINEY: I think he ' s fibbing. i MR. VASSE.. I think Mr. Longo should buy the house because he' s the one who is going to be isolated. Beyond that I don' t see that) it' s any detriment to the neighborhood. i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Who on the Board offered to buy the house? I MR. VASSE: I 'm not at liberty to say. I don' t know. �I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Well none of us seem to know either - I think I' j {� we might as well drop that point. I MR. GAINEY: You got the right Board? Probably not. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any further questions for Mr. Vasse? �I MR. LEWIS: It was a member of the Planning Board that tried to buy �I the house - after the Planning Board hearing. I wasn't - since Mr. i Vasse got into that, after the decision was rendered at the Plan- ning Board hearing, a member of the Planning Board made an offer I on the house which we were surprised at and who he voted, etc. He couldn' t get financing so - at any rate. A question was raised about policing the truck recommendation that Mr . Vasse made and i of course, there is never a guarantee on anything but I just want to say this , I know the Cayuga Electric operation and I 've known Mr. Williams for some time and I know that if that was made a con- dition he would do everything in his power to abide by it and I j{ believe that there would be a substantial compliance with that con- dition and if that was a factor in granting the variance I would f� ask you to consider that. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: What is suggested as a condition to mitigate the concern about traffic impact on Dey is a stipulation that if there I is an entry to the parking lot from Dey it would be only for car j traffic? 'I MR. LEWIS: Yes sir , that is correct. i { �' i ii I - 17 - i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. MR. LEWIS : And truck traffic would be limited to the Lincoln Str et 'i entrance and exit. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Which it now uses? !i MR. LEWIS : Which it is now used for, that is correct. i MR. GAINEY: Is it completely necessary to have a driveway on to Dey Street? i I I� MR. AUSTIN: It would be helpful but it is not necessary . j MR. GAINEY: Not necessary. `j CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So that is an even more extreme solution to that I problem. The Board might grant a variance permitting use of that lot as a parking lot on condition that there was no entrance to De . MR. LEWIS: Ed, do you want to come up here so that everybody can hear you? i i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Please, so we get it on the record. MR. LEWIS: Yes, and so it gets on the record because otherwise it ii wouldn' t be necessarily noted. (; MR. AUSTIN: That lot is a narrow lot and the vehicles almost have, to be parked at an angle and it would make it much more feasible i they came in one way and then drove on out in the same direction. �i It would be almost too narrow to turn around on. i j CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. �I MR. LEWIS : I would challenge any of the neighbors if they are to say that Mr. Williams was not a good neighbor - that Mr. Williams �i did not maintain a clean operation, that Mr. Williams did not keep his area free of debris , that Mr. Williams did not accommodate the i neighbors and their tenants regarding the parking problems and all3w i i, j them at night to use that parking lot for parking - for no charge , it i just because of being a good neighbor there. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: While the Board does not - the Board does value i neighborliness and being a good neighbor variances are not awarded �j to good neighbors . ,I j; MR. LEWIS : True but that —that ' s true, but what I am saying is , and that ' s very true, but I believe that that ' s evidence of Mr. Williams ' s trying to comply, doing his best to comply with the i i' i II � jj II lg _ I the situation as was proposed concerning this truck exit - trucks I not being allowed to exit on Dey Street. I i MR. GAINEY: I think we ought to put it into the record that I don' t think the neighbors are challenging that he is a good neighbor , I j think they are just challenging the problem of more traffic whichf they think may be created, it may not be but it - this is the thing . it I; MR. AUSTIN: I see no more traffic then what there is now. I don' t li j foresee any more truck traffic than what we have or any more vehi le traffic it ' s just to give us more space, which we sort of ne P j g ed. MR. LEWIS: For your present business. MR. AUSTIN: Right. i' MR. GAINEY: Parking? j I) j MR. AUSTIN: Parking, absolutely. 'j j MR. LEWIS: Yes. I MR. WILCOX: Is it fair to say that a lot of your customers are co�n- �' tractors who have trucks as opposed to cars so that you require more I� parking space? i ;I MR. AUSTIN: That' s right. I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any further questions from members of the Board. I MR. LEWIS : I have nothing further to say, thank you very much. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. Alright, is there anyone else here j I !I tonight who would like to be heard in favor of the requested use �j variance? Is there anyone who would like to be heard in opposi- tion? Yes , please come forward. I will say again that the Board ; f did hear detailed testimony in opposition last month, members of tjhe Board present will take that into account . We also have the ver- batim transcript of that meeting and so that will be part of our deliberation. Yes sir . 'i MR. LONGO: My name is Joe Longo and I 'm the owner at 301 W. Lin-il M �i coln Street. You already have the information from the last meet-1 'i ing that we had here. What' s it going to do to my house if this I goes through? The land, the taxes - if I want to sell my home , Ii I g g s ii who is a business , and won' t be able to sell it only to somebody i then I 'm going to take a loss . I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Your home is at the corner? j j, of I, 19 - il ii MR. LONGO: I 'm right at the corner of Lincoln and Dey. I' ji CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And like this property in question is zoned for I ii residence? MR. LONGO: Right . I have the empty lot next to me , then the white w` j house that they want to buy to put into parking. Now, you have i everything down from the last meeting and . . . �i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Can you caste any light on what we have heard I� about the need for parking? Is , indeed, it the case that that to j is full most of the time, that there is need for more space. . . ? 'j MR. LONGO: Well, there are a lot of trucks in there, unloading - �I a lot of people there but I don' t know where this lot is going to do them any good for parking. It ' s awful narrow. You get cars if in there - I don' t know how they are going to move them around in f there. But I had more people but they couldn ' t make it tonight I to the meeting - to go , but you have the letters of all the people there from the last meeting . 'j CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Right . j� MR. GAINEY: How close would this come to your house? MR. LONGO: There is an empty lot that used to be Cramers that he i' had for a garden and now it is - Carrolls own it. They have the !i garages in the back and that ! s another subject we will go into ii later. I got to come up to the Board on that. He ' s doing things i that he is not supposed to be doing, but that isn' t the issue in this matter. But the . . . j MR. GAINEY: You say 50 feet, 100 feet? ! �i MR. LONGO: Well , Cramer' s lot is right next to mine, his lot is right on my fence and then it - I don' t know what the distance is in between. +I i MR. GAINEY: Then the next lot? I� I MR. LONGO: The next lot is the white house that they are trying to j get for parking. 'i MR. GAINEY: Is there indeed a parking problem in front? Do you have problems parking in front of your house at any time? I MR. LONGO: On the Dey Street side there is no parking problem. j' I mean, you will have like Amici across the street or somebody IF 1� j 2o - i 1� I that 's in the neighborhood on there, but the main is the - from Lincoln Street down to Willow, the person that is next to me - tht f they do electrical work - I don't know, they do electric boards o something, I don' t know what even the name of the outfit is , but all of their cars are parked on both sides of the street, which, when the variance came up on that one and we had to go fight that they were supposed to have parking between Cayuga Electric and i� their building and they wasn't supposed to have that many people working but they do now. Well , that ' s why I 'm trying to fight this is what ' s going to say today you guys grant this - tomorrow you a e going to have tractor trailers going through there. Because I 've seen it happen an awful lot of times and - with the buildings . . . ' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there further questions for Mr. Longo? Any- thing further you want to add Mr. Longo? it MR. LONGO: No. !I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like i to be heard on this case in opposition to the requested use vari- ance? We' ll move on to the next. �I i i i I' i �I I I, it 'i I� I� �1 j i �o 'v fi i it jl ii I 'i II l - 21 - i4 I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK 'i DECEMBER 4, 1978 !i it EXECUTIVE SESSION APPEAL NO. 1231 MR. GAINEY: I move that the use variance in case 1231 i be denied. i MRS. MAXWELL: I second the motion. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) There is ample parking. i, I 2) The neighborhood outcry against the ivariance - stressing concern over safety and I�� increased traffic. i j� 3) Not in keeping with the neighborhood as I I s, it would insert a parking lot in the middle of a residential block. ii I 4) It appears that there may be interests ; other than parking involved, namely the re- t peated reference in the application to possi ble expansion. VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 No . Use variance denied. it ii 's I i� I� �i ij 'I I 'i �f i - 22 - BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK DECEMBER 4, 1978 SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal 1236 . ii APPEAL NO. 1236 : Appeal of Karl and Sophie Hitzelberger for an area variance under Section 30 . 5 , it Columns 6 , 10 , 11 and 12 to permit con- struction of a garage in the front yard 'I of the property at 126 Farm Street in li an R-2b (residential) use district. �I The property is deficient in minimum lot size, and if the garage is construc - ted,, onstru - ted, the property will also be deficient 1, in required front yard and side yard !! depth, and the maximum permitted lot i4 coverage will be exceeded. This appeal !� was postponed at the November 13, 1978 meeting at the request of the appellan . I Is someone here to appear? I KARL HITZELBERGER: My name is Karl Hitzelberger, I live at 126 I Farm Street. We are asking for a variance to build a garage. It already has a drive and a concrete slab for parking our car. We iy would like to enclose this to make a garage. It would definitely i� be in keeping with the house and the neighborhood. We sent letters i j� to all the neighbors telling them of our plans to build and what iE 'I we are going to build. We also gave them our telephone number an i i .asked them to callWe heard from nobody. i y. i, CHAIRMAN MARTIN: How close will the side of this be to your lot line? i MR. HITZELBERGER: Well it will be about 3 feet. �i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: About 3 feet. MR. HITZELBERGER: Yes . ii I! CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Will it be a completely enclosed garage or simply. . !� MR. HITZELBERGER: Yes , yes it will . i l CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And the front of the garage will be how close to the . . . ? it 'i MR. HITZELBERGER: There will be 5 feet from here (pointing to th plans) to the sidewalk. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: We have copies of that plan for members of the Board. The garage will be quite close to your neighbor's house? .j !� MR. HITZELBERGER: No. ,i ii I - 23 - ii CHAIRMAN MARTIN: No. MR. HITZELBERGER: No. I would say there is - their lot is larger I� than ours . Ours is 41 and theirs is 50 . i' MR. GAINEY: There is quite a bit of room between the existing i structures . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there any further questions for Mr. Hitzel- i, berger? Do you have anything you want to add? i i I (( MR. HITZELBERGER: No. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Thank you. MR. HITZELBERGER: Thank you. I� CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there anyone else who would like to be heard I I �! on this case in favor of the requested variance? (1 fi MRS. HOLMAN: Elva Holman, 141 Pearsall Place, alderman for the it i second Ward in which this piece of property is located. Although the garage will come very, very close to the side lot line and ,I very close to the sidewalk, if you have looked at the piece of property you will realize that the houses directly across the jl� street are at the sidewalk line and so it will not .. the garage will not destroy the character of the neighborhood. In thinking ii If about off-street parking, which is most desirable in this neigh- boyhood, the garage may be advantageous and I would suggest that he jl Board look very carefully at the plans and if it finds them in t j� keeping with the property, you might consider that this would be useful to the neighborhood. I might also suggest that if it is ii at all possible, the Board consider a requirement that would allow the Building Commissioner to keep the garage in keeping with the I rest of the property but I think from my point of view it may be i it desirable to build a garage to warehouse that car. II CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Is there anyone else who would like to be heard ) I I I� on this case either in favor or in opposition to the requested area variance? We move to the next. Greg? Ij MR. KASPRZAK: I see that the garage size says 10 x 17 . I 'm a I ! little afraid that with the American cars being what they are, an 'i I even though the gas shortage might be coming again, I don 't think) ii we will have cars really that tiny, you know a 17 foot garage 'f Ii ' � f 24 i i; 'i is a little bit on the short side I 'm afraid. I know you are goi g to hear an answer - well we' ll buy a short car and that' s true , it but what about the next buyer or the next owner? Are we going to '= be . . . ? lMR. HURLBUT: He will have to buy a car that fits . MR. KASPRZAK: That' s what I answered already. i MR. HURLBUT: The car will fit in the garage. MR. KASPRZAK: I guess I let myself in for that. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Do you want to pursue it further Greg? Are there further questions? Further testimony on this case? We ' ll move to the next. i I! f E � i I i r li i I i` Ij i I' �I � 4 I I i i j IS 4 - 2s BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS li COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i� DECEMBER 4, 1978 EXECUTIVE SESSION i� APPEAL NO. 1236 I j MR. WILCOX: I move that the area variance in Case No. i I 1236 be granted. MRS. MAXWELL: I second the motion. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The Board recommends it on the grounds that there would be no adverse 'impact on the neigh- borhood. eig - borhood. !! 2) Other structures on the block, on the � �! opposite side of the street, are right up ! a against the street. !` 3) There is no way off-street parking - i j protected against the weather _ can be pro- I vided on this property within the require- ments of the Zoning Ordinance. VOTE : 6 Yes ; 0 No Area variance granted f I i I� � w �( I !y s� ii I. I� I� e =a i I - 26 - !f BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS !� CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK DECEMBER 4 , 1978 I I li SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal 1238 : APPEAL NO. 1238 : Appeal of Family and Children' s Servicd in for an area variance under Section 30 . 25 , Column 12 to permit constructio of a covered ramp on the south side of the building at 204 North Cayuga Street + to provide access for handicapped pers ns . The property, which is located in a B- use district is deficient in the side yard in which the ramp is to be construc- ted. onstr c- ted. MR. LEATHERS : My name is Bob Leathers , I 'm the architect . . . . MR. KASPRZAK: What was that name, please? ! MR. LEATHERS : Robert S. Leathers , I 'm sorry. An architect for i E li the Family & Children' s Service of Ithaca. I would like to pass �i out to the Board drawings which are a perspective view of the proposed ramp cover as well as a plan and site plan of the same . i j MR. GAINEY: This is from the rear, right? MR. LEATHERS: That is correct, yes . As is shown on the plan thej �i j� proposed ramp cover is going to be on the southwest corner of the ! ! building. This is the corner that is back from the main street I; jexposure on Cayuga Street. It has on the very north of it asphalt �i parking area and to the south of it another asphalt parking area. We purposely located it here because it would change the appear- ance of the building least, it would change the - shall we say - i �! the character of the neighborhood least because it would not be , I located on what is really a very attractive front street facade. I i The plans , I might mention, have been approved by the Community Development, have been approved by the Landmarks Commission, have {{ S I pl been reviewed by them and they felt that it was the best location �i they felt that it would be in keeping with the character of the i building. The cover is going to be approximately 3 feet from the adjacent property line. Now, I say approximately because at one point it actually will be within 1 foot because the nature of a ii ramp to bring the handicapped into the basement of the building w had to have a you might say - turn-,around space where wheel chairs i i j - 27 - 'I could come down, could back out from the door , open the door and j thereby get into the basement . So we minimized where that area { was as much as possible so that we would stay back as far as possi- ble. I won' t go into great detail as to why the cover is needed, I iIthink it is pretty evident. Everybody who has seen ramps , I might) even point to the ramp at the library which is not covered and whiLh Ican' t be used in the winter time so therefore we want to try and i� II prevent these conditions from prevailing in this case. The ramp I is needed because there are several patients of the Family $ Chil- dren Service which, in fact, are handicapped and there are many more who can' t come there due to the fact of the difficulty of having I to go up approximately five risers of stairs or down five risers , i whichever way it would be, to get into the building . This ramp would facilitate that, the cover would thereby provide the year around use of that ramp. Now there was some concern expressed by ii the neighbor to the direct south which is the Women' s Community i !I Building . We met with them on two or three occasions over the las ii j week and one-half. We met with them since the Planning Board i i meeting last week. We considered a recommendation from the Plan- ning Board that gutters be added to the ramp. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: They are concerned about - according to the itminutes of that hearing - about drainage and also about fire safet . i MR. LEATHERS : Right. Okay. I will direct myself to the drainage first. That as far as the drainage was concerned it was suggested that the gutters might improve that - which I would agree that it j� would improve, although I don' t think substantially. This is my is own opinion, however we have agreed since then to add gutters and , to add downspouts to the ramp so that we would run off as much of the water as possible , and snow that would melt and thereby provid !i water, to the parking lot and the rear, that would mean to the wes . MR. GAINEY: How is that parking lot reached? j MR. LEATHERS: The parking lot is reached by the back of the churc . i You actually approach the parking lot which is the Family & Child- ren' s portion of the parking lot , you approach from Buffalo Street in the back of the church between the church and the house . Now 'i 2s - r ,, the Women' s Community Building parking lot is approached from !' Seneca Street and is directly to the west of the Women's Community ` Building. ! IMR. GAINEY: Is there anything in the laws that require so many 'f j1parking spaces for this building - or this ramp is going to cut don Ion the number of parking places? i, MR. LEATHERS: I might mention this doesn't cut down on the number jof parking spaces at all because we have kept the ramp directly 1 against the building so that in fact - but frankly there is only i about three or four parking spaces, at most, there now. But there j is - it is within the 500 feet as the bird flies or 1 ,000 feet by I ! the road to Municipal parking - off-street parking , that being of icourse, the Seneca Street parking garage . So it does meet the re- quirements in that manner. I'MR. KASPRZAK: Bob, there are no sides to the ramp enclosure is I1there? i jMR. LEATHERS : Sides? No . We have kept it visually as open as i If possible so it does not visually encroach upon the neighbor while at the same time, frankly, we obviously have to put railings around it, posts to support it, etc. jMR. KASPRZAK: How much of a roof do you have in terms of distance ,i jjaway from the wall of the building? I' IMR. LEATHERS: What we have done is the if you will notice on the i !plan, the ramp itself is four feet wide, which is the minimum that Siwe can possibly provide for a wheel chair and that is actually is standard which we have to meet. We have put in the minimum size !!wall - six inch wall which I am sure you recognize is minimal we ; can put in for a retaining wall and then we have a roof overhang o lonly four inches. So if you add this all up you come up with appro - limately five feet, round figures . IJMR. KASPRZAK: Who was worried about the run-off? i ;SMR. LEATHERS : The run off, I 'm sorry? i +MR. KASPRZAK: That ' s alright . That' s all I have. j;CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. There is no way you can achieve reasonable access by wheelchair without putting the roof over this and there is Ino way you can do all of that and comply with the zoning yard - 29 i i! i� ` requirements? lIMR. LEATHERS : That is correct. i 11 �ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there any further questions? You dealt with the drainage question. You didn' t deal with the fire hazard created by blocking the entrance, did you? SMR. LEATHERS: Okay, since then we have, in fact, they had contacted �jand we had contacted Charlie Weaver as I did not personally contact shim but Midge Waldman, who is the assistant director, did. His statement was , to her , that he would like as much access around every i ,building in town as possible and obviously we have provided less ac- cess by coming out to the south. However, I might mention that the Tramp is in there and the ramp is not in violation of the zoning. INow the ramp is already existing - it is three feet from that . No �Ithe roof structure that comes out, we have purposely kept high enough I iso that, in fact, it will be above head room for obvious reasons s 1� that someone won' t hit their head, but as well so that people can get Alin there. There still is - you still have the ability to get in by the ramp and get to the back side of the building and he did state ,i 1that it will, in fact, be possible to fight a fire, if it might happen in the Women' s Community Building. MR. GAINEY: The ramp is already in? i IMR. LEATHERS: That is correct. ii �MR. GAINEY: You are going to put a roof but you are going to leave ; the sides - they are going to remain open? jMR. LEATHERS : That is correct, �IMR. GAINEY: So the ramp is still open to the elements of weather ` ; other than direct downpour? i I MR. LEATHERS : In other words if, in fact, there was blizzards as il. we many times see and snow would blow in, yes . However , experienc has been in the past that still it would substantially reduce the ii amount of accumulation of water in the basement, particularly wate , The snow is more prone to blow in of course but that was regularly i ' shoveled. It would be part of the maintenance program of the building because they use the ramp regularly. Obviously they will i Ilhave to shovel it in order to use it . I" l �I II - 30 - il 11CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there further Questions? i SMR. HOARD: Shovel it to where? Y g 11MR. LEATHERS : Not to the Women' s Community Building lot for sure . I� IIThere actually is enough space to shovel it to the east on that end iI land then up to the parking area. In fact that' s where it had been I 11in the past when the walkway went by there - it was all a big snow 11 i1bank back in the parking lot. IMR. HOARD: I just remembered last winter, everybody ran out of I jlplaces to put the snow. I;CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there any further Questions? Do you have i anything further? i ,JMR. LEATHERS : No. I CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. Is there any one else who would like i to speak on - in favor of the requested variance? Is there anyone i wishing to speak in opposition? We ' ll move on to the next. 1 it i� jl i i f i u I� t I i� i i' i, I I! it I li j i i i !I i !i - 31 ii s BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS r CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK i! DECEMBER 4 , 1978 EXECUTIVE SESSION i' I' i APPEAL N0. 1238 : SMR. GAINEY: T move that we grant the area variance to f fi permit the covering of the ramp on the condi- tion that the variance extends only to the i construction of a roof over the ramp and not ; i to its enclosure. Any enclosure would requi e a future variance. `l MRS. MAXWELL: I second the motion. i ; FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) For the ramp to be useable in all weathei it is desirable that it be covered. The 4 i{ property is so close to the line at that poit i, that it cannot be covered, within zoning re- i quirements . 2) Testimony presented indicated that agree j ment had been reached with the Women 's Com- munity Building concerning steps to be takenf ;j to prevent a drainage problem from arising and the height of the roof combined with the I" lack of enclosure minimized the difficulty i Ij poses to fire fighters. VOTE: 6 Yes; 0 No i Area variance granted. �f i I l !i i� I! i i it �. j I� - 32 - jI BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK DECEMBER 4 , 1978 ; SECRETARY HOARD announced the next appeal to be heard. APPEAL NO. 1239 : Appeal of Oak Hill Manor Adult Home for a use variance under Section 30 . 25 , Column 2 , to permit use of the property at 602 Hudson i I� Street as a boarding home for adults . The property is located in an R-2a (residential) use district, in which multiple dwellings li are not a permitted use. f MR. BATTAGLINI : My name is Gene Battaglini , I 'm the administrators ,sof Oak Hill Manor Nursing Home and we are asking for this use var- l! iance for financial reasons. The adult home has been operating for quite a few years because of regulations set by the state for domi- ciliary facilities and it ' s been basically due to the existance of the nursing home that it ' s stayed as it is right now. We would life to change the useage of it to a Boarding Home and this is the reason lbehind the variance. f +` CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Could you explain in terms that we all can under-1 ; stand what the change would mean in terms of how the building is used? sMR. BATTAGLINI : Well the building would be basically used for the ! {l same purposes . The census would never get larger than it is now so� the spirit of the area would not be changed. The - what we are jmainly talking about here is a level of care. In a domiciliary �1 facility you have to have staff there. The people need help in ` ( taking medications , they need help with their daily living items . In here we would just have a boarding home for independent people . In trying to keep the . . . Ii s CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So the occupancy would be no greater? �t IIMR. BATTAGLINI : No. i CHAIRMAN MARTIN: The people would not require the care that they co in a domiciliary facility? j'MR. BATTAGLINI : Right. I � MR. GAINEY: What would be the prerequisite to be allowed to live in this building? I � I � i► 33 - i ; � MR. BATTAGLINI : The only prerequisite would be that they could li e independently. In other words we would supply the meals - the meals !f would probably still come over from the nursing home . The house- ., fl keeping will be done for them also and it will just - as I said, i j they just would have to be able to be on their own - come and go 0 r ; Jtheir own. There is a fine line between domiciliary care and Inde pendent living. A domiciliary, they - you are allowed to do very i I little and you can' t even use the word nursing care in a domiciliary �I , facility. Basically you supply housekeeping, meals , but just hel with daily living like bathing, etc. But this - in a boarding hom �lset up, it would just be independent living. In other words we would supply the meals , we would supply the room, we would supply the housekeeping. i MR. GAINEY: This would just be for the elderly? ; IiiMR. BATTAGLINI : It would be for adults but because of the proximi y iI 3 jto the nursing home, it would be mainly geared for the elderly. i DR. GREENBERG: Do these elderly presumably have vehicles which , they could drive if they were independently capable? E NR. BATTAGLINI : Well we have the staff, now let me say that the ( difference between what we are talking about, a domiciliary and a ;`boarding home , would be the staff. There would be no staff present iso that the - there is about a full time equivalency of employees �lof about five (_5) there now which all, presumably, drive vehicles . ! ilIn the age bracket that we are talking about, probably there would I`be . . . ;' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And after the change there will be none? � MR. BATTAGLINI : Right. Well there will be a caretaker for the lbuilding but generally the net effect would be , at the most, two or !r 1three more cars , at the most because people in that age group that �i ewe would be catering to - not that many would have vehicles . ' CHAIRMAN MARTIN: So that among the residents , you say, there will Abe two or three cars? r! i !!MR. BATTAGLINI : No, I meant increase of two or three over the ;lover what the employees , . . CHAIRMAN MARTIN: A net increase that you are - you are netting ou i I, I f - 34 - ;! the reduction because fewer staff with the increase because it is ;more independent resident population? it ,f AR. BATTAGLINI : Right. And that is what I would guess is a high j estimate - that two or three . We have a - the bus comes right to ;( the corner of the driveway so that there wouldn't be the need for �i 11the elderly to have a car. Our experience has been that at that 11 ! age level you get very few who would have a car, but there may be ; some, as I said the net and I 'm figuring at about a 50% which I think would be high. CHAIRMAN MARTIN: License for sixteen residents , is that how many `lyou expect? IMR. BATTAGLINI : Again, that' s the maximum, I don' t expect that we !will get that many, no . We have abasic problem - is the adult I I 'home - is a two-story building and there is a long staircase of !! about thirty (30) stairs or so which makes it difficult for elderly j ?eople to get up and down. This is one reason why - you know - we ;!have a problem in getting residents in the upstairs . There is no ! elevator or way to get them up and down. There is room - or rooms ! for about six or seven residents on the first floor. Again, I !;would be very surprised if it got to be sixteen but that would be lithe maximum. And, as I said, it ' s not going to change the charactelr ,i If of the area at all because we are not really adding anything to the area, we are just changing the use of the building. We want to f ;keep it, as I said, basically on an elderly idea because we feel 'i '! that in many cases we have residents who are able to be discharged dfrom the skilled nursing facility and it ' s nice that they can stay , on the grounds and not have to uproot themselves into another situ lation which can be very traumatic for them.. i ICHAIRMAN MARTIN: Those few of the residents who would have auto- ;, �Imobiles , are you able to furnish off-street parking for them? JIMR. BATTAGLINI : Yes, yes . There is a parking lot on the north side fi 1of the building. ii I 11!CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Are there questions? Do you have anything further? CHAIRMAN BATTAGLINI : No. Thank you. ;, 1CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like jlto be heard on this appeal? First anyone else in support? Anyone } 1who wishes to speak in opposition? We ' ll move on to the next. I I I� - 35 - I i' COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS Ii �{ DECEMBER 4, 1978 'i EXECUTIVE SESSION n �1APPEAL NO. 1239 : !i lCHAIRMAN MARTIN: I move that the use variance requested I i� in case no . 1239 to permit a boarding home for the elderly be granted. !j MR. KASPRZAK: I second the motion. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1) The testimony presented indicated i that the number of residents would not increase. i� j� 2) That the staff in the building woul jj decrease so that the net impact on the ! neighborhood would be a possible slight 'o increase in the number of automobiles i due to the fact that a population cap- i able of independent living would be �i occupying the premises . `i 3) The present use indicates that such occupancy suitable to this building 'i and conversion to conforming use would I be difficult. 1VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 No. i !j U-se variance granted. I{ I j ! I i{ I �r 1 (i if ii i I; I Ir ii II I{ II II �I I'; j 1 it - 36 - f BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS i COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK l! DECEMBER 4 , 1978 I, , SECRETARY HOARD announced the next appeal to be heard, the appeal i' lof William Lower , no. 1240 , has been postponed. The next appeal to EI 'ibe heard is appeal no. 1241 . i 1APPEAL NO. 1241 : Appeal of Phineas K. & Carol C. Reeves for an area variance under Section 30 . 25 I Columns 12 and 13 and Section 30. 49c le to permit the addition of a 12 ' x 14 ' room over an existing porch at the rear of the house at 303 Linn Street. The property is located in an R-2b use district, is deficient in the required jI side yards . 1;MR. REEVES: I am Phineas K. Reeves , 303 Linn Street. We wish to I� (build this room - actually it is 11 x 14 foot room on the second ,i floor of the house. It would be over an existing enclosed porch ,,on the rear side of the house, which is the same size. We will not b etaking up any more land on the lot and it ' s , as I said, it ' s on lithe back side of the house and it is a single-family dwelling, it jlwill remain a single-family dwelling - there is no way it could be i ljmade into a duplex or an apartment and so I 'm. . . !CHAIRMAN MARTIN: And you are two feet shy on both sides , right? JMR. REEVES: Right. The neighborhood in that area is - all the lots dare very narrow and on to the north of the house , which is the # closest side of the house to the lot line there is a driveway which lis between the two houses, the neighbor' s driveway, And on the south jlside, I have a driveway and the room will not extend the full width of the house. 11CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Any questions from members of the Board? iMR. REEVES: Z have two letters from neighbors that do not oppose. f :CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright. Are they addressed to you, addressed ! to members of the board or to whom it may concern? i JIMR. REEVES : Okay, one is on the letter that I sent to all the Ir ! ;+residents. i i 4CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, You are welcome to leave them as part ii l�of the record in this caseif you would like. i l 1 i 37 - ,JMR. REEVES: Okay. I do have the other one is to the attention of ithe Ithaca Planning Board but I see that it has no . . . I have a j` sketch of the plot plan, I don' t have copies for the rest of the ! Board but I . . . II CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Okay. Could you let us just pass it around? i Why don' t you just start it over there and we will see if there are any further questions provoked by it . Are there any further ques- Itions for Mr. Reeves? No further questions? Anything you want to jadd Mr. Reeves? i SMR. REEVES : I don' t believe so. Thank you. I HCHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, thank you. Is there anyone else who ! would like to be heard in support of the requested variance , area variance? Anyone who would like to speak in opposition? Anymore jcases? I SECRETARY HOARD : The final case that was on the agenda, appeal ,number 1242 the appeal of Carol & Daniel Sisler for a use variance �i on 423 E. Lincoln Street has also been postponed. They did not eget a favorable recommendation from the Planning Board so they are i apparently going back to the Planning Board. I, 1CHAIRMAN MARTIN: Alright, and there is still no one here on 1223? i! (Alright, that then concludes this part of the public hearing. The i 11Board will now invite you all to leave while we go into executive it 'session to deliberate. Those of you who want to stay around for i 11the results, we will invite you back in at the end and announce I them. l) i i� i� I� I� I� I! I� i; I' I� tl 38 - COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK f i, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS i DECEMBER 4, 1978 EXECUTIVE SESSION , APPEAL NO. 1241 1 ( CHAIRMAN MARTIN: I move that the area variance requeste II in 1241 be granted. IiMR. KASPRZAK: I second the motion ( FINDINGS OF FACT : 1) The dwelling would continue to be I� I 1 used as a single-family dwelling. Addi- +� tional space cannot be added within the i li requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. I r' 2) The yard deficiency is only a �I slight one and is not being increased. ?� 3) The addition will involve simply i enclosure of space over an existing i� enclosed porch. VOTE: 6 Yes ; 0 No . Area variance granted. j 1� i) i I i � 1 � I 1 ,i i f it i` i 39 ;I fI , Barbara Ruane, Do Certify that I took the minutes of the Board i jfof Zoning Appeals, City of Ithaca, in the matters of Appeals (numbered 12313, 1236 , 12383. 1239 and 1241 on December 4 , 1978 at 'ICity Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; that I have transcribed same, land the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the minutes jof the meeting and the Executive Session of the Board of Zoning i , Appeals , City of Ithaca, on the above date, and the whole thereof to the best of my ability. i ij i i Barbara C. Tuan Recording Secre ary M `I f 1� 1 ljSworn to before me this ,I 1. l Ll day of� 1978 I� ii ; Notary Public {I Notar 23 Yi.1 1 \ `i J' 19'ac9 I a i i I� I� it �I I) i i! i' is