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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BZA-1972-10-02 i ! I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, CITY OF ITHACA, ITHACA, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 29 1972 APPEAL NO. 988 PRESENT: JAMS ROGAN, Chairman GEORGE HARPER GREG BASPRZAK j C. MURRAY VAN MARTER ANTHONY PETITTI HARRY BORTZ EDISCK JCKES, Building Commissioner & Secretary CHAIRMAN ROGAN opens meeting, listing members present. CONMISSICKER JONES informs that the only case listed on agenda for this meeting is No. 9889 the Appeal of John Vass* as agent for Thomas Parkin, seeking a variance under Section 79 Column 19 of Zoning OrdinAnao:, property located at 326 East Fall Street in an R-3 sone. THE CHAIR: Who is appearing in this matter? JOHN VASSE: I am John Vasse, realtor, appearing in this matter. Appellant's Exhibits 1,2,3 marked for identification MR. VASSE: This is in the matter of the property at 326 hast Falls Street, which was known as Fall View Ski Shop for the past eleven years and prior to that was a three-apartmeat house owned by Thomas Parkin. As of this last spring the ski shop moved to larger quarters, leaving the living area completely vaoant, with facility for a retail store on the first floor. The ski shop had.:used the building in its entirety, the first floor for ski shop retail, the second for ski cutting, fitting, and so forth, and the third floor for the storage of dry goods, the basaecen for monograming and fitting of boots and lettering of names and so forth on skis. Now the property is vacant and we are here to request a variance for use. It would be economically unsound and inconvenient to the present owner to try to put this building back into complete g residential use. Therefore, at the moment we are re- questing this variance so that we may find a retail out- let for Ithaca House for Baxter Hathaway and his wife, j the proprietors. They are presently located in a small {I shop in Forest Home which was formerly The Sundial Tele- phone Company. This is very inconvenient. They are a cultural outfit, dealing in art objects, paintings, and so forth. To some extent the business is I 11 ' Mora funded by Cornell University and the State of New York. j !I MR. VASSE: I am here as realtor representing the owner and I say I would rather see this continue as a retail store on the first floor, with a residential area, rather than packed full of students. Perhaps Baxter Hathaway can tell you his intended uses of the property and what his work is. Here are some pictures that have been marked as exhibits. Number 1 is the building by itself, with the corner location. Number 2 shows the neighborhood, with two or three houses, together with a parking lot across the street. Number 3 shows adjacent commercial enterprises in the area. MR. KASPRZAK: You have stated that to turn it back into residential would create a hardship. Will you elaborate? A. Well, there is no bath tub, partitions have been removed with reinforcing needed to support the second and third floors - spider beams - and it looks completely commer- I oial. It would have to be re-partitioned and a new bath room and kitchen installed. THE CHAIR: How about the second floor? A. The kitchen needs work and the whole second floor will need some refinishing. The third floor area is oom- pletely self-contained, kitohen, bath room, a three-room apartment. MR. HARPER: What is the printing part? A. This comprises a small hand press in line with the poe they publish. They have some small soft-bank books which they do by hand. MR. KASPRZAK: How about the parking? A. There is no difference than it was when the ski shop was there. There would be no more parking if converted. The only thing I can say is that there was a rush season in the snow business and then it drifted away. Baxter's business would be a more or less continuing year-round involvement. MR. KASPRZAK: Is there any parking on the side of the building? A. No, there is little room and you will see that the parking lot is right across the street. i MR. VAN MARTER: Can you relate anything that has to do with hardship for the proPerty for the permitted use? A, This relates only to the land? Well, it has a limited functional use. I would say the highest and best use is what we.-are intending here and I would say the buil creates the hardship itself. MR. VAN MARTER: This was done by the present owner? A. Yes. �) MR. KASPRZAK: When did he leave? Ae •# Probably March or April as I have had it vacant all summer but it does have a functional use and this is the problem we are having in disposing of it. MR. VAN MARTER: This prospective purchaser is in the same position as another case you represented? A. Right. MR. VAN MARTER: A new owner has an impossible task to show hardship as required. A. He has a hardship in his existing store at Forest Home. MR, VAN MARTER: Let's go back to this building. ' Can you offer anything else? A. Only that the building would be very suitable for the man who wants to rent it. MR. VASSE: I will ask Mr. Hathaway to speak to this. BAXTER HATHAWAY•. Being by nature a professor I can usually talk much, much { too much. Consequently if I could direct anything I have to say to specific questions, it might keep me from being too garrulous. MR. VAN MARTER: Ib you have a feeling for how much parking might be I� desirable for your use? J' A. Yes, our parking problems are not great, not timely. There are a few times a year when we stage some event, such as an autographing party for a new book, when we send out invitations to a sort of social event that might have as many as fifty cars crowding the nig neighborhood II in Pbrest Home where we are now. Maybe this is six time a year. Aside from that the parking problem is not great, �i MR. HATHAWAY: First, let me say that Ithaca house is an all-art project that we started three years ago. I have been closely iinvolved in the development of the arts at Cornell and i Ithaca for 26 years, lir concerns are mainly with litera- ture and my wife is primarily concerned with the art gallery. Icy concerns are with a publishing company, which is one of our functions. 6 i (Showing some books of poetry to the Board) We have developed ourselves in the last three years with a specialized circle of poetry lovers. We are probably one of the ten best publishers in the country but the II fact still remains that this is a rarified aotivl;ty and although our outlets are all over the country it might be scattered and is not what you would call a highly profitable business. We have published twenty books in the last two years, some printed by ourselves and some done here in town and we have been exploring the oppor- tunities of offset printing. What this amounts to in effect is that Ithaca House, if we move into these new quarters, insofar as it is the center of a publishing company, it is not catering primarily to local trade.. It becomes simply the office for a literary activity that aims at the country at large, and consequently inso- far as the Ithaca House operation is of a publishing nature, this does not involve much traffic With much parking. It is mainly a place where one can have a book keeper and shipping facilities, a little warehousing, and it is the basement here that we' are counting on using for some of these purposes. The main floor we hope to use as an art gallery and small book store. Again,'as a book store, our concerns are largely with poetry, with the connecting --- the terms ars hard to coma by in the world today --- some people might call it avant garde or high culture. We count simply on being good, as good l as anybody in the country. Our efforts are national, insofar as we do have a book store. We have been listed in some national magazines recently as one of the best book stores in the country for those who want to find the best literature turned out today, particularly in poetry. i MR. BORTZ: What are your hours? i A. Our hours have been 11:00 to 5:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and a brief period on Sunday afternoons. f� MR. BORTZ: Would you require a sign of any description? A. I understand that this suns counter to the present zoning and we would expect consequently, to keep our signs wi limits. Q. How many employees do you have? A. Strictly speaking, none. What we are really, I guess, is a group of people who volunteer their time or are simply interested in the development of this kind of art center. If you wanted to compare with the Upstairs �i Gallery, for instance, this is mainly a group of women who band together and donate their time, and share in the expenses. Q. How many volunteers might you have on hand at any one time? A. It shifts from time to time. I think in working hours my wife does most of the work and that the total of voluntary work might amount to a 40-hour week. MR. HARPER: I can not see your need of the printing. A. Well, here is a picture of a letter, Chandler and Price Brothers. This is not done by hand; that is run by motor. We take the pages after printing and take them down to Art Craft of Ithaca to collate them. I would like to say that our feeling is that we will by no means be a detraction to the neighborhood. We are interested in the spot because we realize that this is one of the beauty spots of Ithaoa, the Phlls, and we wcul like to do our part to make that part of Ithaca more interesting. Thank you. II f I i THE CHAIR: Is there any one who wishes to speak in favor of this request? Novae. Is there any one who wishes to speak against this appoil? DAVID BANFIELD: I live at 312 East Fall Street. I have here a letter addressed to the Board which I ask permission to read. Reads as follows: " October 1, 1972 BOARD OF ZONING APPEAL Gentlemen: We, the undersigned, are unable to attend tonight's meeting of the Board of Zoning and have asked Mr. Banfield to attend on our behalf. We wish to have it known that we are opposed to the granting of the variance for the property located at 326 East Falls Street. (Signed) Mr. & Mrs. Williams Everts 305 East Fall St. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Gainey 309 E. Falla St. Mr. & Mrs. Edgar W. Spencer 313 E. Falls St. Mr. & Mrs. Fred Pampuch 316 East Fall-St. " MR. BANFIELD: And I also have the following letter from an owner of a neighboring property: 315-317 East Fall Street Ithaoa, New York 14850 October 2, 1972 Zoning Appeals Board Tthaoag New York 14850 Gentlemen: I, LOUISE T. BROWN, being the owner of property at 315-317 East Fall Street Ithacan New York, do hereby object to the granting of this variance for the I Property on 326 East Fall street, Ithaoa, New York. The neighborhood is ani has been a very attractive residential area with most owners being of' long standing and having their Life savings invested in their properties. OAe look at the neighborhood and this becomes self-evident. To grant subject varianoe would allow a business to be conducted in the area which would i definitely change the character of the neighborhood from residential to 'I business. ]h addition, this�btusiness would bring. � ing in additional traffic for employees and/or oustomers, and, as it is, the parking problem on the entire length of East Fall Street is bads but in the 300 block of Fust Fall Street, it is hazardous. There is no off-street parking available on subject property and many of the residents in this area cannot find spaces to park on the street in front of their own houses. To further complicate the matter, parking is allowed only on the north side of the street during the daytime so the congestion grows. Many times we are unable to get out of our drive wayas day or night, because of those who park on the street. To allow a business to be conducted on this block will only add to the troubles. Therefore, I, along with others, feel that: 1. If there are any special oiroumstano!bs or conditions present applying tD subject propertys which there must be before a variance is allowed, the special circumstances and conditions call for the variance to be disallowed because of the character of the n6ighborhood and the parking problem. - No special circumstances or conditions apply to subject property which do not generally apply to the neighborhood. 2. Variance is not necessary for the reasonable use of land or building in question. It was residential for years before abd should so remain. 3. The granting of the variance would not be in harmony with the general puspose and intent of the ordinance and would be injurious to the neighbor- hood and otherwise detrimental to the public welfare. I We all have spent a great deal of money keeping our properties in good con- dition in keeping with the residential character of the neighborhood. We pay plenty of taxes and take pride in our properties. We do not want the neighborhood to change nor do we want traffic conditions to deteriorate. It is hazardous enough as it is. I do hereby authorize David Banfield to speak for me at this hearing and to present this my statement. Very truly yours, LOUISE T. BROWN M i I i i ! MR. BANFTELD: I oalled Mr. Jones and found that the variance that was grants eleven years ago was on the contingency for ski shop uses, and that at termination of the ski shop, the structure wo d revert back to dwelling. THOMAS PARKINt That is not what they told me. It was entirely different. i MR. BANFIELD: Primarily we as neighbors, the people whom I am representing here tonight, feel that the parking problem is a big problem and we have just had to put up with the ski shop because we could not change it. There is parking on only one side of the street. We have a local tavern with overflowing traffic already. Across the street from the Fall Creek House they put a fence up, and now they can not park there. The pzr i ties along there park alongside the street, especiallwhen y ithe winter comes, and they shovel the snow out into our driveways. We also have an overflow of parking from the { High School, even though it has a large parking lot. Th are elderly residents in our neighborhood who rent and th r tenants would not have any place to park. The interseot of Lake Street and Fall Street has had numerous accidents because oars can not see up the hill because of the parking there. All the neighbors agreed when Thomas Parkin bought the f property, to the ski shop. Now we regret it but there was nothing we could do about it. We feel we would be much happier with a dwelling occupancy. There are small children in the neighborhood and they can not see the traffic. Un- fortunately we prefer to live in that neighborhood. And I will add that also the•Sheriff and Fire Department use Fall Street. i The question I would ask of the Board is: Mr. Passe has explained that it would cause the owner oonsiderable expoage to convert the property back to a dwelling. Why should we be penalised for him to convert the property back to what it was? There is room for one parking space in front of the place and then four more spaces and that takes it down to the 10 block. We were not given any notice of this. Mr. Baxter Hathaway stated that there would be 50 or 60 oars there at times. In Forest Home the area is not so dense. I assume there would be delivery trucks to this neighborbood. How ` much paper are they going to bring in? What consideration is going to be given to the trash? Mr. Passe spoke about students. Not that our neighborhood is not cultural but think it sounds like an operation catering to the students in general. It was brought out here that the press was no hand driven but motor driven, so what is the noise to be? I 6 LESTER MATTOCKS: I go on reoord as opposing this. Do I understand that this request is to have two apartments in the house as well as the business? JOHN VASSE: Two apartments and the store. i Mrs. Hagen and Ceoil Miller, neighbors, state for the reoord that they are opposed to the granting of the appeal. JOHN VASSE: Let me add that Ceoil Miller is running a msohine shop two doors away; next door is "Rabbit" Brown, who is parking a bulldozer on the oorner. We have talked to Mr. Begent and he thinks that we have as muoh right to oommercial as the others. That house is designed for three units and oan not be so used as the first floor is a store. The oharaoter of the neighborhood with the truoks and well drills and bull dozers and the Fall Creek House, is not all that residential. The snow problem is prevalent in the entire pity. We all have it. As far as art displays go, this would be preferable to one ski shop in the season with 50 or 60 oars in the neighborhood buying boots and skiis. The people who signed this petition did not hear Baxter's oase at all and they do not under- stand what this is all about. czcn MILLER: 318 East Fall Street. Mr. Vasse oalled attention to a well drill in front, in the yard. This is a piok up truoc and we have a little orane on it to piok up pumps. Now I oan not even back it out of my driveway. You oan't see to back out. I just would like to see you put 50 or 60 oars down there on any day. Students park there now and walk to school. A lot of kids walk down on the south side of Fall Street and that is a dangerous situation. We have Rabbit Brown there now with a bulldozer. The Polioe don't seem to have anything to do about it. If this was on our side of the street this man oouldn't park to go to work in the mo s I i is I ie f 1 i i I i EXECUTIVE SESSIONS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS9 CITY OF IMUCA, OCTOBER 291972 APPEAL 10. 988t MR, VAN MARTERt Move that the appliostion For varianoe be granted. MR. KASPRZAKt Seoond. FIN=3 OF FACT: 1) The testimony shows that the problem of parking would not be inoreased by the proposed user 2) The testimony shows that the problem of parking would be inoreased by the proposed use: 3) No evidenoe nor testimony was shown to substantiate hardship in relation to the property; further, upon further invitation no evidenoe was entered that would sub- stantiate hardship. VOTE: YES - 0 NO - 4 ABSTAIN - 2 I I� C E R T I F I C A T E I, LILLIAN M. KEOWN, Notary Public, State of New York, DO CERTIFY that as such Notary Public, I took the minutes of the Boai%d of Zoning Appeals, City of Ithaca, on October 2, 1972, in Common Council + Chambers, City Hall, Ithaca, New York; that I have transcribed the same I and the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the minutes of such Board, to the beat of my ability, and the whole thereof. ' L Lillian M. Keown Notary Public, State of New York No. 55-7239950 Qualified in Tompkins County My Commission Expires Mar, 30, 1974 e I R