MINUTES OF February 19, 2008 REGULAR MEETING of the Town of Rochester PLANNING BOARD, held at the Town Hall, Accord, NY.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Tapper.
PRESENT: ABSENT:
Shane Ricks, Vice Chair Anthony Kawalchuk
Anthony Ullman David O’Halloran
Melvyn I. Tapper, Chairman Don Dunn, Alternate
Nadine D. Carney
Robert Rominger
Pledge to the Flag
CONTINUED APPLICATION PRESENTATION
LISA & YUVAL STERER– Subdivision Approval, 2 lots and lot line adjustment, Rock Hill Road, Tax Map #77.3-2-10, ‘A’ District
Yuval Sterer was present on behalf of his application.
Chairman Tapper started the discussion by explaining to the applicant that right now the Town is without a Planner and under Town Law, this application is required to receive Planner review.
Mr. Yuval questioned why this was?
Chairman Tapper noted that it is because this application has 1 or more lots that are less than 4 acres as is stated in the thresholds for Planner review. The Board will go over the revisions to the map, but this application will have to be formally reviewed by a Planner. The Board is in the process of trying to hire a new one.
Mrs. Carney questioned the lot line adjustment. Last time Mr. Sterer wasn’t sure if he was going to do that or not.
He was.
Mrs. Carney noted that it needs to be put on the plan that there is a right-of-way over lot 2 for lot 1.
Mr. Sterer noted that he was dividing one lot into a +/-7.3 acre piece and the other lot into a 2.19 acre piece. They want to provide a home site for their current tenants. He’s still not sure why Medenbach & Eggers is doing a lot line adjustment between lot 1 and the “Remaining Lands of Sterer”.
Chairman Tapper wanted to know what road this accessed.
Mr. Sterer stated that it accessed the private portion of Rock Hill Road.
Mrs. Carney noted that hopefully within the next month that the Town will have hired a Planner and they will be able to review the plan.
CONTINUED APPLICATION PRESENTATION
LISA & YUVAL STERER (cont’d): Subdivision Approval, 2 lots and lot line adjustment, Rock Hill Road, Tax Map #77.3-2-10, ‘A’ District
The Board advised Mr. Sterer that he should wait to do the following revisions until a new Planner has been secured:
· The map needs the “Right to Farm Note” on it
· All existing right-of-ways need to be shown on the plan
· The right-of-way over lot 1 to the “remaining lands” (5 acre piece) must be labeled and explained that it is over the existing driveway
This way, the Planner can review the map and make any additional comments that need to be addressed and Mr. Sterer can have Medenbach & Eggers do all the revisions at the same time.
NEW APPLICATION PRESENTATION
AMY FINKBEINER– Special Use Permit- 2 family dwelling, Westbrook Road (Old King’s Hwy), Tax Map #77.1-2-23.411, R-1 District
Mrs. Finkbeiner was present on behalf of her application.
Mr. Ricks noticed that she had originally applied for 2 multifamily dwellings on the adjoining parcels that are shown on the map.
Mrs. Finkbeiner noted that they have withdrawn the application for the +/- 7 acre parcel.
Mrs. Carney questioned the Wetland depicted on the map—was it a NYS DEC Wetland?
Mrs. Finkbeiner noted that it is a delineated wetland, but they can disturb up to a .10 of an acre and contact the NYS DEC once they put the driveway in. The house may be a 2 story, but they aren’t sure yet.
Mrs. Carney noted that they need to determine the size of the house so they can calculate the limits of disturbance. Setbacks should also be shown. Also the bulk regulation table to show that the application meets our Zoning requirements needs to be shown on the plan as well. Required parking (one space per dwelling) also needs to be shown on the plan. The parking was fine where it was shown as it wasn’t abutting a street.
Mrs. Finkbeiner noted that they have Health Dept. approval for a 4 bedroom dwelling, so that isn’t an issue for this application as it will remain 4 bedrooms total and that is how the Health Dept. determines the size of the system that is needed.
NEW APPLICATION PRESENTATION
AMY FINKBEINER (cont’d)– Special Use Permit- 2 family dwelling, Westbrook Road (Old King’s Hwy), Tax Map #77.1-2-23.411, R-1 District
Mrs. Carney motioned for an Unlisted Action with an Uncoordinated Review under SEQRA. Mr. Ullman seconded the motion. No discussion.
Vote:
Carney- Yes Ullman- Yes
O’Halloran- Absent Rominger- Yes
Ricks- Yes Tapper- Yes
Kawalchuk- Absent Dunn(alt.)- Absent
If the applicant had the revised plans by March 5, 2008, she would be set for a Public Hearing for the March meeting.
CONTINUED APPLICATION PRESENTATION
RICHARD SMITH/ JOHN DAWSON– Cedar Ledge Subdivision, 7 lots off of Cedar Drive, Tax Map #68.1-2-59.1, ‘A’ District
Mr. Dawson and Mr. Smith were present on behalf of their application.
Chairman Tapper explained as he did to Mr. Sterer, the first applicant, that the Town didn’t have a Planner on staff right now, and this application needed to receive Planner review, so the Board would look at it at tonight’s meeting, but wouldn’t take any action on it until it was formally reviewed.
Mr. Dawson noted that this property is on Cedar Drive and the first 3 lots have been split off already as they didn’t need Planning Board approval. They each have a home on them. The private road shown on the map to access these lots already exists. This property has been many things over the years including a junk yard.
Chairman Tapper noticed that the topography lines seemed rather close together in some areas—was this area steep?
Mr. Dawson noted that it does get steep in some spots and that’s why the road is laid out the way it is. He was aware that he would need a road profile and limits of disturbance.
Mr. Ricks noted that basically they have the subdivision checklist and for them to go over it and add what they need to and once a Planner is on staff, it will be reviewed and proceed from there.
OTHER MATTERS
At this time Mrs. Carney stated that she would be resigning from the Board. She enjoyed her time with the Town, but it was time for her to step down.
Board members were sorry to hear this.
PLANNER
Mr. Ricks wanted to know that since Mrs. Carney has resigned and since she works for Brinnier & Larios, PE, would she be able to be our Planner?
Mrs. Carney noted that she has been going through the process of getting certified, but she is not a Planner.
Mr. Ricks felt that maybe the Board needed an Engineer on staff more than a Planner.
Mrs. Carney noted that the Planner goes over the checklist and makes sure that the application complies with the Town’s Zoning. If there was a design issue with the Storm water for instance, that is when an Engineer would be needed.
The Board noted that Praetorius and Conrad had Planners and Engineers and that might be more what the Board would need. Shuster Planning didn’t have any Engineers on staff.
Mr. Ricks didn’t think that the Board needed to have a professional attend each meeting. More on a case by case basis.
Mrs. Carney noted that sometimes the Planner needs to speak directly to the applicant, so it may be beneficial to have them at the meeting to maybe save some time.
Chairman Tapper noted that he has also contacted Clark Patterson out of Newburgh and Planit Mainstreet out of Rock Hill and was waiting for packets from them both.
Mr. Ricks was impressed with Richard Ruth from Brinnier & Larios, PE when the Streamside Estates Manufactured Housing Park Application was going on.
The Board discussed the possibilities of changing the thresholds that trigger the requirement for applications to have Planner Review. They would discuss this further at another meeting.
ACTION ON MINUTES
Mrs. Carney motioned accept the November 2007 Minutes. Mr. Ricks seconded the motion. No discussion.
Vote:
Carney- Yes Ullman- Yes
O’Halloran- Absent Rominger- Yes
Ricks- Yes Tapper- Yes
Kawalchuk- Absent Dunn(alt.)- Absent
Mrs. Carney motioned accept the November 2007 Minutes. Mr. Rominger seconded the motion. No discussion.
Vote:
Carney- Yes Ullman- Yes
O’Halloran- Absent Rominger- Yes
Ricks- Yes Tapper- Yes
Kawalchuk- Absent Dunn(alt.)- Absent
Chairman Tapper motioned to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Mrs. Carney. All members present in favor.
As there was no further business, at 8:15pm, Chairman Tapper adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Paddock Stange, Secretary