Planning Board Minutes July 21, 2009

MINUTES OF July 21, 2009 Regular MEETING of the Town of Rochester PLANNING BOARD, held at the Town Hall, Accord, NY.
 
Chairman Tapper called meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
PRESENT:                                                        ABSENT:
        Melvyn I. Tapper, Chairman                              Malena Calan (alt.)
Shane Ricks, Vice Chairman
        Leon Smith                                                                                                      
        Anthony Ullman  
        Michael Baden                                                                                                   
        Anthony Kawalchuk
        Robert Rominger
                
Pledge to the Flag.
PUBLIC HEARING
VINCENT VALETUTTI–      Subdivision approval for lot line adjustment, Cedar Drive/ Chris Lane, Tax Map # 68.1-3-32.110, ‘A’ District
Chairman Tapper called the applicant forward to present his application.
Mr. Valetutti was present on behalf of his application. He explained that since the time of his original subdivision, 2 different adjoining property owners have approached him about buying portions of lot 1 to join to their existing properties. He noted that Hayduk had mistakenly built a shed on lot 1 and Mr. Valetutti recently had a deal on lot 1 fall through because of that. So, he is trying to rectify the situation by selling Hayduk the portion of lot 1 with his shed on it. The other portion that will be conveyed to Cancelliere is a very strange triangular piece that just makes sense to add to his property.
Chairman Tapper questioned if Mr. Valetutti still owned all 4 lots?
Mr. Valetutti answered that lot 4 has been sold.
At 7:05PM Chairman Tapper opened the Public Hearing.
There was no public comment.
Chairman Tapper motioned to close the Public Hearing. Seconded by Mr. Ullman. No discussion.
Vote:
Tapper: Yes                                                     Ricks:  Yes
Smith:  Yes                                                     Kawalchuk:      Yes
Rominger:       Yes                                                     Ullman: Yes
Baden:  Yes                                                     Callan, alt.:   Absent
The Board reviewed Part 2 and there were no impacts noted.
PUBLIC HEARING
VINCENT VALETUTTI (cont’d)–     Subdivision approval for lot line adjustment, Cedar Drive/ Chris Lane, Tax Map # 68.1-3-32.110, ‘A’ District
Mr. Baden motioned to accept Part 2 of the EAF as reviewed by the Board. Seconded by Mr. Smith. No discussion.
Vote:
Tapper: Yes                                                     Ricks:  Yes
Smith:  Yes                                                     Kawalchuk:      Yes
Rominger:       Yes                                                     Ullman: Yes
Baden:  Yes                                                     Callan, alt.:   Absent
Mr. Baden motioned for a Negative Declaration. Seconded by Mr. Ricks. No discussion.
Vote:
Tapper: Yes                                                     Ricks:  Yes
Smith:  Yes                                                     Kawalchuk:      Yes
Rominger:       Yes                                                     Ullman: Yes
Baden:  Yes                                                     Callan, alt.:   Absent
Chairman Tapper motioned for Conditional Preliminary Approval with the following conditions:
1.      Other than the boundary line adjustments, the Final Map shall adhere to the originally approved filed Map of subdivision of lands of Vincent Valetutti, including map notations, as signed by the Planning Board on July 11, 2006.
2.      Applicant shall file maps with the Ulster County Clerk within 60 days of Chairman’s signature and shall return three (3) filed copies to the Town of Rochester Planning Board Secretary within 30 days of filing.
Seconded by Mr. Ullman. No discussion.
Vote:
Tapper: Yes                                                     Ricks:  Yes
Smith:  Yes                                                     Kawalchuk:      Yes
Rominger:       Yes                                                     Ullman: Yes
Baden:  Yes                                                     Callan, alt.:   Absent
Mr. Smith motioned for Conditional Final Approval. Seconded by Mr. Baden. No discussion.
Vote:
Tapper: Yes                                                     Ricks:  Yes
Smith:  Yes                                                     Kawalchuk:      Yes
Rominger:       Yes                                                     Ullman: Yes
Baden:  Yes                                                     Callan, alt.:   Absent
NEW APPLICATION PRESENTATION
ALAN MADNICK– Site Plan Approval/ Special Use Permit for conversion of 7,000 SF warehouse to Flea Market sales and conversion of 4,000 SF showroom to Auction Area, Tax Map #77.1-1-24.131, ‘B’ District
Mr. Sprague from Medenbach & Eggers, Engineering and Land Surveying was present along with
Mr. Madnick’s real-estate representative, Mr. Feinberg. Also present on behalf of the application
was John Stach who represented the applicants.
Mr. Ricks questioned what square footage they based their 62 proposed parking spaces on.
Mr. Sprague noted that they based it on 11,000 square feet of floor area.
Chairman Tapper questioned what made up the other +/- 1,000 square feet?
Mr. Sprague noted that it was bathrooms and offices and hallways.
Chairman Tapper questioned where the new parking would be?
Mr. Rominger questioned if it was grass now?
Mr. Sprague displayed on the map where it would be and stated that yes, now it is grass and it will
be paved.
Mr. Baden noted that on the application they list it as still being two separate lots.
Mr. Feinberg noted that it has been combined.
The Secretary confirmed this noting that she had the new tax map number.
Chairman Tapper questioned if Mr. Sprague looked into the culvert and the drainage problem in the
past—was problem fixed?
Mr. Sprague noted that they did look at it and it is sized adequately.
Chairman Tapper questioned if this should be sent to the DOT?
Mr. Baden believed that DOT approval was concurrent with Stormwater approval.
Mr. Sprague agreed and noted that typically they send the Stormwater to the DOT when it’s on a State Highway.
Chairman Tapper questioned if the Stormwater detention pond was going to be right next to the road?
Mr. Sprague noted that it was just a concept right now on the map. They haven’t sized anything yet, so it’s not to scale on the plan.
NEW APPLICATION PRESENTATION
ALAN MADNICK(cont’d)– Site Plan Approval/ Special Use Permit for conversion of 7,000 SF warehouse to Flea Market sales and conversion of 4,000 SF showroom to Auction Area, Tax Map #77.1-1-24.131, ‘B’ District
Mr. Ricks questioned if the swale near the A & M Hardware store was cleaned out?
Mr. Feinberg noted that it was. Everything drains under the road.
Mr. Ricks questioned if there was a drainage problem in the past?
Chairman Tapper recalled that at one point there was a problem where the drainage was coming over the road.
Mr. Fienberg agreed that in the past there was flooding. It came from the flood plain and was more near the Kerhonkson end of the property.
Chairman Tapper noted that once the project received further review they’d be able to see more about the Drainage especially with the stormwater.
Mr. Baden questioned if they’d be storing trucks on the property? For any commercial use there needed to be one space  for commercial vehicles. That should be labeled on the map.
Chairman Tapper noted that since this project was in a County Ag District and was a Type 1 Action, it needed Planner review.
Mr. Ullman questioned what days would the Flea Market  be operating?
Mr. Stach noted that it would be Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Mr. Ullman questioned if there would be venders?
Mr. Stach noted that there would.
Mr. Baden questioned the lighting? They should definitely show the appropriate lighting and even provide a detail sheet. The County has to review this and that is one thing that they always focus on.
Mr. Ricks questioned if this was a different Flea Market than the one that is currently in Napanoch?
Mr. Stach noted that it was different. They weren’t involved with that Flea Market.
Mr. Ullman questioned if there would be food sold?
Mr. Stach answered that there would not be food sold.
Mr. Baden questioned if there would be a loading dock?
Mr. Sprague thought it would be just a door, not a loading dock.
NEW APPLICATION PRESENTATION
ALAN MADNICK(cont’d)– Site Plan Approval/ Special Use Permit for conversion of 7,000 SF warehouse to Flea Market sales and conversion of 4,000 SF showroom to Auction Area, Tax Map #77.1-1-24.131, ‘B’ District
Mr. Rominger questioned if there would be any other modifications to the existing buildings?
Mr. Feinberg noted that there would not.
Chairman Tapper noted that the applicant’s next step would be to present more detailed plans. Was the applicant going to propose any landscaping to break up the size of the parking lot? Wouldn’t vegetation help with drainage since they were proposing such a large paved area?
Mr. Rominger agreed and wondered if the applicant was going to break up the parking lot with trees?
Mr. Sprague would need to check the Code. They would typically like to break it up,  but he wasn’t sure.
Mr. Ricks wanted to see what the DOT would say about the pond so close to Route 209.
Mr. Ullman questioned how many venders they would have per day?
Mr. Stach estimated 20 – 25.
Mr. Ullman wondered with 20 trucks or vans, would there be enough room for customer parking too?
Mr. Sprague noted that they would add dedicated parking for venders.
Mr. Rominger believed that there had to be a way to build the stormwater drains so there was a little elevation and landscaping so that when you drove by the huge paved parking lot didn’t resemble Wal-Mart.
Mr. Smith questioned if they’d be running the Flea Market and Auction sales at the same time?
Mr. Baden suggested dedicated vender parking to remain as grass or gravel. He noticed on the application that there was a small amount of wetlands.
Mr. Sprague stated that when they did the EAF there was a portion of the property in the wetlands. It wasn’t listed on this site plan, but it was surveyed. They would show it.
Mr. Baden noted that it should be included on the site plan as the DOT and County would want to see it.
Mr. Sprague noted that it was only 800 square feet, but they would show it on the plans.
Mr. Baden questioned if there would be new signage?
Mr. Stach noted that they would use the existing signage.
Mr. Baden noted that it should be shown  on the plan for the County.
NEW APPLICATION PRESENTATION
ALAN MADNICK(cont’d)– Site Plan Approval/ Special Use Permit for conversion of 7,000 SF warehouse to Flea Market sales and conversion of 4,000 SF showroom to Auction Area, Tax Map #77.1-1-24.131, ‘B’ District
Mr. Smith questioned if the sewage would be big enough for the new use?
Mr. Sprague noted that they would have to size it and research it a bit.
Chairman Tapper noted that he was concerned with the stormwater.
Mr. Baden agreed. They wouldn’t be able to send this out until they received better drawings.
Mr. Feinberg wanted to be sure that this would alleviate the carpet sales only condition that they discussed at the last meeting.
Mr. Ricks noted that this new decision would replace the old one.
ACTION ON MINUTES
Mr. Baden motioned to accept the minutes for June 16, 2009. Seconded by Mr. Smith. All members present in favor.
OTHER MATTERS
Chairman Tapper questioned if the new proposed zoning maps would be part of the public hearing on Thursday? There have been changes made to the maps since the initial presentation?
Mr. Baden noted that the Town Board asked the Task Force to go through the properties with wetlands. So some of the properties with wetlands have been changed to R-5. Some R-5 changed to R-2. There was rationale behind the changes that the Town Board made. He noted that there are actually 3 public hearings. One for the proposed Zoning. One for Subdivision and one to repeal Chapter 130. Subdivision review would no longer be triggered by the number of lots. There will be major and minor subdivision that will be determined by the improvements involved—new roads for instance. Lot line adjustments would need to come in, but they could forego the public hearing and just be reviewed and approved in one night. There is an aquifer protection overlay that will require a little more in depth review when a project is within this area. Regarding mining, actions under 1,000 tons would be an accessory use with Site Plan review. So concerns can be mitigated by conditions that the Board imposes according to the new proposed Code. It was proposed as a permitted right, but the Town Board felt better have them reviewed by the Planning Board.
Chairman Tapper tended to be concerned with affordable housing.
Mr. Baden noted that it’s always a contentious topic. They have addressed it by giving developers incentives to a developer to promise x amount of homes at certain prices. For example, density might be an incentive—smaller lots than the zone would normally allow may be permitted.
Mr. Kawalchuk wanted to know what the reason was behind certain acreages then? If 2 acres was good acceptable as an incentive instead of 3—then it should just be 2 acres for all. If 3 acre zoning was needed for a reason—why allow 2 acres? There are so many different things that could be used as incentives.
OTHER MATTERS CONTINUED
Mr. Baden encouraged Mr. Kawalchuk to come to the meeting and bring his suggestions.
Mr. Kawalchuk felt that maybe there could be a tax levy. What would stop someone from building an affordable house and selling it to a family member and the family member selling it at fair market value? There are too many loopholes in this idea.
Chairman Tapper didn’t think that the PB was prepared to make a response to the Town Board. If individuals had comments they could forward them as such.
Mr. Baden noted that Mr. Kawalchuk’s points were very valid. They are trying to make the County happy on this.
Mr. Kawalchuk noted that he knew the Town needs affordable housing, but how they got it he wasn’t sure.
MEETING DATE CHANGED
As the Secretary was taking a vacation during the week of the August meeting, the Planning Board changed the meeting date to August 25, 2009.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Baden motioned to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Smith. No discussion. All members present in favor.
As there was no further business, at 8:15 PM, Chairman Tapper adjourned the meeting.
                                                                        
                                                        Respectfully submitted,
                                                        Rebecca Paddock Stange, Secretary