Planning Board Minutes April 8th, 2019

PLANNING BOARD
TOWN OF ROCHESTER
ULSTER COUNTY
ACCORD, NEW YORK
(845) 626-2434

MINUTES OF April 8th, 2019 REGULAR MEETING OF the Town of Rochester PLANNING BOARD, held at 7:00pm at the HAROLD LIPTON COMMUNITY CENTER, Accord, NY.

Chairperson Lindtrom asked everyone to stand for the Pledge to the Flag.

The Secretary did roll call attendance.

PRESENT: ABSENT:
Maren Lindstrom, Chairperson Alonzo Grace
Rick Jones, Vice Chairperson Zorian Pinsky
Brian Buchbinder
Sam Zurofsky
Patrick Williams

Also present:
Brianna Tetro, Secretary. Mary Lou Christiana, Attorney for the Town. Ann Marie Maloney, Alternate.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS:

Mr. Zurofsky made the motion to cancel the April 29th, 2019 Workshop Meeting. Mr. Buchbinder seconded the motion.
All in Favor. Motion Carried.
5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions, 2 absent

TRAININGS:

Chairperson Lindstrom informed the Board of the Dutchess County Planning Federation 4/9 & 4/30 & Orange County BP trainings.

ACTION ON MINUTES:

Mr. Jones made the motion to accept the minutes from the March 11th, 2019 Regular Meeting. Mr. Williams seconded the motion.
All in Favor. Motion Carried.
5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions, 2 absent.

PB 2019-02 Continued Application
Lot Line Improvement
HNA Hudson Valley Resort & Training Center
Danenberg Family Farm, LLC
Proposes the transfer of +/- 16 acres from parcel S/B/L 76.4-1-5.100 (+/- 386 acres, R-5 zoned) to S/B/L 76.19-1-8 (+/- 9.7 acres, R-2 zoned). Parcels are located at Granite Road, Kerhonkson, NY

Mr. James Bacon was present on behalf of the application.

Chairperson Lindstrom explained that Mr. Bacon was present in front of the Board again as there needed to be a corrected Zoning Permit Application permit submitted that was not completed in time for the March 11th meeting.

The Board confirmed that the corrections requested at the prior month’s meeting had been changed.

There were no other questions or discussion.

Mr. Buchbinder made the motion to certify the Lot Line Change. Mr. Zurofsky seconded the motion.
All in Favor. Motion Carried.
5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions, 2 absent

Decision: PB 2019-02 LLI

Lot Improvement – Certification
*Pursuant to Chapter 125 and Chapter 140 of the Code of the Town of Rochester.

Applicant: HNA Hudson Valley Resort & Training Center & Danenberg Family Farm, LLC

Reason for Request:
A lot improvement proposes the transfer of +/- 16 acres from parcel S/B/L 76.4-1-5.100 (+/- 386 acres, R-5 zoned) to S/B/L 76.19-1-8 (+/- 9.7 acres, R-2 zoned).

Location: Granite Road Accord NY
S/B/L: S/B/L 76.4-1-5.100 and S/B/L 76.19-1-8
Zoning District: R-5 & R-2

Zoning Permit filed: 02/01/2019 SEQR Type: Type II by definition
Planning Board Application #: 2019-02 LLI PB Application filed: 02/04/2019

* * * *
The Planning Board has reviewed the plat and certifies the lot improvement proposed will meet Town of Rochester lot requirements for the R-2 zoning district and, for recording purposes only, further represents an exempt lot improvement in accordance with Section 125-18 of the Town of Rochester Subdivision Regulations. No subdivision approval is required or given by the Planning Board. The Planning Board further grants the authority to the Chairman to sign the plat certifying the lot improvement for filing purposes without further resolution upon receipt and the Chairman’s determination such plat meets the requirements of the code is in agreement with the sketch plan provided for review.

The owner shall file in the office of the Ulster County Clerk such certified plat bearing the Chairman’s signature within 62 days of this certification. The owner shall have the responsibility to return four (4) Ulster County Clerk certified copies of the plat to the Town of Rochester Planning Board within 30 days of filing.

_______________________ ______________________________
Date Maren Lindstrom, Chairman

PB 2019-04 New Application
Lot Line Improvement
Open Space Institute Land Trust, LLC
Proposes the transfer of +/- 0.24 acres from S/B/L 77.4-2-1 (+/- 9.06 acres) to S/B/L 77.4-2-2 (+/- 8.9 acres) located at 42 Nutmeg Road, High Falls, NY (Town of Rochester). Both properties R-5 zoned and partially in the 100 yr FP.

Mr. Brendan Johnson from TEC Land Surveying and Ms. Laura Gerber were present on behalf of the application.

Mr. Johnson explained the application.

Chair Lindstrom stated that the Lot depth shown on the current map was 100 ft. But that it should be 200 ft. She explained everything was still conforming, it would just need to be changed on the maps before they were able to be signed.

The Board looked over the map and discussed it and found nothing else that would need to be corrected.

Chairperson Lindstrom made the motion to certify the Lot Line change pending the correction of the depth shown on the maps. Mr. Buchbinder seconded the motion.
All in Favor. Motion Carried.
5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions, 2 absent.

Attorney Christiana said to note that the application was a Type 2 SEQRA.

Decision: PB 2019-04 LLI

Lot Improvement – Certification
*Pursuant to Chapter 125 and Chapter 140 of the Code of the Town of Rochester.

Applicant: Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc.
Owners: Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc. & Laura Gerber

Reason for Request:
A lot improvement proposing the transfer of +/- 0.24 acres from S/B/L 77.4-2-1 (+/- 9.06 acres) to S/B/L 77.4-2-2 (+/- 9.16 acres). Both properties R-5 zoned and partially in the 100 yr FP.

Location: 42 Nutmeg Road, High Falls, NY (Town of Rochester Granite Road Accord NY
S/B/L: S/B/L 77.4-2-1 and S/B/L 77.4-2-2
Zoning District: R-5

Zoning Permit filed: 03/25/2019 SEQR Type: Type II by definition
Planning Board Application #: 2019-04 LLI PB Application filed: 03/25/2019

* * * *
The Planning Board has reviewed the plat and certifies the lot improvement proposed will meet Town of Rochester lot requirements for the R-5 zoning district and, for recording purposes only, further represents an exempt lot improvement in accordance with Section 125-18 of the Town of Rochester Subdivision Regulations. No subdivision approval is required or given by the Planning Board. The Planning Board further grants the authority to the Chairman to sign the plat certifying the lot improvement for filing purposes without further resolution upon receipt and the Chairman’s determination such plat meets the requirements of the code is in agreement with the sketch plan provided for review.

_______________________ ______________________________
Date Maren Lindstrom, Chairman

PB 2019-01 SUP/SPA New Application
Wayward Ranch Animal Sanctuary, LLC (Applicant)
CWC Loosestrife, LLC (Owner)
Proposes the establishment of a farm animal sanctuary and construction of a 90’x 60’ dog & cat kennel, on the +/- 63.5 acre parcel located at 30 Loosestrife Lane, Kerhonkson, NY, S/B/L 76.1-2-2.111. Parcel is presently used as a farm and equestrian facility with barn, stables, paddocks, etc. also including a single family residence. The applicant further proposes the special use of commercial special events related to the Sanctuary operations. AR-3 zoned, AG-3, ACOE national wetlands on property and within 500 ft of a registered historic property.
SEQRA:TBD

Ms. Eleni Calomiris executive director from Wayward Ranch Animal Sanctuary and Mr. William Spade and Ms.Keiko Saski-Spade from Saski & Spade Architects were present on behalf of the application.

Ms. Calomiris explained that what they basically wanted to do was build a kennel facility that would house about 20 dogs, 10 cats, 5-10 small animals (guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets,etc.) and it would be about 60’x 90’. She stated they also wanted to do an event space that would host about 12 events year, 9 of which would be fairly small and 3 that would be larger, and that they wanted the entire property to be an animal sanctuary. She said that their focus at the moment was primarily on the rescue of local animals and that she, in particular, was passionate about helping animals with medical special needs and/or behavioral issues and rehabilitating them so that they could eventually be adopted or stay at their facility as a forever home. Ms. Calomiris also stated they rescued every species of animals and at the moment they were a very small operation but she was hoping with grant funding and fund raising efforts they would be able to take in more rescue animals.

Mr. Buchbinder asked if they were already in operation as a sanctuary.

Ms. Calomiris stated that yes they were in operation.

Mr. Buchbinder said that wasn’t clear on what was written on the agenda.

Chair Lindstrom stated that they were currently in operation as a sanctuary but that the building of the kennel and having the special events was what needed to be approved by the Board because it was a change of the original site plan and the special events being associated with it.

Chair Lindstrom also stated that she noticed there were no landscape plans and that the Board was going to need that.

Ms. Calomiris said that she wasn’t sure if there might be landscaping plans but that she did know that where the landscaping was planned to be was on the side of the Kennel facing toward the exisiting barn which would also act as a noise barrier. She said they had spoken with their architects about doing orchard trees, like apple trees, but they hadn’t gone into too much detail with that.

Chair Lindstrom explained having the landscaping on the plans would help speed the process up as the application would have to be sent out to other various agencies including the County, SHPO, and the Army Corps of Engineers and the complete the application was, the quicker it would be able to be moved along.

Mr. Spade stated that they took the landscaping out of the plans due to possible budget restraints.

Chair Lindstrom stated the Board could make it a stipulation so therefore it would be better to have that in the plans.

Attorney Christiana commented that the County would definitely want to see landscaping.

Ms. Calomiris re-explained what her application was all about for Mr. Spade and Ms. Sasaki-Spade as they arrived several moments into her application presentation. She added that the events they would like to do are open houses, which would be about 9 months out of the year, 6 hours straight through, so that people could stop in and meet the animals and see what it would be like to volunteer and to foster.

Chair Lindstrom said that they would do open houses because at the moment they were not open to the public.

Ms. Calomiris stated that they were appointment only. She added that even though a lot of rescues do have weekend hours, that publicizing an event as an open house would attract more people that otherwise would not stop by on a weekend. She stated a couple of other events they were mulling around with was a carnival and a mud run event people could do with their dogs, with a maximum amount of around 500 people. Ms. Calomiris said they really wanted to involve as much of the community as possible.

Mr. Spade presented the site plan to the Board. He explained that on the property was an existing single-family home where Ms. Calomiris resides and also a barn structure that was built in around 2002 along with two ponds and a riding ring. He stated the previous owner had run an equestrian center and so the barn had 12 stalls and an indoor and outdoor riding ring. He said they were proposing signage at the corner of Krum Rd. And Loosestrife to point people down the road to show where the animal sanctuary was located.

Attorney Christiana asked if they owned the property where they intended to put the sign up.

Mr. Spade stated they did not own it as it was a Town right of way so they would need to get permission from the Town to put it there.

Attorney Christiana stated the permission would have to come from the Town Board.

Mr. Spade said if they didn’t get permission from the Town for a permanent sign, they would still put up a temporary sign during special events to direct traffic to the location.

Attorney Christiana noted that any sign they would put up on that corner, temporary or permanent, would need to get permission from the Town Board.

Mr. Spade stated that down on Loosestrife to the property line there would be permanent main site sign. He stated by the paddock’s on the property would be where the temporary parking would be set up when there were special events going on. Mr. Spade said they were looking for these events to take place during the Spring, Summer, and Fall. There would be about 317 parking spaces. He stated there would be volunteers at the events to make sure the driveway to the kennel would be blocked off and the public would only be directed toward the temporary parking spots. Mr. Spade explained that right now the driveway is 22ft. And that they were proposing to expanding it to 24ft. per fire access code. Mr. Spade said they wanted to put two pull offs to accommodate any emergency vehicles.

Mr. Williams asked what the length of the road was.

Mr. Spade answered about 1,000 ft. and there would be a pull off right at the beginning and one in the middle of the road.

In terms of the noise level Mr. Spade stated the outdoor riding ring would be where any music would be playing from when there were special events. He said they had done a noise analysis and the sound coming from the stage wouldn’t be any louder than 95 decibels. He stated that the source noise came from three different areas of the property 1) The stage 2) The outdoor kennels 3) From within the kennel itself. He said to the perimeter of the property from those noise sources, it was about 35 decibels measured and they believed that noise level wasn’t harmful or negative.

Chair Lindstrom asked if they took the ambient noise as it was at the moment.

Mr. Spade said no, that it was fairly quiet.

Chair Lindstrom said that you can go 10 levels about what is considered the ambient noise. She said they would need to take an ambient noise measurement at the same three points because they could be compliant but they would need to provide proof.

Chair Lindstrom asked if they used a noise consultant.

Mr. Spade stated no, they had done that themselves in the past, so they had that data.

Attorney Christiana stated they had conclusions in their application but not analysis.

Chair Lindstrom said that would require some monitoring when they got to that point to have DJs or musicians to make sure they would actually tone it down to make sure they wouldn’t be going over the 95 decibels.

Mr. Spade said they would provide that.

Chair Lindstrom asked if the ground where the wetlands were located was easily compact able and if it would be sturdy and strong enough to have a large number of cars parked on it so there would not be too much mud.

Mr. Spade said it would be strong enough.

Chair Lindstrom stated that Mr. Spade and Ms. Spade-Saski would need to certify that on the plat.

Mr. Spade explained more of the site plan including a pathway from the parking area to where the barn and kennel were located so it would be safer for pedestrians to cross and a temporary lighting plan.

Mr. Jones asked about a security plan and a car direction plan that would include how many parking areas there would be, would there parking attendants and how many, and which direction the cars would be arriving and leaving through.

Mr. Zurofsky stated it would be ideal to have a sense of what the flow of cars and people would be during the special events.

Chair Lindstrom pointed out that they did have a pedestrian walkway on their site plan but to have the direction of where the pedestrians would be headed was helpful.

Mr. Jones said it would be a good idea on the applicant’s part to research what Arrowood Farms did when they went in front of the Board for their special events.

Mr. Jones also asked if they were planning on having emergency personnel available during the times when they would be having events.

Ms. Calomiris stated that they would most likely have emergency services on call at the very least when they would have their larger events.

Attorney Christiana said that she noted that in the application the applicant had asked for an exemption from the special use permit for special events and if they would still want to seek that it would have to come from the Code Enforcement officer, and it was referred to the Board by the Code Enforcement office as needing a Special Use Permit and not just a Site Plan Approval.

Chair Lindstrom stated that it would be a good idea to not get the waiver or exemption because they were basically giving the Board information for both a Site Plan Approval and Special Use Permit and it would be better to keep everything as it was in case an exemption wasn’t granted and it would need to go through the Board.

Mr. Spade said what he was understanding from the Board was that they would still need to go forward with the Special Use Permit and not just a Site Plan Approval because of some of the events they planned to have.

Chair Lindstrom stated yes, because some of their events could be considered to be under Ag and Markets but it was gray area when it came to a larger event.

Ms. Calomiris asked what about if they were to do a horse show as that was more an Ag and Market event.

Chair Lindstrom said they could do that and it would count as one of their 12 approve Special Events so they would have 12 approved by the Board no matter what and potentially have more if they went through the Code Enforcement Office and Ag and Markets and got approved.

Mr. Jones asked Attorney Christiana if any other applicant had ever sought a waiver.

Attorney Christiana stated no one had ever looked for one before that she was aware but it was under #140-35, paragraph D and she read it for the Board:

D. Exemptions. Upon review of a zoning permit application by the Code Enforcement Officer where commercial event use is determined to be “regularly occurring and usually associated with such use”, approved uses such as agricultural tourism enterprises, hotels/motels, non-profit clubs, places of worship, public buildings and parks, resorts, restaurants, taverns, or other such use shall be exempt from the requirement of a Special Use Permit and these standards but, in all cases, shall be required to meet the additional parking and health and safety requirements. In such cases, the Code Enforcement Officer is empowered by the Town Board to determine if the requirements have been satisfied and may determine Site Plan review and approval by the Planning Board to be required. A nonconforming use shall not be eligible for exemption and shall require a Special Use Permit in all cases.

Chair Lindstrom stated that while there could be events that would be potentially exempt such as an open house or horse show, it would be more beneficial to just get the allotted 12 from the Board to cover all their bases.

Attorney Christiana stated that the applicant had mentioned before they wanted pull offs for emergency vehicles but she didn’t see them on the Site Plan.

Ms. Saski-Spade pointed them out on the map but they were not labeled and were 50’x60’.

Attorney Christiana said they would need to be labeled because they were going to have to send the Site Plan to the Fire Department.

Mr. Spade stated they were thinking of going to the Fire Department to show them their plans.

Chair Lindstrom said they could do that and it may provide them with a faster response.

Attorney Christiana pointed out that the pull-offs on the map looked squared.

Mr. Spade stated they were rectangles and that they would have curved edges and would be gravel as it was grass at the moment.

Mr. Spade asked if it would be easier for he and Ms. Saski-Spade to bring everything they had to the Fire Department and Highway Superintendent.

Chair Lindstrom said the Board could forward it to the Fire Department and The Highway Superintendent and then Mr. Spade and Ms. Saski-Spade could just do a follow up with the Fire Department via phone call if they would find that easier.

Mr. Spade went on to explain the site plan for the existing structures. He stated there was an existing gravel road on the property and they were using that for proposed access to the new kennel. He said at the moment is was about an 18ft. Drive and they wanted to expand it to 24ft. Drive for the emergency vehicle access. He stated the kennel building would be a one story structure about 90 ft. long and 60 ft deep, with parking on the west side of the structure that would have about 34 parking spaces. He said there was an existing walkway that they were going to purpose in making into a gravel drive, which would be more for staff to be able to get from the existing barn building to the purposed new structure. He also stated they were going to do a new septic system and a new well for the new kennel building. They were also looking into doing a storm water retention system.

Ms. Saski-Spade presented the site plan for the new kennel building. She explained there would be ten outdoor runs and hot/cold rooms for the dogs. She stated it would have double system walls that would be about 6 ft high to help buffer sound. Further more she explained there would be a picnic area for employees, concrete floors with epoxy, skylights, and the rooms for the animals would be dark green as that had been researched and found to be a preferred color choice for dogs. She said there would also be a small animal room, the kennel would mirror the existing barn, there would be handicap access, and ideally in the future there would be solar panels placed on various areas throughout the property.

Mr. Jones asked how many employees would they have potentially?

Ms. Calomiris stated there would be 1-2 people on a day. The kennel would have 3 people on a day with a total of 5 employees, and eventually there would possibly office staff, etc.

Mr. Buchbinder asked if they were going to have a veterinary services on site.

Ms. Calomiris said there would be a room that was intended for all purposes so if an animal did need veterinary care that room would be used for those times but they were not going to be an animal hospital.

A member of the Board asked what the hours of operation would be for the kennel as well as the hours of the employees.

Ms. Calomiris said that they would still be an appointment only facility but the weekday hours would be 10am-6pm, weekend hours would be 11am-4pm potentially, and the staff would be on from 7am-7pm daily.

Mr. Spade stated that to reduce the noise of the dogs, they intended to build a fence around the property that would lessen the decibels to about half.

Ms. Calomiris added that they didn’t want the noise to be too disruptive not only to the surrounding people but there were also animals who could have sensitivity to a lot of sound as well, so they intended to make the noise level as low as possible.

There was no further discussion or questions from the Board in regards to the site plan.

Chair Lindstrom stated that letters to SHPO and the Army Corps of Engineers would need to go out to see if they wanted to be lead agency in regards to SEQRA. She said that the applicants would probably be looking for a public hearing to be set at the meeting in May.

OTHER MATTERS:

Chair Lindstrom announced to the Board that Mr. Alonzo Grace had submitted his resignation from the Town of Rochester Planning Board.

ADJOURNMENT:
Mr. Williams made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:25pm. Mr. Buchbinder seconded the motion.
All in Favor. Motion Carried.
5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions, 2 absent.

Respectfully Submitted,

Brianna Tetro, Secretary

Accepted and Adopted, May 13th, 2019