Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes 09/12/06

Minutes of September 12, 2006 of the Town of Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals, held at the Town Hall, Accord, NY.

 

Meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by Chairperson, Marijane Knudsen.

 

Present:           Elizabeth Kawalchuk                          Absent:         
                   Marijane Knudsen, Chairperson
                   Robert Godwin, Alternate                                                                                                Beatrice Haugen-De Puy, Vice Chair                                                                               Stanley Hudson       
                   James Kingston

 

Pledge to the Flag.

 

ACTION ON MINUTES
Mrs. Kawalchuk motioned to approve the minutes of the July 11, 2006 meeting seconded by Mrs. Haugen-De Puy.
Vote:   Godwin, Alt.            –       Yes                                     Kawalchuk       –       Yes
        Hudson          –       Yes                                     Knudsen –       Yes
        Haugen De Puy   –       Yes                                     Kingston        –          Yes

 

PRE-APPLICATION PRESENTATION
MOUNTAIN VIEW STABLES, INC.–    c/o Jerome Ferro, Use Variance for Animal Feed Store (Retail) in a                                              R-1 District, De Jager Lane, Tax Map #77.1- 2-33.112

 

Mr. Ferro was present on behalf of his application.

 

Chairperson Knudsen explained that this was an informal application presentation in which the Board gets familiar with the proposal and the Board will instruct the applicant how to proceed in the process of pursing his Use Variance for a use which is not permitted in an R-1 District.

 

Mr. Ferro presented maps to the Board and noted that he was in front of the Board for this parcel about 10 years ago and he never proceeded to get his request. It was so long ago he doesn’t even remember what it was for.

 

Chairperson Knudsen recalled this and noted that at the time most of the Board members had visited the parcel in question, so they should be a little familiar with it still.
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ZBA MINUTES                                                                             September 12, 2006
PRE-APPLICATION PRESENTATION
MOUNTAIN VIEW STABLES, INC.(cont’d)–    c/o Jerome Ferro, Use Variance for Animal Feed Store                                                            (Retail) in a R-1 District

 

Mr. Ferro further explained the layout of the property and how he would like to make the barns into a feed store. He noted that the uses surrounding are residential, however, over the years properties in close proximity to his have operated as businesses. Elbert De Jager had a commercial use. Another neighbor used to sell rabbits. Lots 1-8 of the Mountain View Stables subdivision access a different road. These lots would not be affected by this proposed feed store. Lots 10-18 wouldn’t be affected either. He himself is building a house on lot 18. These two sections of Mountain View Stables Subdivision access Rondout Lane and off of that is Peninsula Lane. A great deal of the proposed business would be delivery. It will be retail, but most people that will buy the feed will buy it in bulk. It would be like the feed store on Route 209 (S & D Feed World), where it would be for all types of animals. Right now the Barn has 12 stalls. He would order feed in bags—it wouldn’t be loose. Some would be purchased from walk in customers and some would be delivered. He would have hay and straw as well. He does not board horses. He has 4 of his own horses. The area in front of the barn is all gravel where the parking would be. He would have to fix the roofs on the barns. And he would want to use Barn #2 as the main barn. Now Barn #3 is used for hay and it would continue to be used for such.

 

Mr. Hudson noted that Barn #2 has low ceilings.

 

Mr. Ferro noted that Barn #3 has enough room for 12,000 bales of hay. He wasn’t sure of the exact square footage. He reiterated that he would need to fix the roofs and would add a store front to the barn used for retail, but would leave them the same.

 

Chairperson Knudsen explained that an Area Variance regards dimensions and a Use Variance is where the applicant has to demonstrate unnecessary hardship and the applicant needs to show that he can’t realize a reasonable return.

 

Mr. Ferro noted that this lot is separate from the Mountain View Stables subdivision.

 

Mrs. Haugen-De Puy contributed that Mr. Ferro would need to show the Board that he is losing money instead of gaining it.

 

Chairperson Knudsen continued that the applicant would need to show that the alleged hardship is unique and would not change the character of the neighborhood. Submitting pictures is encouraged for the record. The applicant also needs to prove that this hardship is not self created. He should also approach neighbors to get letters of favor. He should also check with the Code Enforcement Office to get the provisions for Retail stores. She also noted that he would need Health Dept. Approval as he would have the public in his establishment. She questioned if he has contacted the Dept. of Ags and Market? There may be special criteria in regards to a store used for agricultural purposes. She encouraged Mr. Ferro to contact Ag & Markets and the Ulster County Health Dept.

 

Mr. Ferro explained that he bought the property from Elbert De Jager who utilized the parcel for a farm and it has continued to be used for agricultural purposes.

 

Mrs. Kawalchuk noted that this sounded more like an Ag-Way.
T/ ROCHESTER                                                                            PAGE 3
ZBA MINUTES                                                                             September 12, 2006
PRE-APPLICATION PRESENTATION
MOUNTAIN VIEW STABLES, INC.(cont’d)–    c/o Jerome Ferro, Use Variance for Animal Feed Store                                                            (Retail) in a R-1 District
Mrs. Haugen De Puy felt that Mr. Ferro should check with Ag & Markets to see if this would be an allowed use since the property has always been used for agricultural purposes or if Mr. Ferro would indeed need to proceed with the Use Variance.

 

The Chairperson questioned if Mr. Ferro had an Ag Exemption on this property.

 

He did.

 

She encouraged him to check with Ag & Markets and to disclose the nature of the property and that it has an Ag Exemption. She further explained that Mr. Ferro would need to get a Planning Board advisory opinion if he decided to continue with the Use Variance application. She also recommended that Mr. Ferro contact the Ulster County Planning Board. They had a staff member who was very familiar with Ag & Markets guidelines.

 

Mr. Ferro felt that this was a logical use for these buildings.

 

Mr. Hudson questioned Mr. Ferro if he felt 2 feed stores in this Town would be able to survive?

 

Mr. Ferro believed that S & D Feedworld might be going out of business.

 

PRE-APPLICATION PRESENTATION
CHARLES & SANDRA RANDALL-       +/-28’ Area Variance for insufficient lot width, Berme Road,                                                    Tax Map #76.4-2-28.230, R-1 & ‘F’ District

 

Mr. Randall was present on behalf of his application.

 

Chairperson Knudsen explained that Mr. Randall needed an Area Variance because he had insufficient lot width. The Town Code requires 160’ of width at some point in the property. Gerald Brandt surveyed this parcel and split it into 2 pieces, but 1 parcel had +/-173’ of width and the other parcel only had +/-132’ in width.

 

Mr. Randall explained that he purchased the property in 2003 and there was 1 house on +/-3.7 acres. Since then he has built another house and his surveyor split the parcel to have 1 house on +/-2.173 acres and 1 house on +/-1.701 acres. This was done and filed with the County back in March of 2006. Mr. Randall had come into the Building Dept. today to get a letter for his bank to say that this division of his property was legal. He wasn’t aware until today that it wasn’t because he didn’t have the required lot width.

 

The Chairperson explained that he needed an Area Variance for the difference (+/-28’) or he needed to move the lot line or obtain more land from a bounding property owner.

 

Mr. Randall hadn’t had a chance to speak to Mr. Brandt as he just found this out late this afternoon.

 

The Chairperson advised Mr. Randall to contact Mr. Brandt and explain the situation and see what Mr. Brandt could propose.

 

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ZBA MINUTES                                                                             September 12, 2006
PRE-APPLICATION PRESENTATION
CHARLES & SANDRA RANDALL(cont’d)-       +/-28’ Area Variance for insufficient lot width

 

Mr. Randall noted that he was planning to sell one lot.

 

Mrs. Haugen De Puy noted that he’d probably still be short on one side.

 

Mr. Kingston felt that if Mr. Brandt was subdividing a parcel in the Town of Rochester, then he should have abided by the Town’s regulations.

 

Chairperson Knudsen encouraged the applicant to contact his surveyor and approach his bounding neighbors to inquire about getting the area necessary to meet the 160’ requirement. Mr. Randall needed to build a case for himself to prove that he couldn’t achieve this by any other means.

 

Mr. Randall said that he would do this. He reiterated that he just found this out today, so he has been unable to contact the surveyor or approach any bounding owners about this.

 

Chairperson Knudsen noted that if Mr. Randall was unable to acquire any property from neighbors that he would still need to get an area variance from the Board, however he should have his surveyor move the line so that he was requesting the minimal amount of a variance. The ZBA would need to weigh the detriments to the health, safety and welfare of the public to the benefit of the applicant. They’d need to see if this would cause an undesirable change to the neighborhood, if there would be any adverse environmental impacts, or if this could be achieved by any other means. Mr. Randall split this property in good faith having hired a professional land surveyor who should have conformed to the Code. Mr. Randall would come back on October 10, 2006 for his Public Hearing after going to the Planning Board for an advisory request on September 19, 2006.

 

The Chairperson noted that the ZBA would write a letter to Mr. Randall’s bank saying that he appeared before the Board for this request and the matter was being pursued. Did Mr. Randall have a C/O on the house that he built?

 

Mr. Randall did not yet have one. He still needed final Health Dept. Approval.

 

OTHER MATTERS

 

Chairperson Knudsen reminded the Board that they needed to get their 2 required trainings in prior to the end of December. These trainings could pertain to anything that related to Zoning. There was the Public Hearing for the Comprehensive Plan on October 5, 2006 that she encouraged members to attend. There are also Planning and Zoning Meetings that were worth attending and would count as training. They have a lot of public input that is valuable. The meetings are good. The Ulster County Planning Board seminars are coming in the Fall, however they have the same trainings every year. There is also a Planning and Zoning Breakfast on October 4th at William’s Lake.

 

Mr. Hudson motioned to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Kingston. All members present in favor.

 

Mr. Hudson recused himself from this application and sat in the audience.

 

T/ ROCHESTER                                                                            PAGE 5
ZBA MINUTES                                                                             September 12, 2006
As there was no further business to discuss, Chairperson Knudsen adjourned the meeting at 8:25 PM.      

 

                                                                Respectfully submitted,
                                                                

 

                                                                Rebecca Paddock Stange, Secretary