Minutes of August 14, 2007 of the Town of Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals, held at the Town Hall, Accord, NY.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairperson, Marijane Knudsen.
Present: James Kingston Absent:
Stanley Hudson
Marijane Knudsen, Chairperson
Elizabeth Kawalchuk
Jennifer McKenzie, Alternate
Beatrice Haugen-De Puy, Vice Chair
Pledge to the Flag.
ACTION ON MINUTES
Mr. Hudson motioned to approve the minutes of the July 10, 2007 meeting. Seconded by Mrs. Kawalchuk
Vote: McKenzie, Alt. – Not required to participate Kawalchuk – Yes
Hudson – Yes Knudsen – Yes
Haugen De Puy – Yes Kingston – Yes
PRE-APPLICATION MEETING
JON VAN WAGENEN– c/o Dennis Van Wagenen, Cliff Road, 68.2-2-12, discussion on appeal of CEO Denial for building permit based on Highway Superintendent Determination, ‘A’ District
Mr. Van Wagenen was present on behalf of his son’s application. He explained that he was going to appeal Mr. Davis, CEO’s decision to deny the building permit based on Wayne Kelder, Highway Superintendent, letter. He felt it was misinterpreted. Mr. Kelder had indicated that because this was a private road that the Highway Dept. didn’t have any jurisdiction over this for a driveway. There was no Road Maintenance Agreement (RMA). He noted that this was a pre-existing dirt road and it was in poor condition. His son bought the property in 2006. He was aware that a few residents on the road currently did the work on the road. He continued that Pagliaroni was the furthest resident on that road. It’s a long road. It should be a Town road and maybe at one time it might have been. His son has a 30’ right-of-way to Cliff Road from his property. The lot is vacant and it has existed for over 100 years. It is +/-12 acres and is well above the minimum zoning. He was aware of the State Law 280a for Open Development when a building permit can’t be issued if the property doesn’t abut a public road.
Mr. Van Wagenen then referenced letter dated July 19, 2007 from Town Attorney, Rod Futerfas, stating that Mr. Kelder looked at the driveway in 2005. Mr. Futerfas recommended that the road be improved and a RMA be established with all other owners on the road. Mr. Van Wagenen further noted that there were a lot of home owners on the road already and there was no incentive to get them to get into an RMA. This puts the burden on his son to maintain the road. Maybe the Town Board could make this a special tax district where they improve the road and add the expense to individual lot owner’s properties. This happened on Barry Lane.
ZBA Minutes Page 2
August 14, 2007
Chairperson Knudsen agreed that the RMA was an issue.
Mr. Van Wagenen noted that he hadn’t approached the other neighbors about signing on to an RMA.
Mr. Hudson agreed that he didn’t think people would be willing to sign on to it.
Mr. Van Wagenen felt that this was a poor road, but was adequate to get emergency vehicles in and out of. He’s been a fire commissioner for 30 years, so he felt he was knowledgeable enough to state that.
Chairperson Knudsen noted that this information of this lot being denied a building permit is on record in Town Offices. Mr. Van Wagenen’s son didn’t really do his homework before purchasing the lot.
Mr. Van Wagenen didn’t think that there would be an issue with getting a building permit for a lot that was +/-12 acres. He was aware that the previous owners had some difficulty regarding the road, but he thought it was for a subdivision. He wasn’t aware that it was for one dwelling.
Chairperson Knudsen suggested that the applicant check to see if he could get access to the upper part of Cliff Road for ingress and egress that is in Marbletown.
Mr. Van Wagenen would check into this, but stated that one of the neighbors was not cooperative.
Chairperson Knudsen felt that if the variance was to use the Marbletown way it would be a less substantial request from the ZBA’s standpoint. She didn’t think that residents would be agreeable to being put in a special tax district. Everyone just got re-assessed last year. She suggested that Mr. Van Wagenen formally put in his application for appeal if he wanted to pursue his application. She noted that the ZBA is here to protect the liability of the Town. Mr. Van Wagenen should contact different emergency entities in the Town to get their input on the situation as well.
Mr. Van Wagenen understood this and would pursue the application.
His next step would be to attend the next Planning Board meeting for his advisory request.
OTHER MATTERS:
Chairperson Knudsen stated that on August 23, 2007 the Town Board was holding a Public Hearing on the draft Zoning Ordinance. She felt that members should read it and attend the meeting and give any input they had.
Mr. Hudson motioned to adjourn seconded by Mrs. Kawalchuk. No discussion. All members in favor.
As there was no further business to discuss, Chairperson Knudsen adjourned the meeting at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Paddock Stange, Secretary