City of Auburn Planning Board
Tuesday, august 3, 2004 7:30 PM, MEMORIAL City Hall
Present: Mark DiVietro, John Breanick, John Rogalski, Sam Giangreco, Sandra Craner, Laurie Michelman, Nicki Wright
Staff: Steve Lynch, OPED Director; Brian Hicks, Code Enforcement; Nancy Hussey, Assistant Corporation Counsel; Tom Weed, APD
John Breanick is Acting Chair until Laurie Michelman’s arrival.
The Chair called the meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and roll was called.
Agenda Item 1: Minutes of July 6, 2004 meeting.
Chair asks for a motion to accept the minutes of June 1, 2004. Motion made by Sandra Craner, seconded by Mark DiVietro. All members vote approval. Motion carried.
Agenda Item 2: Site Plan Review for 192 Genesee St. parking area for new building addition.
Chair invites owner or agent to speak.
John Wejko of Burtis Pt. representing Dr. Bock and Dr. Foresman – 192 Genesee St. is expanding with an addition to the existing building with parking, 24 spaces and paved. A site plan addressing needs and concerns has been submitted. It does require a side yard variance for the addition, which will be presented to the ZBA at the end of this month.
Chair asks the public for comments.
George Tarby, owns adjacent property to the east – concerned about privacy issues for his tenants in the carriage house. Would like a fence placed there along with plantings.
John Wejko – that would be no problem, 6-foot vinyl fence.
George Tarby – would also like it extended an additional 30 feet towards the front.
John Wejko – no problem, would be in addition to the shrubberies that will be planted. Plantings will be made on the 192 site. The fence will be vinyl and easily maintained.
George Tarby – questions the driveway drain.
John Wejko – it will tie into a storm sewer lateral being installed from Genesee St.
Steve Lynch – you have combined drainage but also trench drainage along the drive?
John Wejko – yes, it will all be part of the drainage system into the sewer.
George Tarby – questions the variance.
John Wejko – it’s required for commercial property.
Chair – the variance is not something we will get into here, you’ll have to take any questions to that meeting.
Steve Lynch – we will add fence to this site plan. Questions the fence placement and where the additional 30 ft to go.
George Tarby – on the east side going north.
Chair – closes the public hearing and asks the Board for comments.
Sandra Craner – wants to be sure of fence placement (Steve Lynch points out on map for all Board members).
Steve Lynch – everything has already been discussed somewhat. The west side is heavily buffered and now the east side has the addition of a fence. Staff has worked with the architect to reduce the lot size for ease and cost savings. Engineering has approved the drainage plan; his memo is in the packets. Staff recommends a negative declaration on SEQR and site plan approval contingent of ZBA action.
Laurie Michelman arrives.
Chair asks for motion to add site plan approval contingent on ZBA action to the site plan resolution. Motion made by John Rogalski, seconded by Sam Giangreco. All members vote approval. Motion carried.
Steve Lynch – SEQR is straightforward. Memo from the City Engineer is there. Landscaping has been reviewed. It is a permitted use in the zone. No major impacts have been found.
Chair asks for a motion for SEQR. Sandra Craner makes a motion for a negative declaration, seconded by Mark DiVietro. All members vote approval. Motion carried.
Chair asks for a motion for site plan approval contingent on ZBA approval. Motion for approval made by Nicki Wright, seconded by Mark DiVietro. All members vote approval. Motion carried.
Laurie Michelman takes the Chair.
Agenda Item 3: Public Hearing and discussion of proposal for zone changes in the area bounded by North St., Seymour St., Nelson St. and Seminary St.
Chair invites Steve Lynch to make presentation.
Steve Lynch – additional public notice are required for the proposed C5Azone. There are two proposed zones, C2A, which we spoke of at the July meeting, and the C5A overlay zone to be discussed this evening. We propose an additional public hearing for the C5A zone and that no action be taken tonight although discussion of the C2A zone has been properly notified. The Board does have the option of acting on the C2A proposal tonight and acting on the C5A proposal in September but staff recommends holding action for both until September and presenting the entire project as a single unit. Either way Council needs to review it and we would like to present both proposals together.
Chair – polls board. Sam Giangreco agrees to keep them together as long as it is concluded at the next meeting as it has been discussed for a while now. John Breanick agrees to keep them together but would also like a poll for a special meeting. John Rogalski agrees. Sandra Craner agrees to keep them together and a special meeting only if it will accomplish something, not just more talk. Nicki Wright and Mark DiVietro agree with Ms. Craner.
Chair – if a special meeting is viable we will do so otherwise we will wait until September.
Steve Lynch – tonight we will speak of the C2A zone and C5A overlay zone. There is language for both zones in the packets and we have extra copies for the public. (points out areas on map). The original zone of community commercial was established in 1964 and was changed in 1991 to C2 and R2. Since then there have been some changes along Nelson St.- the City garage is gone, green space has been established, the dialysis center is there thru a use variance and the house next to K & S has a use variance for commercial (office) space. Tompson Trust Bank is there in the old Friendly’s and they also demolished a neighboring house, Blockbuster has expanded. The City has tried to work with the neighborhood on home loans, curbs and sidewalks. We have discussed an overlay
district. The language is in the packets.
Reads thru proposed language (attached)
Looking at the language for parking, parking (lots) in residential areas is prohibited. The proposal is to change the parking and loading requirements for the C5A overlay district to allow parking areas where warranted after site plan review.
We spoke of the proposed language of the C2A district in detail at the July meeting. (reviews boundaries included in proposed zone).
Reviews language (attached).
The C2 zone changes are being done as certain uses are desirable to continue here but not in the downtown area and we would like to allow existing businesses legal relief. C2 zone allows malls/shopping centers, which happens in this area. If we just remove this use from the C2 definition those businesses would become non-conforming and would require variances to change or expand. Also, K & S is a non-conforming use, although it has been there a long time, and requires ZBA action for any changes. We would like to give them legal status for the zone.
Reviews proposed changes for the C2 zone (attached).
The biggest change here is removing shopping centers/malls.
Chair invites the public to speak.
Glenn Carver, Evans St. – along with parents owns property on the 1st block of Seminary St. off of North St., south side. These properties are backed along the Arterial. If any area should be rezoned C2A this should be. I’ve spoken with other owners in the area and I have a signed petition requesting the area be rezone commercially. It is already bounded on three sides by commercial area and we don’t understand why this section is not being changed. The lots extend to the Arterial and we think they would be prime commercial lots.
Chair – I understand your concern but we voted at the last meeting to consider your proposal and revisit it in six months so the door is not closed to this suggestion.
Glenn Carver – I understood you wanted everything presented in one package.
Steve Lynch – we have a completed package to present. The Board is not ready to look at the parcels you are presenting yet.
Glenn Carver – has anyone spoken with the other owners yet?
Steve Lynch – this will be done during a review over the next 6 months.
Amy Carver-Dobson – thinks it does not make sense to leave this one spot surround completely by commercial and not change it also. 2-4 Seminary is a 2-family home that is a blight on the neighborhood; the other properties are a mix of single-family and two-family dwellings. Think about this, this section of the street should not be isolated.
Walt Aikman, Liberty St. – thanks everyone for their hard work. Glad to hear it will be presented as a single package. It is a diverse neighborhood with different wishes by the inhabitants. The greatest success for this package is by having more people support it. We do need to hear from more people involved in the proposed overlay district. Gladly does not see historic preservation listed as part of the district, does not advocate historic preservation but to use resources with historic character. Need to use and build on resources available to enhance the community and property values. Need to make intelligent choices. Anticipates the needs of the community being met.
Steve Lynch – concerning the historical preservation aspect, I agree with you there. We had thought to include the Historic Resources Review Board but decided against it as we have incorporated rehab guidelines into the language and we did not want to add yet another committee that needed to be consulted. Another thing to consider is if we want any limits on the percent of the building that is to be used commercially. For instance, do we want the entire building to be allowed for commercial use or mandate that part of it remains residential to maintain a residential character.
Chair – closes public hearing and asks the Board for comments.
John Breanick – sees Carver’s petition as valid, all owners agree that the area should be changed to commercial. Thinks these neighborhood concerns should be addressed and that the properties bordering the Arterial need to be looked at.
Steve Lynch – this would not be a good time to discuss. Think about it, changing that to a commercial area would allow someone to come in and demolish that entire area of buildings, which would make a tremendous impact on the surrounding area and the Seminary St. entrance. The Board should carefully consider this.
John Rogalski – let’s get the areas we’ve been considering off the table first then look at these other areas. We need to protect the small businesses and residences.
Steve Lynch – recommends a public hearing at the 9/7/04 meeting or a special meeting to resolve this agenda item.
Chair polls the board and no one is against a special meeting. General discussion ensues about a special meeting date. All members will check calendars and the secretary will follow up to confirm a proposed date of 8/25/04.
John Breanick – also asks that the south side of Seminary St. be included in the zone change.
Steve Lynch – this area needs more looking into. It is not just a matter of changing boundary lines.
Chair confirms the next regularly scheduled meeting for September 7, 2004 and asks for a motion to adjourn.
Motion to adjourn made by John Breanick, seconded by Sandra Craner. All members vote approval. Meeting adjourned.
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