Final
Minutes of Meeting
January
6th, 2005
Members
Present: Guests:
Mark Agle Scott
Henry
Dennis Brawdy Drew
Reilly
Kevin O’Gorman Ed
Krycia, Jr.
William Zittel Pat
& Yvette O’Brien
Juanita Majewski Jay
Braymiller
Gerard Schwab Dick
Minekime
Andrew Romanowski, Alternate George
Zittel
Excused:
Tony Weiss
Absent:
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Chairman Agle called the January 6th, 2005 Meeting of the Eden Town
Planning Board to order at 7:30 PM.
Agle requested a motion to approve the October 2004 minutes as
written and submitted, so moved by Bill Zittel, Kevin O’Gorman seconded,
carried all ayes.
NEW & UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Irish Pub (former “Garden of Eden”) Pat & Yevette O’Brien. O’Brien addressed the Board stating that
at the October meeting, the Planning Board indicated that the first hurdle to
address would be the parking issue since currently there is no parking
connected with his property. O’Brien
submitted letters of agreement from three surrounding businesses giving him
permission to use some of their parking spots for his business. Colin Campbell agreed to 5 or 6 spots after
5:00 pm daily; Bob Pietrocarlo Liquors has approximately 12 spots and John
Roberts Day Salon has 5-6 spots. Agle confirmed the code with Scott Henry
that the upstairs apartment needs 2 parking spots, and 18 are needed for the
Pub based upon the seating as indicated on the site plan. Therefore roughly 20 parking spots are
required. Kevin O’Gorman stated that with the available spaces from the
surrounding businesses, they adequately meet the requirement. Dick Minekime stated that Colin Campbell
cannot enter an agreement to share spaces as he only leases from Minekime and
cannot sublease the parking. Only the
owner may enter an agreement such as this. Brawdy stated that even without
Campbell’s spots, counting the remaining spaces and consideration of
“off-street” parking and hours of operation being primarily evenings and
weekends, they meet the requirement.
O’Brien stated that he also spoke with Don Stuhr of 4-Corners
Restaurant and Rita Brockman of Eat’sa Pizza and he agreed that
pushing all of the snow from these properties all the way to the rear of
O’Brien’s property would open up more spaces for community use. Stuhr told O’Brien that whether or not he
gave permission for his allocated spots to be used, people would use them
anyway. The Bank customers, Evenhouse
customers, Chinese Take-out customers, Town Hall people, all residents of the
town use this parking lot. So by
clearing the snow from his property onto the rear of O’Brien’s would make
available more spaces. O’Brien stated that they paced it out and that the Town
Hall parking lot is less than 500’ from the Pub’s back door, customers could
also use the municipal lot. Scott Henry
stated that the Planning Board should consider some way of tracking allocated
parking since at some point each and every business that comes in for approval
is going to try to share all these spaces.
For instance, Cindy Wilder of John Roberts addressed the Planning
Board requesting site plan approval indicating 5 spaces, those are her
spaces. Then giving up those spaces
multiple numbers of times, eventually you are going to run out. Brawdy stated that the parking issue in the
hamlet is a difficult one to resolve and that if you never allow shared spaces,
then no new businesses would ever be allowed.
Reilly stated that Scott makes a good point. Often times Robin Evenhouse of Evenhouse Printing attends
the Planning Board meetings when a new business tries to develop in the hamlet
area and is very concerned as to how it will affect her business. Schwab stated that this is really the last
vacant building in the downtown hamlet, so if we approve this business,
potentially, there will not any more development in the area. Agle added that we instructed this applicant
to talk to his neighbors and get letters of commitment from them and therefore
if they truly had a problem with parking, they wouldn’t have given O’Brien
permission to use their spaces. That
required due diligence by the applicant may constitute part of the tracking
efforts that Scott mentioned. Brawdy
asked if we need to address anything from the Hamlet overlay requirements. O’Brien’s stated that they are addressing
the façade with the grant money that is available through the County. Agle instructed the O’Brien’s to comply with
the signage ordinances and also work through any other building code issues
with Scott. Kevin O’Gorman made a
motion, that based on the paperwork submitted that the Irish Pub be approved to
move ahead, Dennis Brawdy seconded, carried all ayes. Drew added that for the record, this is a Type 2 action under
SEQR, therefore, no SEQR action is required due to the fact that it is a
reoccupation of existing building.
B. Pre-submission Conference at the site of
“Eden Car Wash and Weather Panel” property. Pat and Yvette O’Brien. O’Brien
stated that they are considering purchasing this property and are requesting
in-put from the Planning Board regarding his proposed uses. Jay Braymiller submitted a redrawing of an
existing site plan just for reference, it is not up-to-date or accurate to
scale. O’Brien just wants to discuss
what his thoughts are for using this property and acknowledged that there are
some zoning issues that would have to be overcome for him to develop this
property the way that he wants to. The property is split zoned. Agle stated that a presubmission
questionaire was submitted that details some of those uses. O’Brien stated that it appears as though
the front 2/3 is GB and the rear 1/3 is HR.
Agle stated that according to the zoning map, 300’ from the center road
back is GB (267’ from highway boundary)
and the remainder of approximately 100’ is HR; but as previously stated this
survey is inaccurate and these dimensions would need to be confirmed. O’Brien stated that the carwash is in the HR
as well as the existing Weather Panel building which houses apartments upstairs. O’Brien would like to erect 2 (4 unit)
apartment building in the HR area.
Braymiller stated that O’Brien would like to develop the back of the
property, however the existing zoning would not allow that to happen, nor will
the 50’ setback requirement. What we
are looking for is some direction that the zoning issue could be addressed and
the setback issue could be negotiated.
Which then would allow O’Brien to look at the best way to develop this
property. Juanita Majewski asked for
clarification of the apartment buildings.
O’Brien stated that the multiple dwellings would help defray the cost of
the property, and part of the goal is to provide some parking for downtown Eden
in the front of the property. Schwab
asked the total acreage of the property.
Scott replied 2.26 acres. Reilly
stated that density becomes an issue.
The town allows 4 units per acre in the HR district. Theoretically, is you use this entire piece
of property for your apartment units, you might get 8 units out of it. If you put your 8 units in the back, parking
for the 8 units and extra parking for other uses, can that be worked out with
the understanding that the property would need to be cleared of all other
structures. O’Gorman asked if O’Brien
was donating the parking area of the parcel to the Town? O’Brien stated that he would loan the
parking area to the town. Brawdy asked
if by achieving relief in respect to the zoning issues and getting the density
you need, are you willing to provide parking to the town? O’Brien answered that would be the
plan. O’Gorman advised O’Brien to
sketch his plan showing where the apartment buildings would be placed and
indicate where and how many parking spots would be made available to the town
and for how long. The Zoning Board is
responsible for variances and we cannot commit to anything in regard to
zoning. Agle suggested for the next
meeting, submit a sketch plan to scale, superimposing the zoning line over the
plan, and showing a proposed layout for the entire property. Reilly suggested Jay contact Scott in
respect to a GIS map to use as a starting point. O’Brien stated that he has 10 days to make a commitment to
purchase this property and is why he is here tonight to seek advise that may
help him make a decision. Reilly stated
that there are laws that would need to be changed and he wouldn’t want to see
O’Brien making business decisions based upon the town changing laws in the
future. The Planning Board does not
have that power. Brawdy stated that
this proposal is one that we would look as positively, but there are so many
building blocks to put into place. Drew
added that what Scott is telling you right now that under the present zoning,
that possibly if you took all the other uses off of the property you could
possible get about 8 units on the property.
Agle stated that the first step would be to approach the Town Board to
rezone the property. Get one puzzle
piece together at a time.
Unfortunately, at this point you are looking at a 9-day commitment
period and we are not in a position to provide all of the answers you
need. Another issue to address is the
water supply. Drew stated that the Town
is under somewhat of a water moratorium for additional residential development
due to problems with potential water pressure.
The Violet Street Pump station should help, but it is not definitive as
to how much development will be allowed.
C. Erie County Reconfiguring of Agricultural
Districts referred to us by the Town Board for comment. Agle stated that Erie County is proposing
reconfiguring the Ag Districts for several reasons: (1) Would like the districts to be contiguous and homogenous in
their makeup for applying for grants and targeting areas for certain
considerations. Essentially, if the reconfiguration benefits the County, it
likely benefits the Town. (2) Currently
some Ag Districts span Town boundaries, that County would like the new
Districts to be unique to each Town.
Reilly stated that if it will impact some property owners, the County
would be conduct public hearings and notify those people accordingly. O’Gorman
stated that his understanding is that they are renaming 1 district for Eden
instead of having portions of 3 districts.
Agle motioned to report to the Town Board that the Planning Board has no
objection to the proposed reconfiguring of the Ag Districts by Erie
County. Brawdy seconded, carried all
ayes.
D. Beverly and Evelyn
Subdivisions: Dick Minekime. Minekime stated that he seeking a negative
declaration so that he may continue the process. Drew stated that discussion of these projects is imperative to
the process. I would request the
Planning Board to authorize me to initiate the preparation of a very formal
neg-dec as you will be dealing with the County and the State in seeking your
approvals. Issues need to be addressed
and questions need to be answered. An archiological
firm hired by Minekime has signed off, stating that there are no archeological
impacts under these subdivisions. Sewer
capacity: letter from the County stating there is sufficient capacity with
the addition of land from Minekime to upgrade the pump station. Recreation Land: Minekime stated that there is a tentative
agreement in place. The Town Board
minutes reflect the agreement; however, the attorneys are having a difficult time
working out the wording of the agreement.
Basically the agreement states that they have agreed to 5 acres of
recreation area with a 50’ right of way indicated on the rough-draft map. The existing park located on Evelyn Drive
(approximately 400’ along Evelyn) will be turned over to Minekime in exchange
for a $70,000 payment to the Town to be used for future development of the new
park and relocating equipment from the present park. In the meantime the Evelyn Drive park will continue to be used
in addition, an area approximately 100’ wide north of the park will be allowed
to be used for parking, -nder a 10 year program. Thus will alleviate an existing issue of limited parking at that
park-site, under a 10- year program.
Agle stated that the one sticky point to still be addressed is the
existing park. It is my understanding
that if it is truly “parkland”, this issue must go through the State
Legislature to be released. Minekime
stated that no matter what, the Town will receive the 5 acres. What is still up in the air is whether the
400’ is going to be swapped for $70K.
Reilly explained that we could proceed, Minekime can continue with the
preliminary plat, but before it receives final approval and is signed and filed
at the County, the complete recreation agreement will have to be in place. Sidewalks: It was discussed and determined that sidewalks were not going
to be required for these developments as they would essentially serve no
purpose (start nowhere and go nowhere).
Parking as a safety issue:
Parking for the existing park has been adequately addressed by the
proposed agreement and will not be an issue in regard to the proposed new
park. Drainage: Drew is currently reviewing the drainage
plan to determine if it meets the SPDES requirements. The SEQR applications will be done individually. There will be a detention pond and there
will be a rear yard drainage ditch. The
detention basin is placed on private property with an easement to the Town for
maintenance of the newly formed drainage district. Minekime asked how wide must the easement be? Reilly thought it was 25’, but we will have
to check that with Ron Maggs, Highway Superintendent. Agle stated that once the SEQR neg-dec is complete, and unless
there are significant changes, the public-hearing requirement has already been
met at the September 2004 meeting, SFH or duplexes: The SEQR application will indicate
single family homes only. At some point
in time, if Minekime wants to change from SFH to some duplexes, he would need
to come before the Planning Board to make that request. Reilly asked Minekime about the once
proposed Apartment complex: Years
ago that issue was researched, but there was much opposition, that Minekime
elected not to pursue it further at that time.
The Planning
Board gave Reilly direction to draft a Negative Declaration for the February 3rd
meeting.
Juanita asked Minekime if he ever
intended to build an apartment?
Minekime said that he would take this opportunity to bounce an idea off
the planning board. He might be
considering at some time in the future, recruiting an assisted living complex;
and then building some duplexes that would be without basements and would be
handicapped accessible for the family (spouses) of the people living in the
assisted living center. If I were to
come back to the Planning Board, how might you receive this plan? O’Gorman made comment on assisted living
centers. He stated that a place with
all the proper assistance is very expensive; if you are talking about
attracting mostly Medicaid people, or self-pay, they receive very poor service
and inadequate medical service. Reilly
stated that if you proceed with that type of plan, you are creating even more
opposition with the 2 new proposed developments. Reilly reminded everyone that there is still the “unspoken”
moratorium water service. Minekime
stated that he has a verbal OK from the water authority, as water is already
present; there is not going to be an extension. Drew advised Minekime to proceed with caution.
E. Agle stated that one other item of business
is to determine whether or not to extend Site Plan approval for Don Schreiber’s
subdivision; the approval expired on 11-1-04. Bill Zittel stated that due to
the water authority not granting approval for the extension of water to this
development at this time, it is out of Don’s hands to move forward on his
project, therefore, Bill motioned to extend the site plan approval for
Schreiber’s subdivision through 2005, Dennis Brawdy seconded, carried all ayes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Association of Towns meeting will be held in NYC in
February. Mark will be attending. The Town allows in our budget for 2 members
to attend. Anyone interested in
attending, please contact Cathy for information.
Juanita
asked if there was any movement on the proposed Hullaballoos project. The Smolinski’s purchased the property and
hope to move forward.
Kevin
O’Gorman motioned to close the meeting, Bill Zittel seconded, carried all ayes.
Respectfully
submitted,
Catherine
A. Swiech
