Final
Minutes of Meeting
March 3rd,
2005
Members
Present: Guests:
Mark Agle Kristen
Haight, Town Engineer
Gerard Schwab Julie
Smolinski
Kevin O’Gorman Vince
Vacco, Councilman
Dennis Brawdy Mike
Best, Rec. Board
Bill Zittel
Tony Weiss
Andy Romanowski, Alt.
Excused: Liasions
Edward
Krycia, Jr., Councilman
Absent:
Juanita
Majewski
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Chairman Agle called the March 3rd, 2005 Meeting of the Eden
Town Planning Board to order at 7:30 PM.
Agle requested a motion to approve the February 3rd, 2005
minutes as written and amended, so moved by Bill Zittel, Jerry Schwab seconded,
carried all ayes.
NEW &
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Pre-Submission
– Vince Vacco – Proposed use of property located at W. Church & Derby Road
for 2 soccer fields. Chairman Agle
advised Mr. Vacco that the proposed use is not allowed in the SR zone; but is
an allowed use in the RR zone, and that he would need to request the Town Board
to rezone the area from SR to RR. If
and when the zoning change occurs, the Planning Board would be open to this
use. Remember that in the event of a
rezoning, a comprehensive site plan would need to be submitted, using the site
plan check off list available from Scott or Cathy. Parking, Drainage, Ingress/Egress and signage are among the
requirements. Kevin O’Gorman asked why
the Association isn’t developing the acreage from the Minikime
Subdivision. Agle stated that the
property has not yet been turned over to the Town, that it is still under legal
counsel. Vacco stated that there is a
time frame to get the soccer fields operational. Kristen added Drews comments by
stating that there are two options (1) rezone the area to RR that allows this
use or (2) change the regulations of the zone in Master Plan, this whole strip
is slated for to eventually be businesses; therefore, holding the green space
for now. Dennis Brawdy motioned to
recommend to the Town Board to favorably consider rezoning the SR to RR in the
district, Bill Zittel seconded, carried all ayes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: None.
REPORTS:
Mark
Agle attended the Association of Towns Meeting in NY City. Mark brought back with him the New York
State Department of State Local Government Handbook in hard copy as well as CD
– computer format, as well as a CD – NY State Department of State “Local
Government and Technical Series and other selected publications, January 2005
edition”. These materials are available
for loan from the secretary. Mark also reported that the hot topic of the
conferences was “Stormwater” management.
HEARING OF
VISITORS:
Don Stuhr asked about the rumors he heard about new
businesses opening up especially in regard to eating establishments and/or
pizzerias? Chairman Agle stated that it
is not our role to regulate businesses if they are allowed in the zone; we must
uphold free enterprise. Don Stuhr,
Rita Brockman, Tim Brockman, and Rich Ventry were all in attendance to voice
their opinion regarding the parking situation on Main Street, with particular
reference to the approved site plan parking of the O’Brien’s Irish Pub;
sighting that there is currently insufficient parking for the downtown
businesses as it is, then to approve a site plan for this type of
establishment, when there is absolutely NO parking owned by the proprietors,
was irresponsible of the Board. Rita
added that stated in the January 2005 minutes was a reference made to Don &
Rita consenting to the O’Brien’s using their combined parking for the Pub’s
customers; Rita wanted to make it clear that they never gave their consent and
that Pat O’Brien spoke out of turn. Rich Ventry, also felt that the Board acted
irresponsibly in regard to the parking situation. Agle stated that this topic was discussed at the last meeting and
that we (the Planning Board) does need to implement some sort of tracking
device to keep track of the overlapping parking that we are approving. Rita asked if there are restrictions to her
leasing out her business to a chain?
Agle stated that if there is a change of use, then yes, there are
requirements that need to be met. O’Gorman
suggested that the businesses should form a Businessman’s Association and try
to purchase a parcel of property to use as a municipal parking lot, making
available adequate parking for the downtown area. Agle stated that the Town as a public entity cannot purchase
land; therefore, it must be achieved either through the Chamber or an
Association. Ventry stated that the
parking situation has been doable, but approving the pub will compromise the
existing parking availability. Agle
stated that it is a tough balancing act in the downtown area, progress and
parking. We do appreciate your
concerns; thank you for taking the time the come in and let your opinions be
known. Christina Abt stated that at one
time when she was with the Chamber, they did want to purchase some property to
create a municipal parking lot, but there wasn’t any land for sale. At this time, she couldn’t speak for the
Chamber as to whether or not they might get involved in acquiring property for
parking.
O’Gorman stated
that we are trying to clean things up; Dollar General, Stop-n-Gas, Schreiber’s
Contractors’ Plaza are all examples of how we are trying to enforce the façade
improvements. Andy Romanowski added
that this would be a good time to discuss how this board could enact some
enhanced next level architectural requirements over and above what we have been
doing i.e. landscape requirements, etc., but it is pretty common place in out
towns to perform an architectural review.
Something as simple as a list of approved materials and a percentage of
coverage of up-front facade. Could be
stone, brick, metal, square footage of glass.
East Aurora, Orchard Park and Lewiston are all doing this. O’Gorman asked if Andy could get this data
together for the next meeting? Andy
said that he would. O’Gorman added that
we are requiring things ad-lib; feeling our way through it. If guidelines were available, we would be
able to better define what we want to require.
Kristen stated that grant money is available for façade upgrade for
businesses to take advantage of. Krycia stated that the board did develop the
overlay concept, very basic; no one really had the expertise, but if the
Planning Board is willing to delve into this project, the Town Board would
appreciate the in-put. Agle stated that
it is a tough balancing act and we do appreciate your concerns; thank you for
taking the time the come in and let your opinions be known.
ADJOURNMENT:
Dennis
Brawdy motioned to close the meeting, Kevin O’Gorman seconded, carried all
ayes.
Respectfully
submitted,
Catherine
A. Swiech
Next
Meeting Scheduled for April 7th, 2005 @ 7:30 PM.
