PB minutes 6/23/16

Town of Varick

Planning Board minutes - June 23, 2016

Board members in attendance: Rich, Linda, Hershey, Dave

Ricky McCullough (Code Enforcement Officer) also attended.

Meeting called to order

Katherine Potter of Yale Manor, was granted an area variance by the ZBA to allow 100’ setbacks at the sides and 50’ setback at the back of the Yale Manor lot. She requested a Special Use Permit to change from a Bed and Breakfast to an Inn (6‑12 bedrooms).

Neighbors of the proposed Yale Manor, Richard Serfass, and Dawn Eno expressed concerns about potential of increased violations of private property by Yale Manor guests going to its lakefront. Mr. Serfass has already had guests of current facility use his yard as a shortcut to the lake.

Yale Manor plans are for a perimeter fence to contain animals boarded there in the future. This would also force foot traffic to Yale Farm Rd. Linda explained that property violations and increased lake use are not zoning issues. Katherine Potter stated it is her intention to prevent guests, as much as possible, from any use of property not belonging to Yale Manor and to en- courage a quiet and peaceful environment.

The board determined that Yale Manor fits the definition of a small business. Hershey made a motion to grant a Special Use Permit contingent upon Yale Manor meeting other criteria listed in section 405 of the Varick Zoning Code to operate an Inn including no more than 4 Yurts. David seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Rich noted this is the kind of business we want to encourage in Varick.

Sonya Wirth wants to subdivide her property on Kings Corners Road, selling off 38.4 landlocked acres for agricultural use. She has been pursuing this objective based on information she be- lieved accurate, but which is in conflict with current subdivision code. Several suggestions were made that could resolve the matter, but would require cooperation from neighbors, or Ms. Wirth taking 1 00’ of road frontage from current parcels she owns to make it part of the 38.4 acre par- cel. Rich made a motion to request the ZBA review her subdivision request. Hershey seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Thomas has drafted a letter to concerned parties in the area highlighting the need to have plan- ning board review of any subdivision request prior to granting of any subdivision. Linda will for- ward Thomas’ letter to board members for review. We will vote on this letter first thing at our July meeting.

Hershey will ask the new owner of the army depot property, Earl Martin, to attend our next meeting.

Hershey made a motion to adjourn, David seconded. Meeting adjourned 9:10.

Respectfully submitted,

David Kidd

PB Minutes 5/26/16

Approved Copy PB Minutes 5/26/16

Meeting called to order at 7:02 pm. Members present: Linda, Bill, Rich, Dave, Barry, and Tom.

Previous minutes were read and approved – motion made by Rich, second by Dave.

Frankie Long came to the meeting to get information about adding a 100’ strip of property to her and her husband’s property on East Lake Rd. We informed her that if she is just extending her property line by this purchase it will not be a subdivision. However, if the lot is bought separately the sale will have to go through minor subdivision approval. In that case she would be able to sell the new lot at some point in the future.

Jim Somerville and Scott Ditzell returned to inform us that they have not been able to get Bruce Maybury to sell the needed 70’ strip to conform to current subdivision code. At this point the board views the current subdivision as illegal and the property sale cannot proceed. Linda is going to contact the town lawyer to double check our interpretation of the code. She will also seek any other possible resolutions the lawyer may offer. Jim and Scott are going to contact Bruce again. We also suggested they check with the lawyer that Jim and Bruce used for the original sale of the property to see if he can do anything to resolve the situation. The original sale was not a legal subdivision according to current code.

Katherine Potter contacted the PB prior to our meeting with information about increasing the business possibilities of Yale Manor. She proposes building four 30’ diameter yurts on the property for Glamour Camping. She wanted our advice as to how she should proceed so that everything will be properly approved and she can proceed with the purchase. She had concerns about electrical wires, septic, setbacks, etc. We informed her that she needs to contact the ZBA about a variance for setbacks, Seneca County PB for building permits, NYSEG, and the necessity of a special use permit. A site plan review will be necessary as well. She was appreciative of our advice and seems very hopeful to move ahead with her plans.

We briefly discussed Tom’s draft letter to the TB and various parties that need to be informed of the need to go through proper procedures for subdivision approval. He is addressing banks, lawyers, realtors, county officials, etc. with introductions that will draw their attention. He is very near completion.

Bill brought up a concern that should be added to our future topics of discussion of zoning issues. Sometimes summer rental properties can become problematic in areas such as noise, parking, traffic, and other disturbances. Should we consider zoning that may manage or help control such situations?

Meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm – motion made by Bill, seconded by Dave. Next meeting will be 6/23/16.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Somerville, secretary

PB Minutes 4/28/16

Meeting called to order at 7:02 PM. Members present were Linda, Tom, Rich, Dave, Barry, and Hershey.

Rick McCullough submitted a sheet with permits issued for the month of March. He also reported that there are a few pending that need variances. He submitted a question about how to handle a neighbor complaint concerning a bothersome light glare.

Minutes for last meeting (3/24/16) were submitted by David Kidd and reviewed. Hershey motioned to accept, Rich seconded all members who were present at that meeting approved.

We were informed by Linda that the Town Board adopted the new Zoning Code for the depot at their April 5 meeting.

Sarah Haws presented a map showing a parcel of land that she and her husband Tim would like to purchase. The problem is access – 100’ frontage is necessary but not available at this time. She is going to try to resolve the problem with the seller and also approach other neighbors about possible access.

Jim Somerville and Scott Ditzell approached the board with a subdivision problem. Jim had a parcel of land approximately 65+ acres and sold the tillable portion to Bruce Mayberry in 2012. This created a subdivision sale which was done without PB approval. Jim was unaware of the requirement and his lawyer did not inform him concerning subdivision code. Scott wants to buy the remaining property, but the access lane is only 30’ and needs to be 100’ of frontage according to current code. We suggested that an additional section of 70’ be purchased from the new owner. We also said we would look into other possible resolutions to the problem.

This again brought up the issue of illegal subdivision. It seems there are numerous situations where the code is being ignored or people are unaware of it. This is a serious issue we are trying to resolve. It has been proposed that we draft a letter to the TB that they might be aware of this problem and contact personnel associated with land sales such as realtors, lawyers, county officials, etc. that anyone subdividing property in Varick must follow subdivision code regulations. The first step in forming a legal subdivision is to present a map sketch to the PB for approval to move forward. Tom is going to draft a letter for this purpose for us to review.

Meeting adjourned at 8:56 – motion made by Hershey, second by Dave. Next meeting will be May 26.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Somerville, secretary

PB Minutes 3/24/2016

Planning Board minutes 3/24/2016

Members present: Linda, Hershey, Rich, Bill, David Ricky McCulloch. the new Code

Enforcement Officer was also present

Minutes from the February meeting were not available for approval. We will review those

at our April meeting.

Hal Ferguson provided Land Platt copies for the exchange of two parcels of property

between himself and neighbors, the James’. The proposal is to allow both parties to have

contiguous boundaries for their respective properties. These were approved, stamped and

signed by Linda.

Ricky requested that we have printable copies of the zoning permit application on our

website. Rich pointed out that the form exists but must be accessed through a link on the ZBA site. We want to get this changed so it can be accessed directly from the PB site.

Bill suggested that Ricky provide feedback to the PB regarding any issues or problems

he encounters. Ricky said he could provide information on permits to the PB.

Rich has been reappointed till 2020.

A letter to the county stating that it should not approve any subdivision in the Town of

Varick without the approval of the town was sent to the Town Board to be forwarded to the

county, however, we have received no response to this letter and its disposition is uncertain. Bill will prepare another letter. Rich will verify with Donna that the subdivision code she is using matches our current subdivision code.

Bill and Linda plan to attend the public hearing on April 5th on the depot rezoning.

There is a Regional Local Government Workshop on May 19th in Pittsford for Planning

Board members and other local officials. Confirmation of plans to attend should be in to Donna by the first of April. The town covers the cost of this workshop. Web training is also available.

Planning Board members need 4 hours of training per year. The regional workshop provides 8 hours.

We will postpone pursuing solar codes until after the workshop since there is training

provided there that will prove valuable as we write code for solar.

Hershey moved to adjourn and Bill seconded.

PB minutes 1/28/16

Draft Copy PB Meeting 1/28/16

Meeting called to order at 7:05. All members present.

Minutes to the 12/17/15 meeting were reviewed and approved, motion made by Dave, second by Bill. An addition was made to the minutes to include the language suggested by Tom concerning temporary docks.

The Town Board announced a public hearing to adopt the Subdivision Code that we submitted with the depot Zoning Code instead of calling for a moratorium per our last meeting. The hearing will be held on Feb. 2. Tom is going to try to attend. Linda suggested that we each take turns attending TB meetings to maintain communication on necessary issues. Rich proposed that the PB should review the subdivision code if approved by TB to make sure it agrees with our original submission.

Larry C’s term as Code Enforcement Officer expired. Ricky McCullogh is taking his place. Linda is going to invite him to attend our next meeting.

Bill asked if our letter to the TB requesting a letter to be sent to the county concerning PB approval of all subdivision applications was delivered. Linda is going to inquire of Donna Karlsen.

There was a brief discussion concerning a proposal of Seneca County to take over the depot area. Nobody knows how much progress is being made on bids submitted for the area.

We decided to create a new Google document to keep track of progress we are making on current issues – docks, solar panels, and wind energy. We will add changes or additions each month to document our progress.

We returned to our work on the issue of temporary docks. We discussed how to grandfather in current docks of this nature. We need to have some kind of permit or document that identifies such docks. Both the owner and the town should retain a copy of such documents.

We also considered redefining “temporary” and decided to clarify this with “removable or seasonal.” So far our language is: “A temporary dock (removable or seasonal) only requires a permit initially and may be reinstalled annually as long as it remains within the confines of its original location and/or zoning setbacks, and providing its structure remains unchanged. If the lot is too narrow for a dock to meet the side setbacks, the ZBA may consider granting a variance for a temporary dock and hoist with smaller dimensions installed in a way that does not impinge on the neighboring lots and contribute to congestion. This provision shall not be used to justify allowing more docks on larger lots.”

Motion to adjourn was made by Hershey, second by Dave at 8:45.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Somerville, secretary