Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD MEETING HELD ON FEBRUARY 18, 2010 AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Edward Carboni Vice-Chairman Clarence Badgley Chairman Joseph Moloughney Ms. Sharon Gariepy Mr. Mark DeFruscio ABSENT: Mr. Jake Dumesnil ALSO PRESENT: Ms. Melissa Ashline-Heil, Planner CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 11, 2009 MEETING Chairman Moloughney called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Chairman asked the planner to take attendance call. Chairman asked the Board to decide whether to approve the minutes from the January 11th, 2010 meeting. Member DeFruscio made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 11th meeting. Member Gariepy seconded the motion. Roll of call was taken and the motion passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A PARKING LOT PLAN FOR 3 MCELWAIN AVENUE Nicholas Walster owns property at 3 McElwain Avenue. A former warehouse, the current occupants include two coaches - one for wrestling one for baseball pitching, a photographer, a graphic designer, wheelchair internet sales and a picture framing craftsman. In all the services occupy 7,500 square feet. The Code requires 3 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet for services. Therefore, the applicant needs to provide at most 23 parking spaces. Mr. Walster submitted a plan that provides 25 parking spaces: 20 of these are perpendicular 9X20 spaces and 5 are 10X25 parallel spaces adjacent to the building. Mr. Walster also addressed several concerns raised during an initial Planning Board meeting in December of 2008. He added landscaping by placing three 6’ hemlock trees at each end of the parking lot. He pointed out the available lighting on the building. He also averred that the parking lot slopes so that storm water drains to the ditch parallel to the bike path. Member Carboni asked if the parking lot would have car stops and snow storage. Mr. Walster agreed to place car stops and pointed out that a fence would also be erected between the parking lot and bike path. He planned to provide snow storage on the northern most corner of the property. He will clear trees to create the parking lot and a small area for snow storage. Member Carboni asked if it would be a gravel lot. Mr. Walter indicated it would be a gravel lot as it is now. Chairman Moloughney asked that the owner create a handicapped space. Although the building has a door available at the lower level parking lot, one must climb stairs to enter the door. Therefore, Chairman Moloughney decided the handicapped parking space should be located at the top of the hill where the owner has constructed a ramp for accessibility. Finally, Chairman Moloughney pointed out that two outstanding issues remained. The County Planning Board had required that the County DPW review the plans. Since the ditch will handle more storm water volume than is currently the case due to removal of trees, Chairman Moloughney asked that the City Engineer and DPW review the plans as well. Vice Chairman Badgely moved to table the matter pending review by the City and county DPW. Member Carboni seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN FOR A COMMUNITY ROOM AND OFFICES AT 2 NORTH MOHAWK STREET Although the applicant did not attend the meeting, several residents attended to discuss concerns. The Planning Board also discussed the parking issues and the building’s appearance. Chairman Moloughney asked that Traffic Commission review alternative ideas for driveway locations. The Planning Board would also like the City to review use of alleys and Uri Kaufman's property for parking options. . Member Gariepy made a motion to declare lead agency status for the SEQR review of the site plan. Vice Chairman Badgely seconded the motion. Roll of call was taken and the motion passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X Daniel Cherniak, a member of the City’s Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board (HPARB), expressed concerns about placing new construction in the center of the Harmony Mills Historic District. She had recommended during the HPARB’s last meeting that Community Builders renovate an existing building for the offices and meeting room. At that meeting, HPARB merely discussed the project amongst themselves and the public. The applicant had not yet made a formal application to HPARB. However, comments were forwarded to Community Builders. In addition, Ms. Cherniak discussed the idea with Sue McCann after the first Planning Board meeting on January 14th, 2010. Furthermore, HPARB found that the proposed building does not fit in with the existing architecture. A resident of 146 Bridge Avenue agreed. He contends that new construction will never fit in with the existing Historic District. The current proposal looks like the new credit unions built on Ontario Street and Niver Street. Permitting new construction on North Mohawk for the proposal in this instance will open the floodgates to other proposals for new construction in the historic district. Instead, he advocates the two parties working together to ensure both sides’ needs are met. First Ward Council Representative April Kennedy added that the parking constitutes an unresolved quality of life issue as well. Neighbors argued against the original proposal due to existing parking issues in the area. Therefore, she argues that SEQR should not be closed until the parking and visual consequences are resolved. Chairman Moloughney summarized that Type I actions cannot be conditioned. Although the significant impact threshold for parking is higher than the few spaces considered necessary for this project, he did agree that its placement in the Historic District prevents the Planning Board from closing SEQR at this time. He requests that the applicants resolve the visual impact issue with the local historic board before the Planning Board makes any determination of environmental impact. Member Carboni made a motion to adjourn at 7:15pm. Member DeFruscio seconded the motion. Roll of call was taken and the motion passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X