Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 4, 2010 AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Edward Carboni Mr. Mark DeFruscio Ms. Sharon Gariepy ABSENT: Mr. Jake Dumesnil Vice-Chairman Clarence Badgley Chairman Joseph Moloughney ALSO PRESENT: Ms. Melissa Ashline-Heil, City Planner CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 MEETING Acting Chairman DeFruscio called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The Acting Chairman asked the planner to take attendance call. Chairman asked the Board to decide whether to approve the minutes from the September 13th, 2010 meeting. Member Gariepy made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 13th meeting. Member Carboni seconded the motion. Roll of call was taken and the motion passed. YES NO Joseph Moloughney ABSENT Leo Badgley ABSENT Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF AN LED SIGN AT 480 COLUMBIA STREET Stewart’s proposes removing three price signs and replacing those with two LED price signs on the canopy. Each LED light will face a direction of traffic: east bound and west bound. The LED light will allow personnel to change prices from inside the store. Member Carboni asked if the light would be off after store hours, which the Stewart’s representative confirmed. The lights would be on a timer. Acting Chairman DeFruscio asked if the light shows just the regular price, which Stewart’s also confirmed. Member Carboni added that the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the sign at its September 27th, 2010 meeting. As a result, Member Carboni moved to approve the site plan. Member Gariepy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Therefore, the sign site plan was approved. YES NO Joseph Moloughney ABSENT Leo Badgley ABSENT Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A PARKING PLAN FOR A CHANGE OF USE AT 24 WHITE STREET Chris Brewer owns a mixed-use property at 24 White Street. He proposes converting the store front into another residential rental unit. A municipal lot facing Remsen Street abuts the rear of his property. Another municipal lot is across the street from his property. He also argues that the new residence would require the same number of parking spaces as the existing retail space. Acting Chairman DeFruscio explained that the existing use is grandfathered. Any change of use such as this proposal requires off street parking for the entire building according to the City Code. In this instance, the building requires 6 parking spaces. The owner does not have any private off street parking. Mr. Brewer explained that he receives many requests for rental units, whereas the storefront has remained vacant for years. He has a difficult time obtaining a loan from any bank because of the vacancy. He has visited four lending institutions. However, the first floor apartment is ideal for a person with mobility impairment who likely would not own a vehicle. Member Gariepy described driving to the site on several occasions. She found that few on street parking spaces are available to potential customers of downtown businesses. In addition, the municipal lots have two hour time limits between the hours of 8am to 5pm. Therefore, Member Gariepy finds that the addition of any residential rental units, where the tenants may be parked all day depending on work capability and shifts, would unnecessarily tax the existing parking availability. Mr. Brewer pointed out an exception for buildings in the MU-1 zone located within 500’ of a municipal lot according to section 285-88J. Member Gariepy added that the rule also requires excess capacity, which the municipal lots lack. Mr. Brewer questioned the definition of excess capacity since he has almost never had trouble parking his commercial truck in front of the building while working on the interior. Member Carboni added that the City constructed the Main Street lot to serve employees of downtown businesses such as MAC Source, Rizzo’s and LinguaLinx. The employees rely on those lots during business hours. Acting Chairman DeFruscio added that the proposal requires Historic Board approval and he advised the applicant to apply for a Zoning Board variance as well. The second ward Council Representative, Fred Turcotte, opposes the proposal because of parking problems. He expressed his concerns in an e-mail which stated that the proposal “…is counter to our long range downtown development plan of having retail space on the first floor …” He also points out that the proposal would increase the existing parking problem. Acting Chairman DeFruscio suggested tabling the request with the following conditions: 1) Corporate Counsel should provide an interpretation and decide who determines “excess capacity” in the exception described in § 285-88J; 2) the applicant should obtain Historic Board Approval for façade changes; and 3) the applicant should apply for a zoning variance from the off street parking requirement. Therefore, Member Carboni moved to table the request. Member Gariepy seconded the motion to table the request which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney ABSENT Leo Badgley ABSENT Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X Member Gariepy made a motion to adjourn at 7:05pm. Member Carboni seconded the motion. Roll of call was taken and the motion passed unanimously.