Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD MEETING HELD ON MAY 14, 2012 AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Joseph Moloughney Vice-Chairman Clarence Badgley Mr. Edward Carboni Mr. Mark DeFruscio Ms. Sharon Gariepy ABSENT: Mr. Jake Dumesnil CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES FROM THE MARCH, APRIL 9TH AND APRIL 23RD, 2012 MEETINGS Member Carboni moved to approve the minutes. Member Gariepy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A POOL AT 64 PIKE CREEK DRIVE The application exceeds setback requirements. The applicant explained that water runs along the rear of the property to the bike path. Member Gariepy moved to approve the application. Vice Chairman Badgley seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A POOL AT 34 BROADWAY The applicant failed to appear. Therefore, member Carboni moved to table the request. Member Gariepy seconded the motion which the Board passed unanimously.  YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A POOL AT 17 MORRIS STREET Carol Collins proposes installing a pool in her backyard at 17 Morris. She owns an adjacent vacant lot known as 62 Egbert. The proposed pool will meet 10’ side and rear setbacks. Several years ago the applicant removed a pool and the same foundation will be used in this instance. Water runoff will flow toward Egbert Street since the neighbor is higher than the applicant’s. Member Gariepy moved to approve the application. Member DeFruscio seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A MINOR SUBDIVISION OF 104 WESTERN AVENUE James Ahearn asked to subdivide his vacant land at 104 Western Avenue. The resulting lots will substantially meet Cohoes Local Code. The westernmost lot will be .1 acre shy of the 1 acre requirement. Chairman Moloughney suggested that the Board could condition the subdivision on receipt of a variance from lot size requirements. As a result, Member DeFruscio moved to approve the subdivision. Vice Chairman Badgley seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR LEXINGTON HILLS William Hoblock received planned development district approval from Cohoes’ Common Council in 2008. Since that time he has been working with the City’s engineers to garner approval for the project before coming before the Planning Board. He has since substantially met all engineering requirements. Initially the project included a for sale product. However, given the economy the project had to switch to rental units. The project involves two types of rental structures: a 12 unit and a 10 unit structure. In addition, the applicant proposes a stand alone fitness center, a community building and walking paths. Design Engineer Joe Danamo described the project as 408 units total with 1,044 parking spaces which includes the garage spaces – available for every unit. Cohoes requires 2 parking spaces per unit, but the project provides 2.5 per unit. Spread out over a fraction of the 85 acres, the project preserves buffers along Western Avenue and retains 75% green space. The only formal outlet is on St Agnes Highway. However, emergency access is available through the St Agnes Cemetery. Member Carboni asked if the project will rely on City services. Mr. Hoblock described the project as all private. All services will be taken care of privately: road maintenance, plowing, garbage pick-up, even the sewer lines. Member Carboni asked if he plans to install dumpsters. Mr. Hoblock explained that since each unit has a garage, each unit will have a garbage can and recycling bin for County Waste pick-up. Furthermore, Mr. Hoblock is trying to create a community streetscape with sidewalks, tree-lined streets and period cast-iron lighting. Chairman Moloughney asked the location of the ponds’ discharge point. Mr. Danamo described the system as perforated pipe for seeping water into the soil with a final discharge point in the Army Corps wetlands. The project features several stormwater retention ponds and includes construction of a second pump station. Mr. John Sokol asked how the runoff will impact the Salt Kill as he has seen culverts block and overflow flood the Salt Kill. Chairman Moloughney explained that the project is beholden to new DEC regulations. As a result, the design cannot discharge anymore stormwater than the site already produces. In fact, the project will likely lessen discharge quantity and improve water quality. The project will also need to provide green infrastructure practices on site. Chairman Moloughney asked what types of ponds the applicant proposes installing. Mr. Danamo indicated wet ponds would be installed. Mr. Hoblock added that the ponds will have fountains. Vincent Marra of 158 Western Avenue asked the target market for the project. Mr. Hoblock listed empty nesters, young professionals, childless couples or those with small children. The natural consumer typically does not have school-aged children. Member DeFruscio moved to conditionally approve the site plan contingent on review of the Traffic Study and Albany County Planning Board approval. Member Carboni seconded the motion which passed unanimously.  YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR AN ADDITION AT 41 EUCLID STREET John Riley, architect for Kelman’s, presented the final site plan for a 4700 sq ft addition adjacent to State land along 787. The side of the addition will replace fencing that ran parallel to Rte 787. The addition covers a baler the company purchased two years ago to improve efficiency and organize operations. On-site traffic flow will not change. The business is willing to paint wainscoting on the addition to match the fence. The roof will continue to gabled slope of the main structure. The addition is approximately 28.5’ high. Member Carboni asked about the four garage doors on the plans. Mr. Riley explained that the garage doors are existing and are located on the rear of the main structure. Chairman Moloughney questioned how the applicant will handle debris on the property along the fence line. Mr. Riley agreed to continue blocking the bottom fence line with jersey barriers and metal fencing. Member DeFruscio questioned whether the baler will allow the business to extend hours or increase volume. He also wondered whether it would create a noise nuisance. Mr. Riley indicated that the baler reduces noise and makes operations more efficient. However, the applicant does not plan to extend hours. Member DeFruscio moved to approve the application conditioned on installation of additional fencing to block the appearance of debris along the bottom of the existing metal fence. Member Carboni seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF SEQR AND A CONCEPTUAL SITE PLAN FOR A MULTI- FAMILY OFF WILLIAMS STREET Design Engineer Thomas Andress represented developer Larry Regan on the project. He explained that the previous approval for single family and attached homes – approved in 2008 – was no longer viable. Instead, the owner placed the parcel on the market. The instant proposal is from a potential buyer who would like to construct the same number of units – 72 total are required to make the project economically feasible. However, the units would be apartments spread throughout three buildings. A separate community building would provide tenants with a library, computer room, laundry facility and meeting space. The apartments are touted as “workforce housing” to meet loan and tax break requirements. Chairman Moloughney asked for a definition of “workforce housing.” Mr. Andress explained that the maximum income level depends on the apartment size. The levels are set by state regulations; however he does not have the exact numbers. The infrastructure plans remain substantially the same. The developer will still install retention ponds to handle stormwater. He will also need to extend Williams Street and install connections to the water and sewer lines on Manor Avenue. However, the Williams Street extension will cross Housing Authority (CHA) land by an easement the developer negotiated with the CHA. The development will require a use variance for multi-family housing and possibly an area variance from height requirements. Chairman Moloughney added that he would like to see renderings of the visual impact. He also finds the parking lots to be excessive. Cohoes Planning Board has some discretion to reduce the amount of parking needed based on actual need as opposed to the straight formula of two spaces per unit. Mr. Andress explained that the layout is set-up to accommodate solar panels, which require the buildings to face south. Member Carboni suggested the Fire Chief review the plans for accessibility. He also asked if the project has designated areas for snow storage. Mr. Andress pointed out that the project has more than enough green space for snow storage. Mr. Carboni then asked about garbage removal. Mr. Andress explained that the development would rely on garbage cans rather than dumpsters. Member DeFruscio expressed his concern that the proposal leaves a large tract of buildable land. He wondered whether the developer plans to build more apartments in the future. Mr. Andress pointed out that if the developer has such an intention he would still need to apply to the Planning Board for approval. Member Carboni asked about the impact for the school district. Mr. Andress indicated that although the impact would be greater than the Lexington Hills proposal, it would not be any greater than the 2008 approval granted for single family homes. Chairman Moloughney expressed a concern about the long term appearance of the development since any income is from tax credits rather than rents. Member Carboni moved to declare intent to act as lead agency for SEQR purposes with regard to the William Street project. Member Gariepy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR HARMONY MILLS Dennis Hogan presented a proposal for rehabilitating Mills number one and four on North Mohawk Street. The renovations would result in a total of 101 apartment units between the buildings: 67 in Mill 1 and 34 in Mill 4. The project would include more than the required parking – which is 2 spaces per unit - with a mixture of indoor first floor parking as well as parking garages and outdoor parking. Chairman Moloughney asked why the developer won’t move forward on the future restaurant and offices. Mr. Hogan explained that the developer does not have an interested tenant yet and renovations cannot be made until a client is identified. As a result, those buildings will be stand- alone projects run by a separate entity. Chairman Moloughney asked about the traffic study issues determined by Creighton Manning. Mr. Hogan described the concerns as how the project brings traffic onto North Mohawk, not the increased amount of traffic. However, all issues will be overlayed onto the site plan for Traffic Commission approval. Member DeFruscio moved to approve a negative declaration for SEQR purposes on the project. Vice Chairman Badgley seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil ABSENT Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X Member Carboni moved to adjourn at 8:40pm. Member DeFruscio seconded the motion which passed unanimously.