Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 15, 2012 AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Vice-Chairman Clarence Badgley Mr. Edward Carboni Chairman Joseph Moloughney Mr. Mark DeFruscio Ms. Sharon Gariepy ABSENT: Mr. Jake Dumesnil CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES FROM THE SEPTEMBER 10th, 2012 MEETING Member Gariepy pointed out Moloughney and Dianne (Nolin) were misspelled in the September 10th 2012 meeting minutes. Given those corrections, Member Carboni moved to approve the minutes. Vice Chairman Badgley seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A POOL AT 51 BAKER AVE Mark Basile proposed installing a 33’ inground pool in the backyard of his home at 51 Baker Avenue. The pool would exceed the required setbacks. Mr. Basile would install a gated fence the same week. Member DeFruscio asked if the pool would have stairs at the end in addition to the 33’. Mr. Basile explained it’s a one piece structure that includes stairs. Member DeFruscio asked where water would flow in the event of a leak and what is behind the applicant’s property. Mr. Basile explained that the pool never exceeds 6’ deep as it isn’t a diving pool. Nine feet of the pool remains at 3.5’ depth and the total water volume equals 11,000 gallons. However, behind the home is an old garage converted from a barn. Member DeFruscio moved to approve the special use permit. Member Gariepy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN APPROVAL FOR 42 BEDFORD STREET John Porcello of Venetto Services would like to purchase 42 Bedford Street and repurpose the existing garages as a showroom for the bath fixtures the business installs. Member Carboni clarified the location as south of Babe’s Diner, which Mr. Porcello confirmed. Member Carboni also questioned parking requirements for the proposed use. Chairman Moloughney asked the applicant for details on the business uses proposed. Mr. Porcello explained that only 40-50% of sales derive from the showroom. The remaining sales are made in the field. At least fifty percent of the use is as storage for goods. The other two bays would continue as rental to the current tenants. The Code requires only one parking space per 2,000 sq ft for storage or warehouse uses. As a result, Chairman Moloughney and the rest of the board determined the project does not significantly change the property use as the existing tenants are commercial entities using the premises for storage, retail and business purposes. In addition, the showroom will have a low volume of retail traffic. The existing site has twelve parking spaces that should accommodate the instant proposal. Vice Chairman Badgley asked about the wooden shed behind the garages and what the applicant proposes for the portion of property behind the garages. Mr. Porcello explained that the wooden shed is in poor condition and the current owner has to remove it. If the sale proceeds Mr. Porcello would clean and maintain the back slope. However he has no plans to use the land for the business. Chairman Moloughney asked if the applicant plans to replace the existing tenants of the two bay garage. Mr. Porcello does not have any immediate plan to replace the tenants. However, he agreed to revisit the board for a site plan approval if the tenants or use of that structure changes. Member DeFruscio asked about external lighting and hours of operation. Mr. Porcello would open from 10am to 4pm six days a week. Therefore, lighting is unnecessary. Member DeFruscio asked if the applicant would pave the parking lot, which Mr. Porcello confirmed. Member Carboni questioned signage for the business on the property. Chairman Moloughney added that the applicant would need to comply with the City’s Local Code on permitted signage. Member Carboni moved to approve the application. Member Gariepy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF INTENT TO ACT AS SEQR LEAD AGENCY FOR 240 NORTH MOHAWK STREET Gerald Abdelnour owns property at 240 North Mohawk Street. Currently the property contains a large brick principal structure and two garages along the southernmost portion of the parking lot. Mr. Abdelnour proposes removing the two garages and placing a new metal structure for housing his business offices on the same footprint. The tenant occupies most of the existing building and has the capacity to expand. Mr. Abdelnour’s business is also expanding. Although he does not have a customer base in Cohoes his nine local employees work out of offices in the principal structure at this time. The remaining 30 employees are spread out around the country and work out of Alaska, Pittsburgh, Anapolis, Boston, Bronx, etc. Chairman Moloughney described the procedural requirements for the proposal. Mr. Abdelnour seeks SEQR and site plan approval through the Planning Board and will require Historic Board approval for the structure. Mr. Abdelnour will seek Historic Board approval. However, he added that some confusion about required approvals stems from an Historic Board determination that his property was out of the Historic District in November of 2006 when he sought approval for a fence. Chairman Moloughney explained that the property is within the district boundaries shown on the City’s zoning map. Member Carboni asked about the building proposed. Mr. Abdelnour described it as the same product used for the City’s new fire house. He proposes radiant heat in the flooring. Common Council Ward Representative April Kennedy sought confirmation that the proposal will preclude the use of Church Street for truck deliveries. Mr. Abdelnour explained that the slope of land behind the proposed structure is such that he could not install a parking or loading area. He is proposing installation of a wall as part of the project which would preclude ever filling in the rear portion of the property to construct additional parking. He altered the proposal to include these items in deference to the Councilwoman’s concerns as expressed a year ago when he brought a conceptual plan to the City. He added that the road shown on the plans is his parking lot. Church Street is on the other side of the alley. Councilwoman Kennedy asked about the building’s appearance as several renditions were submitted. Mr. Abdelnour explained that each rendering shows some different aspect of the proposal. However, the visual rendering has landscaping against a brown building with a stone base. Councilwoman Kennedy asked if there would be a second floor. Mr. Abdelnour described the structure as 9’ ceilings for the first floor and dead space above. The structure is not sized adequately for two stories. Member DeFruscio moved to approve the intent to act as lead agency. Member Carboni seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X CONSIDERATION OF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT AT 480 COLUMBIA STREET Chuck Marshall represented Stewarts’ request for site plan approval of a new building and a neighboring carwash operated by Mike Alonzo. In response to neighbor’s concerns, Stewart’s and the Alonzos made several changes to buffer the residential properties from any noise nuisances. The site plan shows an 8’ fence alongside a tree lined berm along the entire rear property line. A row of trees also buffers neighbors from the commercial uses proposed. Stewarts intends to preserve any existing trees on the vacant lot that aren’t in the line of construction. In response to traffic concerns Stewarts lengthened the curb on the intersection by 15’ to prevent cars from entering from Columbia Street across St Agnes Highway. Stewarts also agreed to install a “No Left Turn” sign at the St Agnes Highway exit to discourage exiting the north bound lane of St Agnes Highway. Vehicles will not be able to enter the facility from Monroe Street. Furthermore, the Columbia Street entrance is directly across from the CVS entrance in response to a Traffic Commission recommendation. Stewarts is willing to reconfirm the permitted hours of operation as 5am to 11pm. In addition, all deliveries will take place during those regular business hours. At this time tankers deliver in the middle of the night due to space constraints in the parking lot. The new site plan can accommodate tanker deliveries during regular business hours. Member Gariepy questioned the Wever monument sign proposed. Member Carboni asked if it will have internal lighting. Mike Alonzo intends to install exterior lighting for the sign. Mr. Marshall added that the Cohoes City sign will remain on the property as well. Member Carboni asked about installing a sidewalk on Monroe Street. Mr. Marshall expressed concerns about the expense as the sidewalk on Columbia Street costs $35,000. Chairman Moloughney added that the project does not impair pedestrian safety since the only entrances are on Columbia Street and St Agnes Highway. Chairman Moloughney covered procedural issues. The Planning Board needs to close SEQR before addressing site plan review. Mr. Marshall seeks a preliminary approval since Stewarts continues to work out stormwater system details with the review engineer. Member Carboni asked whether the decibel levels meet the local code limitations. Councilwoman Dianne Nolin averred that the minimum levels can’t be met at the lot lines. Chairman Moloughney explained that the nuisance of a decibel level varies based on the frequency band of the noise presented. In other words, a higher frequency band creates more of a nuisance than that of a lower frequency band of the same number of decibels. Stewarts has presented the decibel levels on the site plan. The instrument used to measure these decibels incorporates the frequency bands. In addition, Stewarts’ efforts to attenuate the decibel levels can and should be taken into account. For example, the berm, trees and fencing will mitigate the noise nuisance. Taken as a whole, these measures seem to meet the local code. To further ensure compliance the Planning Board can condition any final site plan approval on the guarantee that the project will not exceed the decibel levels outlined in the City’s code. Councilwoman Nolin also mentioned the Waterford car wash owned and operated by applicant Wever Petroleum is in deplorable condition. Trash litters the property and the siding is rotting. She has also visited several car washes in the area and did not find any in close proximity to an upscale neighborhood such as Bristol Estates. Mr. Marshall pointed out that the Waterford building has wood siding whereas the proposed carwash will have vinyl and stone facing instead of wood. He also offered that any neighbors can contact him at Stewarts for any property maintenance issues. He would call Mr. Alonzo personally. Mr. Alonzo explained that the Waterford car wash has two self-serve bays whereas the instant proposal does not offer that type of car wash. Instead it is two hands-free service areas. Customers remain in the car. Chairman Moloughney revisited Mr. Alonzo’s statement from last meeting: Wever Petroleum has two property maintenance workers who visit each site twice a day. He also pointed out that code enforcement is responsible for ensuring compliance with the state’s property maintenance standards. Furthermore, proximity to a residential neighborhood would likely increase notification of any property maintenance issues. Councilwoman Nolin then questioned the proximity of the driveway/parking area to the residential neighborhood. However, Chairman Moloughney explained that the code does not delineate proximity of parking to neighboring properties. Councilwoman Nolin pointed out that deliveries are currently made as early as 4am. Mr. Marshall agreed that tankers have to deliver during the night because the tanker truck cannot fit in the current parking lot configuration when customers are also parked in the lot. However, he assured the Board that once the site plan changes are made all deliveries will take place during regular business hours. Board members questioned the number of deliveries made to the site. Stewarts makes a delivery every three days. Specialty products – Pepsi, Coke, Frito Lay – make their own deliveries once a week. The tanker truck would also deliver once a week. Caroline Gurusz of 14 Stratford Court is more concerned with traffic patterns where Stewart’s exit meets St Agnes Highway and Columbia Street. She has had several near misses from people traveling that intersection. Mr. Marshall explained that the new plan extends the curb 15’. As a result cars cannot cross Columbia Street AND St Agnes Highway to enter Stewarts. Member Carboni moved to approve the Planning Board’s intent to act as lead agency. Member DeFruscio seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X Member DeFruscio moved for a negative declaration finding for SEQR purposes. Vice Chairman Badgley seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X Member Gariepy moved to approve the site plan preliminarily, conditioned on the following items: 1. Noise mitigation; 2. Site maintenance; 3. Hours of operation restricted to 6am-10pm for the car wash and 5am-11pm for Stewarts; and 4. Deliveries restricted to regular business hours. Member Carboni seconded the motion which passed unanimously. YES NO Joseph Moloughney X Leo Badgley X Edward Carboni X Jake Dumesnil Non-Voting Sharon Gariepy X Mark DeFruscio X Member DeFruscio moved to adjourn at 8:10pm. Member Carboni seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Please note the next meeting will take place November 19, 2012 due to a City holiday on the regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting date.