Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD HELD VIRTUALLY ON MARCH 8, 2021 at 6:30PM MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Mark DeFruscio, Chairperson Mr. Jack Carroll, Vice Chairperson Mr. Joseph Nadeau Ms. Stephanie Couture Mr. Bob Bucher ABSENT: No members absent ALSO PRESENT: Joseph Seman-Graves, City Planner Sharon Butler, Administrative Assistant Chairperson DeFruscio called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm. Roll Call: all members present Joe Seman-Graves; Mark do you mind if I say something really quickly? Chairperson DeFruscio; help yourself, thank you Jose Seman-Graves; just before we get going, I know we have a lot of comments sent in and I think you all for that. I just want to reiterate the sentiment that was in the emails that I sent back to everyone; 1. We look to inform the public about the events happening their neighborhoods and we like to do that with enough time to give them the opportunity to provide public input, tell us your comments, thoughts and just ideas on the projects. I do apologize that these letter got to you very late this month. We can only handle so much and we’re going to work better to maybe try to get them out earlier given the USPS is having such long delays. But, the planning board has taken that into account, so I just wanted to say that upfront because I did hear all the comments coming back and I do appreciate those and with that I will hand it back over to Mark. Chairperson DeFruscio; on that same sentiment, we do appreciate having people involved and voicing their comments, we like to hear from people, both the good and the bad, so thank you for joining us. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM THE FEBRUARY 8, 2021 MEETING Chairperson DeFruscio; first item on the agenda is consideration of the February 8, 2021 meeting minutes. I believe everybody, all the commission members had received a copy of the minutes, hopefully had time to review them. Does anybody have…..anyone not a commission member please mute your mic please, Mr. Patel. Hopefully all the members had time to review the meeting minutes in their verbatim so, anybody have any changes, modifications, additions? Vice Chair Carroll; I make a motion to accept as printed. Member Nadeau; I’ll 2nd Chairperson DeFruscio; so that was Jack making the motion and Joe 2nd, can we do a roll call? Motion carried unanimously YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio X Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams (alternate non-voting) CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE OF USE APPLICATION FOR A PROPOSED BUSINESS AT 144 REMSEN STREET Chairperson DeFruscio; next item on the agenda is the consideration of a change of use application for a proposed business at 144 Remsen Street. Do we have the applicant present? They’re looking to open a new business called Paint Cohoes Studio and Gallery. If you are the applicant you can unmute your mic and give us an overview of what you’re looking to do. Alicia Phillips; hi I’m Alicia Josh Boyark; I’m Josh Ms. Phillips; we are looking open a gallery/studio space that invites the public to come in and enjoy and create art that is safe and fun. Basically we want to show case artists that are locally and also bring in artists that are not local, that maybe we otherwise would not get a chance to experience and see their work. We also want to offer classes of different types to the community. I have an extensive background in early childhood education, so I’d love to do a lot of programs especially in the summer, like children’s camps and stuff like that and classes. We also want to offer a BYOB option in our studio which I know might be a little more difficult and requires a lot more work in obtaining. But that’s something that’s not first and foremost with what we want to offer in our studio, but as an option for especially women to come and have a safe space to enjoy a beverage while they’re creating art. Chairperson DeFruscio; questions from planning board members regarding this? Vice Chair Carroll; didn’t we have an issue with this with the Pakistani supermarket? Jose Seman-Graves; that was last month, there was an approved business for a Brazilian food market Vic Chair Carroll; Brazilian food market, excuse me Joe Seman-Graves; and that has since changed, so we’re looking at a new application Member Couture; I didn’t see any sketches of the interior layout or anything like that. If I missed it I apologize. But what is your plan for the interior? Ms. Phillips; so, so far in looking at the liquor, the type of liquor license that we would like to have for our studio, which is a tavern license, we would need to have an area that we would like to utilize the back portion of the space as a space to have a refrigerator and a table, like a stand for a microwave to offer like small sandwiches. You have to have that with a tavern license, like frozen foods that are prepackage and pre bought so we aren’t making anything in the studio necessarily ourselves. We’re buying prepacked premade goods that we would offer the community in order to have that BYOB option for our studio. The front space would be mostly, the wall to be utilized as an art on the wall and then 2 tables, that can come in between and make this stage up towards the back end of the that first space that you come into with a desk that will be sitting to your right and then the back, back space would be utilized as storage and a cleaning area for our studio space. We would eventually like to utilize that secondary room that is larger as a private party space potentially but that’s not something we’re considering immediately. Member Couture; so there is a rest room available in that main space that you would be occupying? Ms. Phillips; yes, there’s a rest room that resides right out, so there’s the big main space and then there’s that little corridor in between that has a rest room and then there’s a rest room in the back of the building as well. Member Bucher; I’m sure they’re going to have to meet…obviously submit for a building permit, would be my guess, to execute this, execute the renovations that are being planned. The SLA is going to require a floor plan as well and a furniture layout, definitely have to get those done for both of those applications. Member Nadeau; what I have in front of me says that the applicant is seeking a studio/gallery. Could you talk a little bit more about what that entails and is it, the percentage of studio, gallery verses party space. What your priority is. Ms. Phillips; our priority, we have to make revenue, we have to make money to have the spaces open and we have done extensive research and I worked in a paint and sip studio for a very long time and we need to make money to keep the space open. As much as I would love for the sale of art to keep the space open, I just know that’s not plausible. So for use the main goal, we really want to exhibit and have art openings once a month and really work with the community and have art available to the community. As for classes, birthday parties are included in that, it’s not a bar like atmosphere at all. I just wanted to reiterate that, we wanted the BYOB just as an option, but if it’s something we can’t obtain, just due to liquor law licenses issues or whatever, we do have alternative to make profits for the studio. It was just something we wanted to have as an option. Member Nadeau; I guess I’d be looking for clarification from Joe. It sound like if we approve this as a studio, gallery and that financially it doesn’t turn out that way, how, it turns out to be more of a food and alcohol location, I’m a little curious as to how do we handle that and what we’re trying to approve tonight. Are we trying to approve more of a studio gallery or are going to approve a food and alcohol locations? It can turn into that if it turns out that the revenues aren’t coming in. It looks like you’re looking for both and then if it doesn’t work out in 6 months, we’ll turn around and all of a sudden it’s strictly food and alcohol, I think we need to know that. Ms. Phillips; that’s not going to happen at all. We are artists ourselves and we intend to utilize the space as an art space and have teachings as well. Teaching people how to make different things, not just painting but I also make jewelry as well, some knitting we would like to bring in other outside artists to come in and with their skills and expertise be able to teach people different types of art. Joe Seman-Graves; just so I can clarify, I’m sorry, there’s some confusion with the board. Their business plan was sent in today, if you had not seen it yet, it was just a little bit of a last minute, so I did not prep the memo regarding the liquor side of that. I can say that any bars/taverns do require a Special Use Permit on Remsen. So that can be something that’s kind of written in if there’s a resolution approving the Paint & Sip. If it determines that it goes more than a Paint & Sip, they might have to come back in for a Special Use Permit for the actual bar/tavern I that’s a concern Member Nadeau; then I would expect that we’d have a stipulation that any alcohol should be related to some type of art activity as well. Ms. Phillips; oh the consumption of alcohol? So basically I can give you a rundown specifically of our liquor use outline and how we intend to use it. So basically classes would run for about 2 hours, patrons would have to purchase a class in order to consume alcohol in the space and they would be monitored the entire time they are there. Chairperson DeFruscio; they would have to purchase what, you broke up there. Ms. Phillips; that’s ok, they would have to purchase a seat in the class, so I have an online system where people would have to purchase a class seat prior to the class. And it’s going to be an 18+ restriction for those types of classes when we offer them. Chairperson DeFruscio; so they would bring their own alcohol, you would not be selling or distributing alcohol…(background talking) someone needs to mute, Joe can you mute them? Could you try again Alicia for me please? Ms. Phillips; so we’re looking to have strictly beer and wind, no hard liquor served or consumed on premise cause we all know how that goes right? And we don’t intend….. Chairperson DeFruscio; but would the customer be bringing it or will you be selling it? Ms. Phillips; so we would, so in the outline I have said we would be, people would, it would primarily be a BYOB but we would offer individual sales of like beers and wind upon request. If the individual was running late to the class and didn’t realize we were a BYOB studio, everything would obviously be monitored. Chairperson DeFruscio; any more questions from the commission members: Member Couture; I do apologize I did not take a look at the business plan, was there any indication of signage or how you would like the front of the establishment to look if you were to occupy it for this? Ms. Phillips; we were thinking having, were going to work with No Name Designs in Troy, we know the owner and we were going to design something that falls in the restrictions you guys have with the Historic society and we have a color palette that we would have to utilize, we have a drop down thing that kind of hangs out on the side, the owners had shown us that we would like to utilize and potentially doing something on the windows themselves, just some simple lettering so you can see it from a front face view of what it is that we are. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok anybody else, if no there commission members have any comments or questions, looking for public comments at this point in time on this proposal. Pat did you want to say something, Pat Coonrod? Ms. Coonrod; I just want to say that my niece is a very strong supporter of Sip and Paint establishments, can’t have to much art as far as I’m concerned, thank you Chairperson DeFruscio; so you’re a supporter thank you. Anybody else? Joe Seman-Graves; nobody is raising their hand in the chat room Chairperson DeFruscio; ok, so on that note I’d like to offer it up to the commission members for either a motion to approve or deny the application to, for a proposed business at 144 Remsen Street of a Sip & Paint. Again like Joe said we can put the provision on there that we’re not approving any cooking or bar environment any restaurant or bar environment here. We’re approving a Sip & Paint and if at a later date they want to expand the service provided at this location, they do need to come back for a Special Use Permit, just want to make sure they understand that. So is there any commission member want to make a motion? Member Nadeau; I’ll make a motion that we approve Vice Chair Carroll; I’ll 2nd Chairperson DeFruscio; take a vote please Motion carried unanimously YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio X Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams alternate (non-voting) Chairperson DeFruscio; so on that note you’re approved to move forward, we look forward to you presenting the art and having a successful business there. We just want to caution you, if you expand your menu and you offer anything of substance from a food perspective or get a full blown liquor license you need to come back to us for a Special Use Permit. Ms. Phillips; absolutely thank you guys, we look forward to working with the community Chairperson DeFruscio; Joe did you want to add anything to that? Joe Seman-Graves; no, I’ll just follow up with you tomorrow Alicia and send a follow up email with the next steps. CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE OF USE APPLICATION FOR A PROPOSED BUSINESS AT 75 REMSEN STREET Chairperson DeFruscio; ok the next item on the agenda is a change of use application for a proposed business at 75 Remsen Street. Is the applicant online with us? Bob Bedard; yes I’m here Chairperson DeFruscio; Bob Bedard, would you like to explain to the board what you’re proposing at this location? Mr. Bedard; ye, thanks for taking the time to meet with me today. I purchased the former Cohoes Savings Bank probably a year, year and a half ago or so and I’ve had a lot of interest in a number of organizations to host different events there. And so I would like to use the first floor space as a mixed venue, as a venue that I would not necessarily operate the events there, but could very well depends on what happens. The idea would be to rent it out to organizations that would want to run events in this space, could be weddings, could be meet and greet with the music hall, open to a range of different types of events. It’s actually a wonderful building that should be shared by the public and shared with the public and I’d like to do that. I don’t have any plans at this point for the lower level, it’s largely individual offices. The floor plan that I made there (on screen) and I’ll just walk you through it real quick. On the left hand side is the lower level which really the only thing we might use down there, there’s 2 bathrooms right down at the bottom of the steps, so if we need some additional bathroom space there’s a couple of bathrooms there, but other than that there’d be no use for down there. The 1st floor this is walking in the 2 doors, walking in through the main entrance, I set up some tables there just for looking purposes just to give you a sense of thaw the likely maximum seating capacity would be for any type of event. In this case it would be something like 15 tables with 8 seats, up to 120 people. I don’t envision any of the other rooms being used necessarily, with additional tables it very well could be that some of the other rooms are used for meetings, those types of stuff in conjunction with some sort of event but the idea is to primarily use the lobby as that area. And then the blue spaces (drawing on the screen) are basically food prep or serving areas, the pink on the left hand side would basically be a place where there’d be food prep. There’s no cooking there, everything would be catered so that pink area would basically be where the food would be taken out of the transporters and served. So no cooking, no washing dishes none of that stuff. Anything that’s going to be brought in will be brought in by the caterer and leave with the caterer. There are also some bathrooms right on the first floor in the main area, there’s two bathrooms up on the left hand side here and then there’s actually a third bathroom in an office off the back there. So that’s the general idea. I would say that I’m rally assessing the opportunity at that, I’ve had conversations with at least one person who is evidently pretty popular in the community who organizes a lot of weddings, Melanie Diaz you may know that name, but she is very interest in working with me to get a number of events happening here. So the motto would be someone like Melanie would basically take the lead in doing those things, I’d be the landlord. I don’t have any plans at this point for any particular improvements on the property other than normal safety stuff and code compliance stuff, which we already had a walk through and there’s very little that needs to be done in that case and that particular cases a couple of exits signs need to be put up and a couple of wires capped off, very simple stuff. And I’m really just trying to start the process, get a feel for what the market opportunity is. I don’t expect to get a lot of traction over the next 3, 4, or 5 months given the situation with meeting spaces. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to start to host things in the fall I’m guessing, maybe earlier, but probably not so I’ve got a little time here to kind of iron out some of the little details here, particularly if anyone has any particular questions or would like to see clarification on any aspect of the plan. I’d be happy to go back and work on those. I don’t have a name necessarily picked out yet so I still need to do that and then of course change the signage to comply with the historic regulations, I’m aware of that. Chairperson DeFruscio; what about the serving of alcohol? Mr. Bedard; any of that would happen with the person who rents the venue, I’m assuming that’s going to have a wedding if that would be the case, then they would get the appropriate licenses, so I don’t know how that would necessarily work from a planning board perspective. Member Nadeau; I have a question Mr. Bedard; I would not be the person who would be serving it as an example Member Nadeau; while looking at the plans, have you gone through any architecture office by way of, this is going to be a group setting now, 100-120 people as far as emergency exits, the correct amount of lavatory space, have you done that review with anyone? Mr. Bedard; I’ve actually not, I’ve not got a formal review of that, but I’d be happy to do that. Member Nadeau; ok Mr. Bedard; I probably need to do that right? Member Nadeau; I’d love to see it open to the public again, it’s a beautiful building, so anything you can do to open that building up again where the public has a shot at seeing that artwork again that would be fantastic. Mr. Bedard; I agree with you Member Bucher; you’re absolutely right Joe, looking at the plan definitely lavatory spaces is a concern, exiting is a concern. ADA accessibility I’m sure is in the rear or side of the building that will have to be addressed. So the applicant is definitely going to have to invest in an architect to review this space. Mr. Bedard; absolutely Chairperson DeFruscio; what I’m hearing is that at this point in time with the limited information that we have, we are looking favorable on you moving forward but we really couldn’t give you an approval at this point in time until you go through the process of sitting with an architect evaluating the costs of implementing the exit strategies and the rest rooms, the additional rest room required and then coming back to us Mr. Bedard; sounds good, makes perfect sense. Is there anything else you’d like to see, so I can make sure I address everything? Chairperson DeFruscio; we’re always interested in parking, the removal of trash, how you are going to handle the trash out of this building during the special events and stuff like that. Because the trash will be a little heavier than normal, than what you have. Any other commission members have any comments? Member Couture; so I just wanted to piggy back off of what you said in regards to the trash removal if there’s catering. We would also like to know where is it that the truck or vans are going to be parked when they’re doing the catering delivery and drop off for whatever events are going on. In addition to that parking, you mentioned possibly doing the meet and greet with some maybe music hall performers which I think that’s a fantastic idea and a great way to incorporate another Cohoes land mark, but my only question then would be parking. If the music hall have an event and then we’re also possibly bringing in some additional foot traffic with some type of event going on in your establishment, we need to keep parking in mind. Mr. Bedard; absolutely Member Couture; my third item was there are at points during the summer season where Cohoes does Rock the Block and they block off that end of the roadway, so I want to put out there that we would hope that you would work with the City and obviously if there’s some type of event and the scheduling is worked out so that way the City obviously has the event they’re holding and you’re able to schedule things accordingly. Mr. Bedard; yes, absolutely. I have attended a number of those events and they are very well attended so, anything I can do to compliment those things it would be awesome. I usually watch from the roof of the building, ‘m not inviting others up there to do that..it’s a great building and I’m excited to kind of get something going with it and really evolve it into something that’s really utilized by the community. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok, let’s give the public an opportunity to make any comments, is there anybody from the public that has a comment positive or negative note, you can raise your hand, unmute yourself and speak if you’d like. I’m not seeing anything there. So Joe do you have a preference of doing a preliminary approval contingent upon providing an architectural review or do you just want to wait until we get the architectural plan? Vice Chair Carroll; we could table it couldn’t we? Joe Seman-Graves; you can do all of the above. Since there’s a couple of things you’re looking for right now I’d, to me it makes no difference because there will be another review regardless, it’s entirely up to the board. Chairperson DeFruscio; so I’ll ask the board members, anybody want to make a motion to either table this item or do a preliminary approval contingent upon providing an architectural rendering that we would then approve? Member Bucher; I would propose to table it because instead of burdening the minutes with things that at least I would expect in an architectural review, especially accessibility to the building, I think it would be easier just to table it and get all of our questions answered at the next meeting Chairperson DeFruscio; ok so Bob has made a motion to table it, anyone want to 2nd? Vice Chair Carroll; 2nd Motion carried unanimously to TABLE this item YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio X Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams alternate (non-voting) Joe Seman-Graves; Mr. Bedard, I’ll contact you tomorrow with a follow-up, but just so I am clear from the board since we won’t have these minutes done by tomorrow, you’re looking for some documentation showing that it is ADA compliant and has enough bathroom space in the building for 120 people and more information on parking, trash collection and then where deliveries will be made during catering. Did I miss anything there? Member Bucher; ADA accessibility too Joe at egress. Mr. Bedard; ok, that sounds good. Member Bucher; I am very much in favor for it, it’s a beautiful building and I think it will be a spectacular use. Mr. Bedard; ok thank you. I totally understand that this is the process and I understand you guys support it, I just need to get everything done properly, I’m totally on board with that. Member Nadeau; we’re looking forward to seeing you again. CONSIDERATION OF A SKETCH PLAN CONFERENCE FOR A PROPOSED MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT AT 110 HEARTT AVENUE Chairperson DeFruscio; next item on the agenda is a sketch plan conference for a proposed mixed-use development at 110 Heartt Avenue. Do we have the person that, the applicant? Is that you Rhonda? Would you give us an overview of your vision? Ms. Rosenheck; sure. Thank you for seeing me and to Joe for facilitating this. I am, this piece of land came up for sale through the Albany County Land Bank to put it back on the tax rolls. It’s on Van Schaick Island right across from a little woods and catty corner from the public park (map on screen of property) and it’s that dog leg lot there. So I am a writer, I was an educator in the private schools for 33 years, and a leader for 16 – 17 years and a teacher in the classroom before that. And I’m retired from that and I’m a writer. I have an idea to put what’s called a tiny house on wheels across the back of that property and to put what is called a little free library at the edge of the sidewalk which is, I’ve given supplemental information so if there’s’ any of these you need defined, I can define them out afterwards and to create also at the front a bid of a reading garden which is essentially a nice place with some benches which is open and available. There will be fencing, there is already fencing between this lot and the neighbors with the exception of one piece which is the back north end and so I would complete that fencing and then I would do a visual fencing in front of and around the tiny house which is at the back of the property to make it clear this is the private area. The tiny house would sit on a landing pad and that would either be gravel or cement. There is a system that uses gravel that allows for a very strong surface and much better for rain water absorption and such, so we’re looking into that. It is called Core, it’s from a company called Core Gravel in Canada and it uses a mat of sorts that’s open in a bee hive design so it creates a tremendous amount of strength without it having to be a solid surface. The landscaping would be native and it would make the garden area kind of cozy and then demarked at some of the edges a little bit for privacy but be native plantings. And the tiny house on wheels itself is like a stick build house on a trailer and it’s extremely efficient and healthy in its build. It’s insulated and wrapped and I’m looking into solar on a net meter, so whatever I don’t use I can feed back in and really it’s just a beautiful little solid building that could be moved occasionally. It would be skirted around and there would be a small deck in front of it, again in sort of that back area delineated as a private area. And that would be my writing studio and my office and I would occasionally allow other people, invite other people to use it as a writing retreat. I also spoke with just this last thing is the little library is a marvelous project worldwide now and we would be chartered as a site with the organization and speaking with Theresa Bourgeois, I offered my assistance in any kind of citywide movement towards bringing these into communities and she thought maybe be a part of a group of those people who steward them and helping that along and I’d be very, very interested in that and that’s it. I’ll just answer questions at this point. Vice Chair Carroll; I have a question. Will anybody be living there? Ms. Rosenheck; no, nobody’s living there, I live in Nassau, nobody’s living there. Sometimes somebody might sleep over there. Chairperson DeFruscio; are there going to be any facilities, you know a rest room? Ms. Rosenheck; yes, it’s a full house, it’s got a kitchen, it’ll have a full bathroom and shower/tub, toilet, sinks etc. Vice Chair Carroll; do you have a picture of it anywhere? Chairperson DeFruscio; it’s going to be connected to Cohoes facilities then Ms. Rosenheck: the only, yea so these can be made to be off grid, but in this environment it makes in my mind, much more sense to be hooked into the facilities. One could do a composting toilet and stay out of the system there but then I would have to ask you about what they call grey water disposal filtering and disposal and then that’s for being out in the woods somewhere and doesn’t make any sense. But it’s very light on the services, very energy efficient and if I can do the solar the panels would be on the roof top and we would use a net meter, which means we would hooking to National Grid, which would then give us back our energy and send out our energy that we don’t actually use. Vice Chair Carroll; how does this differentiate between the little house and a trailer? Ms. Rosenheck; it’s a really good question. There are a number of differentiations. The overall one is this is a very high quality build. This is truly a stick built house on a trailer base, this with ordinary maintenance will last me as long as a house will last a person. It will be certified by an organization where it, the way through the certification we’re not finished with the finishes of the build yet, I have it parked near me. But an organization called the National Organization for Alternative Housing and they do a rigorous certification process that combines the certifications of the recreational vehicle world and electrical and safety and fire certifications and regulations from the housing industry. So if you achieve this certification, you’re essentially ensuring that you have CO2 and fire detectors and you’re ensuring that you have sufficient egress, you’re ensuring that if you do move it, it’s not going to fall apart on the highway, all of those things from both of those universes will be assured the quality of this. The other thing that is different, it’s not another thing, it’s another way of saying a lot of time the trailers and recreational are made of plastics, there made from not necessarily healthy materials for people or for the environment and this is the opposite of that. This is all low VOC materials, all environmentally sourced materials and all energy efficient in its usage. Vice Chair Carroll; Joe are there any City regulations about, I won’t say little house, but movable home? Joe Seman-Graves; so this is an interesting example for a couple of reasons. One ultimately what the applicant is looking for today is guidance or next steps. This is a unique ask for sure, however I’ve been approached on this lot specifically from the Albany County Land Bank upwards of 6 times, Rhonda being one of these individuals. The first 5 had a very similar idea for a tiny home, we don’t necessarily have any regulations that say tiny home in them, however we do have the general setback and uses. What makes this interesting is the use that’s being proposed and this is where we’re looking for planning board guidance. The use itself is a mixed use, it’s not a traditional commercial on the first floor and residential above but the property would be mixed. In this district mixed use is allowed by way of a special use permit so the planning board could decide that we would like to see this proceed with the special use permit but caveats on it as well as have the ability to review it later whether it’s a year, 6 months what have you down the line. So this use would need a variance for where the house is being placed no doubt about it, however given the uniqueness of the lot and the uniqueness of the lots around the City, that the land bank owns, Rhonda had the wherewithal to see it through the planning board. So right now we’re just looking for guidance, if the use itself is something the board would entertain, so Rhonda can proceed. But there are obviously limitation on lot size requirements that will have to be addressed through the Zoning Board. Ms. Rosenheck; may I jump in just to supplement that? I think we’re looking for just 2 setback variances Joe, along 2 of the back areas, 10’ setback we would want them to be, I think 5 is where we’re at with those. In terms of moving movable houses and movable tiny houses there is an entire universe of the beginning of this. These tiny houses have been in process and being created over the last couple of decades and the use of them or the inclusion of the ones on wheels has just beginning now, so very recently, Great Barrington, just a few months ago, I don’t remember which month, maybe September included the movable tiny house, I’m not sure what the exact language was, if it was movable tiny house or movable small home, as another option for the auxiliary dwellings in backyards for instance. So the idea that these are profoundly different than parking a trailer in a place and its effect in a neighborhood is making its way through municipalities slowly, so you would be on a front edge but not at the bleeding tip of it. Vice Chair Carroll; the roof of this house, it is peaked or is it flat? Ms. Rosenheck; it’s peaked, its corrugated aluminum peaked with the, it’s one angle it’s not a, I don’t remember the language for it but it’s got one slant. Member Nadeau; shed, shed type roof Ms. Rosenheck; yes, shed type roof and that will face south so it’ll be really wonderful for the solar. Chairperson DeFruscio; I personally have a problem with distinction between a tiny home on wheels and a trailer or RV, recreational vehicle. I have seen developments in other parts of the country in the tiny home area, where they’ve actually been using tiny homes of 600 sq. ft. or less to help house the homeless and or people on the lower end of the scale but there usually not, there usually permanently planted where they are. There not on wheels and movable. We would definitely need to look at any City ordinances that pertain to travel trailers or anything on wheels to see whether we have issues with the tiny home on wheels. I agree with you that tiny homes are actually being taken up, normally you know if there on wheels, there put on lots using septic systems and things of that nature no planted in the middle of a city and remaining on wheels. So I guess that’s where I’m having an issue, I think this is a perfect use of the property that you’re trying to use, I thinks it’s a great idea, I’m just trying to think of the hurdles we’re going to have to overcome. Ms. Rosenheck; there are tiny, usually tiny, the tiny house definition is usually 400 sq. ft. and smaller in square footage, there are tiny houses that are on foundations, so this actually called tiny house on wheels and then there are tiny houses that are on foundation and there are other kinds of things like that would have a deck and like that so definitely Joe told me and I understand that you need to take a look at this because it’s new and I could, there we’re some pictures of an example of a tiny house in the architects drawing, it’s not mine, mine isn’t finished yet so what you see in mine is wood and stuff that makes it warm. Oddly Chairperson DeFruscio; insulation Ms. Rosenheck; insulation, thank you. I live with a chronic illness that among other things takes my words away from mw which is weird for an educator and poet. Joe do you have the one from ME Studios (on screen) Joe Seman-Graves; you have sent some of those but not with the application, so I didn’t include them in the power point. I can pass those along to the board. Ms. Rosenheck; so in the, the architect did a drawing of what the landscape and how the layout would look and on there are also just photograph, we found a good same of another tiny house on wheels that will look a lot like mine when we’re done with it and also of the little free library. Member Bucher; Rhonda can I just ask why to follow up on Mark’s point, is there a specific reason you want the tiny house on wheels and not to have a permanent foundation? I see some water connection, I see some utility connection challenges for something skirted and up off of grad, so is there a specific reason you would want to go in this direction? Ms. Rosenheck’ I couldn’t be asking to use the lot for, to build on it first of all because its, you have it listed as a unbuildable lot and the other reason is, I’m fascinated with tiny homes and because it’s small you can finish it with very beautiful finishes cause you’re using so little of each material and in 30 years if I want to move somewhere else I can take this with me without disrupting the land, without leaving a foundation somewhere, without leaving behind something beautiful that I made for myself, so I wouldn’t be here if we we’re looking at one with a foundation. The reason I, there’s a simplicity to having it on wheels also not 100% more simple but something simpler. Chairperson DeFruscio; like Bob said it’s a utility connection perspective that we’re looking at from, because you’re going to have to connect to the water and to the sewer in a manner that is very similar to any travel trailer and things of that nature. Member Bucher; right Joe is this, is that the case that a permanent structure, I mean if we’re looking at set back variances, I mean that speak to a permanent structure in my mind or accessory structure is that….. Joe Seman-Graves; this is not buildable in the sense that a lot requirements whether size or set back don’t lend itself to anything. Now if we were going to put a single family home on here, that is that size, that would be one thing but I have not come across any at least any applications to come into me for a home that size. What I think would be helpful is if the board can kind of have 2 buckets, one being the actual use being proposed and on that is the building itself. Since I didn’t include any images of the building at this point, I ‘d like the opportunity to show the board those images, I’d be interested on feedback on the actual use, since that is somewhat of the unique aspect of this as well. Member Nadeau; I think a little clarification on whether it’s going to be a writers studio or a residence or a writer studio/residence. Ms. Rosenheck; no, not a residence. It’s a studio and an office Member Nadeau; you did indicated that someone would be sleeping over Ms. Rosenheck; sometimes. If I invite somebody or I take a retreat there, a writing retreat, I might stay there for 3 or 4 days. It is capable of being a residence but it is not, the usage is not as a residence. Nobody’s going to be there on a lease, nobody’s going to be, I’m not going to be living there as my primary residence in any way. I live very nearby, it’s it is a building that is capable of being a residence but it is not at all my plan to have it be a residence. Again if we’re talking about a few weeks a year that somebody not even continuously, but a few weeks over the course of the year, where somebody else might be using it as a retreat for writing then or for other creative work with their computer, then they would, if local not sleep there, but if they’re not local likely will sleep there. Member Nadeau; ok thank you Chairperson DeFruscio; if the board doesn’t have any more questions right now, I ‘d like to open it up for public comment and see if, what kind of comments we have from other residents either in the area or anybody that just wants to voice and opinion, comment. Hi Pat Coonrod, I don’t know much about variances and whatever but I’m definitely in favor to promote anything that promotes reading and a pocket park sounds really nice also. And I also would be a contributor, because I’m an avid reader. Thank you. Ms. Rosenheck; these little free libraries are amazing for community building and the, for pedestrian traffic of people of all ages coming through. It’s just wonderful Chairperson DeFruscio; Pat Coonrod was speaking originally and then Rhonda was just commenting after. So Rhonda when we let the public speak, they need to talk to the commission and we’ll respond to them please, ok? Is there anybody else, Pat spoke on the other issue to Sharon if you didn’t know that. Sharon; I got her on the other one Chairperson DeFruscio; ok, so is there anybody else from the public interested in commenting and the one thing I will say is there is a book share down on Delaware Avenue on Van Schaick Island as well, where people exchange books and share books like a little library, that’s right next to the Van Schaick Mansion, that’s been there for awhile. Vice Chair Carroll; and there’s on up by Harmony Hill Elementary school also. This isn’t my neighborhood but if I could make a quick comment that I thinks it’s a very creative use of a unique parcel. Chairperson DeFruscio; can I ask who’s speaking right now please? My name is Alice Benamati; we live up on the hill so like I said it’s not in my neighborhood, but I find this project to be a very creative use of a difficult parcel and I think it would set a good example for other people with potential development in this City. That the City is open to perhaps a little non-traditional creativity when it comes to using up those vacant parcels of land rather than have it sit there as a place where kids might get into trouble, to make a creative use of the property like this is a wonderful idea Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you for your comment Alice, thank you Pat also. Anybody else have any comments or anything at this point in time? If not I guess the only thing we’re looking to do as this point in time is have the board members voice whether they think this is something that we can continue to pursue going forward so that Rhonda knows whether or not we’re in favor of it or not. My opinion is, it is an interesting use of a piece of property that’s landlocked, that’s not going to go anywhere else, but I do have reservations about the little house on wheels which may bring some other City ordinances into play here which we need to investigate and we need more information from Rhonda on exactly what she’s got there, how she’s going to connect to the public utilities and things of that nature. Member Bucher; yea, and I think Mark, I think to Joe’s point definitely putting in 2 buckets. I myself think it’s a wonderful use, I’m totally supportive of it and on the other side I just have some more questions on the execution of tiny houses in this environment. I’m familiar with tiny houses obviously as an architect, but in this case just have some more questions, but I’m definitely in favor of the use. Member Couture; I just want to 2nd that, I do like and appreciate the concept that Rhonda brought to the table and I think it’s a great opportunity for the community as a whole, so I’m hoping we can address any issues and concerns that we have and hopefully get a positive resolution out of this because it is a great idea for the community, so thank you Rhonda for bringing it to the table. Chairperson DeFruscio; Mr. Nadeau, Mr. Carroll any comments? Both responded no Chairperson DeFruscio; ok then on that not I think Rhonda you understand what we need to look at moving forward, we do appreciate your creativity and look forward to an opportunity to try to make this work for you. Ms. Rosenheck; can I just ask before you move on, I have a meeting with the architect on Friday to bring whatever comes up here to him, so the connections to the public utilities how that would work, what else, Bob you said you have some further questions in the execution of the tiny house on wheels in this environment, is it something beyond the public utilities that I can understand how to address it, before the next time we come to you? Member Bucher; well for me personally, the skirting, the anchorage of the tine house. Typically they have more, a different system to connect to grad than a trailer does, so just a couple of those details I think myself and the board would be interested in. Also if there is going to be any exterior lighting, the renderings of it, I think Joe said how much glazing is on it. I think those are probably all applicable as mentioned a shed roof probably has clear story of glass on one side, on the upper roof but just if Joe has those renderings. I think the connections, the utility connections, how those will be insulated and the skirting and the anchoring system for it, speak to specifically as you mentioned, you’re absolutely right Rhonda two types of tiny houses so that’s what I’d be looking for. Ms. Rosenheck; ok really helpful. Joe what we show of the house itself there is an example maybe share it but when I’m done with the meeting with Kyle on Friday I can let you know when he can get more specific, a more specific drawing to you, to the board how’s that? Joe Seman-Graves; I just looked through my emails Rhonda, I have the original images you sent of the house under construction, but I don’t have any rendering on the lot. So if there was one created if you can send that over? Ms. Rosenheck; ok Member Couture; just a really quick questions at what point would we just make sure that any emergency type service vehicles or personnel that need to get back there would be able to access it with it being set back behind the property? Joe Seman-Graves; it’s within the, so where the house would be sitting it’s about 50-60 feet off the front, that’s acceptable. I showed this to Chief Faud as well as our engineer for water hookup, now how it actually gets hooked up that’s a different story, that’s something that we look into more but the actuality of being able to hookup to the water and fire services to get in, that was not an issue with either. Member Couture; ok excellent, thank you Chairperson DeFruscio; ok on that note, thank you Rhonda for your time, appreciate your creativity and look forward to seeing you in the future Ms. Rosenheck; thank you very much I look forward to it too. No motions we’re made, so no voting took place YES NO Bob Bucher Joseph Nadeau Mark DeFruscio Jack Carroll Stephanie Couture Kizzy Williams alternate (non-voting) CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN AMENDMENT FOR THE APPROVED DEVELOPMENT AT 218 COLUMBIA STREET Chairperson DeFruscio; ok next item on the agenda is the consideration of a site plan…. Vice Chair Carroll; doe we have to vote on that, is it something we have to vote on? Joe Seman-Graves; no just a recommendation Vice Chair Carroll; ok thank you Chairperson DeFruscio; so we’re looking at consideration of a site plan amendment for the approved development at 218 Columbia Street. The applicant wants to install an exhaust fan and make up for a proposed griddle and fryer in the building. When we reviewed and approved this proposal we did not approve any restaurant style provisions in this location, it was just all supposed to be light food fare as in other gas station convenient stores, so Mr. Hennessy did you want to describe to use what you want to do? Mr. Hennessey; yes, is my volume ok? Chairperson DeFruscio; yes we can hear you good. Mr. Hennessey; we originally did not plan or did not know that we were going to do food initially and then later in the process I erroneously thought it was part of the building permit process but be that as it may, the proposal is for a 750 cubic foot per minute exhaust fan to serve a hood for a griddle and fryer. It would be approximately 4’ x 4’ inside possibly 5’ x 4’ indoors. It is not a commercial kitchen cooking application, it is a smaller application. The 750 cubic foot per minter hood is smaller than the one we actually thought of when we were doing the building permit because we don’t need anything that large. The exhaust fan would sit on the flat section of the roof which is within the roof well below the top of the roof. There are mono truss roof sections surrounding a flat roof section in the building that would conceal the hood and conceal the condensers and the HVAC equipment for the building. Prior comments from neighbors were concerned with the house and visual of that equipment on a side yard. The condenser and the HVAC unit which confirmed that we wanted to do this kind of design and conceal the equipment as much as we can on the roof. From a visual standpoint, side walls of the mono truss section of that roof are 4’9” high, basically 57” the exhaust fan would sit 40” above the roof level. Code requires it to be a minimum of 40” above the roof so the fan would actually sit 17” lower than the top of that section. One of the photos actually was taken at the elevation of the top of the mono truss. The photo on the lower right (on screen) so the yellow house to our west the top of the 2nd floor window is just about at the elevation of the top of that mono truss section so they will not be able to see any of the equipment on the roof. Part of the reasons, all of this was done in 2018 originally we had issues in 2019 and then with Cronavirus in 2020, lead to all of our delays and we thought that it might be best to wait on this is until we could actually have that visual of some of these photographs and some of those drone photographs to more accurately depict the existing conditions of there. I just didn’t get up there til before the snow fell on it. But that’s the usual element I want to address, the other element I suspect is of interest is the wind and potential odors emitting from the exhaust fan. It is an up blast exhaust fan so it doesn’t blow left, right or side to side, it just blows up vertically and it’s going to exhaust at approximately 540 feet per minute, so the exhaust does blast upwardly and not sideways so it enters the air space at a higher elevation so it will not have any you know significant migration in the direction of the adjoining house. The wind rose at, I found from Albany County airport, allows for different analysis of the wind direction and from a monthly even from an hourly standpoint. But generally the summer months the, approximately 40% of the wind direction is from the south, southwest and southeast. In the winter months approximately 60% is from the west, northwest so Mr. Seman-Graves if you want to be able to scroll to the plan we can look at some of those directions. The site plan is on the lower right (on screen) and there is a, the north arrow points to the right side of the page so the predominate wind direction will be away from the residence to our west and to our south that is the prevailing wind direction that we were able to identify from Albany County airport. Obviously we are proposing to put the fan in the center of the roof allowing for the makeup air unit to be there in the front corner fans that are 400 CFM or more required makeup air. So our bathroom fans typically are about 100 cubic feet per minute 100 CFM. We don’t require separate makeup air in our houses but if you go over 400 you do have to have make up air. So we have to have makeup air louvers and it has to be 10’ away horizontally or 3’ away vertically lower. We may be able to do the 3’ away vertically but I don’t want to get into the weeds to much here since the fan is 40” above the roof level, there may be some room there but that’s why we proposed it there to keep it 10’ away horizontally. Those are code requirement 10’ and 3’ are code requirements for makeup air. So I know that might be a lot of detail but that basically the proposal at this point and obviously I will entertain any questions. Chairperson DeFruscio; the thing that I don’t hear Mr. Hennessey is that I’m looking for is the justification for the addition of these services. I think we were very clear when we approved the gas station that we were very limiting as to what food could be provided at this location. You have any justification for the addition of this fryer and griddle? Mr. Hennessey; well generally speaking, it is now become more of an important element to these convenience store operations it provides a service to a community and to the area to providing fresh cooked breakfast sandwiches for commuters and it’s become something that helps set them aside from some areas, some stores that don’t provide that service. It’s not intended to be a restaurant by any stretch of the imagination it’s just for their breakfast sandwiches and heated foods, they can provide hot dogs and hamburgers and French fries in the fryer but it’s just become something that’s just important to their type of operation. I’ve done many of these and most of my applicants want that and ultimately because of the need to provide that additional capability for a convenience store. If I need to provide additional information I can put together other numbers. I didn’t plan for that here that can be dealt with Vice Chair Carroll; will there be any tables indoor dining and if so how many? Mr. Hennessey; the applicant only planned on having coffee counter in the front and he may have room across the front windows, it’s narrow to have any large tables he may be able to have one or two or three of the bar type tables for individuals. The owner is on now but has said that he doesn’t necessarily want that because people tend to want to sit there for longer periods of time and occupy space that might be available for others, so that was never a plan to have sit down meal arrangements. Chairperson DeFruscio; other questions from other members? Member Nadeau; I have a little concern that, it’s unfortunate that this can’t be a public meeting as opposed to a Zoom meeting, my concern would be at the approval meeting there were 5 or 6 neighbors that said, that expressed their concerns about the location of the gas station closer to the property line, garbage containment that type of thing. I’m sure we’ll expect to hear from a few of those people tonight or maybe Joe has heard from them, but now we’re introducing an odor in the air that I’m not sure that’s, I know the zoning use it’s a mixed use zone but I think I’d like to hear from or if Joe has heard from any of the neighbors or any feedback from anybody that’s in the immediate vicinity of the location. Chairperson DeFruscio; we will hear from them next. Any other members have any other questions or comments? Member Couture; I was just wondering with the proposed addition of the griddle and fryer is there also going to be additional employees now at this location as well? Mr. Hennessey; no, the plan right now is to have one or 2 employees there. There’s no plan to have 3 or 4 right now, that’s all they need is 1 or 2 for that. One would be at the point of sale and the 2nd might be at the cooking. Member Couture; and then in addition to that like Joe said, I would be very interest in what the neighbors have to say about this Joe Seman-Graves; I can read some comments that were sent in. Colette Murray 229 Columbia Street (attached to minutes). We also received one from Eric Hennessey (attached to minutes). Chairperson DeFruscio; so I guess we’d like to open it up for additional public comments. Hi this is Alice Benamati; we live 2 doors away from this project. My first issue with this project as the letters have stated was that this was kind of foisted on the neighborhood without the opportunity to oppose this project. If you go by the site, I think it’s obvious that what’s being built there is not in keeping with the other businesses in this neighborhood, but I understand the zoning allows for businesses to function in this neighborhood, but the other businesses are historic homes and small little mom and pop shops that blend in nicely with the neighborhood. This does not, this is an absolute eye sore and on top of foisting this eyesore on use, then they wanted a variance for a very tall sign with a very big light on it, so now they’re going to put, not only have they visually polluted our neighborhood, now they want to flood it with light and now you’re coming back again and asking to flood us with smell and noises, cause you can tell me that this thing is going to be 60 decibels which is the sound of a basic conversation but if my neighbors are outside having a conversation in front of their house24/7 I’m going to hear it and I’m going to get sick of it. And this fan running on and off day and night is absolutely unacceptable in a neighborhood like this and let me bring up yet again the fact that this building was put in place less than 3’ from the neighbors fence we wanted to put an addition on our house a few years back and we requested a variance from the 15’ set back to 14’ and we were denied and this guy builds this monstrosity within 3’ of the neighbors fence and that’s ok?? I really, really take issue with this project, this fryer is just nonsense, he’s running rough shod over us yet again and no he absolutely should not be allowed to have this fryer. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok thank you for your input. Is there anybody else that wants to speak? Ok I don’t see anybody, I guess because we have 2 Mr. Hennessey’s I guess we need to differentiate, Mr. William Hennessey who is the presenter here, what’s your thoughts on re-doing SEQR based on the fact that your adding, you’re changing what originally, environment and adding both more noise and you’re impacting the environment. Mr. Hennessey; I’d have to talk to the client to see if he wants to review another SEQR to resubmit on a SEQR application. I, let, is my camera working? I’m getting some kind of feedback I apologize Chairperson DeFruscio; I don’t hear anything Vice Chair Carroll; I hear it Mr. Hennessey; the initially the building actually was proposed to be further back toward, to the south but zoning and I originally wanted it to align with the yellow house to our west, but zoning actually precluded that because the new zoning in the City required it to be closer because they wanted closer buildings in the front, so that’s why the building actually moved in that direction. As far as being 3’feet from the fence, its 5’ from the property line by setback requirements and it’s another foot or 2, I would say 2, I say another foot to the fence so the building is not 3’ from it but yea its close, that’s ow the zoning in the urban area and mixed use zone is. We tried to tailor the building to be more accommodating to the area, it’s not a historic building because it’s not a Victorian style but we put hip roofs on to match other hip roof designs in the area. There earth tone colors there, obviously the gasoline canopy is not going to be desired by those that are concerned by that type of architecture I understand that. That’s the inherent nature of difficulty we have with gasoline stations. The… Chairperson DeFruscio; can I ask a question about that gasoline canopy? Is the light directed down or is, and is the back of that canopy going to be lit, because that lights going to go directly into the 2nd floor windows of the neighbor. Mr. Hennessey; the canopy will not be back lit but Mr. Patel is on he can correct me if I’m wrong, I apologize for that, but the lighting is LED lighting that is directed downward, it’s recessed into the canopy, it is not dropped below the canopy. We do not have any pole lights on site, we didn’t need any additional lighting because of that because of the canopy. We have some flood lights with cutoff fixtures and visors on the building but we don’t have any tall pole lights, we have the one sign out at the southeast corner of Simmons excuse me Mann and Columbia Street. So we don’t have excess lighting, they seem so because the site is small but we have 4 recessed fixture in that canopy so they will be aimed won there’s nothing what will be aimed out or……. Member Bucher; can I also ask just to shift a little bit, with this proposal there would be the addition of a grease trap correct? So that would be in the building and on grade or in grade grease trap inside? Mr. Hennessey; by the time we determine we wanted to have the option, we installed a grease trap. Its sub-surface, it’s in the front, it’s below grad already. Member Bucher; ok, but within the building or out? Mr. Hennessey; outside by the garbage container basically 10’ off the building 10’ off the refuse container Member Bucher; ok Mr. Hennessey; underground Chairperson DeFruscio; any other questions? Mr. Hennessey; if it’s any, some of my thoughts were if the fan, if they want the fan to be moved further away, I can move it 5 to 10 feet closer to the front of the building if that’s something that is of appeal to anyone. I would have to adjust the makeup area accordingly because it has to be 10’ away so, but the window well excuse me, the roof well was intended to be able to block the other equipment and since it’s large enough it could accommodate obviously the exhaust fan. Chairperson DeFruscio; well it’s my opinion we have 3 options here. We can either deny the approval of this, we can approve the addition of this, these services or we can table this and determine whether or not we need to re-do SEQR based on this process. Anybody else? Member Couture; it looks like we have somebody out there in the audience Ms. Murray has her hand up Chairperson DeFruscio; go ahead and turn your microphone on. We ready your letter in its entirety. Ms. Murray; yes I got that but I just want to make sure. Cooking oil fumes are carcinogenic, there cancer causing, I want to make sure you know that. I don’t think it’s fair to put it upon people around here, to put our health at risk, which is what you’re doing or what you’re proposing I’ll say. Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you for that, we had that in your letter. Ms. Murray; I just want to make sure that it’s known. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok, comments or does anybody want to make a motion? Member Couture; I’m going to make a motion to deny, however I do understand the need and willingness for you to stand out and have something to offer the community in addition to gas and whatever quick to go items you might have. We do have a couple of local bakeries and we do have people within the community that perhaps there is some type of partnership that can be established where you have packaged muffins or some type of things like that to go where it could work out for you and your customers and the community members, because I do appreciate that you want one quick stop for someone that’s going to work grabbing gas and something to eat, grab lunch something like that, so perhaps there’s some type of partnership opportunity that can be made. Member Nadeau; I’ll 2nd Stephanie’s proposal for denial Chairperson DeFruscio; so we have a proposal to deny the addition of these item, take a vote. Mr. Hennessey; Mr. Chairman can I table it so I have a chance to talk to my client about SEQR or is that wrong for me to interject at this point? Table it for next month. Chairperson DeFruscio; Joe if we deny it is there a time limitation where they can re-present? Joe Seman-Graves; one year if it’s the same proposal Member Nadeau; I’m sorry we have a motion on the floor, I think it’s appropriate that we take a vote. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok, we’ll move forward with the vote then, motion to deny. Motion to DENY the application carried. YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio X Jack Carroll X reluctantly Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams alternate (non-voting) Chairperson DeFruscio; so the proposal, proposed addition of the services at this location are DENIED at this point in time. CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN APPLICATION FOR A PROPOSED SIX-UNIT MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENT AT 134 BRIDGE AVENUE Chairperson DeFruscio; moving on to the next agenda item. Vice Chair Carroll; can I interject a second? It seems like we have a secondary conversation on that’s below the City of Cohoes sign there (on screen) it’s been going on the whole meeting Joe Seman-Graves; that is just for anyone who may be hearing impaired. Vice Chair Carroll’ it has nothing to do with what we’re talking about, it’s a separate conversation all together Chairperson DeFruscio; it’s a translation and sometimes it doesn’t translate correctly Vice Chair Carroll; well it’s talking about Marky Mark and it just said cool Member Nadeau; I agree, I’m seeing the same thing other activity going on Member Bucher; yea I see the same thing, it’s weird. Vice Chair Carroll; it isn’t affecting anything it’s just that it’s going on, make sure it’s filtered out of the minutes Joe Chairperson DeFruscio; I haven’t been seeing it so…. Vice Chair Carroll; it’s been there Member Nadeau; I agree Jack, it’s like somebody is having a background conversation. Chairperson DeFruscio; so the next item on the agenda is consideration of a site plan application for a proposed 6 unit multifamily development at 134 ridge Avenue. The applicant is proposing constructing a 6 unit multifamily dwelling with associated parking. The lot currently has an existing 3 story 4 unit dwelling. Do we have the applicant on the call, do they want to explain…. Vice Chair Carroll; is this another one that we discussed before? Chairperson DeFruscio; no Member Nadeau; I don’t think so Chairperson DeFruscio; there was another one on Bridge Avenue, but that’s further down and we approved it, the one farther down is a double lot we approved for 4 units on that lot. Vice Chair Carroll; ok Chairperson DeFruscio; and this is a single lot and the applicant wanted to put 6 units on it. Hello can everyone hear me: Chairperson DeFruscio; and who is speaking? Mike DiBernardo I’m the applicant for 134 Bridge Avenue, I’m the property owner. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok Mr. DiBernardo; on this call I also have my engineer Christopher Longo, he’s on as well I believe. Just to clear up, I haven’t proposed this already, this is the first time proposal for this project, for this idea Chairperson DeFruscio; yes, we’re, that’s what we were clarifying to one of the board members and we’re in agreement with that. Mr. Longo; so if you’d like I, unless the planner Joe would like to do any introduction or I can start us off Chairperson DeFruscio; go ahead Chris, explain to use what you’re proposing on this piece of property Mr. Longo; ok, so as mentioned it was on, this property is on Bridge Avenue coming over the bridge. It’s on the corner of 2nd Street, the parcel is 7,500 sq. ft. as a couple of comments mentions it was one parcel, however it’s a, if you want to call it a triple lot there. So there’s an existing 4 unit multifamily building on the lot and then on both sides is a vacant, original parcels that are vacant. So what Mr. DiBernardo is proposing is to construct a 2nd building on the parcel on the corner. This would be 3 stories, 6 units and on the other side the existing grass area would be used for recreation and would meet the requirements of the multifamily site plan code for 100 sq. ft. per unit. S what this does is it creates a 10 unit complex, 4 in the existing structure and 6 in the proposed, it closes up the corner. Mr. DiBernardo is also proposing an addition of a sidewalk to enter the 2 buildings in the rear, they would also construct a sidewalk up along 2nd Street within the frontage to connect the existing walkway behind the alley to Bridge Avenue, so on the rear of the parcel is an existing alleyway and there’s also, I’m sorry one more existing feature on this site is a garage that as you see on the right side (on screen) in that photo a 2 bay garage. That garage would be demolished to make room for the proposed parking lot which would have 7 parking spaces and including a handicap space. Now the change here is, right now there’s an existing curb cut that accesses a direct line to the garage and the rest of that parking area. That curb cut would be closed and a new revealed curb would be reinstalled to create a parking space along Second and one on street parking space on 2nd Street and I think it, in a comment on the slide it was mentioned that one space is being created, however it does kind of open up the entire block there to, a little bit easier on street parking. So 2 unique aspects of this project, the site plan code for multifamily structures would require one parking space per unit, so there’s 10 proposed units, there’s 7 spaces on site. However as I mentioned the one space, at least one space on 2nd Street which is being created which is not currently there, but also there’s basically the life of the building on 2nd Street as well, which is predominately this parcels close proximately not just on 2nd but also on Bridge. I do feel there’s ample on street parking in addition to the proposed parking lot that would be accessed from the alley. There’s utilities, new utilities connections would be made for water along Bridge Street in the front and sewer along the alley way in the rear, the parking lot would be lighted with wall, with wall lights on the two building as well as a pole light. That pole light would have you know proper shielding to make sure that it’s down lit and directed towards the sidewalk and parking area only and limit any light to the adjoining properties. A dumpster is proposed accessed through the half space in the handicap space there or next to the handicap space. And another uniqueness to this property is the spacing between the 2 buildings is proposed at 5’ compared to the multifamily code which requires a 10’ separation. Now if these we 2 different, I say it’s unique because if these were 2 different parcels that situation wouldn’t be an issue, however we’re proposing this to remain as on parcel with both building on it, so in that situation and since this is a single multifamily single project we would be required to meet that 10’ code. However this is in keeping with the rest of the block and a majority of all those houses and adjoining are below that 5’ so we felt that was an appropriate distance. Also it allow for a standard width of the new building to be at 23 feet, so if we kept an entire 10’ distance it would only be an 18’ wide building which would be a little bit odd and you know would require some different planning for that. And so we don’t have them here tonight, but the owner is working with, to development some architectural plans, we’re well aware of the building design guidelines so by the time we come back, hopefully to this board we’ll have some architectural plans that you can see to show how this building will be in keeping with the neighborhood and aesthetically pleasing because it is a prominent corner here as you come over the bridge or Bridge Avenue and enter this portion of town. Chairperson DeFruscio; can you give us an overview of the apartments that you’re proposing in these, in this building and why the density of 6 apartments? M. Longo; market rate apartments that you know, I think would meet the appropriate demand. The reason to propose 6 is because the height of 3 stories is really in keeping with that existing building there so utilizing the space as much as we can and you know and not, we’re not building a monstrosity next to nothing, it’s kind of a good even roof line. So in that you can fit 6 units and we feel that the parking accommodates for it, there’s enough recreational area for all 10 units to properly use some outdoor space with … Chairperson DeFruscio; are they all 1 bedroom units or are they a mixture of 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom units, what’s the… Mr. Longo; Mike might be able to answer that I know he’s still working with the floor plans and architectural. Mike do you have an answer on the 1 or 2 bedrooms? Mr. DiBernardo; as Chris mentioned we’re still working on the final drawings for the, with my architect. But in my current unit that I have here, 2 of the units are 2 bedroom and you know it would be a very similar thing to that in the new structure so the 6 units would be 2 bedrooms each. Chairperson DeFruscio; I don’t know that you’re going to have the square footage to do that, but… Member Nadeau; what is the square footage of one of the apartments? Mr. DiBernardo; again there’s no final dimensions yet for the new building, the new proposed building and we’re trying to maximize the living space but also make is comfortable for the tenant to move in there. So again as I say 2 bedrooms, that would be ideal for a tenant if they have a kid or something similar but again there’s not a possibility that it would be s single unit or a single bedroom 6 unit single bedroom, you know we’ll find some common ground as far as living space but also make it comfortable for tenants to stay Member Bucher; can I ask how again the applicant is addressing for fire separation distance between the 2 buildings? I think you mentioned a combining. Is it going to be a combination of the parcels? Mr. Longo; yea so on the fire separation question, yes that is certainly something we’re well aware of being on 5’, that would require potentially renovating that existing side wall of that existing structure in addition to making sure the new structure has a fire separation also. Member Bucher; yea because you’re going, I think you’re going to have some fenestration problems on that existing building to meet that fire separation distance. So I would definitely want to see how that would be proposed with the new and the existing. Member Nadeau; just doing some quick math here, based on your foot print of the building y you’re looking at about a 600 square foot apartment and you’re trying to put 2 bedrooms in 600 square feet? Mr. Longo; I think what Mike had said was in the 4 unite building 2 of them were 2 bedroom, is that, did I hear that one correct mike? 2 were 2 bedroom and2 were 1 bedroom? Mr. DiBernardo; yes, that’s correct. I’m actually trying to dig up right now the exact square footage of that is… Chairperson DeFruscio; we want to know what you’re putting in the new building. You said you’re proposing 2 bedroom apartments in the new building and Mr. Nadeau is saying you only 600 square feet per unit. So we can’t understand how you’re going to provide 6 2 bedroom apartments in that foot print on 3 floors. Mr. DiBernardo; again that was, I’m still working on a finalized drawing with my architect. The idea would be 2 bedrooms, you know, as far as you know maximizing living space, but again if the square footage doesn’t allow for that we would make it a 1 bedroom, so it would be for a single tenant or a couple something like that. Vice Chair Carroll; maybe we should thing about holding things off until we get a floor plan Chairperson DeFruscio; well I agree with you that’s a possibility. Let’s continue thought, if anybody else has any other comments let’s hear them and then if the board members don’t have any more comments we’ll move on to public comments. Are we ready to move on to public comments? Member Bucher; I just, I voiced my comment about the fire separation distance. I definitely need to see how that’s being addressed and I’m sure we’ll see the applicant’s floor plans and that will determine what the layouts will be Chairperson DeFruscio; and the only thing I was going to mention to Mr. DiBernardo is that when we first came on with the project someone was confused about another project that we reviewed which is down the street and when we reviewed that project, it’s a double lot they proposed 6 units and we wouldn’t allow 6 units on a double lot, so now he’s proposing 6 units on a single lot, just for some foreshadowing and past history so he’s aware of it. Mr. Longo; I do have a questions, is there a preference on bedroom, bedroom counts within the units? I head a couple of times that asked as far as 1 bedroom vs. 2? I was coming up with a little bit larger than 600 square feet. Chairperson DeFruscio; we don’t have any preference. We need to know what’s being proposed and at this point in time we’re being told you don’t know what you’re proposing Member Nadeau; I’m looking at the total capacity of the building. Are we talking capacity that has sleeping 24 people or 16 people or 8 people? I think it’s important that we have some kind of layout and as Mark indicated, we’ve already down the street always, we’ve already entertained 6 and they tuned out to be a 4 unit that we approved. Like wise to see another 3 story building, I know it’s adjacent to it on the same lot, to a 3 story but it’s just, I don’t believe it’s conducive to the neighborhood building another 3 story unit in that area. Vice Chair Carroll; I would want to see the floor plans Chairperson DeFruscio; ok, Joe you want to read the public comments sent in? Joe Seman-Graves; Julie Richards 130 Bridge Ave. (attached) Vice Chair Carroll; Pat Coonrod could you mute your microphone please? Joe Seman-Graves; Karlie Sutliff (attached) Linda Kusaywa 122 Bridge Ave (attached) Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you we appreciate those comments. The property owner has the right to propose doing thing with their property, we’re here to review what their proposing and try to make sure it fits in with the neighborhood and it is what the neighbors want. Any other public comments, somebody want to speak? Yea, Mr. DeFruscio can I talk? Chairperson DeFruscio; who is speaking? Mr. Alesio 105 Washington Avenue Chairperson DeFruscio; go ahead Justin Mr. Alesio; now I seem to want to echo you guys that it’s quite a large building to put 6 units, green space, parking, their still not 100% sure about and even if you can put 2 bedrooms in those small spaces, maybe 2 adults and a child possibly, 12 to 14 more cars jammed up on Second and Bridge. I just, I just don’t see it even if it is feasible I just don’t see it being a good idea. We’ve got the mixed use corridor which is where most people seem to think that you know with the size of the building and the 3 story building you know those are meant to have some kind of commercial on the bottom residential upstairs not just squeeze in a 3 story unit spot on the smallest spot you can put it on, it just doesn’t fit the neighborhood. Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you for your input I have a question, this is Kim Fox. I had sent in an email I was wondering if that could be read. Joe Seman-Graves; sure Kim, did I miss it? Ms. Fox; there were some things I would have liked to include but I kind of had to write it quickly because we got the letter a little bit late and I know my husband has a few comments as well Joe Seman-Graves; sure thing, just bear with me for 1 second While you’re looking for that can I speak Mark? Chairperson DeFruscio; sure go ahead Ms. Krupski Ms. Krupski; I live over on Third Street and I just want to say that I don’t think it’s a good idea either. We have people….. Chairperson DeFruscio; can you just tell Sharon your name? Dane Krupski; I live over on Third Street and we have people that come over on Bridge Ave and park over on the Van Schaick and Third Street and leave their cars for day and I just don’t think it’s a good idea at all Chairperson DeFruscio; so parking and traffic are the issues you have with it? Ms. Krupski; absolutely Chairperson DeFruscio; Mr. and Mrs. Fox can you just give Sharon your names? Kim and Dave Fox Joe Seman-Graves; I have their comment, I apologize. Read the email that was sent (attached) Chairperson DeFruscio; first I’d like to apologize again. Joe attempted to mail these out in a timely fashion, so the neighbors would get then in a timely manner. The postal service had a delay for some reason. Now Mr. & Mrs. Fox do you have comments that you want to add? Mr. Fox; Mark I don’t have to much to add. I think my wife kind of said it all there. Just I take this as a rhetorical question if you would, for where our property is right next to that property, what do you think that would do to the value of our property? If you add 6 more apartments if you will, I mean just everything, there’s a parking problem here already on our street. People on Bridge Ave, some of them don’t like to park there because their cars get hit there, I’ve seen it happen 3 or 4 times and they wind up in front of our house. With snow removal and all this sort of thing don’t you think that, I just feel like we will wind up being the parking lot as much as their own parking lot that they are proposing, it’s terrible for us it, I’m vehemently opposed to this, let me just say that. Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you for your input, appreciate it. Is there anybody else that wants to speak? Ok Pat Coonrod. Ms. Coonrod; I have serious reservations about this project also. I live right across the street, parking and traffic are definitely problems especially with all the development on the river. You can have anywhere from 25-30, 15-25 people living in those 2 buildings and that tiny little 1600 square feet of green space is ludicrous. I mean the kids play on that side yard. I’m a little upset about them wanting to take down one of the few remaining trees on the entire block. I’m very familiar with 134 cause I had family members living there decades ago and the people on the first floor had 6 kids, so we’re not just talking 10 or 11 people. So I definitely think it’s too much, thank you. Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you for your input, appreciate it. Is there anybody else that would like to speak? Ok based on that the applicant do you have any comments or observations. Right now I think we have 3 options again, they are options we talked about for a previous project, we can table the item if you wish for you to give us additional information, make any changes to the proposal that you want to make and submit with full information. One of the things I missed to bring up was you’ve got the 7 spots for parking back there and you did put a trash receptacle but what are you going to do for snow storage? You know when you got that parking lot adjacent to the alley and you’re going to want to move the snow off of your parking lot, you’ve got to have somewhere to move that snow to, so that needs to be in your plan as well. The 2nd option we have is to approve the project as proposed and the 3rd option is to deny the project as proposed. So before I let anybody make a motion are you interested in us tabling this item until such time that you can give us additional information and consider the size of the project? Mr. Longo; well yes thank you for all the comments and we definitely heard everybody loud and clear. I do also want to mention, we weren’t expecting any decision or action tonight anyway due to the fact that there is a required, two required variances for the parking and the building separation, so we intend to go to the ZBA first anyway prior to any action and as the planner had mentioned and suggested to us that we come to this meeting tonight before coming to your board next month after the ZBA and certainly it was for good reason. We heard a lot of good comments I do have some hopefully some answers not sure I can answer everybody, on some of the concerns. You know one of the options not doing anything here but I do have a concession certainly that I can offer that will hopefully, would help this situation. You mentioned the size of the unit, we could go to 4 units here and that would, you know probably, it should help this parking situation, the required parking would have been 10 spaces total, if this was 2 4 unit buildings that would make it 8, we’re proposing 7 plus the one to be created on the street. I would feel that the parking would be adequate, it does still, I guess require a ZBA approval of that because technically with the 8th one even though it doesn’t exist, is not, we can’t take cull cred fo but we’re also going to have to be there anyway for the building separation which again as I mentioned is in keeping with the character of this block. So I would still suggest that 5’ separation but you know we did hear the comments about you know the intensity so hopefully you know a reduction down to 4 units would be certainly a significant concession to this, it would help the parking situation as I mentioned. Now the green space, I heard a lot of comments about green space and you know if it was enough. Certainly we’re meeting the multifamily site plan regulation which is 100 square feet per unit and that area is 1600 square feet, larger than what would be required of 1,000 if we went to 2 4 units buildings, that 8 units total or 800 square feet, so that is double the requirement of green space. If this was not a multifamily house and it was a, any other structure, that could not even have any green space and it would be required that you go to a park, so we are providing a nice amenity here for these units, in addition to cleaning up that green space quite a bit, there is a proposed new fence along, new shrubbery along the front, new shrubbery along the proposed sidewalk, so you know its feels this is certainly an improvement. I don’t think there would be any reason to expect any sort of reduction on property values, you know this is going to be a brand new building, a big investment and you know some pride taken into meeting that architectural design codes. So I don’t think there should be any fear there but hopefully the concession down to 4 units you know would be received well. As I mentioned we have to visit the ZBA anyway so I would expect a request to table for this month. Chairperson DeFruscio; ok so I guess I’m looking for a motion to table this until we get additional information Vice Chair Carroll; so moved Member Bucher; I’ll 2nd YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio X Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams alternate (non-voting) Motion carried to TABLE this agenda item Chairperson DeFruscio; thank you for listening to all the comments. Hopefully you can make adjustments and improvements and changes to the plan and come back with all the completed information that we need to make a decision and we’ll get the public’s input at that ok? Mr. Longo; thank you. Chairperson DeFruscio; so that concludes the planning board meeting for March 8, 2021. Thank you again for all your participation. Thank you board members and I want to say we really do appreciate the citizens participating, giving us input good and bad input. And we, also like to have you understand that when an owner has a piece of property they have rights and an opportunity to develop it and they come here to us to try to come to some mediation to make something happen. Thank you for your time and appreciate it. So I’ve got 8:37 so I’m looking for a motion to close the meeting Member Couture; I’ll make that motion Member Nadeau; I’ll 2nd All in favor meeting adjourned at 8:37PM Chairperson DeFruscio; I’d like a motion to close the meeting Vice Chair Carrol; so moved Member Nadeau; I’ll 2nd Meeting adjourned at 7:43PM