Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD HELD AT 97 MOHAWK STREET 2ND FLOOR COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS OCTOBER 4, 2021 at 6:30PM MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Jack Carroll, Vice Chair Mr. Bob Bucher Mr. Joe Nadeau Ms. Stephanie Couture Ms. Kizzy Williams ABSENT: Mr. Mark DeFruscio, Chairperson ALSO PRESENT: Joseph Seman-Graves, City Planner Sharon Butler, Administrative Assistant Chairperson DeFruscio called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm and asked for roll call. Roll Call; Chairperson DeFruscio was absent CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM THE SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 MEETING Vice Chair Carroll; next on our agenda is consideration of September 13th meeting minutes. Anybody got any changes to the minutes? Can we get a motion to accept as printed? Member Nadeau made a motion to accept as submitted, 2nd by Member Bucher Motion carried unanimously YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio ABSENT Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture ABSTAIN Kizzy Williams ABSTAIN CONSIDERATION OF CHANGE OF USE/NEW TENANT APPLICATION FOR 15 ST. AGNES HIGHWAY Vice Chair Carroll; alright the first order of business is 15 St. Agnes Highway, do we have someone here to speak on this project? Matt Scorzelli; so Syracuse utilities or Utility Construction Specialist here in Albany. We purchased property actually in the beginning of this year 15 St. Agnes and we decided to remodel a section of it and put in offices. Vice Chair Carroll; I saw that you put in the fencing and all the trees and you had it all graded out, trucks lined up there Mr. Scorzelli; we have more work to do as far as cleaning up the area but for now we want to start on the front of the building Vice Chair Carroll; this is the existing building correct? Mr. Scorzelli; yes Vice Chair Carroll; you want to move from the house? Where are you moving it from? Mr. Scorzelli; it’s actually a part of the building that is adjacent to the house, the house is a separate property Vice Chair Carroll; ok that’s the repair shop? Mr. Scorzelli; so there’s the steel building and that’s on the structure right now and then there’s the original structure Member Nadeau; the photos show right there (on screen) Mr. Scorzelli; so all the way to the left of that, so it’s the 2 garage doors and the store front that would all be coming out and a whole new façade, there’s going to be a new entrance way all store front glass going in there and then the interior will be releveled and remodeled with offices. Vice Chair Carroll; Joe any concern with this? Joe Seman-Graves; no they already mentioned this when they got their approvals now that they are going forward with it, procedurally the planning board just has to review any changes or alterations for anything that is not a single or 2 family lot, so this is a procedural review I’d say. It’s not, parking is not affected, Vice Chair Carroll; nothing is going to change except the façade of the front of this house Joe Seman-Graves; right, technically the use is already existing on the property Member Nadeau; actually the property has improved, I have to commend you on the cleaning it up, it is much more aesthetically pleasing that it was before Vice Chair Carroll; there’s a few dead trees that need to be replaced I noticed. Mr. Scorzelli; pardon me? Vice Chair Carroll; there’s a few trees that didn’t make it when you planted them, I walk there with my dog Mr. Scorzelli; yes we’re going to take care of them Vice Chair Carroll; ok then anybody want to speak up on this, any concerns, considerations? Ok hearing no comments, questions or concerns should we take a vote? Member Bucher; I make a motion to approve the application Member Couture; 2nd Motion carried unanimously YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio ABSENT Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR 33 MANN AVENUE Vice Chair Carroll; next order of business is a 2 family house at 33 Mann Ave. who do we have here for that? David Livarchuk; so we just want to build a duplex this has been an ongoing thing. We started with one plan due to unforeseen issues we had, we had to change the plan and then there was a miscommunication on our part on what entailed to change the plan. So we ended up settling on this size, each one is going to be a 2 bedroom 1 ½ bath with, this one actually meets the setbacks, the original one was where the miscommunication on my end in terms of, this is the 3rd plan that we are actually landing on. We’re going to owner occupy it, Vice Chair Carroll; you went to the zoning board for variances on these setbacks right? Mr. Livarchuk; yes Vice Chair Carroll; and the setbacks is going to be 20 feet? Mr. Livarchuk; yes from the…… Vice Chair Carroll; from the curb line? Mr. Livarchuk; yes Vice Chair Carroll; I’ll tell you if you’re from the curb line, you’re only 20 feet, you’re going to have cars blocking the sidewalks Mr. Livarchuk; I think we wanted to make it back far enough so that didn’t happen Joe Seman-Graves; what was that, I didn’t hear that Vice Chair Carroll; I’m concerned about having enough room to park off street and not block the sidewalk Joe Seman-Graves; 20 feet is the legal size spot, Mr. Livarchuk; we can push it back if that’s an option, we don’t mind. I just want to kind of be in line with the one next door, so it doesn’t look like it’s stacked, that’s what we were going for Joe Seman-Graves; I had Paul Johnson look at this also and he didn’t have any concern’s with the 2 parking spaces Member Bucher; its 20 feet not inclusive of the sidewalk Mr. Livarchuk; I just want to make it in line with the one next door. Vice Chair Carroll; will the sidewalk be part of the project? Mr. Livarchuk; no Vice Chair Carroll; does it have to be part of the project? I rely on Joe.. Joe Seman-Graves; that would be a planning board decision. Member Nadeau; is there sidewalks there now? Vice Chair Carroll; yes, such as it is Member Nadeau; you’ll be doing curb cuts apparently Mr. Livarchuk; yes Member Nadeau; if they’re going to do curb cuts we’ll expect them to replace sidewalks Mr. Livarchuk; yes in the sections that the driveway is going to be Vice Chair Carroll; there’s a couple of houses on the street with those short driveways, couple-3 doors down from you There was a discussion between Member Bucher and Joe Seman-Graves regarding the driveway(s) and curb cut(s) Vice Chair Carroll; correct me if I’m wrong but the existing sidewalk is not so great Mr. Livarchuk; right, of course a lot of it is going to be replaced with the new driveway going in, honestly if we have to replace the rest of it, it’s not going to be much more. Vice Chair Carroll; it might be a nice effort for the neighbors Mr. Livarchuk; and the big tree that is coming down, that is going to tear up the sidewalk anyway so either way we’re probably just going to replace the sidewalk there Member Bucher; with the amount of work that is going to be done, I would want to see the sidewalk replaced from that property, the entire length of the property—property line to property line Vice Chair Carroll; what’s that, 63 feet? Member Bucher; yes 63 that would be my request Vice Chair Carroll; anyone else on the board have any other concerns, considerations, comments? Member Bucher; just the request to replace the sidewalk, curb cut over the entire 63 feet since a majority will be…. Joe Seman-Graves; just for the minutes I want to go over things. So the applicant did receive the special use permit in 2019 for a 2 family home, at that point also received 2 variances one for lot size and one for the front set back. Now the design of the building has changed, the applicant went back to Zoning in July in order request additional variances because the size of building was substantially closer to the property lines, they were denied for those variances. They came back with a different design of the building now the design of the building has changed substantially from the one that was approved, it’s still a 2 family but there is a size difference that is why the applicant is back in front of the board as the special use permit should be based on the application, not the project and it’s changed enough to require them to get another approval. Vice Chair Carroll; ok Member Bucher; do we have a….. Mr. Livarchuk; the front is not going to be basic siding, it’s going to be different than that Vice Chair Carroll; is it going to be stone? Mr. Livarchuk; it going to be vinyl but it’s going to be board and batten and then it’s going to have accents over the front doors Member Bucher; obviously some front steps, this isn’t really a great looking design. I’d like to see something more interesting a little more conducive to the neighborhood a little bit more of an effort to make the façade look nicer. Mr. Livarchuk; there will be overhangs on the front doors on both the front doors. There will be shutters other than that it’s landscaping there’s not much more. Main thing is the board and batten look that would be the biggest difference and then the accents over the doors Vice Chair Carroll; you don’t have a picture of that do you? Mr. Livarchuk; no I didn’t get that rendered Vice Chair Carroll; is that something we would require, to see that to see what it’s going to look like? Joe Seman-Graves; that is up to the board. Vice Chair Carroll; Joe? Member Nadeau; I think if they just do something esthetically more pleasing over that entrance area it would go a long way Mr. Livarchuk; there will be overhangs and it’s not just going to be just a basic Vice Chair Carroll; when you say an overhang, or is it going to be….. Mr. Livarchuk; it’s going to be going straight down, it’s going to be a farm style look is what we’re going to go with. So it’s going to be a straight down with a sheet metal roof. Vice Chair Carroll; is the regular roof going to be sheet metal? Mr. Livarchuk; no, it’s going to be shingled Member Bucher; that’s going to shade the front, you’re going to have a porch built and then that hanging metal roof is going to be back to back….. Mr. Livarchuk; yeah it going to be natural Member Bucher; need some hand rails. Vice Chair Carroll; it’s going to be supported by 4x4’s? Mr. Livarchuk; so it’s going to be a natural wood kind of look, so it’s not just going to be the 4x4 you pick up at Lowe’s and Home Depot it’s going to be something a little nicer than that. Like a structural timber Vice Chair Carroll; I’d like to see that actually Member Bucher; I would too, I certainly understand the intent, but there’s a lot still this doesn’t portray; shutters, board and batten and the porch steps, are there going to be hand rails on that too and then the shed roof back to the building – I would just like to see that a little bit better detail Mr. Livarchuk; I mean is there, so we would go through all this again for next month? Vice Chair Carroll; could be give provisional consideration for them to submit that going forward Joe Seman-Graves; do you want to hear public comments first Vice Chair Carroll; yes, I was going to do that next Joe Seman-Graves; (to applicant) you will still have to come back to the board for final approval Mr. Livarchuk; the reason I ask is because I was looking to put the foundation in, in October Joe Seman-Graves; that’s going to have to wait until the board makes its approvals Mr. Livarchuk; got you Vice Chair Carroll; any questions from the public then? Anyone in the public have questions, concerns, considerations? Mr. McCarthy; I’m looking at the picture you have 40 more feet of parking spaces taken up 2 separate driveways, can’t you move both driveways, move the center there and pickup 20 feet Mr. Livarchuk; I think we added that because it would be more, it would look better that just one driveway Mr. McCarthy; the problem there people park there between you and the other structure there, 80 feet apart. Vice Chair Carroll; guys address the board Mr. McCarthy; you can move the driveway, parking areas close to each other and just put one 20 foot driveway so that you don’t eliminate 20 feet of parking for residents Vice Chair Carroll; address the board Mrs. Livarchuk; my husband and I are doing this project together, he’s been doing more meetings than I have, we did ask Fred Metzger if we could do one driveway in the middle and he said that most likely the people living in the duplexes, no one would know where to park because there’s no division, so he advised us not to do that, so that’s why we did 2. Vice Chair Carroll; alright Joe Seman-Graves; we had a couple of comments submitted. Read the 2 comments submitted Vice Chair Carroll; and that pretty much sums up your concerns also right Bill? Mr. McCarthy; yes just the parking it’s terrible up there now as it is Joe Seman-Graves; I believe there are other people who want to comment Vice Chair Carroll; state your name please Sean O’Brien; I live at 11 Cherry Street, I was here at the last meeting and my same comments and concerns apply from that meeting. The board members at that meeting said some things about doing this faster, easier, cheaper and my concerns especially with what is current across the street, the stick build with our new neighbor that is going to be owner- occupied, if you do approve the variance of the large 2 fronts then I think we do a disservice to the present funeral home right down the street that utilizes that off street parking for funeral services as well, what we’re doing to our community and businesses right there which were my concerns last time. It’s what is used even for Cohoes high school and parking becomes part of our street Vice Chair Carroll; high school parking on Mann? Mr. O’Brien; yeah, yeah it’s gets all the way over there. I walk there and so does my neighbor she also walks there and what was just done on the 2 front lots and then we’re going to put 2 more on the front and that slope there and as anybody that come across, it’s going to be a hindrance, with snow plow removal it’s going to push that back onto the sidewalk area, and now it’s going to be blocking in 2 more cars with that snow plow and it’s going to fill up that very congested lot right there with massive amounts of snow that will have to be dealt with. Vice Chair Carroll; so the biggest concern is parking? Mr. O’Brien; yes Vice Chair Carroll; are you opposed to the off street parking? Mr. O’Brien; I would like to see the variances upheld on the sides so there would be parking off street, not on the sidewalk. Our other neighbor who just built there had the same concerns with that but also the closeness which that variance was denied, but of the closeness of the buildings and fire hazards. So addressing the previous concerns and current concerns with off street parking and you put that out there, 4 cars are there and you remove 4 spots of off street parking for businesses utilizing those spaces. Those are my concerns. Chris Buchanan 22 Mann Ave. one of the corner lots to 33 Vice Chair Carroll; do we have an overview of the area so you can point out your house? Mr. Buchanan; do I have to do that? Vice Chair Carroll; no I’m just curious, it’s just for me Mr. Buchanan; (pointed out his house on screen) I’d be next door neighbor to (inaudible) My concerns are all the previously mentioned things, parking obviously, the off street parking because it’s already, what’s the correct word…. Vice Chair Carroll; your house is the one on the corner of Washington and Mann? Mr. Buchanan; no, it’s on Mann totally Vice Chair Carroll; yours is the one with the nice flowers out front Mr. Buchanan; yes, well the flowers are gone right now. I’m trying to redo my porch and I applied for a permit a few months ago and we’re redoing the 100 year old front porch, it’s the original wood and I’m trying to keep all the original wood. I’m doing all I can to fix it up and keep it historically pleasing to the time, it’s an old house, 120 years old and most people now let the houses go. So I’m trying to keep it the best I can do within my means. So trying historically to make it a nice house, it’s still got a lot of the woodwork inside. The previous family that lived there for 40 years that passed away in the house. My concerns really come into devaluing the single family properties, where you’re going to add a duplex now with multiple families. Ok I understand you’ve got off street parking, it’s already compact as it is and when everybody in the neighborhood, if they decide to have people over, they will park in front of my house because I have mostly, my frontage I think I have 110 feet of width, so usually I leave that open because I have a nice size driveway where I can take my car and put it off the street, everyone’s always parking in front of my house, which is fine but if you’re going to do this now all of a sudden that means more people parking in front of my house, and also my other concern is the digging up of the road again. We just got repaved for the new structure that was built then there is about 10 feet to the road, a little more than ½ the road by 4 or 5 feet that was dug up for the last 8 or 9 months and there are rocks. And I know if I was the neighbor that lived in the property right here (pointed on the screen) I would be upset if they park their car there and those rocks are always chipping, people are always driving 30mph on that, and those rocks are flinging and going to hit their car Vice Chair Carroll; and that’s related to his property? Mr. Buchanan; well if he digs up the road to get to the sewer line and because they have to dig up the road Mr. McCarthy; I understand what he’s saying, it was like March when they dug that and they didn’t do anything with it until I finally got Code after them. Mr. Buchanan; it took 9 months, and I said it in my email for the last board meeting that that was one of my concerns that it was dug up. I don’t know if it’s already hooked up to sewer and water I don’t know. What I’m saying if it has to be dug up again, then it’s another 9 months with it being dug up, this is a 120 year old neighborhood and they’re digging it up again. When I bought the house I think it was June of 2019, it was an old neighborhood, I didn’t think anybody was going to be building in this old neighborhood so it’s just one of those things where you’re planning on purchasing a house it’s one of the things you take into consideration. And then also I was looking because I walk around the neighborhood Simmons Avenue and Conliss Avenue which are the ones all the way up here, this way towards Latham more (pointed out on screen) those are mostly single family houses, 90% of the houses I would say are single family. I believe there is a duplex over here and over here (pointed out on screen) towards Columbia, but for the most part they are all single family houses. So my only hesitation is here we are putting more duplexes in which devalues the single family houses. Vice Chair Carroll; what is the zoning classification R1 or R2? Joe Seman-Graves; R-2, so they don’t need a use variance just a special use permit for a 2 family house. The variances that they were required to get was one for the lot size and one for the front setback to allow for off street parking Vice Chair Carroll; ok and that variation was approved by the zoning board? Joe Seman-Graves; in 2019 Mr. Buchanan; and then I want to say half the street right now is 2 family houses and half the street is single family houses and you go further towards the high school I think it’s Conliss and Simmons actually as you go up Columbia more up the hill mostly single family houses, so you’re going to put these 2 family houses in…my concern is you get tenants or I don’t know who’s living in it or what or you buy and you live in it or you sell it to tenants Vice Chair Carroll; wait a minute this is going to be owner occupied right? (to the applicant Mr. Livarchuk) Mr. Livarchuk; yes Vice Chair Carroll; just to clarify that point Mr. Buchanan; and then my last thing would be snow removal too, where it is all going to go would be my question too. My 5 points that I had emailed you – 2 family houses, the parking, the digging up of the road, the 1 family lots and then the snow removal. Vice Chair Carroll; and now Mr. O’Brien? Mr. O’Brien; I think one of the things that we’re missing here is Chris just bought his house, I just bought my house on Cherry Street and Isabel just bought her home across the street, all single family homes Vice Chair Carroll; you’re on Cherry Street? Mr. O’Brien; yes we bought the old house, we bought my grandparent in laws house. This is me right here (pointed house out on screen), this is me right here, so the lot is right there (pointed out on screen) Vice Chair Carroll; what’s the street going up the middle? Mr. O’Brien; Cherry Vice Chair Carroll; ok and that’s where they just put the…. Mr. O’Brien; yes they just put in a new 2 family then this is where the proposed 2 family is going. Now the special use permit has to be renewed or trying to be renewed and I don’t know if it’s allow to be redressed and I would like to see it turned back to what it was 40-50 years ago being a single family home, that a family could move in and a family could live in. Vice Chair Carroll; were there any proposals to that effect? Mr. O’Brien; I think it was always meant to be, before we got there it was always special use permit to be 2 family, so was the other one, that was before I purchased my home Vice Chair Carroll; is this going to be similar to the duplex that was just built there? Mr. Livarchuk; what do you mean similar? It’s going to be smaller Vice Chair Carroll; ok, do we have any other questions, comments, considerations or concerns? From the board members? Member Nadeau; I’m a little confused of the logic of 20 foot parking areas and they’re digging up curbed parking spaces. The people who live in that house they’ve got 4 spaces total, I’m not sure what that argument is with the curb cuts and the parking spaces Vice Chair Carroll; there will be 4 cars that won’t be parked on the street Member Nadeau; I guess what the concern is parking spaces that would be used by other people. If you lived in that house you would be parking there Mr. McCarthy; so my thought on that, they just built that other house and they’ve taken up 60 feet of parking and now these guys will take up another 40 feet, so I wish I’d come when they were talking about that other house and would have known what they were doing, I never paid attention. All I ask is if they could instead of having one spot over here and then 15 feet away have another one, and they have 2 40 foot driveways now, so if they could put them all together and they would have a 40 foot in front of their house, the 20 foot driveway so they could pull 2 cars in Member Nadeau; aesthetically I can’t image that, they would be right in front of the door Vice Chair Carroll; I was going to say the one that they just built how is their parking situation? Is it 2 separate driveways? They have off street parking, how is that arranged? Mr. McCarthy; same as this Vice Chair Carroll; 20 here and 20 here Mr. O’Brien; it’s different than what I had originally imagined, when I talked to the builders there. They did a nice job with the façade there, with floral, the partition in the middle the driveway was laid nicely. When they park their 2 cars for each side it will block the entire area Vice Chair Carroll; ok, ok Mr. Buchanan; can I ask another question? Vice Chair Carroll; yes go ahead Mr. Buchanan; my question is when we’re talking about the parking, you’re also going to remove the existing parking, where people do park in front of that, I don’t know who lives there currently but people do park in front of those houses even before this new owner built. People used to be able to park at the sidewalk, you now getting rid of that, people could park there before, because you’re building a driveway, now you’re getting rid of that sidewalk so whatever you’re talking about 100 feet or whatever 60 feet and another 40 here, this house right here (pointed out on screen) they have 2 or 3 people that have to park, where were they parking, across the street or in front of these new duplex that is here. Now where are they going to park, because this house they have 2 cars they can’t fit their 2 cars in front of those properties and they don’t have driveways so it’s all of sudden now, that’s what I’m saying now where are people going to park? These people don’t have very much space to park their 2 or 3 cars right and where are they going to park. This is my case if we’re all out of places to park, I’m going to take my boat, car, RV and everything and put it front of the house and devalue the neighborhood. So I try to keep it all nice and courteous with the neighbors, I don’t park in front of the house with all this junk, we try to keep it hidden for the most part and all of a sudden you’re going to have a ton of cars in front, so that’s just my concern. I’m just trying to clarify because it sounded like to me you were going to be helping the parking, you’re not necessarily…. Member Nadeau; it’s not making it worse is my point. If you’ve got 80 foot of, or 20 and 20 feet, the cars with that house if they are not going to be in the driveways, they’re going to be in front of the house, they’ll still be taking up that space. Mr. Buchanan; which would be worse right? Member Nadeau; we can’t tell them they can’t build a house there, so that’s a done deal. That’s a building lot so they will build a house there, they have the right to build a house there, so you’ve got to count that as usable space for parking for that house. Mr. Buchanan; ok Vice Chair Carroll; and they are complying with all requirements Mr. Buchanan; ok, my only clarification was it’s going to increase the congestion on that street because you are getting rid of the parking there Member Nadeau; in addition to that 11 Cherry Street, with all the frontage and all the side on Mann, there’s multiple parking spots for that one house Vice Chair Carroll; Cherry Street has next to nobody parking on it Member Nadeau; still there’s a lot of frontage to park on that street as well as the side of 11 Cherry Street, there’s 80 feet minimum to park there, I don’t understand the parking issue, I really don’t. Mr. Buchanan; well this is just a question that I don’t need an answer to, I really don’t but do you have people parking in front of your house, that’s just a question you can ask yourself, a personal question do you want people parking in front of your house, a tenant or something like that. Vice Chair Carroll; thank you Ms. Subik; I’d like to say something. I’ve lived in my house for many, many years, I just think a lot of these variances for this property, as my husband has already stated here, there have been so many that many in the neighborhood probably wouldn’t have accepted this in 2019, and it’s being reviewed here again because something happened here and I know that Ann who lives next door, she’s been losing a lot of her privacy with a lot of these setbacks being set forth, I just think that all of these exceptions we can’t do anything about the house that is already built there, my question is I grew up there and that was a one family lot and now we’re squeezing 4 houses which is unfortunate. Vice Chair Carroll; technically it’s 2 duplexes Ms. Subik; yes technically 2 duplexes, which that was a one family large lot and they have a right to build a 2 family in that area, there’s a lot of variances to build bigger and I just don’t think it’s appropriate because it’s taking away from the other neighbors who’s going to lose their privacy Vice Chair Carroll; I can address the…..according to the side elevations, there’s no side windows so I don’t see where privacy is going to be an issue because there are no windows. Ms. Subik; I think it’s more encroaching on the building and I also know the guy that built the duplex there, he would have done fire walls if he had known this was going to be built as close to him Joe Seman-Graves; the variances that you’re describing were not approved I just want to be clear on that, so they shrunk the building size down so it will be 10 feet 7 inches from the property lines instead of the 4, so this is strictly on the special use permit on the 2 family house so those variances were denied so they won’t be building that close to the property lines. Mr. O’Brien; if there’s 10 foot 7 inches setback on both sides of the property why aren’t we putting the driveways on the side of the property for 2 cars straight on each side, why aren’t the driveways going on the side of the property? You can keep the front of the house nice and visible Vice Chair Carroll; correct me if I’m wrong Joe, but with the 10 feet setback you’ll be, if you do that you’ll have the driveway right on the property line, right on it on both sides Mr. O’Brien; yes, so 4 if we’re allowing setbacks, 2 now 4 wide driveway on that side. It’s the neighborhood…all the other 2 families are up and down, now we’ve got 2 side by side and 2 side by side that are counter to anything else that is in that neighborhood, I mean it just looks wrong in the neighborhood. Even as nice as they did on that other duplex, I can’t fault him, it looks good but it looks wrong in the neighborhood. So there’s concerns there, I think the setbacks, the driveways, the snow the fact there have been requests for variances upon variances to try to make it….. Vice Chair Carroll; and some have been allowed and some have been denied also Mr. O’Brien; and the ones that have been denied are the ones where the neighbors in the neighborhood have come and expressed our concerns and how we felt because we are going to be there for a long time. Vice Chair Carroll; anybody else any other questions, concerns, considerations or comments? We’ve had Mr. Buchanan, Mr. O’Brien and Caitlyn. Ok, board members any concerns? Member Couture; did we get an answer to the question on whether or not a one family was proposed for that space? Joe Seman-Graves; no Member Williams; are we going to be able to see what the project is going to look like before Vice Chair Carroll; the sides and the back are going to look the same except you are going to have an overhang on the front Mr. Livarchuk; yes and it going to have the board and batten Vice Chair Carroll; is that going to be the length of the house or just over the stairs? Member Bucher; I’d have to see it, for me I have to see it. I don’t think it’s an attractive building in any way Vice Chair Carroll; so Bob if I get you what you want to see is the new front elevation to be an as built reflection Member Bucher; and a to Code elevation, materials, colors, the overhang, the porches with guardrails, those 2 porches, the roof material, what it is, color, shutters what that’s going to look like Vice Chair Carroll; give us a true reflection of what it is going to be Member Bucher; yes Vice Chair Carroll; (to applicant) can you provide that? Mr. Livarchuk; I’ll contact the builders, I’m assuming they can. My question for today is can we do anything provisional just so we can start, just because winter is coming Vice Chair Carroll; Joe? Joe Seman-Graves; that’s up to the board Vice Chair Carroll; we want the actual construction, the appearance of it to be on the record. How long will it take your builder to get that? Member Bucher; we need the proposed rendering Vice Chair Carroll; how long will it take for your builder to get that? Mr. Livarchuk; I’d have to call him tomorrow morning. I’m assuming it’s just a program that he can do this Vice Chair Carroll; can we do a provision or should we wait? Joe Seman-Graves; that’s up to you guys, we just can’t do a special meeting without doing a 10 day public notice Vice Chair Carroll; so we’re talking another month Joe Seman-Graves; the quickest we can get another meeting if we get everything tomorrow would be another week and a half out. Then once, I think pouring the foundation in October is, you’re losing half the month for review at best Mr. Livarchuk; I just didn’t want to do it in November, December because it’s just not a good idea to pour a foundation then Vice Chair Carroll; anybody else? Bob, Joe? Member Bucher; the other thing is the landscaping the proposed landscaping, what’s going to happen in here, I see a sidewalk on the other side and it’s old, between the 2 proposed driveways is that whole thing going to be landscaped or is that going to be Mr. Livarchuk; yeah that’s going to be landscaping probably a tree or two. Honestly we haven’t even considered that, whatever you guys tell us we’ll do at this point. Joe Seman-Graves; I think the board can either approve as is or deny, do a conditional approval, terms of a conditional approval as if the foundation is poured, the foundation is already poured Vice Chair Carroll; well the foot print of the house has already been approved Joe Seman-Graves; that’s up to you guys Vice Chair Carroll; do I hear a motion on this? Member Williams; I feel like I want to see more, you are creating a project like this in the community I think we want to see colors, we want to see the plants you are going to place. When I see this, if I showed this to someone their going to say what is this? I want to see something that when I show someone they know what it is. I just can’t understand what you want to create by this picture. Mr. Livarchuk; yeah I understand what you’re saying, that just what the builders gave us. We can get that I have no doubt Member Williams; I love your project but we just need to see what it looks like Vice Chair Carroll; do I hear any kind of motion one way or the other? Member Bucher; I guess, we do, I think pouring a foundation in early November is not a big deal it’s done all the time. Whether or not we are proposing to allow this to move forward without seeing what this is, obviously setbacks, parking I’m ok with that. The parking issue I see it differently than these folks do. Joe and I see it a little differently that they are taking cars off the street and putting them in a driveway and I’m ok with that part. It’s just the part with the, I would say deny it until next month when we can see a rendering and the materials that Kizzy and I are talking about wanting to see. Member Couture; administratively would a table motion be more suitable than a denial? Member Nadeau; I think a table would be more appropriate Member Couture; I just have a quick question as well. Did the members of the neighborhood have a, did they get to see the plans that they shrunk down, if that’s an opportunity that they have to see that they did make some effort to compromise to meet the aesthetics of the neighborhood. Joe Seman-Graves; this power point is available online Member Couture; ok, meaning that this is drawn to their attention so they can see that it did shrink down a little bit and what the setbacks and everything are just so they can see what it would look like in the neighborhood just to get a better visual and a little more comfort possibly of what the plan is. Everybody is going to be neighbors, it’s going to be owner occupied, so you’d like to see more cohesion with everybody if possible. Member Bucher; I apologize, I meant table not deny Vice Chair Carroll; so you, someone is going to have to make a motion to table it until we see new front elevations, and the renderings and what it’s going to be looking like Member Bucher; correct, table it not deny it Member Nadeau; I’ll 2nd it. Motion carried unanimously to TABLE the motion YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio ABSENT Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams X Vice Chair Carroll; and it’s just the front we need, not anything else? Member Williams; honestly, I don’t want us going into the project blind. So if he can show us, if you can show us your creation, I think that would be great, that’s what we want your creation. We want to see the whole format, I’m having foundation work on one of my houses in November, so this project that you’re creating is a life project so….. Vice Chair Carroll; that’s going to be a full foundation right? Mr. Livarchuk; yes Member Williams; we want to see trees, we want to see everything, the grass, colors Member Bucher; we need the landscaping schedule is what Kizzy is saying Member Williams; and this neighborhood is a family orientated community so what is your project bringing to the community? Mr. Livarchuk; ok, so now is it 2 weeks or 4 weeks? Joe Seman-Graves; I’ll reach out to you tomorrow and give you the dates Vice Chair Carroll; early November because we have Veteran’s day, it will be November 8th. CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE OF USE AND SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR 109 REMSEN STREET Vice Chair Carroll; next order of business, Planter Yamaris Cancel; owner of The Planter, we just opened. We’re looking to expand our services and provide alcohol out of our location as well on top of the plant store. So the biggest thing for us, it would be similar to a sip and paint but with plants because we offer terrarium workshops. It would be for workshops, special events we’re looking to do. So it would be in the back of the shop (picture shown on screen) it would have a bar some seating, having more like farm chairs, like lounge seating, on top of some tables it will be a small area. But again it’s really more so to compliment the plant shop with our events and support that, that we would be able to serve alcohol Vice Chair Carroll; are you in the process of getting a liquor license? Ms. Cancel; so I didn’t want to start yet, I wanted to do this first Vice Chair Carroll; now is this bar going to be open to the public? Ms. Cancel; yes Vice Chair Carroll; so I can walk in and sit down Ms. Cancel; yes, so we would offer that it wouldn’t be something just for the events, it would be something that we would offer when we are open, so from 11 to 6 we are open now, we would push it to 9 during the week and 11 on weekends. I just didn’t want it to be to late Vice Chair Carroll; I haven’t been to one of these wine or paint and sip parties, but do people normally bring their own bottle with them? Ms. Cancel; so we can’t offer that so I would provide my own alcohol. I can get permits for events but they also limit you on how many permits you can get as well Vice Chair Carroll; what type of permits? Ms. Cancel; alcohol to serve at special events. I can do a one day permit but again it would be limited Member Couture; would you be selling any food? Ms. Cancel; yes so per the liquor license I would have to offer food. I would offer small plates like finger food including like cheese boards, platters things like that Vice Chair Carroll; more like an appetizer menu Ms. Cancel; yeah exactly Member Nadeau; do you own this property? Ms. Cancel; Luk LaDue owns it, I rent from them Member Nadeau; and what’s upstairs? Ms. Cancel; so upstairs their building 4 town homes above me Member Nadeau; and your landlord knows you’re doing this? Ms. Cancel; yes I’ve spoken to them about the plans Vice Chair Carroll; are we approving her ability to sell alcohol and she can get a license? Joe Seman-Graves; any alcohol sales needs a special use permit so similar to the last project that you saw. Parking concerns she’s within 500 feet of a municipal parking lot same as her last approval. So this would just be the board approving the ability for her to sell alcohol Vice Chair Carroll; what kind of, what is the extent of your bar, will you have a full bar? Ms. Cancel; yes, so I’m thinking of doing a full bar and more so wine and beer but because the process is similar I decided to do the full bar Vice Chair Carroll; get the approval for everything then serve what you will Ms. Cancel; yes, so I’d have the option Member Bucher; and how many seats are in there? Ms. Cancel; I haven’t counted yet, I would have an inspector come in and tell me what the capacity is as well. That is part of the process for the liquor license too. I’m hoping for those 3 tables, I do have a big space, I have 2,100 sq. ft. right now the work shop tables seat 34 so I’ll add the seating on top of that and I just haven’t counted exactly how many I can put in there yet. Member Nadeau; Stephanie asked about the food, are you going to prepare food or are you going to bring it in? Ms. Cancel; so I’m preparing it, but for now ……(inaudible) Joe Seaman-Graves; explained the layout on the screen of the inside showing where the bar is going to be Member Williams; did you say that you want to prepare food but for now you’re going to cater? Ms. Cancel; yes so I was thinking of cater first I spoke with someone from Hawkeye and some other places that I would support and I spoke to Café’ Mel just to get started because I have to do this by myself so I just didn’t want to overwhelm myself at first and kind of see how it’s going to go and then see what I can prepare myself and but I am going to set up the bar area so I’ll have the appropriate things and follow through for food service so I want to make sure I have everything to the T for that. Member Williams; so do you have a kitchen now? Ms. Cancel; no there’s no kitchen so the food I would provide I would make sure that we can do there, so finger foods, salads, cheese boards and platters Member Williams; ok well when you do prepare a lot of times they expect you to have a grease trap, a big slop sink, so I’m not sure what Cohoes does for when you cater your food, but I do know that it has to be a certain temperature so if you are going to have this catering food from other restaurants, how long do you plan on having things out, are you going to cater the food at twelve and serving it at 8? Ms. Cancel; so per the license I have to offer food if I’m offering alcohol, so I have to make sure I can offer it so I can talk to the local restaurants and I can offer it there and take out situation. SO I wouldn’t be keeping it there, Member Williams; so you won’t be ordering the food until after people come? Ms. Cancel; right Member Williams; so if someone comes to your place at twelve you would order at twelve, if they come at 4 they would order the food at 4 Ms. Cancel; right because it’s going to be prepared at the restaurant where it is ordered, that way I don’t have to worry to much about keeping it Vice Chair Carroll; anybody have any concerns? Do we have a motion? Member Nadeau; I’ll make a motion that we approve Member Bucher; the hours you have here are saying 8 weekdays and 11 weekends Ms. Cancel; yes so I believe 8 or 9 weekdays, but 11 would be the latest like Friday Saturday nights. Member Nadeau; for the record she is asking for 11PM on weekends and 9PM on week days. Vice Chair Carroll; and Sunday’s you’re closed Ms. Cancel; I’m open Sunday’s but my hours on Sundays are 10 to 3, and I don’t think that will change, as I’m not planning on changing those hours so it will be a shorter day Member Couture; and also the number of seating will be dependent on what Code says Member Bucher; yes the SLA and building code because she only has one bathroom there Member Couture; just so we’re noting that Vice Chair Carroll; so when you have planting seminars how many people do you expect to be there at any given time? Ms. Cancel; for the events, so the low start at 4 because I base it on the lower tables, 34 is my max typically around 26 is what I have been getting. Member Bucher; the building code might say something different Ms. Cancel; so that would be the next step, someone to tell me what my max will be Vice Chair Carroll; so we have a motion on the table do we have a 2nd? Member William; how many employees do you have? Ms. Cancel; just me so with the bar, it’s not something that will be happening any time soon, the goal is to continue my events build people coming in the door, repeat customers, so when we’re ready to serve alcohol I can make sure I have 2 people for the back and 2 people for the front Vice Chair Carroll; we need a 2nd on the motion to approve Member Williams; I 2nd the motion Motion carried unanimously  YES NO Bob Bucher X Joseph Nadeau X Mark DeFruscio ABSENT Jack Carroll X Stephanie Couture X Kizzy Williams X Motion to adjourn; Member Bucher, 2nd by Member Couture meeting closed at 7:38PM