Planning Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COHOES PLANNING BOARD HELD AT 97 MOHAWK STREET COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS JULY 8, 2024 at 6:30PM MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Jack Carroll Mr. Joseph Moloughney Mr. Joe Nadeau Mr. Joe McCormick Mr. Tony D’Angelico ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: Sharon Butler, Commissioner of Building & Planning Chair Carroll called the Planning Board meeting of July 8, 2024 to order at 6:30 pm and asked for roll call. Roll Call; all members were present CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM THE JUNE 10, 2024 MEETING Chair Carroll; first order of business is the approval of the June 10, 2024 minutes any questions, comments or amendments. Motion was made by Vice Chair Moloughney to approve the minutes 2nd by Member D’Angelico - Motion Carried unanimously. YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau ABSTAIN Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE OF USE/NEW TENANT APPLICATION FOR 239 REMSEN STREET Chairperson Carroll; ok 239 Remsen Street, Don where are you? (Mr. Russell appeared via Zoom due to being out of town). Tell us what you want to do, how you are going to get the 2 buildings to service one. Mr. Russell; this is ultimately a lateral move, moving Anthony’s across the street taking over all of Spindles. Spindles never recouped after COVID, it would have closed long ago if I didn’t own the property but because I do I have been able to sustain it, but so Anthony’s is going to move across the street take over where the deli was and then take over where Spindles is. I do like both of those spots. Chairperson Carroll; are you going to attach it to some sort of…. Mr. Russell; there is a doorway between the 2 buildings, correct. There’s already a door in the back we were connected with the deli already from Spindles to the deli so it’s just connecting the front part, literally it will just be a doorway between the 2 buildings. So where the deli is, the deli building is going to be all seating and the Spindles side will be the bar area for the restaurant itself. Chairperson Carroll; and the kitchen is going to stay in the same location? Mr. Russell; yes our seating is about the same as it is in Anthony’s between inside and outside, but this will be all inside in where the deli is now. Chairperson Carroll; alright, gentlemen and questions, comments, considerations, concerns? Vice Chair Moloughney; in terms of capacity, is there an actual capacity here, is it calculated seats, how many table tops what is the …. Mr. Russell; capacity is determined by square footage per person. The average square footage is between 12 and 15 square feet, we are actually going to be below that we are figuring, based on square footage we can put 125 people in there, that is not our intention because I do not like where people are sitting on top of each other, we believe that our seating capacity will be about 85 on the deli side. Chairperson Carroll; then addition on the bar side? Mr. Russell; the bar side doesn’t change, none of that changes. The only thing changing inside the bar area is the paint color. Vice Chair Moloughney; and your current capacity at Anthony’s is what? Mr. Russell; 96 Member Nadeau; there is no indication on this drawing that states the capacity? Chairperson Carroll; no Member Nadeau; we have no idea how these 2 buildings are going to flow together Chairperson Carroll; no, can you provide that to us Don? Mr. Russell; I didn’t hear what he said Chairperson Carroll; more detailed plans on the proposed flow between the 2 buildings and what the construction to the structures themselves is going to be needed. Mr. Russell; there is an architect working on that now the same architect that has done all the work on the building itself, he is working on that now, but it is going to be about a 60 inch wide opening so the width of 2 doors in between the 2 buildings. Chairperson Carroll; when do you expect these plans to be finished? Mr. Russell; that I don’t know, my goal is to make the move labor day weekend. Chairperson Carroll; so all of this will be done by then, conceivably? Mr. Russell; yes, all the heavy work was already done when we did the deli literally the construction end of it now is putting the doorway in, then it’s cosmetic, paint and like that we had already done everything for the deli so we don’t need to reinvent the wheel Member Nadeau; what is the passage between the 2 buildings as it is now? Chairperson Carroll; did you hear him Don? Mr. Russell; something about the passageway Chairperson Carroll; what is the connection between the 2 buildings now? Is there one? Mr. Russell; there is a breezeway 20inches… Member Nadeau; no the question is was that used as a passageway between the 2 buildings? Sharon; the passageway that he has now? Member Nadeau; right, that is between the 2 buildings now Chairperson Carroll; there is an alleyway 3’ alley way Member Nadeau; is that space between the 2 buildings used for an egress at any time? Sharon; ok he is asking if the alleyway between the 2 buildings is used as an egress at any time Mr. Russell; no it never has been, on Remsen Street there is a gate there that is bolted from the inside, but no it is not. Member Nadeau; obviously he has to go through the building department for code and they will address egress? Sharon; yes he would have to have his architect submit something to the building department for them to review and for Garry to review to make sure that ingress and egress are correct. Chairperson Carroll; that is my biggest concern getting those plans done right Mr. Russell; there is egress to Remsen Street from the deli and out to the alley from the deli and then Spindles is obviously Remsen Street and out to the alley as well. Chairperson Carroll; right but that won’t be ……it is going to be that 5 foot connection between the 2 buildings correct? Mr. Russell; there is a front door from the deli to Remsen Street that will be unlocked during business hours. Member Nadeau; has code looked at this plan at all as it stands right now? Sharon; I don’t believe so—to Mr. Russell you haven’t submitted this to the building department yet have you? Mr. Russell; no Sharon; where the tables are laid out that you gave to me? Mr. Russell; no that part is trivial because they are not a permanent fixture so once we get (inaudible) I’ll submit the plans from the architect for the door. Member Nadeau; my concern is he exiting a restaurant with people to an apartment those are apartments back there Sharon; where are the apartments located Don? In reference to where people are going to be coming in and out of the restaurant? Mr. Russell; there’s only, coming in and going out of the restaurant there is only 2 apartments, but again that door is going to be for emergency exit the people coming in and exiting from the restaurant will be coming through and from Spindles. That will be the primary. Member Nadeau; in an emergency, they would be exiting onto the street. Mr. Russell; in an emergency they will go right out the door and that is a 42 inch door on the deli currently. Member Nadeau; I’m not comfortable with this until code has some input on this. I guess we can go with it contingent upon code approval. Mr. Russell; code is going to have a set of stamped blue prints showing the doors and the exits. Member McCormick; you will need a building permit right? Mr. Russell; yes Sharon; even if he gets this approval he will still have to get a building permit, because they will do the inspections and calculations Member McCormick; what is the proposal for parking for both of those buildings now, are you proposing transferring parking from Anthony’s on one side to the other side where the deli is? Sharon; he is within 500 feet of municipal parking and he will have on street parking which won’t be a lot different than what is happening at Anthony’s now. Member McCormick; but when his restaurant moves from Anthony’s to across the road what happens with the building, to Anthony’s? Chairperson Carroll; Don did you say you might have a renter for that building? Mr. Russell; yes Anthony’s is going to be a retail location it will not be a restaurant, I have talked to 2 different people at the moment but it will not be a restaurant. Vice Chair Moloughney; I think part of what we are getting at is accessing is what is the cumulative impact, if Anthony’s is going to reused with a substantial parking demand and now were adding parking demand here, what is the cumulative impact at some point, the municipal lot is here, but they are always at capacity so at some point you overwhelm them and you start having the impact, I guess trying to get an understanding of that. Mr. Russell; I understand that except I already have approval for all the parking I need for Anthony’s this is a lateral move to across the street, Anthony’s is not going to be a restaurant nor would I let it be a restaurant, if I were to sell it to somebody there would be a non-compete clause in there and I meet the city charter code for being under 500 feet from parking. Not just for me, but if Danny Oh wanted to put 5 restaurants in his property, we as a city can’t say no because they meet the 500’ mark Vice Chair Moloughney; I thought the parking waivers were at discretion of the planning board members Mr. Russell; only if they are more than 500 feet. Sharon; he is correct with that. Mr. Russell; but Anthony’s is not going to be used as a restaurant so that can come out of the equation as well because anyone that I talk to there is a non-compete clause I will not allow a restaurant to go in the building that I currently own to compete with me. Chair Carroll; any other questions? Vice Chair Moloughney; I do just a follow up on the total capacity, I asked that question earlier without actually reading the full packet, but the last page of the packet has different numbers, and that increase of 23 for a total of 125 Mr. Russell; the 125 is the max that it could be per code because again seating is based on square footage per person, which is based on 12 -15 square feet, I know for a fact that I won’t have 125 in there because I would have to pack people in like sardines, my guess is that it is going to be the 85 mark which is realistically less than what I seat at Anthony’s currently, but 85 is what I think. Architects can put tables on a piece of paper but when you actually do it, it doesn't make sense. Spindles for example when I first did that the architect had 3 additional tables well I could get 3 more tables in but I wouldn’t get any customers in or people to sit at those tables so we removed them. He did based on what the square footage is not what functionally is, I believe it is going to be at the 85 mark but based on square footage and how things are calculated in an architects world it would be that 125. Sharon; the other thing is that code will also do a calculation on that because NY State has regulations for seating capacities. Code will check the square footage inside the building and if he is within the seating capacities, and that fits within the NY State codes and the square footage then he’d be good. Chairperson Carroll; any other questions? We will move to public input, anyone in the public that would like to make any comments on this project? Being none do I hear a motion one way or the other from the board? Member D’Angelico made a motion to accept. Vice Chair Moloughney; there’s a motion on this, but I would like to see more definitive submittal received just clarifying what we discussed, clarifying some of the preliminary architect plans, they don’t have to be final but we, it’s the same standard that we require of any other applicant at least have some sense on paper of what we are looking at and approving at the time we approve it. Mr. Russell; the doorway is going to be behind the current door that faces Remsen Street, I have already been to the historic board and they approved it. So you are not even going to see the doorway because there is already gate there to begin with. Sharon; what is it you are looking for Joe, what additional information do you want to see? Vice Chair Moloughney; some clarification of the submittal, the preliminary or final architect plan that shows the floor plan layout the building connection, how this all fits. It’s a site plan right, we are talking about joining 2 buildings and we don’t see how the properties are being used. Chair Carroll; so do I get the sense that you would like to table this until we can get more detailed plans on what is going to be happening with the structures themselves and the layout? Member Nadeau; there is a motion on the floor to accept Chair Carroll; we don’t have a 2nd so we don’t have a motion. So do we have a motion that we accept on the condition that we get plans or wait until we get plans and schedule for next month? Vice Chair Moloughney; what is the turn around time to get some preliminary plans Sharon; he has an architect working on it, correct Don? Mr. Russell; correct Member Nadeau; why is the architect working on something (inaudible) who’s it best served? The architect who is it going to serve after this after the fact? Chair Carroll; can you talk to your architect and get us what plans he has now Mr. Russell; I can it’s not going to happen while you guys are at the meeting right now. The architect plans right now are for the building department/code am I correct in saying that? Chair Carroll; the building department also Mr. Russell; right, the building department code enforcement. The building department issues the work permit. Chair Carroll; and the planning board gives the approval for that. Mr. Russell; for the architect to submit Chair Carroll; we want to see more detailed plans on what you want to do Mr. Russell; ok Chair Carroll; so do we have a motion to table until the additional plans come in to review? There was a discussion regarding expediting the application once all the documents were submitted. Chair Carroll; can we have a special meeting once he gets the plans in Sharon; absolutely if that is what you want to do Chair Carroll; can you get us those plans Don and we can have a special meeting once you get them to us? Mr. Russell; I will call the architect first thing in the morning Chair Carroll; ok and in the meantime we will call this a table until we get the documents. Do we have a motion to table this item? Motion to table the application made by Vice Chair Moloughney 2nd by Member Nadeau Motion carried unanimously. .  YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau X Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR 114 CENTRAL AVENUE Chair Carroll; ok next on our agenda is 114 Central Avenue Airbnb. You have the house that you are renting out on right hand side the one you grew up in? Adam Dubec; yes Chair Carroll; ok, for the record can you state your name again? Adam Dubec; Chair Carroll; alright. When the Airbnb situations are very nebulous right now. The State and local government’s are putting forth conditions and standards for Airbnb’s, and until we get those we don’t have our guidelines that we can objectively go down the checklist to make sure everything is there. That should be coming I think in another month Sharon; by September Chair Carroll; by September so how are you going to do this? Vice Chair Moloughney; our conversation at the last meeting about a present with other Airbnb’s being denied and then this is different and how will be proceed, and we wanted to take a month to look at things and access but I don’t know that we are any further ahead with that Sharon; no because the City is working with corporation counsel to come up with some kind of guidelines and regulations for short term rentals and Airbnb’s and that take some time to do, because we have to do a 30 day public hearing. On the advice of corporation counsel he said to deny this until we have guidelines and regulations because the board denied all the other applications Vice Chair Moloughney; understood, if we deny is that prejudice to reapplication? Sharon; no once the guidelines and regulations come into play as long as people meet those guidelines and regulations they can reapply for whatever the city decides whether it is a permit or license or something of that nature. They can reapply if they meet the guidelines. Vice Chair Moloughney; so if we were to deny today it would be in consistency with the current planning code and established practices for treating these equitable and equally. And generally they are just not a good fit in the City code and how these get approved. Chair Carroll; we are just waiting to get guidelines I hope you understand. Right now we are not in the position to approve this until we get the guidelines from the City on what their conditions are. Mr. Dubec; which can be well into another month Sharon; it’s supposed to be by September that this will be done Mr. Dubec; so 2 months Chair Carroll; sorry to hear that, it is the best way to go like Joe said fairly and equitably Mr. Dubec; so I’m stuck for 2 months? Chair Carroll; I’m afraid so or until we get the guidelines Vice Chair Moloughney; it would require an amendment to the city code Sharon; right, there would be an amendment to the city code. Vice Chair Moloughney; and the city council is responsible for that? Sharon; right Member McCormick; so the idea on what the city code is that so long as they meet the requirements they will have to come back to the planning board Sharon; it is going to depend on how the regulations are written, it may go through code enforcement, so it may not have to come to the planning board. It may be a permitting or licensing that would go through myself and the code office. Vice Chair Moloughney; ok Sharon; do we have a motion? Chair Carroll; motion to deny based until we get further guidance from the city Vice Chair Moloughney; I move to deny 2nd by Member McCormick motion carried unanimously YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau X Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X CONSIDERATION OF A SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR 640 SARATOGA STREET Chair Carroll; next item on the agenda 640 Saratoga Street Mr. Lynn Sipperly; I’m the engineer for Faisal Shehzad for 640 Saratoga Street. This project was approved in October of 2022 and to our fault we never applied for building permit within the one year period of that approval. There was a second factor that was involved with this and that we were working with the Town of Colonie for the sanitary sewer connection and this shows the Town of Colonie sanitary sewer connection location here (shown on drawing) being on the same side of the street as this proposed development and over here on Tibbetts Place is the City sewer system. We were hoping to go into the Town of Colonie system so we wouldn’t have to cross over Saratoga Street. We are here this evening to ask this board to reinstate our site plan approval so that we can proceed with the construction of the project. Again since then the Town of Colonie disapproved our connection into their system. Chair Carroll; so now you have to go across. Mr. Sipperly; yes now we have to go across Saratoga Street to connect. We are not looking to cut over the street, for one the gas mains over Saratoga Street is one of the reasons why we didn’t want to come across Saratoga Street but by direction below we can bore down about 6 or 7 feet and the gas lines are about 4 feet so we should have plenty of clearance for an inch and half sewer service and the gas main. Chair Carroll; ok if I may I will go through some of the conditions that the approval was based on back in 2022; during repair work or the preparation of repair work all windows, doors, openings and garage doors will be closed and facility will be provided with proper ventilation, on the exterior front of the building, the applicant shall permanently affix a sign of at least 2’ by 2’ which clarifies that during repair work or the preparation of repair work, all windows, doors, openings, and the garage doors will be closed, applicant will install code compliant/fire rated acoustical tiles, baffling tiles, or similar materials throughout the interior of the garage; said acoustical tiles are to be compliant with OSHA and STC Ratings, applicant will install a new 6’ solid vinyl fencing along the northerly, southerly, and westerly sides insofar as the fencing does not negatively affect drainage, and finally the applicant will clean and maintain all of the drainage ditches, swales and depressions on his property. Do you recall that? Mr. Sipperly; I do recall that yes. If I could mention to the board on number 4 (fencing) the installation of the 6’ vinyl fence on the west side, the west side of the property is the railroad and Norlite, so we don’t have any neighbors and we can put the fence there……….. Chair Carroll; you are not fencing anything out is what you are saying? Mr. Sipperly; that is correct there is no visual, there is no visual impact there with this project. The applicant has started putting a wood fence on the north and south boundaries that will have to be removed…….. Sharon; the vinyl fence is what was approved for this project to move forward, it was part of the conditions back in 2022 so him putting up wooden fence, it is mainly a maintenance thing but the other thing that the Town of Colonie wants is along with the fence, is to have some native and evergreen trees along with the fence to help with noise and block the view. Mr. Sipperly; this area here is just an open area, it is somewhat of a wet land area there is really no opportunity to develop in this area. I really don’t want to change the conditions are except on that west side because there is no suffering to neighbors as they are the railroad. But if the board wants to keep the conditions in place the applicant will abide by them. Chair Carroll; gentlemen what do you say? Vice Chair Moloughney; question on the wooden fence, what style is it now Mr. Sipperly; it just a wooden 6’ high Vice Chair Moloughney; is it 2 by 4’s with paneling, so they can fall out over time, so that is probably why it’s not preferred Member Nadeau; with no neighbors on the back side, I don’t really see an issue with this Sharon; so the west side, where the railroad is Mr. Sipperly; it is about 75 feet of fence Sharon; so do you want to do an amendment to the original resolution, it would be northerly and southerly sides that have to be the 6’ vinyl fencing Chair Carroll; yes as agreed and on the west we are ok with no fencing because there is no one to keep out, there is no visual. Are there any public comments being none asked for a motion with the amendment for the fencing on the West side of the property. Member Nadeau made a motion to approve with the amendment to the original resolution 2nd by Member D’Angelico motion carried unanimously. YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau X Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR 28 N. RESERVOIR STREET Chair Carroll; ok who is here for the dog training for 28 North Reservoir Street, come up tell us your name and what you want to do Heleen VanSchandevyl; I would like to do small scale dog training classes in my basement. Chair Carroll; small scale or small dogs? Ms. VanSchandevyl; small scale not to many people. So I didn’t know I was going to present. I like dog sports, so I do that kind of thing but for fun. A lot of people like to do these fun activities with their dogs so I would like to do them in my basement. The basement is really big, I think I provided pictures of it. There is a bathroom which is why I thought of sort of this idea with the small classes. Theres also windows so there is some natural light, not the best but as time and budget progresses to fix a little more. Right now we put in new walls I have new wiring for lighting and eventually we want to finish the walls and before I start the classes I want to put in a ceiling so I still have work to do. I am hoping depending on approval to maybe start classes in fall or winter because we still have to work on the flooring and things. So right now, I have my primary day job so I am looking for just one or two classes a week try this out and maybe if it becomes a success then expand into a different location. Chair Carroll; ok how many dogs do you plan on taking in with your one or two classes? Ms. VanSchandevyl; I think about 1 to 6. Some people have 6 dogs that they show up with because 6 crates is what we will be able to fit comfortably in the training space, and when the dogs aren’t working they will be crated. Chair Carroll; large dogs, small dogs Ms. VanSchandevyl; all dogs Chair Carroll; is this basic training or advanced training Ms. VanSchandevyl; right now, it is just scent-work training. Scent-work is training dogs for (inaudible) but just for fun. There is actually a huge dog sport community in the area there are others, there are even a lot of competition trials being organized, so people go to these competitions with their dogs, and they try for really big money really good ribbons. So right now, the focus would be that, however I am working on a certification for control and lease that is a type of dog training maybe I will also do a class for that. And I am organizing other things, but they will not be on the premises for example I do mentoring which is search and rescue but that is for fun. That sort of training is not on premise. Chair Carroll; what time of day are you planning on doing the training? Ms. VanSchandevyl; it would be afternoon and evening and then on the weekends during the day Chair Carroll; are these types of trainings will the owners be participating in the training? Ms. VanSchandevyl; they will yes Chair Carroll; so, then you could have up to 6 or 8 cars parking on north Reservoir Street Ms. VanSchandevyl; so, people, I’m thinking 1 to 3 and they can bring multiple dogs. So, 1 to 3 people max because I know parking is an issue. But I think 1 to 3 cars is doable and I want the classes to be small. I don’t want 6 people, the basement also isn’t large enough for that. Chair Carroll; ok, gentlemen, any questions? Vice Chair Moloughney; since we are talking about parking capacity, you don’t have your own driveway that people can use? You already park on the street, so there would be more vehicles, 3 more vehicles parking on the street. Ms. VanSchandevyl; that is right. It will only be once or twice a week up to three times a week for an hour. The classes are only an hour. Member Nadeau; my other concern would be barking dogs with the neighbors. What is your experience with training and barking dogs, is it going to be an issue with the neighbors? Ms. VanSchandevyl; so the training will be taking place indoors, although I think I would also like to use my yard, but that would only be one dog at a time. Now our neighbors to the right do have a dog, he may bark and I know I’m in a residential neighborhood and we need to be careful and my relationship with the neighbors is important, because I really want to make a life in that house in that neighborhood. So I have already some templates like for example if they are walking their dog from the car to my yard don’t let them pee on the neighbor’s stuff. There will be a designated area, do not let them pee on neighbor’s plants. I don’t let my dogs do that either. And similarly if a dog barks to much even indoors I will ask them not to come, I can offer the training for that or they can do it someplace else. If a dog is barking all the time then the other dogs can’t work, so it’s a give and take there. Vice Chair Moloughney; on the subject of working outside, I’m reading the zoning code and the city code requirement is all the work is to be contained fully inside and not outside. It is already in the city code, and that is not something we can give a waiver for, except maybe a zoning variance but I don’t know about that because that is not really a variance thing. So it sounds like you are stuck inside anyways. Ms. VanSchandevyl; ok good to know. Member Nadeau; for planning purposes the neighbors aren’t notified of this right? Sharon; no, we are only required to notify neighbors for zoning Ms. VanSchandevyl; I have talked to the neighbors and they seem to be fine with it. The other neighbors we don’t really see that often. Chair Carroll; do we have any conditions or concerns? Member McCormick; is your ultimate goal to move out of your basement and into another space? Ms. VanSchandevyl; inaudible Member McCormick; if the demand is significant and the amount of people increase Ms. VanSchandevyl; yes then I would move to another area, I assume a commercial district or something. This is really me putting my toes in the water and trying to get in the market. Member McCormick; you wouldn’t want to change the conditions that are set which are 1 to 2 times a week for an hour, you wouldn’t come back and say I want 5 days a week and I have more dogs. Ms. VanSchandevyl; I see, probably not, I mean no I think if there was an increase like that I would go somewhere else. (too many people talking at the same time) INAUDIBLE. Sharon to applicant; when one of the members here asked about changing it to 10 dogs, and 4 days a week, if the plan ever changes from what you are approved for here tonight which would be one or two nights a week whatever is in your application, then you would have to reapply and come back in front of the planning board. Ms. VanSchandevyl; ok, I understand. Chair Carroll; any changes in terms and conditions you come back for another review. Sharon; any changes to your original application you would have to reapply Ms. VanSchandevyl; ok. Vice Chair Moloughney; my only question among us it’s 1 to 3 people in terms of parking are we fine with that, should we do a condition to further restrict that. I personally don’t live there so it would be easy to say do whatever but …… Chair Carroll; I look at the map and is there parking on both sides of the street? Ms. VanSchandevyl; right in front of my house, no, but if they go a little further, they might have to walk a minute or two to get to me. Chair Carroll; on the one side of the street you have a lot of curb space available and parking on both sides. Ms. VanSchandevyl; I think the house across from me, there’s no parking on both sides there. Member Nadeau; so right across there is no parking Vice Chair Moloughney; right in the immediate area, there is a driveway across the street. I don’t feel it’s overwhelming for making anything additional, I think the 1 to 3 and 6 dogs is modest. Member Nadeau; I think that because the neighbors weren’t notified if it turns into a public nuisance in terms of a lot of calls that we revisit it. Vice Chair Moloughney; what can be written as a condition? Sharon; the thing is, she is getting a Special Use Permit, so if I end up getting a lot of complaints about it I would notify her and let her know what the complaints are. If they continue then I will tell her that she has to reappear in front of the planning board and that the Special Use Permit is being revoked and she will have to reappear in front of the board. Member Nadeau; does that sound good? Ms. VanSchandevyl; that sounds good to me. Chair Carroll; ok so we are looking for a motion to approve with the stated conditions. Member Nadeau made the motion to approve the application with the stated conditions 2nd by Vice Chair Moloughney motion carried unanimously YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau X Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE OF USE/NEW TENANT APPLICATION FOR 122 REMSEN STREET Chair Carroll; moving on with the agenda, Alchemy Studios, come up tell us your names and what you want to do. Ms. Alyxis Zadoorian and Mr. Steve Zadoorian. Sharon; she is reappearing in front of the board because she did get her approvals to move into 55 Mohawk St. but had some issues, so she found another place on Remsen Street to move into, so she is reapplying for approval for the new location. Chair Carroll; so basically the same business in a new location? Ms. Zadoorian; yes, I did touch up my plan based on the new location. It is where Bye-I is currently. We will have a lot of space to work with and it will work out better for us. Chair Carroll; we already approved the one for Mohawk, you have the parking. Do I hear any public comments, being none asked for a motion on the application Member McCormick made a motion to accept the application 2nd by Vice Chair Moloughney motion carried unanimously. . YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau X Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X CONSIDERATION OF A CHANGE OF USE NEW TENANT APPLICATION FOR 363 SARATOGA STREET Chair Carroll; 363 Saratoga Street Sharon; they are not here CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR 30 DELAWARE AVENUE Chair Carroll; 30 Delaware Avenue Mr. Thomas Brennan I own T&T Storage here in Cohoes. I am looking for approval for the property that I recently purchased at 30 Delaware Avenue. Under the zoning it said boat, storage, and marina is allowed there. Chair Carroll; is that the Shanahan property? Mr. Brennan; no I already own that property. Chair Carroll; ok this is the one to the north of it. Mr. Brennan; if you go back far enough, it was called the Albany Marina or something like that. This storage business has been very helpful to me and the City of Cohoes I have several of them throughout the City. We are asking that make sure that we can continue with this expansion and we already have a marina there and as you see on the bottom, there it shows a posting for a boat launch something we are looking at for the future with the Army Corp of Engineers. But we are just looking to store boats, cars, campers, RV’s, basically what we do right now. Nothing dangerous I manage most of the storage myself so I know what is coming in and out of the properties. If a trucker calls me and says I need to park my truck for the weekend, which we do that. To give a little history about our business, we have about 40 different businesses that operate out of our facilities, most people don’t know that. I am an incubator for a lot of companies, a lot of small companies rent off me that come and go everyday out of our facilities; Donnelly construction, Joe Ortiz, a bus company, a limousine company, a construction company, and irrigation company, I have 2 different doggie day cares in my buildings. But within our storage facilities we have a lot of small businesses that operate. Like Joe they can’t keep their truck parked in front of their home so the need for my facility works for them. They park their trucks at my facility and they don’t get in the way of the neighbors. Chair Carroll; from an aesthetic standpoint is there any …… Mr. Brennan; I just put the vinyl fence up, it’s all in, the building has been painted, the roof coated, lights have been installed and the cameras are already up. We had a problem with someone posting a lot of videos on internet which caused break-ins so the cameras had to go up. The fence has a 16-foot gate that closes, but if someone wants to get in they’re going to get in. Sharon; just so the board is aware he did get SHPO and DEC approvals for the fence they actually suggested that he put the fence up to keep people off the property because there were artifacts that were found on that property and they didn’t want people going in there and looting. Mr. Brennan; the property when you look at it, we are going to keep all the trees between that potential new development that is going in. We will keep the grass area and the trees all in there and give them a buffer from our property it will be all greenery. I did go to tractor supply and got a seed with flowers mixed in (wildflowers) so it isn’t just grass more of a wildflower mix. I’m assuming that if they do that project they will put a fence up in between us. Member Nadeau; is there an open gate onto the Delaware Avenue or is it just the access through the building? Mr. Brennan; no there is a 16-foot gate, it goes from the edge of the building, the northwest corner of the building and its over 16 feet. Chair Carroll; is that where customer parking is? Mr. Brennan; basically yes. Where you see customer parking the gate will go 16 feet over. Chair Carroll; ok Member Nadeau; do you expect that to be closed most of the time or open so people will have access. Mr. Brennan; that gate I will keep closed Member Nadeau; ok good Mr. Brennan; it will be combination gate, that if you were to rent off of me I would give you the combination you would open and close it. There was a discussion about security cameras on the property. Member Nadeau; anytime we have approved anything on the river, there is requirement of putting a walkway on the river. Have you given any consideration for that in the future, as the property develops are you open to that, or would it interfere with your business? Mr. Brennan; I did leave some green space and you can see that, and there is a pretty good trough through there, the only problem with a walkway if it wasn’t fenced between me and them, you are giving the people………….. Member Nadeau; is it something that you could work with us later on? Mr. Brennan; absolutely especially because I did the greenspace already we can contemplate putting a sidewalk in there and a fence there. The reason that I say (inaudible) something about people stealing. I want to keep the facility as secure as possible. As you go on down to the river the terrain does change there Member Nadeau; it wouldn’t be easy Mr. Brennan; no it would not Vice Chair Moloughney; Sharon does the city code in this district require the recreational easement or is that ….. Sharon; yes it is part of the requirement for any development that happens on the riverfront that there is access to the river Vice Chair Moloughney; we can do a condition that would be reserved and revisited at such time as the city develops plans to connect paths or trails, it would be included in this approval. It would give the city the right to come back and reopen this application. Member Nadeau; the burden wouldn’t necessarily be on you, you would have to sign off it. Mr. Brennan; yes it’s not something I can afford now. If anything it brought more eyes to me, people who have a boat or a camper and they can’t put it in their driveway or they don’t want it there, this works for them. Sharon; there is a code that says you can’t park your RV in front of your house, or in the driveway up to a certain amount of feet. Mr. Brennan; a trailer with a hitch on it, you can’t leave on the city streets. I have a lot of small businesses that rent off of me, numerous guys that come and park their equipment they don’t want to cause problems with their neighbors. Chair Carroll; ok Member McCormick; I just want to ask about boat cleaning and washing Mr. Brennan; no there’s no boat washing. The gentleman that is doing the marina is doing maintenance and repairs Member McCormick; asked about oil changes and where the oil would go Mr. Brennan; stated that it would be turned in. There will be a 55-gallon drum for used oil that will be taken off site from there. Most of the boats don’t hold a lot of oil. Member McCormick; asked about any spills that might happen Mr. Brennan; with the building if something were to spill it’s set back quite a distance from the river. I already talked to him about it, he won’t have any oil stored there. If he’s doing your boat he goes and gets the oil that you want for your boat the 8 or 10 quarts needed, people have different preferences of oil for their boat, so he won’t be stocking any. Member McCormick; there was a discussion about spills on the gravel and it making its way to the river and spills inside the building. Mr. Brennan; stated that the floor inside the building is concrete so any spills would be cleaned up with kitty litter Vice Chair Moloughney; one more clarification with the river access for the potential future boat launch, at whatever time that happens I think you would come back and revisit; changing use, changing site plan at that time. Mr. Brennan; we are asking for a marina too as of right now because it is zoned for marina use. Vice Chair Moloughney; I guess, you may have heard our conversation with the restaurant downtown, without plans of what the marina looks like its hard to say today to go and do what you want. Mr. Brennan; it would be just to put your boat in the water Vice Chair Moloughney; it’s a launch Mr. Brennan; it’s not being built, it’s already there. Vice Chair Moloughney; but a marina (inaudible) it’s access …. Chair Carroll; like across the river, that’s a marina Mr. Brennan; yes, it’s nothing like that Vice Chair Moloughney; just a launch and access Mr. Brennan; just a launch which is already there. Sharon; and that will be down the road because that is a whole other set of approvals Vice Chair Moloughney; right and when and if that comes about, if we are changing the use as far as with the general public is there a fee for launching or is that tied with the marina I think understanding that piece when it develops we can have a better conversation. right now, in my opinion, we approving parking storage and some mechanical work in the building, that is what we’re approving. Member Nadeau; if there are any additional structures then he would have to come back also. Mr. Brennan; yes absolutely. That was a discussion with the state people, I said to them don’t plan on building there. Chair Carroll; any more concerns or considerations? Do we have any public comments, being none do we have a motion on the application? Motion to approve the application for storing and mechanical work on boats made by Vice Chair Moloughney 2nd by Member D’Angelico motion carried unanimously. YES NO Chairperson Carroll X Vice Chair Moloughney X Member Nadeau X Member McCormick X Member D’Angelico X Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Member Nadeau 2nd by Member McCormick meeting adjourned at 7:48PM Submitted by: Sharon Butler Commissioner of Building & Planning