Planning Board

MEETING MINUTES PLANNING BOARD REGULAR MEETING For February 3, 2021 A regular meeting of the City Planning Board was held on, Wednesday Fe bru a ry 3, 2021 at 6:30 PM via ZOOM. ITEM #1 ROLL CALL Chairman called the roll: In addition to Chairman Selsey, attending were the following Commissioners: Mr. Thompson, Ms. Thompson-Njenga, Ms. Gleason-Boncardo, and Mr. Whites. Also attending Marlon Molina, Deputy Commissioner, Shanitra Lockett, Land Use Counsel Chairman indicated that there was a quorum present and opened the meeting. ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES • December 2, 2021 • January 6, 2021 Chairman indicated that these minutes had been tabled from the January meeting. He then asked if the Commissioners had an opportunity to review the minutes of December 2, 2020 and were there any corrections. There being none, the Chair asked for a motion to approve the minutes of December 2, 2021. Motion was made by Commissioner Thompson and seconded by Commissioner Whites and carried with a vote of 5 – 0. Chairman asked the Commissioners if they had reviewed the minutes of January 6, 2021 and if there were any corrections to be made. There were none indicated, and the Chair requested a motion to approve the minutes of January 6, 2021. Motion was made by Commissioner Gleason and seconded by Commissioner Thompson-Njenga and carried with a vote of 5-0. ITEM #3 PUBLIC HEARINGS CONTINUATION OF PUBLIC HEARING 1 3.1 Case No. 1-2021 295 East Sandford Blvd. (Section 169.33, Block 4067, Lots 26 & 28) Located in the CB (Commercial Business) Zoning District. Request for Site Plan and Special Permit. After reading the description of the application, the Chair continued the public hearing. The Chair reviewed the project and indicated that there have been changes made in the plans in response to the Commissioner members comments at the last meeting in January. The Chair requested that the Applicant’s Engineer brief the Planning Board on these changes. Marc Pilotta, the Engineer for Atlantis Fresh Market, shared his screen to review the plans and highlight the changes made from the last meeting. The changes included: 1) changing the plantings from arborvitae to Schip Cherry laurel – these plantings will be installed as a buffer to the residential properties; 2) note indicating the new sidewalks will be installed along Nuber and Homestead Avenues and along East Sandford Blvd as required – they would be constructed per City specifications; 3) new street tree (European Hornbeam on East Sandford Blvd frontage; 4) new stormwater management system using subsurface infiltration units. It should be noted that the site had no previous stormwater management system. The Chair inquired about the PCV fence along the northwestern boundary with the residence on Nuber Avenue. Mr. Pilotta asked about the type of fence that the Board would like to see. The Chair polled the Board, and the consensus was to have a wooden stockade or similar type of fence. Mr. Thompson asked Mr. Pilotta to describe the new stormwater management system. Mr. Pilotta described the new stormwater management system. The system will be installed using underground infiltration units in the front portion of the site to capture the runoff from the roof, canopy, and site post construction. Applicant has also provided soil erosion plans as part of the application. The Chair asked if there was any public comment. There was no further comment from the public and the Chair asked for a motion to close the public hearing. Commissioner Gleason made the motion to close the public hearing, seconded by Commissioner Whites and carried with a vote of 5-0. The Chair indicated that a resolution had been prepared by the Planning Administrator at the request of the Board. The Chair made the motion to approve the resolution for the site plan and special permit subject to including note on the plan changing the fence from PCV to wooden fence. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Gleason and carried with vote of 5-0. 3.2 Case No. 2-2021 118 South 7th Avenue, Ebony Gardens Preservation, LP (Section 165.78, Block 3066, Lot 9) Located in the RMF-10 Zoning District. Request for Site Plan. 2  The Chairman read the description of the application and continued the public hearing. The Applicant reviewed the application for the Board and there were no additional questions. The Chair indicated that a resolution had been prepared by the Planning Administrator at the request of the Board. The Chair asked if there was any public comment. There was no additional public comment and the Chair asked for a motion to close the public hearing. Commissioner Gleason made the motion to close the public hearing , seconded by Commissioner Whites and carried with a vote of 5-0. The Chair made a motion to approve the resolution for the site plan for the construction of the Community Center and playground at Ebony Gardens, seconded by Commissioner Thompson and carried with a vote of 5-0. Item 4 Neighboring Municipality Recommendation According to Section 239-nn of New York State General Municipal Law, “It is the intent and purpose of this section to encourage the coordination and land use development and regulation among adjacent municipalities in order that each adjacent municipality may recognize the goals and objectives of neighboring municipalities, and as a result development occurs in a manner which is supportive of the goals and objectives of the general area”. The Chair indicated that the Village of Pelham Manor had made a GML referral to the City of Mount Vernon regarding the Village’s new proposed Business- 3 Zone. The Chair requested the Planning Administrator to describe the proposed zoning for the Planning Board. Mr. Galvin briefed the Board on the proposed zoning. He indicated that the Village of Pelham Manor seeks to create a new Business-3 Zone carved out of the existing Business-2 Zone. The new zone is located in the southwestern retail/industrial corner of the Village. The area borders the southeastern area of Mount Vernon (locally known as Canal Village). The boundaries of the new zone: Pelham Pkwy to the east, Hutchinson River on the north, Hutchinson River Parkway on the east and Secor Lane on the south. Pelham Pkwy runs into S. Fulton Avenue across the bridge into Mount Vernon. (The proposed legislation and aerial map delineating the new zoning district have been provided to the Planning Board by the Planning Administrator). The purpose of the new zone is to establish a mixed-use commercial district which does not require a highly visible location or generate a high volume of truck traffic, but that caters to a broad range of customer-based businesses. The Village’s traffic/planning consultants, Sam Schwartz Associates, have designed the zone to reflect changing market needs and encourage uses with low traffic impact. The current area is occupied by light industrial, warehouse and trucking uses. 3 The new Business-3 zone includes 1) urgent care clinics; 2) sales and service of products such as vacuum cleaners, HVAC, paint/wallpaper, glass and carpet/flooring; 3) sales/service of dry-cleaning equipment provided no hazardous, noxious, flammable or toxic materials maintained on site; 4) manufacturing, producing, processing or cleaning of goods in buildings 20,000 sf or less together with incidental retail and/or business offices provided that a) no outside storage of goods or materials allowed; b) all activities shall occur indoors; c) activities shall not produce odors, dust or noise detectable at the property line; 5) printing and reproduction studios; and 6) wholesaling, storing or warehousing of goods including building supplies, in buildings 20,000 sf or less. The Village Board has set a public hearing for February 22, 2021 for this new zone. If the Planning Board has any comments, they should be provided to the Village of Pelham Manor before their 2/22/21 public hearing. The Chair asked if there were any questions relating to the referral. Commissioner Gleason commented on the 20,000-sf threshold for building supply stores and how could that be ensured to remain at the 20,000-sf limit. She indicated that those stores get a lot of contractor business which she thought would increase traffic. Mr. Galvin commented that based on his discussions with the Village’s planning consultants, the current area being reviewed for the new zoning has several vacant sites. The Village would like to occupy these sites and replace with low intensity uses that are more people oriented than manufacturing oriented. There appears to be little appetite for anything big in the Village which is another reason for the revised zoning. Village Planners indicate that the Village already has a BJ’s which is a Big Box store in the same area almost across the street in the Business-2 zone. BJ’s was originally built to be a Home Depot. There also used to be a building supply yard in the area, but they moved out once BJ’s moved in. The Village Planners indicated that the 20,000-sf building size threshold is meant to limit traffic impacts. Any lot mergers would result in a larger parcel that would still be limited to the 20,000-sf building size limitation. The Chair asked if there were any additional questions. Mr. Galvin indicated that the Village is have a public hearing on this zoning on 2/22/21 and the Village would need to receive any comments before that date. The Chair requested that a response to the Village be developed by the Planning Administrator for his review. Deputy Commissioner Molina reminded the Chair that the Planning Board was going to move their work sessions from Mondays to Tuesdays before their regular meeting and amend the 2021 schedule. The Board would need to vote on this change. The Chair thanked the Deputy Commissioner and made a motion to make the change in the dates for the Board’s work sessions from the 1st Monday to the 1ST Tuesday of each month 4 and amend the Planning Board’s 2021 schedule. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Gleason and carried by a vote of 5-0. With no further matters before the Commission, the Chair made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Gleason with vote of 5-0. Bob Galvin, AICP Planning Administrator 5