Planning Board

Village of Nyack Planning Board November 6, 2023 Members Present: Also Present:_______________________ Laura Rothschild - Chair present Dennis M. Michaels, Esq. Village Attorney Peter Voletsky – present Manny Carmona – Building Department Samuel Hart (Alternate) - present Bob Galvin – Village Planner Matthew Croussouloudis - absent Jennifer Knarich -absent Miguel Ortiz-Crane - absent Taylor Light (Alternate)- absent COVID-19 PANDEMIC STATUS~ IN PERSON. Meeting opened by the Chair at 7:05pm. Conflict Check: The Chair polled the members of the Board regarding the issue of possible conflicts of interest regarding the application. None mentioned. Other Business: The Chair stated that the Minutes for the October 2nd, 2023 meeting were distributed to Planning Board Members for their review prior to this meeting and at that time asked if there were any corrections. Hearing none, the Chair made a motion to accept the Minutes as presented. This was seconded by Peter Voletsky and passed with a vote of 3-0. 1. 82 Front Street. Leslie Kirsch. Application for a tree removal. This application is being represented by Leslie Kirsch, owner of the property. She states that there is a large Maple in backyard which has lost several large branches and has done damage. Arborist feels tree should come down. Will replace with (2) trees – either Cherry or Persimmon of at least 2” caliper. The Chair asks for any comment from the Board. Hearing none, she asks for public comment. No comments. She states that this is a Type II action and closed the public hearing. Village Planner Review The subject property is 0.4-acre, approximately 100’ from intersection of Front Street and 6th Avenue in the TFR zone.  Page -2- November 6, 2023 The applicant is represented by Mr. Jeffrey Lambert, Jr., a certified arborist from Wicks/arborists. The arborist’s review dated 9/13/22 has been presented to the Board. It indicates that there is a tall Norway Maple Tree located on the right side of the rear yard at 82 Front Street. The Norway Maple is considered invasive by the NYSDEC. The tree leans toward the residence and has a history of limb failure and endangering the residence and its occupants. The tree also has many stems that are weakly attached as well as some decay along the main trunk. Applicant has provided color photographs of the Norway Maple Tree. The arborist is recommending the removal of the Norway Maple Tree and the replanting of two additional trees in the left side of the rear yard. The planting sketch shows replacement with a two” caliper cherry tree and a two” caliper persimmon tree. SEQRA – The proposed action is a Type II action. LWRP – based on the Village Code, as a Type II action, this is consistent with LWRP policies. Samuel Hart makes motion to accept the application as presented. Seconded by Peter Voletsky. Vote passed 3-0. 2. 12 Haven Court. Tracy Cummings. Application for tree removal. Tracy Cummings, owner is representing this application. She states that she has a medium sized Cherry Tree in side yard which she planted as a seedling. It grew much bigger than they expected and is now leaning towards two windows of the house. Several branches have already come down. When asked, Ms. Cummings stated that she is not sure she wants to plant another tree. The Chair explains that typically if you choose not to replant, you can donate a tree to the Village. Ms. Cummings states that this is a very small space. Very unsure that she wants a repeat of her current situation. Feels that it is unfair and very costly to have to pay for a permit to remove tree, pay to have tree taken down and have to make a donation. No Board comment and no public comment. The Chair closes public comment and closed the public hearing. Village Planner Review The subject property is 0.7-acre, approximately 100’ from intersection of North Midland Avenue and Haven Court in the TFR zone. The applicant is represented by Mr. Jeffrey Lambert, Jr., a certified arborist from Wicks/arborists. The arborist’s review dated 9/29/23 has been presented to the Board. It indicates that there is a medium-sized Cherry tree located in the side yard to the right of the house. The Cherry Tree is a 16’ DBH size tree. While it is in generally good condition,  Page -3- November 6, 2023 the tree is leaning toward the residence and this growth habit will continue during the remainder of its life. The tree is a multi-stem tree with weak unions of stems with included bark at the base, all of which make it much more likely to fail, thus increasing the risk to its' targets greater. Applicant has provided color photographs of the Cherry tree. The arborist is recommending the removal of the Cherry tree and the replanting with a 2.5” caliper Eastern Redbud tree which is more attractive and appropriate tree. The new tree would be planted close to the location of the existing tree. The stump of the removed tree will be ground after removal. SEQRA – The proposed action is a Type II action. LWRP – based on the Village Code, as a Type II action, this is consistent with LWRP policies. Peter Voletsky makes motion to accept application as presented with the condition that either tree be replaced or donation be made to Village Tree Committee. Must comply with one of three options from Village of Nyack Code 360-5.4(18). This is seconded by Samuel Hart. Vote passed 3-0. 3. 31 Laveta Place. Justine Girard. Application to enclose west side of porch. Justine Girard, owner is representing this application. She states they have wrap around porch and are closing in west side with Anderson windows. It will not be air conditioned or heated. It’s for her Mom to do crafts. The Chair confirms that application went before ARB and that their recommendations will be adhered to. Peter Voletsky questions whether or not this application needs to go to ZBA. Village Planner The subject property is located on the south side of Laveta place approximately 185’ to North Broadway in the SFR-1 district. The subject property is 0.18-acres or 5,400-sf. Laveta Place is a dead-end street. The frontage of the property is 60’ along Laveta Place. The residence is a 2 ½ story frame dwelling with a masonry garage on the left side of the rear yard. The front yard setback is 32.8’. The subject property is lower than the property to the west. The Applicant is seeking site plan approval to enclose the existing covered west side of the front porch for a three-season covered, screened, unconditioned porch. The front porch will be enclosed on the front and around the right side of the existing porch. Anderson windows will replace the existing screens on the front porch. The Applicant received approval from the ARB at its meeting on 9/20/23. The Project  Page -4- November 6, 2023 reviewed by the ARB included the repair/replacement of the molding above the windows and adding prairie style dividers to the front windows to match other windows on the front of the house. The zoning table on Drawing A-0 was reviewed with the only indication of a variance being the side yard setback on the west side of the front porch. The zoning table indicates a proposed side yard of 2.8’ where 6’ is required. There were no other variances indicated on the bulk table. SEQRA – The proposed action is a Type II action under NYS DEC 617.5 (c) (11) “construction or expansion of a single-family, a two-family or a three-family residence on an approved lot…” and, therefore, no further SEQRA review is necessary. LWRP – based on the Village Code, as a Type II action, this is consistent with LWRP . policies. Recommendation – Planning Board will need to make a recommendation to the ZBA for the area variance for the side yard setback on the west side of the front porch. The zoning table indicates a proposed side yard of 2.8’ where 6’ is required. Peter Voletsky makes motion to accept application as presented and provide a favorable recommendation to ZBA. Samuel Hart seconds this motion. Vote passed 3-0. 4. 41 South Midland Avenue. David Dorfman. Application for a rear deck. Adra Mounier, Architect, represented this application. She explained that this is an application for a 280 sq ft deck at side of the house. Currently there are concrete stairs which will be replaced with same decking material. Deck will be same level as first floor and will be uncovered. They are not adding any lighting. Having no comment from Board and no public comment, the Chair closes public comment and the public hearing. She states that this is a Type II action. She confirms that there will be a concrete pad at landing. Bob Galvin states that there is plenty of room in backyard. Village Planner Review The subject property is located on the east side of South Midland Avenue, approximately 250’ to the north of Cedar Hill Avenue in the TFR zone. The subject property is 7,595 sf. It has 70’ frontage along South Midland Avenue with a depth of approximately 100’. The residence is a 2 ½ story frame dwelling. The applicant is seeking site plan approval to construct a new uncovered wood deck at the  Page -5- November 6, 2023 corner of the house at the rear and right-side yard. The survey provided indicates the area of work at the corner of the residence and the large rear yard. The residence also has a large side yard in the area where the deck is being proposed. The main deck itself is an “L” shape with 17’ at its widest and extends out 14.9’ into the rear yard. The deck on the side yard is 6’ x 8’ and includes stairs for access to the yard. SEQRA – The proposed action is a Type II action under NYS DEC 617.5 (c) (12) “construction, expansion or placement of minor accessory/appurtenant residential structures, including garages, carports, patios, decks, swimming pools, tennis courts, satellite dishes, fences, barns, storage sheds or other buildings not changing land use or density;” and, therefore, no further SEQRA review is necessary. LWRP – based on the Village Code, as a Type II action, this is consistent with LWRP . policies. Recommendation – There does not appear to be any other issues relative to site plan approval. Samuel Hart makes motion to approve application as presented and accept Plan A100.00 dated 10/10/23. Peter Voletsky seconds this motion. Vote passed 3-0. 5. 38 Burd Street. Francesca Bozorgomid. Application for new addition of conditioned corridor. Jackie Urra, Architect, represented this application. Manny Carmona, the Chief Building Inspector, gives history of the house with this finished room over garage being used as a recreation room. Owner is looking to attach upper part of garage to second level of the house to create a continuous space. Francesca Bozorgomid, owner, explains that in its current setup, they don’t get much use out of space over garage. When asked, she explained the reason for the three electric meters. They bought the house this way with the rec room over garage which is essentially unusable. They would love to make this space over garage a third unit, but understand that this would be very hard to get. Because of this, they decided to connect this area to the upper unit in the house and possibly make this a bedroom. Once combined, they would eliminate the third meter. Jackie Urra explains that the main house in front is a two-family dwelling. Garage is in back with rec room above. The Chair is concerned that this space could be used as a bedroom. She says properties are land locked back there and she is very concerned of fire and rescue vehicles not being able to access. Would like to have a fire assessment done. Manny Carmona agreed to have analysis done by Fire Department. Samuel Hart asks if fire door can be put in place on either side of the bridge. No further Board comment. No public comment. The Chair would like to continue this application to the December 4th meeting at 7:00pm in Village Hall. Public Hearing will remain open until that time.  Page -6- November 6, 2023 6. 16 Fourth Avenue. Lara Winterkorn. Application for small addition. Lara Winterkorn, owner, is representing this application. She states that her home currently has single story addition and they would like to add second story to add a new bath and walk in closet. The Board discusses why ZBA is required. Manny Carmona explains that when you increase a non-conformity, it triggers a ZBA referral. There was no further Board comment. No public comment and the public hearing was closed. Village Planner Review The subject property is located on the north side of Fourth Avenue and extends through to Ackerman Lane. The property is 5,400 sf and is a single-family residence in the TFR zone. The property has 60’ frontage on both Fourth Avenue and Ackerman Lane. The depth of the property is 174 sf. The back of the property on Ackerman Lane contains a garage, several sheds, a green house, brick walks and patios. The section of the property fronting Fourth Avenue has an existing 2-story dwelling and paved patio. The applicant is seeking site plan approval for 115 sf second floor addition in the rear of the residence above the existing first floor kitchen. The new space would include a new bathroom and new walk-in closet with washer /dryer. The addition is in the rear of the residence and not visible from the street. The size of the existing residence is 1,890 sf which would increase by 115 sf to 2,005 sf. This is zoning compliant. The ARB approved this application at its 9/20/23 meeting with no conditions. SEQRA – The proposed action is a Type II action under NYS DEC 617.5 (c) (11) “construction or expansion of a single-family, a two-family or a three-family residence on an approved lot…” and, therefore, no further SEQRA review is necessary. LWRP – based on the Village Code, as a Type II action, this is consistent with LWRP . policies. Recommendation - There does not appear to be any issues relative to site plan approval. Peter Voletsky makes motion to approve application as presented with a favorable recommendation to ZBA for area variance, plans dated 8/28/23. Samuel Hart seconds this motion. Vote passed 3-0. 7. 55 Catherine Street. Shaban Sinanaj. Continuation of application for subdivision for merger of two lots and the construction of a two-family. No representation for this application. The Planning Board assumes lead agency on this application. Application remains open.  Page -7- November 6, 2023 Village Planner Review The Planning Board should confirm lead agency status for the SEQRA review of this project. The Applicant’s Engineer has received the Village Engineer’s review and he will address the comments at our December meeting. SEQRA - On October 2, 2023, the Planning Board indicated its intent to be lead agency for the SEQRA review for this application. A NOI (Notice of Intent) was sent out to involved agencies. With the 30-day period now completed, the Planning Board can confirm that it will be lead agency and undertake the environmental review of this application. The NYSDOT has provided a GML response dated 9/9/23) for this application indicating that there are anticipated to be no impacts upon the State highways. We also received a GML review from Rockland County Planning dated October 2, 2023. The Village Engineer has provided a review on the project dated October 9, 2023. This has been sent to the Applicant’s Engineer who will address it before our December meeting. The Chair moves to close meeting at 8:25 pm. This is seconded by Samuel Hart.