City Council

August 10, 2021 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Special City Council Meeting (UDO) 6:00 PM 6:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATION CONSENT AGENDA MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion: UDO Workshop ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS Matt Veitch 1. Nothing at this time. Tara Gaston 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN City Council Meeting 8/10/2021 August 10, 2021 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Special City Council Meeting (UDO) 474 Broadway 6:00 PM PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Robin Dalton, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Deirdre Ladd, Deputy Commissioner of Finance Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Vincent DeLeonardis Susan Barden Patrick Cogan Amanda Tucker Aneisha Sanford EXCUSED: Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Lisa Shields, Deputy Mayor Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Joe O’Neill, Deputy Commissioner, DPW RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Kelly advised there are two more workshops scheduled for the next two Tuesdays – August 17 th at 5 p.m., and August 24th at 3 p.m. All information is available on the UDO page of the City’s website. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Kelly said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes. Mayor Kelly opened the public comment period at 6:01 p.m. Page 2 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/10/2021 Matt Jones, attorney and resident of Saratoga Springs, stated he is here on behalf of Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. They are proposing a compromise of a 750’ depth in the GCR zoning district for the southerly portion of South Broadway. A letter was sent to the Council today regarding this (attached). John Iacapone of Saratoga Springs stated he is a member of and represents the Maple Dell neighborhood. There is a mapping error that needs to be corrected. There are parcels directly in the Maple Dell neighborhood where the use calls for a minimum of 24’. Everything there is one story. This minimum is not appropriate here. They believe what is appropriate is the NCU. Wendy Mahaney of Sustainable Saratoga provided a copy of the e-mail she sent earlier today (attached). She stated the entire corridor on South Broadway from the former Joe Collins restaurant to Saratoga Honda is in the greenbelt. The 2015 Comprehensive Plan calls for uses of low to moderate intensity and requires rural character for the development within the corridor. Their concern is the UDO eliminates this vision and the current rural character guidelines are being removed. The replacement guidelines are less detailed and don’t cover the entire corridor. Mayor Kelly closed the public comment period at 6:11 p.m. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Franck seconded to add an item to her agenda to make an appointment to the Design Review Commission. (21-328) Ayes – All Appointment: Design Review Commission Mayor Kelly re-appointed Chris Bennett to the Design Review Commission. His term is from 8/10/2021 – 6/30/2026. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY Commissioner Dalton moved and Commissioner Madigan seconded to add an item to her agenda for discussion and vote. (21-329) Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Resolution for Wearing of Masks (21-330) Commissioner Dalton moved and Commissioner Madigan seconded the resolution read as follows: BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs, New York, as follows: WHEREAS, the Saratoga County Public Health Department has confirmed that our county is now experiencing a high level of COVID-19 community transmission, fueled by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. It is the responsibility of every government and every citizen to make a determined effort to combat the spread of the virus, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that this Council hereby adopts the recommendations of Saratoga County Public Health Services, and urges all citizens – fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated – to wear a mask when indoors with people who are not members of their own household, to wear a mask when outdoors in crowded settings, and to wear a mask when engaging in activities that involve close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated. Ayes – All Page 3 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/10/2021 Commissioner Madigan stated we need a greater to help direct visitors, take temperatures, and make sure people are wearing masks. Commissioner Dalton advised a greater has been hired and is ready to start Monday. She just needs a desk/workstation and a place to sit. They are being told by DPW that DRC review is needed in order to set up the area for the greater. Patrick Cogan, building inspector, advised placement of furniture inside City Hall does not require the approval/review of DRC. Commissioner Madigan advised she worked with the IT Department and they have a way to drop electricity, so they are ready to go. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Discussion: UDO Workshop Exception #1: (Establish GCR district residential density) Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, stated tonight’s goal is to continue discussion from last week and continue to review the four areas of concern identified by the Planning Board. Staff is proposing a 500’ lot depth in the South Broadway corridor. This would eliminate some split parcels, encourage gateway development and protect the greenbelt. The staff also proposes the ground floor residential be allowed only with a special use permit and must be located behind the primary commercial building. The front of the building has to be commercial. Staff suggests the residential density for commercial structures be one dwelling per every 10,000 square foot parcel of land (second floor and up) and for stand-alone residential structures the density would be one dwelling for every 20,000 square foot parcel of land. This creates fewer split parcels on both sides of South Broadway. Patrick Cogan showed a map of the wetlands and areas protected by regulations. Mayor Kelly stated she would like to go 600’ depth. Commissioner Madigan agreed with the 600’. Patrick stated they will have a visual ready for the next workshop of what 600’ would look like. Vince asked the Council if they are okay with the calculation of density. Commissioner Madigan indicated she would like to see the size of the parcels vs. density. Mayor Kelly stated she is in agreement with the proposed density. Exception #2: (Change 2 parcels on Marion Ave = UR2 → RR) Vince moved on to the second exception. There are two parcels, on Marion Avenue, that abut Loughberry Lake that are identified as CDD (Conservation Development District). They are identified in the current Zoning Ordinance as UR-2. The Planning Board has indicated these parcels should be zoned RR. The staff agrees the zoning of these parcels should be RR. Commissioner Dalton and Mayor Kelly indicated they are in agreement with this recommendation. Vince advised there are three parcels in Maple Dell that have been included in TRB and should not be. Staff agrees with this. Page 4 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/10/2021 Council agreed with this. Vince advised the current Zoning Ordinance does not include minimum building heights for any zoning district. The staff along with the consultants propose minimum and maximum building heights. Patrick advised it would be consistent to leave the parcels as commercial use. Commissioner Dalton asked for explanation as to why we require two story structures. Patrick advised this is to avoid long sprawling buildings and visual issues we have on South Broadway. John Iacapone of Saratoga Springs stated a two-story building is not visually appealing for those who live there and see it every day. Removing the minimum height or considering one of the other commercial districts like NCU is a good remedy. Exception #3: (Revises uses allowed + design standards in GCR near State Park) Vince advised the staff recommends keeping the GCR uses. Design standards should respect the specialty park. Council is comfortable with this recommendation. Exception #4: (In RR + SR, require conservation analysis for site plan and special use, as well as subdivision) Vince advised conservation analysis is required in a subdivision. The Planning Board believes this (conservation analysis) should be for any development in the zoning districts that require a site plan in addition to the subdivision requirements. The staff recommends going with this change. Council advised they need time to think about this recommendation. Patrick advised the reason it is this way now is the conservation analysis leads to the conservation subdivision, which calculates your density and allowed number of units based upon the amount of developable land. Vince advised the above items talked about are all the items identified as those that are not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Vince stated the Planning Board also indicated campground and community center, which are two new uses for the RR district, should be removed. They are too intense. Council agrees with the removal of the campground and community center as allowable uses. Vince stated we have marina now. They are calling out country club, greenhouse/nursery, and marina have their definition strengthened. Patrick advised they have had discussions with Sustainable Saratoga regarding limiting the ‘sales floor area’ of what can be associated with a greenhouse/nursery. Commissioner Madigan stated she is not on board with the removal of country club as being recommended. Patrick stated the recommendation is not to remove country club. The recommendation is to edit the definition to remove the words “and/or similar uses”. Vince stated the staff will propose for the next meeting some limitations for any marina in the RR. Page 5 of 6 City Council Meeting 8/10/2021 Bobby D’Andrea of Saratoga Springs stated a sewer system needs to be worked on for development to happen on South Broadway. Vince advised the next workshop is August 17 at 5:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Kelly adjourned the meeting at 7:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 8/17/2021 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 6 of 6