Planning Commission

City of Schenectady NEW YORK CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes June 15, 2022 I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:08 p.m. II. ATTENDANCE Present: Mary Moore Wallinger, Chair; Bradley Lewis, Vice Chair; Randall Beach; Nicholas Petrillo; Jason Bogdanowicz-Wilson (Zoom); Dharam Hitlall; Colin M. Evers; Chris Marley, Corporation Counsel; Christine S. Primiano, Principal Planner; and Sylvia Jimison, Development Staff Excused: none III. Conflict of Interest Check No conflict of interest indicated by the Commissioners IV. Approval of Minutes for May 25, 2022, motioned by Commissioner Petrillo and seconded by Commissioner Wilson. Motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Wallinger greeted a person from the public before the official start of the meeting that had an inquiry about the planting of trees and blowing of dirt on State Street during development of buildings in the city. Commissioner Wallinger informed the citizen that there is a public hearing for each project and there was advocacy to change the zoning law to require a certain number of trees based on frontage and parking areas, but City Council is ultimately responsible for any legislation. Commissioner Wallinger read the list of projects on the agenda and requested for applicants to come forward to introduce their project and to show any exhibits available for the project. Commissioners will then ask any questions and then she will open the public hearing for questions or comments from the public. V. NEW BUSINESS A. 104-112 ERIE, LLC requests site plan approval pursuant to Section 264-90 F and I of a proposal to demolish 104 Erie Boulevard, construct a 5-story, 110 unit residential building, renovate 106 Erie Boulevard for resident amenities and 3 residential  units, renovate 108 Erie Boulevard for 39 residential units, renovate 112 Erie Boulevard for 14 family style units, and 121 Edison Avenue, tax parcel #’s 39.78- 11.2, 39.79-1-2.1, 4.2, 4.1and 5.1, located in a “C-4” Downtown Mixed-Use Commercial District. Daniel Hershberg, the Engineer representing 104-112 Erie LLC, indicated that they appeared before the Commission previously with a project that was significantly different than the new proposal. The building will be 166 units and will include a co-working space, roof top amenities, and a dog park. 108 Erie Boulevard will have 39 units and the historical presence of building will remain. There will be larger apartment units with 3-4 bedrooms for families but a majority of units will be 2-bedroom units. They are currently pursuing permission from the railroad to use the paved area adjacent to the tracks for parking, which will put the total available parking to the required level. Commissioner Wallinger asked the applicant if they could provide a shade tree in the dog park and sitting area and the applicant agreed to provide a tree in that area. Commissioner Wallinger asked Commissioner Wilson to comment on the overall design details of the building. Commissioner Wilson stated that he thinks the applicant did a good job presenting changes to the buildings that will make the overall redevelopment cohesive, while keeping some of the existing architectural elements of the facades. Commissioner Wallinger opened the public hearing. There was one person from the public that indicated she wanted to speak to the project. The speaker also asked if there will be any low-income apartments. Commissioner Wallinger closed the public hearing. Commission Wallinger added that the mature trees will help to slow drivers down. There will be more people on Erie Blvd and its already a very busy street. More need to also be added to the parking lot because will be a heat island. Motioned by Commissioner Beach, seconded by Commissioner Petrillo, to issue a conditional site plan approval with the following conditions: 1. Approve with wider island and street trees 2. 1 larger tree to be added 3. Shade tree between dog park  4. Other changes noted by staff 5. Parking variance Motion carried unanimously. B. THOMAS LYNCH requests site plan approval pursuant to Section 264-90 L of a proposal to operate a charter school, Destine Preparatory Charter School, at 530 Franklin Street, tax parcel #’s 39.80-1-1&2, located in a “C-4” Downtown Mixed- Use Commercial District. Luigi Palleschi from ABD Engineering and Thomas Lynch represented 530 Franklin LLC and representatives Destine Preparatory Charter School. Applicant stated the property is located at 530 Franklin Street. It's bordered by three streets, Franklin Street, Lafayette Street, and Barret Street. Barrett Street is a one way headed northeast here. The building is an existing building, it's masonry, three stories in height. The first two floors are occupied. The third floor will the charter school. It's approximately 11,000 square footage and will have four classrooms, maximum 120 students. The building has an existing parking lot on the south end of the building and does have access off the left lane Street and Barrett Street. There's approximately close to 50 parking spaces and as part of the site plan comments received from the planning department and the Planning Commission is to come up with green space. The applicant stated, “the current site right now has zero green space on the site everything is asphalt. Our proposal is to eliminate some of the forefoot access along the concrete sidewalk, remove that turn it into green space and install new street trees and trees within those certain areas of a parking lot. We receive comments from staff including police fire, and John Coluccio and one of the comments that he came up with regarding the number of parking spaces. This size building, when you look at the code requirements for parking requires adding spaces. With some of the modifications that I have up there for you. We have 44 spaces left on the site. We do have on-street parking and we're within 500 feet of a municipal lot… I think we can all agree that Lafayette Street is the more focused corridor, it's a wider street, you've got three flats across the street with a newer parking lot. And we would like to enhance and add street trees along the Lafayette border. On the Barrett Street side-it's a one way headed north and there isn't much traffic on this side. I was kind of looking at things and adjusting to say, you know, the commission would agree that if we could save as many parking spaces as possible, we would rather save them on the Barrett Street side but sacrifice a few on the left side and add the street trees because we do think that's important.” The applicant went on to say, the main entry to the charter school is on the east end of the building off of Lafayette Street. The buses do have two parking spaces available on Lafayette Street. The time the buses will arrive is at 7:05 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. before the first two tenants of the building arrive. City Planner indicated there might be a need for an area variance. Applicant continued, “there is a 10-minute window; in the evening, 3:55 p.m. the times for schools are a lot different than office employees that would be utilizing the building. So it's not at peak hours, but it's not at the main peak, what we're trying to do here, we did look at other options.” He stated, he knew some of the suggestions were possibly coming about Franklin Street and unloading the students but felt that it was better to get them off Franklin Street, the width available. The other option was through the parking lot, however the problem with that doesn't quite work. It's further away from the main entry door to where the students need to be dropped off. We thought this was the best because it's directly there next to the door. The closer they are to the door, the closer they can get off the buses and the buses can leave. The kids would get there early with the buses and shortly after that, there are some student drop offs that will be timed accordingly so that it's not at the same time as the bus drop off. There will be teachers there that will get the students on and off the bus. The width of Lafayette Street is actually 40 feet wide and if you subtract the width of a bus, we still have ample room to get side by side with the buses being parked there. In one direction, we've got 16 feet, and the other 112 feet. There is enough room and with the measures in place to get the students on and off the south side because that pretty much stops traffic. Commissioner Wallinger expressed concerns for safety. She stated, “I personally have concerns with being a very narrow street and visibility is limited. And one of the primary reasons we require buffers so there is no parking on the sidewalk.” It protects the pedestrians and especially if this is a school where people are going to be running in the last minute for kids. I just think finding extra spaces around the site a little bit further and better was worth the cost of having a safer sidewalk.” Commissioner Hitlall indicated that he was on-board with having a buffer. ReShawn for Destine Preparatory Charter School stated, that the front of the building as space for drop off and pick-up for students and will staggard arrival for parents to drop off children because of congestion a 7:15 a.m. drop off for parents so buses will be there from about 7:05 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. ReShawn went on to say, “we want to protect the neighborhood, the community allow traffic to flow, that parents do not start dropping their students off to 715, or by stair stepping outside with their children. Over the summer, we have about five weeks of teacher training of which we intend to practice this over and over again, until we get into mastery. And as efficiently as possible. I've worked this tool so what it's situated on shoots with just one way of traffic. And we've been able to make this work, That's why we're taking so much time right now to get a really clear, taking so much time with our staff to practice it. Want to make sure a 120 families have somewhere to send their children” Representative for applicant added AJ Sign company developed a sign that will be placed next to the door. AJ Sign's reviewed the code for sign usage. Commissioner Wallinger indicated if the bus is parking where there is public parking, permission from the City Engineer will be needed. Due to the nature of information that really needs to be reviewed by engineering, and signal control, issues with buses.  A plan that will need to be reviewed by City Engineer  A letter describing how parents will drop off children and how it will be managed  Drawings to reflect the plans  Plans should include bus parking Commissioner Wallinger stated, even though the bike lane is proposed, even if you just showed it on the street, just some struggling to get a sense of the space. The staff who has to review this because of the safety issues and the issues that are beyond this, the commission expertise really needs to have that in writing so that they can give us comments so that we can make the decision. Motion by Commissioner Petrillo, seconded by Commissioner Hitlall to table the proposal because it is incomplete. Motion carried unanimously. C. ALI TURAN requests site plan approval pursuant to Section 264-90 M of a proposal to operate a pizza restaurant at 1311 Nott Street, tax parcel # 40.53-2-36, located in a “C-1” Neighborhood Retail Business District. The applicant has been in business for 35 years and is selling business to family friend. Applicant stated he previously had a nice flower bed at the business, but with the traffic from the kids from Oneida Middle School, the flower bed gets ruined. He will willing to a flower bed and street trees at the property. He needs time to make the landscaping improvement. Commissioner Wallinger asked the applicant to plant flowering trees and at least 6 feet apart (6x6) because there are some power lines. Also to plant a couple of shrubs and to leave 18 feet for the parking spaces. City Planner asked the applicant where he plans to put a stone planter that he proposed? The applicant walked over to the Commissioner and Planner to show on laptop where he would place the planter. Commissioner Wallinger, asked for questions or comments from the commissioners. Commissioner Wallinger opened the public hearing. There were no comments, so the public hearing was closed. Motion by Commissioner Hitlall, seconded by Commissioner Evers, to issue a Conditional site plan approval with the following conditions: 1. The dumpster will be properly screened, pursuant to Section 264-49G. 2. Two six foot by six-foot beds will be created in front of the building, one on either side. 3. Flowering shade trees will be planted in the planting beds, along with other perennials that the applicant chooses. 4. A Certificate of Use is required to operate the business. 5. Motion carried unanimously. D. INDIRA PERSAUD requests site plan approval pursuant to Section 264-90 M of a proposal to operate a convenience store at 1570 State Street, tax parcel # 50.77-1-21, located in a “C-5” Business District. Mr. Dan Morelli representing Indira Persaud to create a convenience store at the property location. Mr. Indicated that the location of the property was once a law office and would like to make into a convenience store. The plan includes putting in some street trees along the streetscape; replacing sidewalks with some new material and to get rid of limousine that is parked in the rear of the building. The fence that is along the front edge of the property will put some flowering plants there, possibly some annual and to put lighting in four locations (back, two-sides, and on the porch area). The front of building will be used for parking lot and 2 signs were presented and approved. The paint peeling and eaves will be scraped and repainted. There is also plenty of street parking. Commissioner Wallinger, stated the convenience store is one of the nicer ones that she has seen, but will require shade trees and recommended Elm trees. The sign will need to be lowered. The hours of operation were also inquired about, and the application responded 9 a.m. – 11 p.m., 7 days a week. Commissioner Wallinger also included that the garbage will need to be picked up once a day; there should be a trash can outside during open hours to decrease littering as much as possible. Loitering is not allowed and as the Principal Planner stated on the last application, maximum of only 20% of the window can be covered by signage. The applicant went on to say it would probably take about 30 days to get a certificate of use. Commissioner Wallinger made a motion to approve the site plan with the following conditions: 1. The address will be prominently displayed so that it is easily visible from State Street. 2. Metal roll gates and iron bars cannot be placed on any doors or windows at any time in the future. 3. A License Agreement, issued by the Corporation Counsel’s Office in Room 201, is required for the ramp and patio. 4. Shade trees and flowering trees will be added to the plan as discussed at the meeting. All trees will be planted by August 1, 2022. 5. A Certificate of Use license is required to operate the business. 6. No additional exterior signs are permitted. Window signs are limited to 20% of each windowpane. 7. The limousine will be removed from the property within 60 days. 8. The sidewalk on Myrtle Avenue will be replaced with a concrete sidewalk to City standard by October 1, 2022. Motion made by Commissioner Beach, seconded by Commissioner Hitlall. Motion carried unanimously. E. SUNNYVIEW REHABILITATION HOSPITAL requests a recommendation to the City Council to change the zoning of their parcels located at 1276, 1278, and 1288 Belmont Avenue, tax parcel #’s 40.45-2-2, 40.45-2-3, and 40.45-2-5.1 from “R-1” Single Family Residential District to “I” Institutional District. Brian Straub representing the applicant, with Environmental Design Partnership one of the things that we noticed early in the project, when we started looking at it was there were several tax parcels that make-up the site and he think there were greater than 10. Applicant also noticed that three of the parcels are in different zoning categories. Two of which are currently used for parking, one of which was more recently acquired, it was a former resident, and there are some future plans to do some additional search parking there, especially in support of the addition that they want to do. The applicant stated, one of the things too, that came out of that initial meeting with the City Council was would it make sense to rezone these parcels so that the entire campus is institutional? And this is his request of the zone change tonight? In addition, the applicant also stated, there was no public comment that was offered at the City Council meeting when the public hearing was held. However, at the meeting for rezoning, a comment was made by a person from the public that commented about the trees across from Oneida Middle Schoolyard and wanted to know if lights were going to be put in by the applicant. They felt its important to have trees put in and hooding on the lights. The applicant replied, will need to return to the commission for public lighting and landscaping. Commissioner stated need zone change first before the site plan. Motioned made by Commissioner Petrillo, seconded by Commissioner Hitlall to make a recommendation to City Council to change the zoning of the parcels from “R-1” Single Family to “I” Institutional District. Motion carried unanimously. F. CHRISTOPHER C. MARNEY requests a recommendation to the City Council to amend the zoning at 145 Barrett Street, tax parcel # 39.80-1-39, located in a “C- 4” Downtown Mixed-Use Commercial District, to add the “OH” Overlay Historic District. The applicant, Christopher Marney owns the entity that owns 145 Barrett Street and indicated that the building is located behind the Northeastern Parent Child Society, where the Charter School is planning to be around the corner. Applicant Chris Marney is seeking designation of the building as a historic structure, which would add the historic overlay zoning district to the parcel and there is no change in use. Applicant explained, “for the property, the overlay functions as a float over whatever the underlying zoning is. But what it does do is it grants historic protections to that property and requires that all exterior modifications must go before the Historic District Commission. However, the ancillary benefit is demolition protection. So, our building is one of I think a dying breed of historic structures left along Barrett Street and some of the side corridors of our downtown district, which many of them were originally constructed as residential streets.” Commissioner HItlall, asked if a Facebook page possible available that has old pictures of the building. Motion by Commissioner Lewis, second by Commissioner Beach to issue a recommendation to City council to amend the zoning at 145 Barrett Street to add the property to the Overlay Historic District. Motion carried unanimously. VI. MISCELLANEOUS none VII. ADJOURN Motion by Commissioner Petrillo, seconded by Commissioner Wilson, to adjourn the meeting at 8:02 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.