DRAFT
TOWN OF SARATOGA
ZONING BOARD
OF APPEALS MINUTES
April 23, 2007
7:30 PM
Chairman
Stephen Bodnar called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and led the flag salute.
Chairman
Stephen Bodnar explained the Rules of the
Board.
Zoning
Clerk Catherine Cicero called the roll: Chairman Stephen Bodnar – present, Clifford
Hanehan – absent, Thomas Carringi – present, Barbara Faraone – present, Joyce
Waldinger – present, Bill Moreau – present, James Burke – present, and Alternate
Clarence Fosdick – present.
Also
present: Town Attorney William Reynolds and Town Zoning Officer Robert Hathaway.
Due
to the absence of Clifford Hanehan, Chairman Stephen Bodnar recognized
Alternate Clarence Fosdick as eligible to vote.
Approval
of Minutes: All board members present had read the minutes of the March 26,
2007 meeting. A motion was made by Thomas
Carringi, seconded by Joyce Waldinger, to accept the minutes of the March 26,
2007 meeting as written. Chairman
Stephen Bodnar – aye, Bill Moreau – aye, Thomas Carringi – aye, Joyce Waldinger
– aye, James Burke – aye, and Barbara Faraone – aye. Clarence Fosdick abstained
from the vote because he was not at the last meeting.
Carried 6 – 0
Order of Business:
AREA VARIANCE
Sean Scott #07-06
915 NYS Rte 29
Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866
S/B/L 155.-1-84
Rural Residential
Applicant is requesting an
area variance to move the lot line between two parcels that he owns in order to
construct a garage on a currently non-conforming parcel. That parcel would become a conforming parcel,
but the adjacent parcel, which is now conforming, would become
non-conforming. The density in the area
will not change and no further subdivision will take place. Although one lot is already substandard, the
resulting non-conforming lot would be more non-conforming than the currently
existing non-conforming lot. This
application was presented as a lot-line adjustment to the Planning Board at its
March meeting. It was denied and
referred to the Zoning Board of Appeals with a positive recommendation.
John Farndell, architect for
the Scotts, appeared on their behalf before the Board. Mr. Farndell explained two versions of a
basic lot-line adjustment that would allow the non-conforming lot to have
enough area to add a garage and a one-story addition onto the
house. The second version contains a slanted lot
line, which would give more acreage to the resulting non-conforming lot. The conforming lot would comprise 66,763
square feet; the non-conforming lot would comprise 51,482 square feet. (In the
first version, using a straight line from the front to the back of the
property, the conforming lot would comprise 72,199 square feet and the second
lot would comprise only 46,076 square feet.)
Clarence Fosdick clarified
that the lot-line change would not affect the future use of the property. Chairman Stephen Bodnar noted that the
resulting non-conforming lot would still have plenty of road frontage because
it is situated on the corner of NYS Rte 29 and Homestead Road.
In a following discussion,
the Board determined that the Applicant, who owns both parcels, is basically
swapping the non-conforming lot with the conforming lot. There is a lifetime ownership on the second
parcel. The two existing houses will not be affected except that a garage,
breezeway, and master bedroom will be added to the house on the lot that would
become conforming. The driveway for the
house which would gain acreage has an easement over the neighboring parcel due
to a State guardrail situated in front of the house.
Town Zoning Officer Robert
Hathaway stated that there is only one variance at issue. All other setbacks will be met, although
there is an existing non-conforming front setback for the house with the
proposed addition. However, the proposed garage and addition will meet all
setbacks.
Chairman Stephen Bodnar said
that he had walked the site; Barbara Faraone and Joyce Waldinger said that they
had seen the site but had not walked it.
Town Attorney William
Reynolds and Town Zoning Officer Robert Hathaway both said that they had no
problems with granting the variance. Chairman Stephen Bodnar read a letter from
the County Planning Board stating its conclusion that there would be no
significant County-wide or inter-community impact from a granting of the
variance.
Chairman Stephen Bodnar asked
if there were any further questions from the Board; there were none.
Proof of notice
having been furnished by newspaper on April 14, 2007, Chairman Stephen Bodnar opened
the Public Hearing at 7:52 p.m. for public comment. There were no interested
parties; the Public Hearing was closed.
Barbara Faraone made a
motion, seconded by William Moreau, to grant a variance for a lot-line
adjustment between the two parcels, creating one parcel of 66,763 square feet,
and a second of 51,482 square feet, because no significant change is being made
to the properties. Chairman Stephen
Bodnar – aye, Bill Moreau – aye, Thomas Carringi – aye, Joyce Waldinger – aye,
James Burke – aye, Barbara Faraone – aye, and Clarence Fosdick – aye. Carried 7 – 0 GRANTED
Old Business: None
New Business: There was a brief discussion concerning the date of the next meeting, which was changed from May 21st to May 23rd.
The next regular meeting will be May 23, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Chairman Stephen Bodnar made
a motion to adjourn at 8:03 p.m. The motion
was seconded by William Moreau. Chairman Stephen Bodnar –
aye, Bill Moreau – aye, Thomas Carringi – aye, Joyce Waldinger – aye, James Burke
– aye, Barbara Faraone – aye, and Clarence Fosdick – aye. Carried 7 – 0
Respectfully
submitted,
Catherine
E. Cicero
ZBA Clerk