TOWN OF SARATOGA
PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES
November 19,
2008 - 7:30 PM
Chairman
Ian Murray called the meeting to order at 7:31 p.m.
Planning
Clerk Linda McCabe called the roll.
Chairman Ian Murray – present, Robert Park – present, Paul Griffen –absent, Laurie Griffen – present,
Patrick Hanehan – absent, Robert McConnell – absent, Jennifer Koval – present,
and Alternate Joseph Lewandowski – present.
Carried 4-0
Board member Robert Park
wanted to clarify, under Old Business of the Sept. minutes, that when he wanted
Zoning Officer Gil Albert to check on the size of the signage, it was not on
the Boat Storage property, it was off site at or near the blue store property.
Special Use Permit Pre-Submission Conference
Kimberly Attanasio
#08-17
6004 Queen Mary Ct.
Schenectady,
NY 12303
S/B/L 193.06-1-14
Lake Residential
Applicant is seeking a Special Use Permit to construct a multifamily dwelling on 1.49 acres with 30’ of road frontage, located at 1374 Rt. 9P, Saratoga Springs, NY. This Applicant was granted variances from the ZBA in 2003 to remove the then current structures on the property and to construct a 73’ x 30’ single family home with garage, contingent upon state approval of the driveway and by maintaining two separate driveways with a natural buffer to reduce noise of ingress and egress traffic.
Duane Rabideau of Gil VanGuilder & Assoc. appeared on behalf of the Applicant. He explained to the Board he was here to see if this proposal for a multi-family dwelling is feasible. He stated the footprint of the multi-family dwelling is basically the same as the single family home that the
Applicant was going to build in the past. The lot is long and narrow like most of the lots in that area and there are DEC wetlands in the back. Chairman Ian Murray questioned if the old DEC permit was for demolition of the structure/s that used to be there and Mr. Rabideau said it was for demolition, fill, and the building of the then proposed single family dwelling. Chairman Ian Murray said he would like to see the permit and Mr. Rabideau presented it to him, stating it was granted in 2003 to construct the proposed single family home, grading, demolition of existing structures and a tie into the sewer.
Chairman Ian Murray asked Mr. Rabideau to please clarify
what he means by “multi-family” on the application. Mr. Rabideau said it is four family rental units, and he
presented Board members with photos of the lot, and the proposed four family
rental units structure and layout.
Chairman Ian Murray stated the Board is concerned with the 100’ buffer
and wetlands. Mr. Rabideau stated he
knows they are limited due to that.
Chairman Ian Murray stated the buffers, which are almost right up to the
road, along with lot width and setback variances were approved for a single
family dwelling. He also stated he is
not comfortable with this proposal and does not believe the Applicant can
achieve those setback variances. He
questioned if the Applicant had contacted the Saratoga County Sewer district
and if they had any issues with this.
Mr. Rabideau responded he spoke with Mr. DiPasquale and he hadn’t said
no but said there are issues out there.
Chairman Ian Murray stated he and Town Engineer Ken Martin discussed the
issue of wetlands and buffer zone and they don’t believe you can have a well in
the buffer zone for residential use. He
believes it would be restricted for agriculture use only and thinks this could
be a problem, so this would have to be investigated and verified. Board discussion continued and Chairman Ian
Murray stated since this is not a formal application at this point,
procedurally we can not approve or deny, so the Board will have the Applicant
complete a formal application, pay the fees, come back before this Board in
December, then deny and send them to the Zoning Board of Appeals. If the ZBA approves this, the Applicant will
have to come back before the Planning Board for site plan review. Chairman Ian Murray stated again that he
does not like this proposal of multi-family dwelling on that lot; if it was a
single family dwelling, there wouldn’t be an issue. Mr. Rabideau questioned if this is feasible or should they go to
triplex or duplex and Chairman Ian Murray stated a single family home is best
but a duplex is better than the multi.
The Board will still have to send you to the ZBA if you modify the plans
from the single family home proposal that was granted ZBA variances. Returning
Dale Swartwout
#08-18
Swartwout Construction Co.
68 Weibel Ave.
Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866
S/B/L 183-1-20.13
Rural
Applicant is under contract to purchase 9.48+/- acres on the corner of U.S. Rt. 4 and Co. Rt. 69.
He is seeking a Special Use Permit to construct an office, workshop and storage facility in order to move his construction company to this location.
Dale Swartwout appeared before the Board explaining that he would like to move his construction company to the corner of U.S. Rt. 4 and Co. Rt. 69. Chairman Ian Murray stated it looks like a good spot for that business. Impact there will be the same as the other businesses on that road such as Garnsey’s, the marina and Saratoga Sod farm. It looks like a good fit. Town Engineer Ken Martin asked Chairman Ian Murray if he had the chance to speak to the Town Attorney and Chairman Ian Murray responded he had. He said they went over the classifications and districts and definitions for this and there isn’t a niche with this use. Chairman Ian Murray then read definitions of permitted rural uses, special permitted rural uses, rural residential uses and special permitted rural residential uses. Board member Laurie Griffin questioned what constitutes a hamlet and Chairman Ian Murray stated he believes density and population. She then read the definition of industrial district and stated the Applicant had put industrial on the application after reading that definition in the book, because it wasn’t identified on the map. Chairman Ian Murray explained the book had been updated. Chairman Ian Murray continued reading definitions; on “intent” and stated that in that corridor this proposal fits the description. Board member Laurie Griffin stated she thinks this is a good fit and that she has lived out there for over 20 years and that parcel has never been farmed. Chairman Ian Murray stated that the Board will consider this a viable application and the Applicant is to bring in application fees. We will proceed with a Public Hearing at December’s meeting. We will go further into noise factors, hours of operation, lighting and landscape screening and Part I of SEQR, providing there are no neighbor objections. Returning for Public Hearing
Granted
New Business: Laurie Griffin commented that the Schuyler Park project is moving along and the L.A. Group will be making a presentation at their next meeting, November 25th, 2008.
The next Planning Board meeting will be held December 17,
2008 at 12 Spring St., Schuylerville, NY.
Meeting Adjourned
Respectfully
submitted,
Linda
McCabe
Planning Clerk