TOWN
OF
ZONING BOARD
OF APPEALS DRAFT MINUTES
August 28,
2017
Chairman William Moreau called the meeting to order
at 7:00 p.m. and led the flag salute.
Chairman William Moreau welcomed
everyone to the meeting and proceeded to review the Rules
of the Board.
Zoning
Clerk Linda McCabe called the roll: Chairman William Moreau present, Clifford Hanehan present, Thomas Carringi absent, Clarence
Fosdick present, Christopher Benn present, Nicholas Schwartz - present, Steve
Mehan - absent, Alternate Member Mark Sullivan - present.
Also
present: Town Attorney William Reynolds, Zoning Officer Gil Albert, Kevin
Hanna, Jim Schriefer, Peter Lasse, Eric & Melissa Jackson, Terri Korb and
Kim Cura. (Sign-in sheet is on file in
the Clerks office.)
Approval
of Minutes: A motion was made by Clarence
Fosdick seconded by Mark Sullivan, to accept the meeting minutes of July 24,
2017. Chairman William Moreau aye,
Clifford Hanehan -aye, Thomas Carringi - absent, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Christopher
Benn - aye, Nicholas Schwartz - aye, Steve Mehan - absent, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried 6 - 0
Approved
Public Hearings for Area
Variance
Peter
& Patricia Lasse #17-12
60
Paschal Dr.
Milford,
CT 06461
S/B/L
209.13-1-14 Conservancy
Location: 199 River Rd.
Applicants seeks a 62' two-sides setback
variance and a 13' side setback variance to construct a new house.
Applicant Peter
Lasse appeared before the Board and reviewed his application, seeking variances
in order to build a new house. He handed
out depictions of the proposed house, stating he knows he's in the flood plain
and that he has to build up due to that and he is working with James Vianna,
PLS.
Chairman William
Moreau asked if there were any Board questions.
Clarence Fosdick
asked for the variances and after Board discussion, it appeared the Applicant didn't
need 62', he needs 42', which is better.
Zoning Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert apologized for that error,
stating his math was off.
Nicholas Schwartz
questioned if the Applicant will be within the percentage of lot coverage
allowed.
Zoning
Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert responded it's plotted out, centered
more, more rectangular and will be within the allowable percentage of lot
coverage.
Chairman William
Moreau asked for Town Attorney William Reynolds' opinion; he had no opinion.
Chairman William
Moreau asked if there was an opinion from the County; there was none.
After providing Proof of Notice in the Saratogian on August
18, 2017, Chairman William
Moreau opened the Public Hearing at 7: 12 p.m. asking those wishing to speak to please stand and
state their name and address.
Terri Korb, 17 Hill Rd.,
asked for clarification of the requested variances.
Chairman William Moreau
reviewed the requested variances for her.
Terri Korb, 17 Hill Rd.,
asked why the variances are needed.
Christopher Benn replied it
is a pre-existing, nonconforming lot, but as they're looking to change the
existing footprint and structures, it takes it out of being 'pre-existing/grandfathered'. He now needs a variance to do this according
to our zoning regulations.
Chairman William Moreau asked
if there were any further questions; seeing none, Chairman William Moreau closed the Public Hearing at 7:14 p.m.
Chairman
William
Moreau then
went through the balancing test,
line by line, with the Board. He asked
if there were any further questions or concerns of the Board; there were
none. He asked if there was anything
from the county; there was not.
A motion was made by Nicholas Schwartz, seconded by
Christopher Benn, to approve the requested 42' two-sides variance and the 13'
side setback variance. Chairman William Moreau aye,
Clifford Hanehan -aye, Thomas Carringi - absent, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Christopher
Benn - aye, Nicholas Schwartz - aye, Steve Mehan - absent, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried 6 - 0
Granted
Eric
& Melissa Jackson #17-13
24
Fenimore Pl.
Wilton,
NY 12831
S/B/L
193.5-1-1.2
Location: across the road from 134 Franklin Beach Rd.
Applicants seek a 15' front setback and an 11' two-sides setback variances in order to build a single family home.
Applicant Eric
Jackson appeared before the Board and reviewed his application. He stated his Mother-in-law, Donna Hladik,
recently completed a lot-line adjustment of her lots, which squares up the lot
they will build on. Her home is on the
lakeside parcel and theirs is to be across the road. He stated they will be removing a shed and
carport in order to build a new house. The
neighbors are in
favor of this and it will allow them to be close to their family and
mother-in-law.
Nicholas Schwartz
asked what his variances are.
Applicant Eric
Jackson stated the lot is 62' x 100' and variances are 25' off front and rear
of property and 10' each side.
Chris Benn stated
that really it is 15' off the road.
Zoning Officer Gil
Albert stated he'll need to see a copy of the deed.
Chairman William
Moreau asked if there were any further comments or questions of the Board;
there were none.
Chairman William
Moreau asked for the opinion of Town Attorney William Reynolds; there was no
opinion.
After providing Proof of Notice in the Saratogian on August
18, 2017, Chairman William
Moreau opened the Public Hearing at 7: 24 p.m. asking those wishing to speak to please stand and
state their name and address. Sseeing as
no one spoke, Chairman William Moreau
closed the Public Hearing at 7:25 p.m.
Chairman
William
Moreau then
went through the balancing test,
line by line, with the Board. The Board
found in favor of the Applicant.
Chairman William
Moreau asked if there were any further questions or concerns of the Board;
there were none. He asked if there was
anything from the county; there was nothing.
A motion was made by Clarence Fosdick, seconded by
Mark Sullivan, to grant the 15' front setback and the 11' two-sides setback variances
as requested. Chairman William Moreau aye,
Clifford Hanehan -aye, Thomas Carringi - absent, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Christopher
Benn - aye, Nicholas Schwartz - aye, Steve Mehan - absent, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried 6 - 0
Granted
Kevin
Hanna #17-08
26
Squire Circle
Lake
Luzerne, NY 12846
S/B/L 193.10-1-19 Lake Residential
Location: 1316 Rt. 9P, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Returning Applicant seeks numerous
variances in order to build a single family home.
Applicant Kevin
Hanna appeared before the Board and stated he scaled back his plan as the Board
suggested last month. He had an updated
map and survey completed.
Zoning
Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert stated the map needs to be corrected, as
it has the old date on it.
Clarence Fosdick
questioned if the drawing number is the same; if so it needs correction.
Applicant Kevin
Hanna replied he will see to it. He then
looked closely at the map and stated that if the Board looks in the red block on
the map, the corrections are already there.
The Board was okay
with the corrections that were on the map.
Zoning
Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert stated he doesn't want to see anything
less than 5' on the side property lines.
Applicant Kevin Hanna
stated he is happy to do the 5', it will work for them; the one side setback variance
will then be 5' instead of 3'.
Nicholas Schwartz
told the Applicant to know his boundaries of the building envelope and to stay
within it, two sides to be 19'11", one side to be 5'. He added the paper map says it is scaled to 10',
but it is actually scaled to 8'. At 10' it won't fit, as this is scaled at
8'.
Applicant Kevin
Hanna questioned if he was getting the same envelope, but moving it?
Nicholas Schwartz replied
as long as he can make it work, or he'll have to downsize the house.
Chairman William
Moreau asked if there were any further concerns or questions of the Board;
there were none.
Chairman William
Moreau asked for the opinion of Zoning Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert;
he stated he is okay with this.
Chairman William
Moreau asked for opinion of Town Attorney William Reynolds; he had no opinion.
After providing Proof of Notice in the Saratogian on August
18, 2017, Chairman William
Moreau opened the Public Hearing at 7: 37 p.m. asking those wishing to speak to please stand and
state their name and address. Seeing as
no one spoke, Chairman William Moreau
closed the Public Hearing at 7:38 p.m.
Chairman
William
Moreau read the findings of the Saratoga County Planning Board; their decision
was to approve this variance. Chairman William Moreau then went through the
balancing test, line by line, with the Board.
The Board found in favor of the Applicant.
A motion was made by Nicholas Schwartz, seconded by
Clarence Fosdick, to approve the application with the modification of the
variance for the two-sides setback to be 18'11" (not 19'6") and the
one side setback at 5'. Chairman William Moreau aye,
Clifford Hanehan -aye, Thomas Carringi - absent, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Christopher
Benn - aye, Nicholas Schwartz - aye, Steve Mehan - absent, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried 6 - 0
Granted
James
Schriefer #17-09
3
Palmers Maple Shade
Saratoga
Springs, NY 12866
S/B/L
206.9-2-67 Lake Residential
Returning Applicant seeks a 39'.6"
front setback variance, as he has built beyond his previously granted
variances.
Returning Applicant
James Schriefer appeared before the Board and reviewed his previously granted
variances of 2014 and had a lengthy discussion with the Board on why he built
beyond the granted variances. Applicant
James Schriefer said it was a mistake that his surveyor made.
Nicholas Schwartz
questioned if the Applicant had the opportunity to go over the survey with the
surveyor before he submitted it in 2014.
Applicant James
Schriefer said yes, his surveyor gave him a stamped, sealed survey.
Nicholas Schwartz
stated that the stamped, sealed survey represents an accurate survey.
Applicant James
Schriefer stated that he wrote the wrong numbers on the application.
Clifford Hanehan
said the Applicant said the survey was wrong, now says he himself wrote down
the wrong numbers on his application.
Applicant James
Schriefer replied he did that because the surveyor didn't put the porch on the
map. He shifted the house by 4-5 inches
to keep the new porch within the property lines by .4 of an inch. He then said for the Board to tell him what
he needs to do.
Nicholas Schwartz
asked to see the new blueprints for the house.
Applicant James
Schriefer gave them to him to review and stated his neighborhood has 18 plots,
with 17 houses. He stated there are some
houses there that the only way one can get to the back yard is to go through
the house. He is asking to keep his
house as is.
Nicholas Schwartz
stated the Board has to look at the general safety and welfare of all the
residents. The Applicant's house being
less than 5" from a plowable road is not safe. He then added the Applicant needs to remove
3' - 5' of the entire porch for safety reasons.
Just because it was existing doesn't matter. Once the Applicant removed the foundation, he
took it out of "existing". He
added that he makes decisions based upon the town regulations.
Applicant James
Schriefer said even removing 3' of the porch, puts him over the previous
approval.
Clifford Hanehan
asked Town Attorney William Reynolds, as the Board considers the safety and
welfare of the residents, is it his opinion to grant this?
Town Attorney
William Reynolds said the Board should look at the previously granted
variances. Is he beyond what was
granted? Yes. You cannot backtrack on previously granted
variances. He is now in excess. Is this self created, yes.
Zoning Officer/Building
Inspector questioned if Applicant James Schriefer had his survey with the
original house?
Applicant James
Schriefer responded no.
After providing Proof of Notice in the Saratogian on August
18, 2017, Chairman William
Moreau opened the Public Hearing at 8:10 p.m. asking those wishing to speak to please stand and state
their name and address. Seeing as no one
spoke, Chairman William Moreau closed
the Public Hearing at 8:11 p.m.
Chairman
William
Moreau then
went through the balancing test,
line by line, with the Board.
The Board did not
find in favor of the Applicant.
A motion was made by Clarence Fosdick, seconded by
Mark Sullivan, that the Applicant is to remove 4' of the entire front porch,
bringing the front porch to the size of 6' x 29'.5''. The front porch is to be 4' 4" away from
the property line, resulting in a 35' 6" front setback variance and an
area variance of 42.5%. Chairman William Moreau aye,
Clifford Hanehan -aye, Thomas Carringi - absent, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Christopher
Benn - aye, Nicholas Schwartz - aye, Steve Mehan - absent, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried 6 - 0
Granted
Information:
The Board had a
lengthy discussion with George Olsen, Olsen Associates
Architects, and property owners Stephen and Jane Mastaitis on different options that might be done on the
Mastaitis' land on Franklin Beach Rd.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
None
A motion was made by Clarence Fosdick, seconded by Nicholas
Schwartz, to adjourn the meeting at 8:59 p.m. Chairman William Moreau aye, Clifford Hanehan -aye,
Thomas Carringi - absent, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Chris Benn - aye, Nicholas Schwartz
- aye, Steve Mehan - absent, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried 6 - 0
Meeting Adjourned
The next Zoning
Board of Appeals meeting will be held September
25, 2017.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda McCabe
ZBA Clerk
~Meeting dates are subject to change~