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TOWN OF
ZONING BOARD
OF APPEALS DRAFT MINUTES
April 26, 2021*
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 � present, Christopher Benn � present, Steve
Mehan - present, Mark Sullivan �absent, Mark Solan �
present, Rick Burke - present.
Due
to the absence of Mark Sullivan, Alternate Rick Burke was elevated to full
voting status.
Also
present: Zoning Officer Gil Albert, Attorney William Reynolds, Mark Lampron, Bill
Iglewski, Paul Gutto, Andrew Kazanjian, Craig and
Jennifer Sutherland.� �(Sign-in sheet is on file in the Clerk�s office.)
Approval
of Minutes: A motion was made by Christopher
Benn, seconded by Mark Solan, to accept the meeting minutes of October 26, 2020
as written.�� Chairman
William Moreau � aye, Clifford Hanehan - aye,
Thomas Carringi - aye, Christopher Benn - aye, Steve Mehan - aye, Mark Sullivan � absent, Mark Solan � aye,
Alternate Rick Burke - aye.
Carried� 7 - 0
Approved
Public Hearings for Area Variance
Mark Lampron, Screaming
Eagle Brewery #21-01
123 Co. Rt. 69
Schuylerville, NY 12871
S/B/L 182.-1-72 Rural District
Applicant seeks 114� frontage
variance and 14� lot width variance in order to open a brewery for commercial
distribution on his property.
Applicant Mark Lampron appeared before the Board and reviewed his
application.� He explained he was before
the Planning Board in October 2020, seeking a special use permit for a brewery
and distribution business.� He�d been
told he needed a frontage variance and Zoning Officer/Building
Inspector Gil Albert told him he needed a 14� lot width variance.� (According to Planning minutes, he was told
he needed a 200� frontage variance.)� �The Planning Board told him this had to go before
the Zoning Board prior to going forward with the special use permit.� He said that this will be done in his
basement, it�s a one-barrel system, very clean and no special electrical work
is required and no customers coming to the property.
Zoning Officer/Building
Inspector Gil Albert added that the Applicant neglected the frontage variance needed
on his application and while reviewing it, he caught the error and corrected
it.� The Applicant was unaware of the
correction and he apologized for that.
Chairman William Moreau asked
if there were any Board questions.
Clifford Hanehan
questioned the frontage.
Zoning Officer/Building
Inspector Gil Albert responded his property is over 5 acres, so per Town
regulations, he needs a minimum 300� of frontage.
Clifford Hanehan
questioned when the lots were subdivided.
The Applicant replied he
bought the lot in 2004 and it was already subdivided.�
Zoning Officer/Building
Inspector Gil Albert added that someone messed up allowing someone to subdivide
a 5+ acre lot with only 186� of frontage, because a 5+ acre lot requires 300�
of frontage.� But that was done prior to
the Applicant purchasing it, so it�s not the Applicant�s fault.
Attorney Willian Reynolds
responded he didn�t realize 300� of frontage is required for 5+ acres.
Zoning Officer/Building
Inspector Gil Albert and Christopher Benn responded 5+ acres has
always required 300� of frontage, it�s in the zoning regulations.
Chairman William Moreau asked
if there were any further questions or comments of the Board; there were none.
After providing Proof of Notice in the Saratogian on April 16, 2021, 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:
Paul Gutto,
stated he is a partner with the Applicant and reiterated that this is a one-barrel
system, no massive tanks, and they can start brewing even without a special use
permit if they were brewing just for themselves, but since they�re going to
bottle and distribute it, they need the permit.�
They wouldn�t be in front of this Board aside from that.
Seeing as no one further
wished to speak, Chairman William Moreau
closed the Public Hearing at 7:14 p.m. ��He then asked if there were any
further Board comments or concern; there were none.�
Chairman William
Moreau went through the Balancing Test for Area Variance, line by line, with
the Board to balance benefit to the Applicant with detriment to health, safety
& welfare of the community:
1.� Whether benefit can be achieved by other
means feasible to applicant � Chairman William Moreau said no and the Board
members agreed.
2.� Undesirable change in neighborhood
character or detriment to nearby properties � Chairman William Moreau said
no, Christopher Benn said it�s keeping within the neighborhood and the Board members
agreed.
3. �Whether request is substantial � Clifford
Hanehan and Christopher Benn said no; Board members agreed.
4.� Whether request will have adverse physical
or environmental effects �Clifford Hanehan,
Chairman William Moreau and Christopher Benn said no; Board agreed as well.
5.� Whether alleged difficulty is
self-created, relevant but not determinative � The entire Board said no,
the land was purchased as is.
A motion was made by Mark
Solan, seconded by Rick Burke, to accept the application as presented and grant
the requested variances.� Chairman William Moreau � aye, Clifford Hanehan - aye, Thomas Carringi -
aye, Christopher Benn - aye, Steve Mehan - aye, Mark
Sullivan
� absent, Mark Solan � aye, Rick Burke - aye.�
Carried� 7 - 0
Granted
The Applicant thanked the
Board.
Jennifer & Craig Sutherland #21-02
188 Hanehan Rd.
Schuylerville, NY 12871
S/B/L 195.-1-57 Rural District
Applicants
seek a 15� front setback to construct a 26� x 36� metal garage.
Applicant Craig Sutherland appeared before the Board and stated they have
5.5+/- acres and are seeking to build a 26� x 36� metal garage.� He said they are within their setbacks but
need a 15� road frontage variance.� He
reviewed the lay of the land and explained he doesn�t want to go too close to
the existing garage nor too close to the ravine.� The placement of this would be approximately
16� and 20� from the garage and ravine.�
He added there will be two garage doors; a
9� x 8� door for access to mowers etcetera and a 12� overhead door.
Chairman William Moreau asked if there were any Board questions; there
were none.
Chairman William Moreau questioned the sight line and asked for Zoning
Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert�s opinion.
Zoning Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert stated he is fine with this
and no problem with sight line.
Chairman William Moreau asked for the opinion of Town Attorney William
Reynolds; he had no opinion.
�
After providing Proof of Notice in the Saratogian on April 16, 2021, Chairman
William Moreau opened the Public Hearing at 7:21
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 7:22 p.m. ��He
then asked if there were any further Board comments or concern; there
were none.�
Chairman William
Moreau went through the Balancing Test for Area Variance, line by line, with
the Board to balance benefit to the Applicant with detriment to health, safety
& welfare of the community:
1.� Whether benefit can be achieved by other
means feasible to applicant � Clifford Hanehan
said no, not without getting into the ravine; the Board members agreed.
2.� Undesirable change in neighborhood character
or detriment to nearby properties � Chairman William Moreau said no and the
Board members agreed.
3.� Whether request is substantial � Christopher
Benn, and Clifford Hanehan said no, not compared to
others and this is a large lot; Board members agreed.
4.� Whether request will have adverse physical
or environmental effects �Chairman William Moreau said no, the Board agreed.
A motion was made by Christopher
Benn, seconded by Mark Solan, to grant the 15�
variance as presented.� Chairman William Moreau �
aye, Clifford Hanehan - aye, Thomas
Carringi - aye, Christopher Benn - aye, Steve Mehan -
aye, Mark Sullivan � absent, Mark Solan � aye, Rick Burke - aye.
Carried� 7 - 0
Granted
The Applicant thanked the Board.
Information
Andrew Kazanjian appeared seeking
advice and opinion of the Board concerning his plans for 1390 Rt. 9P, the Calvin
Gong property.� He explained he will be
going before the Planning Board later this week and is aware if his proposed subdivision
of the property is approved, he�ll need to come back before the Zoning Board
with an application for a variance.� The
property meets frontage, once divided each lot will have 70�, but if divided,
each lot will only have 9,025 sq. ft. and 15,000 is required.� He is wondering if they think they think this
is doable.�
Zoning
Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert stated he meets all but the square
footage and most lots in that area are less than 5000 sq. ft.�
Christopher
Benn said he meets frontage but not square footage and it�s not out of
character for that area.� �
Zoning
Officer/Building Inspector Gil Albert said he�s pushing hard for this because
it�s been a thorn in everyone�s side and needs to be cleaned up.�
Mark
Solan said if he builds just one house without subdividing, he wouldn�t need a
variance.� Andrew Kazanjian responded he
can�t afford to purchase without subdividing it.�
After a lengthy discussion,
Town Attorney William Reynolds said the Board is not here to give advice and
the Board is not to give opinion on any proposed project without first having a
full application.�
Discussion continued and
Chairman William Moreau said once they have the application the Board will
consider and vote, but they can�t say now, as they don�t have all the
facts.� They know the project and would
like to see the improvement there.� They
like the concept.� He told Andrew to go before
the Planning Board and then back to the Zoning Board next month.
Andrew Kazanjian thanked the
Board for their time.
Old Business: �
New Business: Chairman William Moreau and the Board welcomed new member Rick Burke to the ZBA.
A motion was made by Mark Solan, seconded by Clifford Hanehan, to adjourn the
meeting at 8:06 p.m. �Chairman William Moreau � aye,
Clifford Hanehan - aye,
Thomas Carringi
- aye, Christopher Benn - aye, Steve Mehan - aye,
Mark Sullivan � absent, Mark Solan � aye, Rick Burke - aye.�
Carried� 7 - 0
Meeting Adjourned
*Notice of correction:� Applicants were incorrectly numbered on the
agenda as 21-02 & 03.� Minutes
reflect correction.
The next Zoning
Board of Appeals meeting will be held May
24, 2021. ��
Respectfully submitted,
Linda McCabe
ZBA Clerk
~Meeting dates are subject to change~