��������
TOWN OF
ZONING BOARD
OF APPEALS DRAFT MINUTES
July 27, 2020
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,
Clarence Fosdick � present, Christopher Benn � present, Steve Mehan - present,
Mark Sullivan - present.
Also
present: Zoning Officer Gil Albert, Attorney William Reynolds, Steve Sullivan,
Sherry Van Horn, Justin Grassi, Terri Korb, John Cashin, Richard Vale. ��(Sign-in
sheet is on file in the Clerk�s office.)
Approval
of Minutes: A motion was made by Christopher
Benn, seconded by Steve Mehan, to accept the meeting minutes of June 22, 2020.�� Chairman William Moreau � aye, Clifford
Hanehan - aye, Thomas Carringi - aye, Clarence Fosdick - aye, Christopher Benn -
aye, Steve Mehan - aye, Mark Sullivan - aye.
Carried� 7 - 0
Approved
For Public Clarity:�
Under the direction of Town Attorney William Reynolds, no legal ad was published
in the newspaper as the application before the Board is not a Public Hearing
and the Clerk was further directed to notify the Applicant not to send Neighbor
Notifications out.� The Clerk did have notice
of this meeting published in two newspapers and on the agenda as a Revisit for
Area Variance.
Justin
Grassi, Attorney for Richard Vale, submitted a letter to the Board just prior
to the opening of the meeting, although all submissions are due no later than 2
weeks prior to a meeting.
Revisit for Area Variance
Sherry Van Horn #20-04
573 Rt. 9P
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
S/B/L 206.6-2-16 ��Lake Residential
Location: 1191 Rt. 9P
Returning Applicant seeks reapproval
for the identical variances granted upon her first appearance before the Board,
August 26, 2019.� She seeks a 6,000 sq. ft.
lot area variance, a 26� front set back variance and a 1�5� back set back variance
in order to remove existing structure and future construction of a new house.�
Board Member Mark Sullivan
recused himself from this application as he is personal friends with Attorney
Justin Grassi, attorney for Richard Vale.
Chairman William Moreau stated
Attorney William Reynolds wanted to brief the Board,
as this meeting is different from most.�
Attorney William Reynolds stated
the Board is here tonight to reconsider a previous application for property
located at 1191 Rt. 9P.� He reviewed the
first time this application came before the Board, on August 26, 2019.� The DiMartino�s were under contract to purchase
this property from Sherry Van Horn, formerly Sherry Treiber.� Following presentation and discussions, a
motion was made to grant the requested variances. �That was challenged with an Article 78,
brought about by Richard Vale.� A
decision by Judge Nolan in February 2020, vacated the granting of the
variance.� The Judge vacated and remanded
the matter to the Board for further consideration and that is where we are now.� The Board received a full record of the
proceedings that took place.� Anything
that was submitted to the Board in August 2019 has been resubmitted and he
assumed each Board Member had reviewed that information prior to the meeting tonight.� The Applicant is here to give a presentation
to the Board and Mr. Vale will have an opportunity to speak as well.� To clarify, in his opinion, the decision of
Judge Nolan was not to rule on the merits of granting or denial of the variance,
but the main thrust of his decision was to instruct the Board to provide a better
or more thorough rationale for granting the variance.� That is the charge before the Board tonight,
to provide a thorough expression of rationale for this application.�
Chairman William Moreau thanked
Attorney William Reynolds.� He stated
they will hear the revisit for the area variance by Sherry Van Horn, for her
property at 1191 Rt. 9P.
Applicant Sherry Van Horn
appeared before the Board requesting the identical variance that was previously
approved by the Board, for a single residence on her property at 1191 Rt
9P.� The property is a substandard lot, grandfathered
in.� The front and rear setbacks overlap
and there is no viable way to build without the variance approval.� A new home will be less intrusive by bringing
the house back 14� from Rt. 9P; the existing house is only 4� back.� It will give more space between Rt. 9P and
the house.� Granting the variance will
allow a safer structure to be built there, which is beneficial to the lake neighborhood.� A geo-technical analysis was conducted to see
what would be required to stabilize the cliff and safely build a home there and
they have the analysis and recommendations to know exactly what they need to do
to prevent any further erosion.�
Chairman William Moreau thanked
the Applicant.� He then stated the Board
will allow Mr. Vale to speak to the Board.�
Mr. Vale deferred his
opportunity to speak to the Board, to his attorney.� Sherry Van Horn Attorney Justin Grassi spoke to
the Board on behalf of his client, Mr. Vale.�
He said unfortunately he prepared a letter late for the Board, outlining
their position on this matter and gave a brief summary.� He said it�s an unfortunate scenario, as he
knows the Board likes to assist residents, but he believes the application is
un-approvable based upon criteria.� �The Board knows the value test must be taken
before approving any area variance.�
There are five criteria, which he�s sure the Board is familiar with,
three of which are objectionable: 1.� whether
benefit can be achieved by other means feasible to applicant � he told the Board easily yes �
clear � preexisting, no need for variance to rehab structure.� 2.� whether
request is substantial � he said deviating percentages are substantial and
impacts are substantial as well � backyard is a cliff.� 3.� whether
alleged difficulty is self-created � he told the Board yes, as existing
structure doesn�t need variances.� This
should be denied. �He finds it indigenous
that granting this will be a better, different change to neighborhood.� �Mr.
Vale�s vacant parcels are next to it.�
This should be denied.�
Mr. Vale added the cliff is
eroding, he owns three parcels north of this and it should be torn down.�
Chairman William Moreau
stated before going through the Balancing Test for Area Variance he�d like to
Table this tonight, as they received late information brought in last minute by
Mr. Vale�s attorney and the Board needs time to read and digest it.� The Board wants to give full consideration to
all the information.
Town Attorney
William Reynolds said the Board has not received an analysis of the property
and questioned when the property was last occupied.�
Applicant Sherry Van Horn responded the property was last
occupied last June (2019).
Town Attorney William
Reynolds questioned if she�s tried to occupy it since, adding it�s not her
residence, correct?
Applicant Sherry
Van Horn responded no; she owns the property but does not live there.
Town Attorney
William Reynolds questioned if she�s rented it in the past and the Applicant replied
yes.�
Town Attorney
William Reynolds questioned if she�s rented it since June 2019.
Applicant Sherry
Van Horn replied no, the people who last rented it trashed it and she won�t
rent it out again.�
Town Attorney
William Reynolds questioned if anyone has given her estimates or analysis of
the condition of the property.
Applicant Sherry
Van Horn responded a couple perspective buyers had engineers go and review the
property, as their interests were to rehab the existing home.� They didn�t want to go the expense of a tear down
and construction.� In both cases, two
different engineers basically said this is a tear down, demolish it and build
as the infrastructure is not going to maintain.�
There are many issues for new construction that need to be addressed, such
as erosion and stormwater, etcetera.� All
this will be addressed when building a new foundation, which will stabilize the
bank.�
Town Attorney
William Reynolds questioned if she was supplied copies of the reports. �
Applicant Sherry Van
Horn replied no, she only has a copy of the engineer�s evaluation of the
property to actually construct the residence in front of the Board now, which
is the same as previously submitted.� The
details, in the report of that analysis, are what is needed to put in a very safe
and sound ��structure.�
Stabilization must be done and can be done properly for a new structure/house.�
Town Attorney
William Reynolds stated he would like the Applicant to secure copies of the engineer�s
geo-tech report to submit to the Board.
Applicant Sherry
Van Horn responded she will try to get that as well as a letter from her attorney.�
Town Attorney
William Reynolds asked if Building Inspector/Zoning Officer Gil Albert had looked
at the property closely.
Building Inspector/Zoning
Officer Gil Albert stated yes, he had walked around it.� To repair the existing house will be more
costly than to tear it down and rebuild.�
Engineering that would be done for a new build will shore it up,
stabilize it and make it stronger and better.�
It is nearly impossible to repair what is there; a new build will be
best as stabilization can be done properly.
Town Attorney
William Reynolds asked if Building Inspector/Zoning Officer Gil Albert will
take another closer look at it and provide further information to the Board and
Building Inspector/Zoning Officer Gil Albert responded yes, he will.
Old Business:
New Business: Zoning
Officer Gil Albert addressed the Board with concerns of Airbnbs and told them that
the Town Board has directed Town Attorney William Reynolds, to gather information
and review regulations from other municipalities concerning them and to begin
drafting legislation for the Boards to review.�
Attorney William Reynolds told the Town Board he will come up with some
ideas.
A motion was made by Mark Sullivan, seconded by Thomas
Carringi, to adjourn the
meeting at 7:38 p.m. �Chairman William Moreau � aye, Clifford Hanehan - aye, Thomas Carringi - aye, Clarence Fosdick � absent (left a bit early), Christopher Benn - aye, Steve Mehan - aye, Mark Sullivan - aye.�
Carried� 6- 0
Meeting Adjourned
The next Zoning
Board of Appeals meeting will be held August
24, 2020.��
All submittals for the
Board must be in no later than 8:45 a.m. August 10, 2020, to be on the agenda
for the upcoming meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda McCabe
ZBA Clerk
~Meeting dates are subject to change~