Town of Otsego Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes – September 16, 2008

REGULAR MEETING
The monthly Town of Otsego Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting was held on this date. Chairman Greg Crowell called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM and roll call was taken by Secretary Bill Deane. Board members present were Crowell, Tony Scalici (Vice-Chairman), and Bill Kitchen. Sam Hoskins and Anita Weber were absent.

Chairman Crowell asked if anyone had a potential conflict with tonight’s applicants. No one reported any conflict.

Scalici moved to approve the ZBA minutes of August 19 as written. Kitchen seconded the motion and it was approved, 3-0.

Deane distributed correspondence received since the last meeting: an e-mail from Anita Weber, reporting her resignation from the ZBA due to other commitments; and a note from Zoning Enforcement Officer John Stucin, requesting that the Board direct applicants (whose variances have been granted) to him for new land use permits.

The Board moved on to the applications.

APPLICATION
08.04 – David Bertram – Area variance, minimum road frontage in RA-1 district lot – 249 County Highway 28 (#99.00-1-1.22 & -2.01)
Bill Deane read from the minutes (not yet approved) of the September 2 Planning Board meeting. That Board had instructed applicant David Bertram to apply for a building permit for his landlocked lot. Upon being denied the permit due to lack of required road frontage by Zoning Enforcement Officer John Stucin, they said, Bertram could return before the ZBA to apply for his area variance. Bertram since applied for and was denied the building permit, and submitted another ZBA application.

Deane returned Bertram’s check to the Town for $50, requesting he submit a new check for $25 for the ZBA application fee.

The Board discussed the merits of Bertram’s application. Tony Scalici questioned the validity of the building permit denial. He said that if Bertram wanted to challenge the denial, he could apply to the ZBA for an interpretation.

Scalici also questioned the validity of Planning Board Attorney Jim Ferrari’s claim that Bertram could not write an easement to himself. Scalici said he would like to see documentation of that rule, as well as grounds for denial of the building permit. Chairman Crowell noted that Section 3.04 of the Land Use Law indicates that the building permit denial was valid.

Bill Kitchen wondered whether Bertram had sought any legal precedent for building on a landlocked lot. Scalici suggested that Bertram research this question in the County Courthouse library.

The Board noted that Bertram had not answered the question whether there was any other feasible way for him to get the desired effect, and that in fact there were other options: Bertram could attempt to buy a strip of land with 50 feet of road frontage from a neighbor, giving him enough total frontage to meet the requirement, using the lot size averaging method in Section 2.11 of the Land Use Law; he could sell the landlocked lot to a friend or relative, write a driveway easement to the buyer, then buy the lot back with the easement in place; or he could construct a road to the landlocked lot. The consensus was that this was not a complete application.

Bertram will continue to weigh his options.

08.05 – Carolyn Abraham – area variance, replacement of structure in Canadaraga Lakeshore protection area – 220 Bibik Road (#52.11-1-37.00)
Carolyn Abraham submitted her application and supporting documents, which were examined by the Board. She wants to tear down an existing building which is 25 feet from Canadaraga Lake on the northwest side of the property, and replace it with a new one 42’3” from the Lake. The current building is 2’4” from the northeast property line and 22’8” from the southwest property line; the proposed new building would be 8’4” from the northeast line and 16’8” from the southwest line, more centered in the lot, but still shy of the 30-foot setback requirements. She thus will need variances of 21’8” on the northeast side, 13’4” on the southwest side, and 57’9” from the 100-foot shoreline protection area specified in Section 4.04 of the Land Use Law.

Tony Scalici moved to deem the application complete and schedule a public hearing for October 21. Bill Kitchen seconded the motion and it was approved, 3-0. Bill Deane advised the applicant that, if the ZBA were to grant her variances, she would still have to go before the Planning Board for site plan approval. He advised her that the application deadline for the next Planning Board meeting was September 23.

With no further business, at 8:17, Chairman Crowell moved to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Deane, Secretary