Town of Otsego Zoning Board of Appeals

Minutes - November 15, 2005

REGULAR MEETING

The monthly Town of Otsego Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting was held on this date. Chairman Anthony Scalici called the regular meeting to order at 7:37
PM. Roll call was taken by ZBA secretary Bill Deane. Members present were Scalici, Greg Crowell (vice-chairman), and Jim Ferrari. Absent were Joe Potrikus and Sam
Hoskins, along with Zoning Enforcement Officer Sal Furnari.

The Board referred to the minutes of the October 18 meeting, mailed to the members. Greg Crowell moved to accept the minutes as written. Jim Ferrari seconded
the motion, and it was approved, 3-0.

The only correspondence received since the last meeting was the September/October, 2005 issue of Talk of the Towns & Topics, distributed to members.

The Board moved on to applications.

APPLICATIONS

05.11 - Village of Cooperstown - Interpretation, notice of violation, public parking lot - Linden Avenue, Cooperstown (#131.00-1-16.02)

No one was present on behalf of this application, nor was there anyone representing the Town. Bill Deane reported that he had put it on the agenda because, in
his letter of October 17, Village of Cooperstown Attorney John Lambert had requested it be "adjourned" to November 15. Deane said that he had spoken to Town Attorney
Margaret McGown on November 1. She said that she had not yet communicated with Lambert about this application, but advised that a public hearing would not be necessary this
month.

Chairman Scalici said that, after reading the minutes of October 18, he was of the opinion that a proper public hearing had been held on that date, but that it
never had been formally closed. He said that the Board has 62 days to act on an application from the time the public hearing is closed, unless the applicant (with the
consent of the Board) formally requests to "stop the clock" on the process. Greg Crowell moved to close the public hearing. Jim Ferrari seconded the motion and it was
approved, 3-0. The application will be put on the agenda for December 20, which will be the last scheduled meeting before the 62 days expires. Members were unsure of what
the procedure would be if the applicant again failed to appear.

Later in the meeting, Scalici and Ferrari left the meeting table for approximately 15 minutes to consult Town Law books about this situation. They referred to
New York State Town Law section 267 (A), which provides for automatic denials of applications in default situations, without an affirmative vote of the majority. Members
also referred to the Land Use Law for sections relevant to the application, although they agreed that it was hard to decide anything without having heard either side of the
argument.

05.12 - Frank & Katherine Stabile - Area variance, addition of room to existing structure - 6773 State Highway 80 (#69.60-1-9.03)

Engineer Hans deWaal represented the applicants. He explained that they had started work on a project to add a room to an existing structure 165 feet from
Otsego Lake, but received a stop-work order, requiring them to go before the ZBA and Planning Board before continuing. They will need area variances of 18 feet on both the
north and south sides of the property. deWaal provided some photographs of the structure to go along with the application and drawings previously submitted. Members
reviewed the documents.

Chairman Scalici advised deWaal that the ZBA needed information on the neighboring properties, such as a tax map with a reasonable number of nearby buildings
sketched in, showing that the proposed construction would be consistent with the neighborhood. Greg Crowell pointed out that the photos showed nearby structures, and added
that he was familiar with the neighborhood and felt that the building would be typical of it.

Crowell moved to deem the application complete and schedule a public hearing for December 20. Jim Ferrari seconded the motion and it was approved, 3-0.

Scalici wondered whether this application should be referred to the County Planning Board, which the ZBA had done on applications in the past but not recently.
Bill Deane said that this was something done on certain applications during the Planning Board process. Scalici checked the Land Use Law, page 36, and said that this
application did not seem to require a referral to the County.

With no other business, at 8:36 Greg Crowell moved to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Deane, Secretary