Town of Otsego Planning Board

Minutes - March 6, 2007

PUBLIC HEARINGS

Robert Ubner (Bob Birch) - Major subdivision - 165 Tripp Hill Road (#83.00-1-28.01)

Chairman Paul Lord called the public hearings to order at 7:30 PM, and asked if anyone from the public had any comments or questions about the Ubner subdivision application. Attorney Bob Birch put the subdivision plat on an easel, gave a brief description of the proposed subdivision, and offered to answer questions.

Jim Atwell and Anne Geddes-Atwell, neighbors to the north, said that they were very impressed with the well-planned project, and were in support of it. They asked questions about the wetlands on the property.

Neighbor Thomas Heitz asked general questions about the land use regulations in the area.

Meg Kiernan asked a question about the plat, so she could "get (her) bearings." All questions were answered by Birch to the neighbors' apparent satisfaction.

Planning Board Clerk Bill Deane noted that letters he mailed, notifying neighbors Margaret Clark and the Ronald Goerler Living Trust about the public hearing, were returned to sender, "not deliverable as addressed."

With no further comments or questions, John Stucin moved to close the public hearing. Donna Borgstrom seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0.

Deborah Kantor - Special permitted use, Portabello's Too! catering hall/conference center - 6708 State Highway 28 (#97.60-2-4.42)

Chairman Paul Lord asked if anyone from the public had any comments or questions about the Kantors' special permitted use application, but no one responded. Planning Board Clerk Bill Deane noted that a letter he mailed, notifying neighbors Lewicki, Yourno and Breen about the public hearing, was returned to sender, "not deliverable as addressed."

Donna Borgstrom moved to close the public hearing. John Stucin seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0.

REGULAR MEETING

Chairman Paul Lord called the regular meeting to order at 7:40 PM. Roll Call was taken by Planning Board Clerk Bill Deane. All members were ultimately present: Lord, Donna Borgstrom (Vice-Chairman), John Stucin, John Phillips, Joe Galati, and Doug Greene, and Wes Ciampo (Ciampo arrived at 8:04, after the Kantor application). Also present were Planning Board Attorney Jim Ferrari and Zoning Enforcement Officer Mike Miller.

The Board referred to the minutes of February 6, 2007, mailed to the members. Borgstrom moved to approve them as mailed. Phillips seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0.

Zoning Enforcement Officer Miller distributed copies of his report for February. It showed two Land Use permits issued in that month. Phillips moved to accept the report. Greene seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0.

Chairman Lord reviewed correspondence received since the last meeting:

· Up-to-date (including 4/12/06 revisions) sets of the Land Use Law, distributed to the members.

· A notice (filed) from the County Clerk's Office, regarding the filing of the Burkhart Subdivision.

· A letter (filed) from Jack and Carol Cooper, regarding the Burkhart Subdivision. As new neighbors of the Burkharts, they had no objections to the subdivision, but wondered why they had not been notified about the public hearing (the notification letter had been sent to William Garomon, former owner of the Coopers' property, but listed by the applicant as a current neighbor, and returned to sender). Lord said he would answer the Coopers' letter, and discuss the topic of neighbor letters during "other business."

· Two letters (filed) relevant to the Village of Cooperstown application, which Lord said would be discussed during discussion of the application, added to the agenda.

· An e-mail from Wayne Bunn, regarding his desire to remove a tree from his campsite on Otsego Lake. Lord said this would be discussed during "other business."

The Board moved on to applications.

APPLICATIONS

Robert Ubner (Bob Birch) - Major subdivision - 165 Tripp Hill Road (#83.00-1-28.01)

Donna Borgstrom read aloud the minutes of February 6 relevant to the application. Chairman Lord asked whether there had been any changes in the application, and representative Bob Birch said there had not. John Stucin asked about deed restrictions, which were read aloud by Birch. There was also discussion about potential driveway placement.

Stucin moved to grant preliminary approval to the subdivision. Donna Borgstrom seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0.

Stucin moved to waive the second public hearing, based on the results of tonight's initial public hearing, to approve the final subdivision, and to authorize the chairman to sign the plat. Borgstrom seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0. Lord stamped the plat "approved" and signed it.

Deborah Kantor - Special permitted use, Portabello's Too! catering hall/conference center - 6708 State Highway 28 (#97.60-2-4.42)

Donna Borgstrom read aloud the minutes of February 6 relevant to the application. She asked applicants Deborah and Josh Kantor whether there were any changes to the application, and they said there were not. Doug Greene and Joe Galati took time to examine the site plan, since they were not on the Board when it was approved in 2005.

John Phillips moved to approve the special permitted use as described in the February 6 minutes. Borgstrom seconded the motion and it was approved, 6-0.

David Poulette - Lot line adjustment - 51 Linden Avenue (#131.00-1-21.22)

Donna Borgstrom read aloud the minutes of February 6 relevant to the application. Applicant David Poulette submitted the completed boundary line adjustment form, as requested during that meeting.

Doug Greene moved to approve the lot line adjustment as submitted and authorize the chairman to sign the plat. John Stucin seconded the motion and it was approved, 7-0. Chairman Lord stamped the plat "approved" and signed it, advising Poulette to file it with the County within 30 days.

Jeremy Griffith (Les Sittler) - First lot split - Keating Road (#82.00-2-23.02)

Attorney Les Sittler, representing applicant Jeremy Griffith (who was also present), submitted the 1985 deed of the property, and described the proposed first lot split, but said he had neglected to bring the Mylar. Board members examined the 1987 tax maps to confirm that there had been no other splits of the property since then.

Donna Borgstrom moved to approve the first lot split and authorize the chairman to sign the Mylar upon its being submitted to him. John Stucin seconded the motion and it was approved, 7-0.

Sittler asked to present another matter, which was added to the agenda:

Myles Connell (Les Sittler) - Lot line adjustment - County Highway 26 (114.05-1-28.00)

Attorney Les Sittler, representing applicant Myles Connell (who was also present), submitted the deeds of the two properties, a boundary line adjustment form, and $20 cash (delivered to the Town Clerk) in payment of the application fee.

It was noted that part of the property is in the Hamlet Residential district of the Town, while the rest is in the RA-2 district. Because Jim Ferrari was involved in preparing the deeds, he cannot now be asked to review them as the Planning Board attorney. The Board asked Sittler to review the deeds, which he did at length. He reported some slight amendments which needed to be done, and Ferrari said he would take care of those.

Donna Borgstrom moved to approve the lot line adjustment, contingent on the attorney amending the deeds as necessary, and to authorize the chairman to sign them at that time. John Stucin seconded the motion and it was approved, 7-0.

Farmers' Museum - Sketch plan conference, parking lot modifications - State Highway 80 (#115.00-1-4.00)

Zoning Enforcement Officer Miller reported that he and Chairman Lord had reviewed the project, and determined that the Farmers' Museum did not require site plan review for the project. John Stucin noted that the Farmers' Museum had historically come before the Board with all of their projects, whether or not they required site plan review, as a courtesy. Miller was not aware of this, but said that they would be coming before the Board in the future with proposed renovations to the farm building.

Village of Cooperstown (Susan Snell) - Site plan review, expansion of pavilion within 100 feet of Otsego Lake - 6266 State Highway 80 (#84.00-1-26.00)

Chairman Lord read aloud letters of approval from both the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on this project. Bill Deane noted that they had arrived too late to schedule the public hearing for this month.

Lord said that, in deeming this an unlisted action, the Board had overlooked that this is in the Historic District and a beneficiary of state funding. It should thus be classified as a Type I action, per New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), section 617.4 (b)(9), requiring coordinated review and a long environmental assessment form (EAF). The applicant had already completed the long form, so Lord reviewed it with the board's input. Architect Susan Snell, representing the Village of Cooperstown, made some amendments to the form.

Donna Borgstrom moved to designate the Otsego Planning Board as lead agency on this application. Doug Greene seconded the motion and it was approved, 7-0. The Board is required to relay this decision to the other potentially-involved agencies (SHPO, DEC, and the Army Corps of Engineers), giving them 30 days to respond. However, the next scheduled Planning Board meeting is on April 3, only 28 days from now. The Board discussed scheduling a special meeting to hold the public hearing at a later date.

Deane suggested that, since there were as yet no other applications on the agenda for April 3, the entire meeting be rescheduled to April 10. This was agreed on by consensus, although John Phillips noted that he would not be in town on that date. Deane said he would advertise the revised date, and work with Lord in getting the letters to the three agencies.

John Stucin moved to amend the Board's February 6 SEQRA determination, deeming this a Type I action, involving coordinated review. Phillips seconded the motion and it was approved, 7-0. Borgstrom moved to reschedule the public hearing for April 10. Stucin seconded the motion and it was approved, 7-0.

Joe Galati - Sketch plan conference, major subdivision - Christian Hill Road (#113.00-1-66.01)

Applicant Joe Galati moved to the public's side of the meeting table. Donna Borgstrom read aloud the minutes of February 6 relevant to the application.

Galati asked about driveway options. Chairman Lord said that the Comprehensive Planning Committee has recommended that the Town Board eliminate the "Donovan Spec" driveway requirements in the Land Use Law. Lord suggested that Galati may want to see what comes of that before proceeding further. Doug Greene said that he could offer the Town Board suggestions for options to the Donovan Specs. Galati returned to the members' side of the meeting table.

OTHER BUSINESS

Chairman Lord reported on the February 27 Planning Board workshop. All seven members were in attendance, along with some members of the public, and the group met for a couple of hours. Among the topics discussed were continuing education for Planning Board members; reference documents for the Board; holding the meetings in the original Town meeting area rather than behind the courtroom; the Comprehensive Planning Committee draft; the Planning Board checklist (not yet tried out); proposed Land Use Law revisions; the possibility of holding two meetings per month (rejected, for now); verifying applicants' neighbors; and a review of the Town of Hartwick's applicant contract (no interest). The Board will be having another workshop on March 20; Bill Deane will advertise it.

On the subject of neighbors' addresses for public hearing notices, Attorney Ferrari said that the applicant is responsible for providing a list based on the currently-available tax rolls. The Planning Board Clerk is responsible for advertising the hearings at least five days ahead of time, which he does. Zoning Enforcement Officer Miller said Town Attorney Martin Tillapaugh agrees that it is the applicant's responsibility to provide correct addresses, but not the Town's to verify them. Chairman Lord will check with Steve Childs of Otsego County as to the accuracy of their property owner data-base.

Chairman Lord discussed Wayne Bunn's e-mail, mentioned earlier in the meeting. Bunn submitted photos of the leaning tree he wants to cut down, but he was told by Zoning Enforcement Officer Miller that, due to the Town's lakeshore protection rules, he could not do so without the Planning Board's approval. The consensus of the Board was that Bunn should be allowed to cut down the tree, as leaving it there would create more future problems than taking it down and leaving the stump would. Miller said he would relay the Board's decision to Bunn.

At 10:02, John Phillips moved to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Deane

Planning Board Clerk