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TOWN OF STERLING PLANNING BOARD MEETING August 3, 2015 A meeting of the Town of Sterling Planning Board was held on Monday August 3, 2015 at the Sterling Town Hall at 7:00 pm with the following members present: June Ouellette ~ Chairman Sue Allen ~ Member Grover Horn ~ Member Vernon Bishop ~ Member Susan Lemon ~ Member Also Present : Christopher Ferlito, Virginia Fichera, Steve Keeling, , Larry Flint, Reynold Bloom, Robin Allinger, Dale and Lorraine Ritchie, Attorney Chris Palermo, Barb Vine, Susie Parsons, Kathy Ouellette Fox, Christine Bassett, Lynn Lyons, James Kush, Harvey Mills, Kelly Larock, Brett Ticeand Mireille Watts. Chairman Ouellette called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. Chairman Ouellette read aloud three Public Hearing notices (Keeling, Bloom and Stevens) into the record and opened all three Hearings at 7:05 pm. PUBLIC HEARING Steve Keeling for the Sheldon & Marion Keeling Revocable Trust Hearing opened at 7:05 pm Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board of the Town of Sterling will hold a Public Hearing on Monday August 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sterling Town Hall, 1290 State Route 104A, Sterling, NY 13156. An Application for the Review of Subdivision by Steve Keeling will be heard regarding the Minor Subdivision of property owned by the Sheldon and Marian Keeling Revocable Trust and located at 15118 State Route 104, Martville, NY 13111; Tax Map # 20.00- 1-66.21. All those wishing to be heard in favor of or in opposition of said application may appear in person or by other representation at said time and place. By order of the Planning Board Lisa Somers, Clerk Steve Keeling presented a corrected survey map of a proposed subdivision that removes 2.184 acres containing a mobile home from a 14.335 acre parcel on State Route 104A in Martville. Mr. Keeling stated that the remaining 12.151 acre parcel would be merged with the adjacent parcel (#20.00-1-66.1) which the Planning Board agreed would be required since the new formed parcel has only 31’ of frontage – less than required by zoning. The following corrections were made to the map from the previous meetings review: ~ Change owner and tax parcel # from Hancock to Ferlito along bottom of map. ~ Locate well and septic on parcel with mobile home. ~ Setback distances for shed and barn to new property line. ~ Add ‘Final’ to the map. The Hearing was opened to the public for any questions. Resident Mireille Watts asked if the lots already had septic systems? She was told that they did because the mobile home and the house have been there for many years and that the subdivision only created a new property line. Without any other questions the Board members began the review of the Short EAF required by SEQR with the supplemental EAF Mapper page. Questions number 3, 10 and 11 were discussed and changed by the applicant with ---PAGE BREAK--- initials. Question 3 changed to reflect no change in acreage, Question 10 connected to existing water changed to yes and Question 11 connected to septic also changed to yes. After completing Part 2 the proposed project was given a negative declaration and determined not to have any adverse impacts on the environment or the surrounding community. A motion to close the Hearing at 7:33 pm was moved by member Horn and seconded by Member Allen, all were in favor and the motion carried. A motion to accept the submitted subdivision for the Sheldon & Marion Keeling Revocable Trust was moved by Member Horn and seconded by member Allen, all were in favor without further discussion and the motion carried. Resolution 2015-10 BE IT RESOLVED, by the Planning Board for the Town of Sterling, upon the facts presented and the determination made, that the application for a Minor Subdivision/Lot Line Adjustment of property owned by Larry Benedict and located at 1383 State Route 104A, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax map # 10.00-1-19 is hereby GRANTED upon the following express conditions: NONE but to be filed with Cayuga County within 62 days. A roll call vote was taken: Chairman Ouellette Aye Member Allen Aye Member Horn Aye Member Bishop Aye Member Lemon Aye 5 Ayes, 0 Nays, and 0 Abstentions - APPROVED PUBLIC HEARING Reynold Bloom Hearing opened at 7:05 pm. Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board of the Town of Sterling will hold a Public Hearing on Monday August 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sterling Town Hall, 1290 State Route 104A, Sterling, NY 13156. An Application for the Review of Subdivision by Reynold Bloom will be heard regarding the Minor Subdivision of property located at intersection of State Route 38 and Yuhas Drive, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax Map # 13.00-1-61. All those wishing to be heard in favor of or in opposition of said application may appear in person or by other representation at said time and place. By order of the Planning Board Lisa Somers, Clerk Mr. Bloom presented a preliminarily approved map with the addition of ‘Final’ near the title box for the Board and public to view. The Board members had no questions so the Hearing was opened to the public – the only comment was from a neighbor that viewed the map and had no problems other than he wished he wasn’t losing a great neighbor. Without any other comments from the audience, the Board members began the review of the Short EAF required by SEQR with the supplemental EAF Mapper page. Questions number 1, 3, 11 and 16 were discussed and changed by the applicant with initials. Question 1 changed to no to reflect that the subdivision does not involve adoption of a local law or ordinance, Question 3 changed to include contiguous properties owned by the applicant, Question 11 connected to septic changed to no because no wastewater is generated by establishing a new property line, and Question 16 changed to yes because the property is located in a 100 year flood plain as reported on the EAF Mapper. After completing Part 2, the proposed project was given a negative declaration and determined not to have any adverse impacts on the environment or the surrounding community. A motion to close the Hearing at 7:50 pm was moved by ---PAGE BREAK--- member Bishop and seconded by Member Horn, all were in favor and the motion carried. A motion to accept the submitted subdivision for Reynold Bloom was moved by Member Horn and seconded by member Allen, all were in favor without further discussion and the motion carried. Resolution 2015-11 BE IT RESOLVED, by the Planning Board for the Town of Sterling, upon the facts presented and the determination made, that the application for a Minor Subdivision of property owned by Reynold Bloom and located at 14006 State Route 38, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax map # 13.00-1-61 is hereby GRANTED upon the following express conditions: NONE but to be filed with Cayuga County within 62 days. A roll call vote was taken: Chairman Ouellette Aye Member Allen Aye Member Horn Aye Member Bishop Aye Member Lemon Aye 5 Ayes, 0 Nays, and 0 Abstentions - APPROVED PUBLIC HEARING Vivian Stevens Hearing opened at 7:05 pm Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board of the Town of Sterling will hold a Public Hearing on Monday August 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sterling Town Hall, 1290 State Route 104A, Sterling, NY 13156. An Application for the Review of Subdivision by Vivian Stevens will be heard regarding the Minor Subdivision of property located at 699 Sterling Station Road, Red Creek, NY 13143; Tax Map # 19.00-1-8.12. All those wishing to be heard in favor of or in opposition of said application may appear in person or by other representation at said time and place. By order of the Planning Board Lisa Somers, Clerk Attorney Chris Palermo (representing Vivian Stevens) presented a revised subdivision map for the Board and public to view. The minor corrections had been made and were as follows: ~ Add Jeffrey Sherman property owner bottom right of map. ~ Remove lot line adjustment information and correct lot acreage totals. ~ Add ‘Final’ to the map. The Board members had no further questions of the proposed project so the Hearing was opened to the public – no questions or comments received. The Board began the review of the Short EAF for SEQR and had discussions with the applicant concerning Questions 3, 10, 11, 12b, 13b and 16. Question 3 was changed to 6.094 acres to reflect the removal of the lot line adjustment area which was not part of this subdivision request. Questions 10 and 11 were both answered no by the applicant, the Board had reasons added to each – no potable water needed and no wastewater generated. Question 12b had not been answered by the applicant, the EAF Mapper reported that the property was not in an archeological sensitive area – no was filled in. Question 13b again not answered applicant checked no because no effect on wetlands. Question 16 was also not answered but was checked no because applicant had written insufficient information to answer – the EAF MApper reported the property not in 100 year flood plain. The project ---PAGE BREAK--- was given a negative declaration because the Board determined that no foreseen adverse impacts would be generated from this subdivision. A motion to close the Hearing at 8:06 was moved by Member Horn and seconded by Member Bishop, all were in favorand the motion carried. A motion to accept the submitted subdivision for Vivian Stevens was moved by Member Horn and seconded by Member Lemon, all were in favor without further discussion and the motion carried. Resolution 2015-12 BE IT RESOLVED, by the Planning Board for the Town of Sterling, upon the facts presented and the determination made, that the application for a Minor Subdivision of property owned by Vivian Stevens and located at 699 Sterling Station Road, Red Creek, NY 13134; Tax map # 19.00-1-8.12 is hereby GRANTED upon the following express conditions: NONE but to be filed with Cayuga County within 62 days. A roll call vote was taken: Chairman Ouellette Aye Member Allen Aye Member Horn Aye Member Bishop Aye Member Lemon Aye 5 Ayes, 0 Nays, and 0 Abstentions - APPROVED BUSINESS Vivian Stevens –Preliminary meeting for Minor Subdivision/Lot Line Adjustment # 19.00-1-12 Attorney Chris Palermo stated that after last months meeting which determined that the lot line adjustment map had to be redrawn with the Buckman property as the map center, and after further discussion with Ronald Buckman (owners of property) the application is being withdrawn at this time. Kathleen Ouellette-Fox- Preliminary meeting for Minor Subdivision/Lot Line Adjustment #6.00-1-16 Ms. Fox presented a surveyed map for the Board to review against the required map elements checklist to subdivide a .4 acre parcel containing a well to merge with the Furman property which utilizes the well. The parent parcel is 61 acres and changed very little by this subdivision but the Furman property at 1.6 acres is greatly enhanced by this subdivision – the well is now included on the parcel and the size is increased to 2 acres and is now considered a legal building lot. Chairman Ouellette stated that this application was the first to be processed for a newly identified type of minor subdivision, a lot line adjustment, which was recently added to the Town’s Land Use Regulations. Previously a subdivision of property less than 2 acres in size would have needed to obtain a ZBA variance before proceeding, the new process allows the Planning Board to continue the process by mandating the merging of the small parcel to an adjacent property as part of the approval. The Board found the map to be complete of all the required map elements and needed only ‘Final” to be added near the title. A Public Hearing was scheduled for September 14, 2015 at 7:00 pm. Christopher Ferlito – Special Use Permit – 13181 Sanford Road, Martville #20.00-1-68.1 ---PAGE BREAK--- Mr. Ferlito supplied a DEC letter requesting an extension to Monday August 17th which Mr. Ferlito had accepted – Chairman Ouellette read the aloud for the audience present. He also supplied a letter from the NYS Parks Department concerning archeological study performed on Phase II of the project, Chairman Ouellette read this letter aloud also at the request of audience members present. The Board members commented that they still needed information from the DOT – clerk will initiate study request to John Reichert. Member Allen asked the applicant to read page 43 (10-4.1) of the Land Use Regulations and to prepare an answer for the next meeting. Mr. ferlito responded that he would do so and also asked why the Town had purchased gravel from the pit in the past if it was ‘illegal’? Chairman Ouellette replied that at the previous regulation of 500’ the pit wouldn’t have been non-conformant and that the pit wasn’t an active business requiring Special Permit approval. Member Allen confirmed this by asking Steve Keeling about the previous usage of the pit – he replied that it had been active for the previous 60 years with maybe 400 to 500 cubic yards of gravel removed per year. Member Lemon asked for clarification of those numbers and was told that a dump truck load is approximately 15 cubic yards therefore maybe 30 trucks a year. The Board stated that they would need to gather more information before the next scheduled meeting on September 14th in order to be able to proceed with the process and reopen the Hearing for the Special Permit requested. Member Lemon stated that she had been reviewing the Land Use Regulations sections and the Comprehensive Plan and feels that many issues are still unanswered in relation to water contamination, control of dust and noise, and the effect on structures within 1,000 feet , to name only a few. PRIVILEDGE OF THE FLOOR Several residents had comments regarding the proposed sand and gravel mine, they are as follows: Robin Allinger – Strongly agrees with Board Member Susan Lemon and happy to hear the same concerns that she has voiced by the Board. She questions the many health issues, water contamination concerns, feels the dust issue isn’t controlled effectively, the addition of increased fumes in the air from the trucks coming and going – overall feels it’s a huge detriment to the community. Member Susan Lemon spoke with Dr. Fichera regarding the geologists comments (Dr. Young) and whether she had provided them to the DEC. Dale Ritchie – Stated concern with the road width and questions the recent shoulder buildup and repaving of the surface. The road is only 20’6” and should be 22’, he feels that the trucks can’t maneuver the turn from Sanford to Pople Road and they would further block and congest traffic which is already heavy on the road from existing businesses. He also is concerned for the safety of families riding school buses which travel the road several times a day. Mireille Watts – Suggested that Mr. Ferlito set a bond to cover potential future problems that residents within 1’000’ may have with their wells and water. Can the Board investigate feasibility? Member Lemon commented that the problem would be in proving that the mine caused the issue. Christine Bassett – Stated she is a neighbor within ¼ mile of an active mine in Granby on County Route 85. The DEC authorized the mine to extract ---PAGE BREAK--- material from under the water table which resulted in many of the wells in the area having all tested positive for ecoli. She further stated that they have no recourse for damages and the Board should consider how to handle or control the situation should it occur in Martville. Lynn Lyons – A resident of Granby that stated once a Special Permit is issued by the Town the DEC can make changes within the life of mine parameters at will. She also stated that enforcement of SP conditions is critical. James Kush – Simply stated that the Granby mine is Riccelli and that this mine is Ferlito. Mireille Watts – Mr. Ferlito has already filed bankruptcy once – and it questions his level of commitment. Harvey Mills – Planning Board Chairman from the Town of Victory questioned what condition that roads would be left in and who pays for fixing any damage. Chairman Ouellette read aloud the letter from the Victory Supervisor who stated they had reviewed the project details and was satisfied with the bond Mr. Ferlito agreed to post. 10.)Kelly Larock - Familiar with Mr. Ferlito’s mine proposal in Hannibal on Harris Hill Road that was denied. Applauded Member Sue Allen’s challenge to the applicant to respond to all elements of the Town regulations. 11.) Brett Tice – Stated that from what he has heard it sounds like the DEC is problematic to this process and why should their breakdowm be held against CJ Ferlito. 12.)Larry Flint – Resident of Hannibal who has been attending the meetings for this Town and others processing mining permits and stated that the Mined Land Reclamation Act trumps everything and basically says that the DEC controls the mine and the Town controls everything else. 13.) Dr. Virginia Fichera – Stated that the expert geologist, Dr. Young, volunteered his time and services – his credentials and vast experience shouldn’t be taken because he has established much of the GIS data and mapping of the Finger Lakes – the exact areas that we are talking about. She stated that the approximate 50’ deep of overburden that would be removed would inevitably drive down the water table and that would affect everyone’s water – wells, streams, creeks and even the supplying acquifer. She also stated that the water quality of Sterling Creek was last detailed in 2005 and suggested the Board request a well survey and creek study to establish the current conditions. Lastly, she was concerned that the Board Members appear to be more concerned with a small section of road and not concerned with the welfare of the neighbors and their properties. ADJOURN On a motion by Member Bishop and seconded by Member Horn, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM. Approved Minutes, Respectfully submitted, Lisa Somers, Planning Board Clerk