Full Text
TOWN OF STERLING PLANNING BOARD MEETING September 14, 2015 A meeting of the Town of Sterling Planning Board was held on Monday September 14, 2015 at the Sterling Town Hall at 7:00 pm with the following members present: June Ouellette ~ Chairman Sue Allen ~ Member Vernon Bishop ~ Member Susan Lemon ~ Member Absent: Member Grover Horn Also Present : Christopher Ferlito and Attorney Kimberly Steele, Virginia Fichera, Steve Keeling, , Robin Allinger, Dale Ritchie, Kathy Ouellette Fox, Christine Bassett, Lynn Lyons, Mireille Watts, Andy Smith, Attorney Richard Reilly for Slobe Farms Real Estate, and Carolyn Waterman. Chairman Ouellette called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. PUBLIC HEARING Kathleen Ouellette-Fox Chairman Ouellette read the notice into the record and opened the Hearing at 7:03 pm Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board of the Town of Sterling will hold a Public Hearing on Monday September 14, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sterling Town Hall, 1290 State Route 104A, Sterling, NY 13156. An Application for Review of Subdivision by Kathleen Ouellette-Fox will be heard regarding proposed Minor Subdivision/Lot Line Adjustment of property located at 1197 Old State Road, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax Map # 6.00-1-16. 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 The Planning Board reviewed the map and found that minor corrections were needed – the word ’Final’ and the setback distance between the new property line and the existing cell tower needed to be added to the map. The short form SEQR EAF was reviewed and had minor corrections as well which the applicant changed and initialed. With no further questions from the Board, the Hearing was opened to public comments – there were none. Chairman June Ouellette abstained from the vote because the applicant is a relative. A motion to close the Hearing at 7:35 pm was moved by member Lemon and seconded by Member Allen, all were in favor and the motion carried. A motion to accept the minor subdivision/lot line adjustment pending the two minor corrections for Kathleen Ouellette-Fox was moved by Member Bishop and seconded by member Allen, all were in favor without further discussion and the motion carried. Resolution 2015-13 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 Kathleen Ouellette-Fox and located at 1197 Old State Road, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax Map # 6.00-1-16 is hereby GRANTED upon the following express conditions: Addition of ‘Final’ and the setback distance from existing tower to new property line on map; and, To be filed with Cayuga County within 62 days. A roll call vote was taken: Chairman Ouellette Abstained Member Allen Aye ---PAGE BREAK--- Member Horn Absent Member Bishop Aye Member Lemon Aye 3 Ayes, 0 Nays, and 1 Abstentions - APPROVED BUSINESS Andy Smith – Sketch Plan Conference – Minor Subdivision Mr. Smith approached the Board and explained that he would like to subdivide a minimum sized parcel on property adjacent to his which is owned by Ron Goodsell. He owns a large parcel (147 acres) in Martville where he is planning to build a new home, but it’s located in the Hannibal school district and he would like for his children to continue going to Red Creek schools where they have been enrolled for several years. He commented that he had been doing research with the school districts, Cayuga County and the Town of Sterling and as long as he owns adjacent parcels on the school district line he could choose the preferred district. He provided a map that showed his property and 3 possible options of land purchases he could make to achieve this outcome. He stated that there are no plans to build on the new property but will purchase 2 acres to make a legal building lot, purchasing additional 3,400 feet of 50’ wide ROW to prevent a landlocked parcel, and will own a separate parcel because you can not merge parcels over school district boundary lines. The Board discussed each option and thought that the 2 acre purchase with a 50’ ROW to State Route 38 was the most straightforward option in that it is a large flag lot that complies with the LUR. The Board told him to come back to the next meeting with a single map for preliminary approval and scheduling of a Pubic Hearing. Slobe Farms Real Estate –Preliminary Meeting –Minor Subdivision – 1389 Curtis Co- Op Road (#13.00-1-10.11) Attorney Richard Reilly presented new maps of a proposed subdivision to remove 2 acres and a residence from a larger parcel of farmland with the corrections that the Planning Board requested at the July 21st meeting. As the Board reviewed the map several problems arose as follows: - Remove words in title from 3 lot to 2 lot; and remove words ‘proposed parcel A 0.101 acre’ from area around the existing cell tower because it’s not a conforming size to be a legal lot. The applicant was told that he could appeal to the ZBA for an area variance which the applicant was not inclined to do. - The rear property line of proposed parcel B must be offset from the existing tower a distance equal to the height of the tower. Some discussion ensued regarding the fact that the tower is preexisting and need not conform to the current LUR but the property line being established is new and must comply with the LUR. Clerk will pull tower project file and contact attorney with the tower height. - Comments contained in the property deed that was supplied by the Sterling Assessor were confusing to the Board because it stated that “not intending to combine, merge, assemble or resubdivide any of the above parcels” and yet a review subdivision application was under consideration. Town Attorney to be consulted. ---PAGE BREAK--- Mr. Reilly was instructed to return with corrections for another preliminary meeting and if the map was determined to be complete and compliant with the LUR a public hearing would then be scheduled. Christopher Ferlito – Special Use Permit – 13181 Sanford Road, Martville (#20.00-1- 68.1) Christopher Ferlito and his attorney, Kimberly Steele, approached the Board to inquire when a public hearing would be scheduled and was answered that a date wouldn’t be set until the application was determined to be complete. Mr. Ferlito stated that the final report of the DEC in response to received comments had been completed – the Board members had also received them in the last few days but as of yet had not had a chance to read through them. The Board also commented that the dimensional requirements were again being heard by the ZBA for the setback between access roads and residences and if not approved then the process couldn’t continue until the site plan conformed to the required setback. Mr. Ferlito stated that if the ZBA denied the variance then he would revert back to the two driveway design which already received approval by the ZBA. He further stated that the rehearing had been initiated by the design change. Member Allen asked if he would then need to go thru the DEC again since they eliminated the north driveway to reduce the noise levels. Mr. Ferlito replied that he could mitigate the noise in another way if the noise levels were still high but since the allowable life of mine was pushed back to remain 1,000’ from the residences the levels would be lower and the second driveway could again be added. Some discussion ensued regarding the possibility of scheduling an open meeting work session where the applicant and the Planning Board could review all the information received and determine what information still needed to be obtained without involvement of the public as far as comments and questions. The attorney, Kimberly Steele, introduced herself and stated that she normally represents the neighbors and municipalities in these types of developments but after reviewing the project felt that Mr. Ferlito had presented a design that fulfilled the Town’s requirements and was deserving of the issuance of a special use permit. Mr. Ferlito also stated that a representative from the EPA (Federal agency) had walked the property recently and reconfirmed that they saw no potential issues for contamination of Sterling Creek just as the Army Corp of Engineers and the DEC had determined. The applicant was told to return to the next meeting on October 5th to continue the review. PRIVILEDGE OF THE FLOOR Several residents had comments regarding the proposed sand and gravel mine, they are as follows: Mirielle Watts – Asked if she could have a copy of the DEC comments that had been spoken about and was told to FOIL the papers through the Town Clerk. Virginia Fichera – Questioned what had been asked for and couldn’t copies be made following tonight’s meeting with payment in check form. The clerk stated that filing a FOIL was the only process in which to receive project documents. Carolyn Waterman – A resident of Sterling for over 30 years - approximately 1 ½ miles away from the mine location on State Route 104 with concerns ---PAGE BREAK--- regarding the noise generated and the possibility of water contamination of existing wells. She asked if Mr. Ferlito had responded to Board Member Allen’s request to provide a written reply to page 43 of the LUR and if he did could she have a copy. She also commented on having attended the assessor’s re-evaluation meeting and asked how the gravel mine would be assessed. She was told that the selling/purchase price of $450,000 doesn’t change the assessed value of the property which remains under $100,000. The change of status from vacant to operating commercial wouldn’t increase the value either – in other words the Town receives no benefit in allowing this type of activity. She urged the Board to request the actual assessment value of the property and the future proposed value if it becomes operating commercial from the Assessor as part of the project documents. Ms. Waterman also asked if any other paper besides the Lakeshore News carried legal notifications and if the Shopper could also be used. She was told that the Town Board determines what publications are used at their yearly organizational meeting. Lynn Lyons – Granby resident near Ricelli’s gravel mine on County Route 85. Stated that they’ve encountered non-enforcement of the laws by both the Town and the DEC. Strongly disagreed with Kimberly Steele’s statement that the DEC is always timely and effective in their responses to complaints – she feels that the DEC doesn’t do their job and that her self and her neighbors have paid the price for their delinquency. Mr. Ferlito replied that the pit on County Route 85 is not his and that he has nothing to do with its operation. He has dealt with the DEC on other pits and stated that the DEC does answer complaints and monitor mine activity. He further stated that the proposed Martville mine isn’t large scale like the 85 pit is and will be mining only 5 acres at a time per phasing and reclamation. Christine Bassett - Another resident affected by a gravel mine in another Town, commented that the mining doesn’t have to expand laterally and that they can always dig deeper and gain authority to go below the water table. She described the contamination of her well with E-coli that occurred after the mining started to a well that had always been superior in water quality. Mirielle Watts – Asked if wells can be bonded like the roadways are? Attorney Steele stated that she couldn’t see how you could determine conditions or parameters that would properly assess the cause and effect. Virginia Fichera – Stated that her comments and Dr. Young’s reports were supplied to the DEC for the SEQR comments stage and that the comments received doesn’t reflect answers to all the problems that were raised. The comments didn’t fully address many issues and that it appeared they cherry picked what they wanted to answer. She also asked if Mr. Ferlito owns any other gravel pits and if so where. CJ Ferlito answered he owns one in Mexico on Rte 58. Steve Keeling – Stated that he had spoken with a local contractor who had been hired by Mrs. Fichera to deliver 5 loads of gravel to her property from a mine located 1 ½ miles of the proposed mine location for Ferlito. The gravel pit utilized does not have a permit, is not regulated, the hauling ---PAGE BREAK--- truck is old , the pit is not prepared for fuel or other spills from the truck, the pit doesn’t have wheel washes nor does it have provisions to control dust . He further stated that it seems everything that she claims to be concerned with regarding Mr. Ferlito’s proposed usage doesn’t apply at a location right up the road. Virginia Fichera stated that she had in fact asked the contractor about the status of the pit and was told that they were not required to get a permit because they remove less than 750 cubic yards a year. Dale Ritchie – Commented that CJ Ferlito doesn’t have anything to do with the operation of the County Rte 85 Ricelli mine but his construction company trucks haul gravel from that mine for the Onondage Lake project. He also stated that he drives taxi and has been dealing with trucks and traffic congestion caused by many gravel pits throughout the surrounding counties opened recently. MINUTES Meeting minutes for July 21, 2015 were approved with minor corrections by a motion moved by Member Bishop and seconded by Member Allen. All were in favor without further discussion and the motion passed. Meeting minutes for August 3, 2015 were approved with minor corrections by a motion moved by Member Allen and seconded by Member Bishop. All were in favor without further discussion and the motion passed. ADJOURN On a motion by Member Bishop and seconded by Member Lemon, the meeting was adjourned at 9:03 PM. Approved Minutes, Respectfully submitted, Lisa Somers, Planning Board Clerk