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TOWN OF STERLING PLANNING BOARD MEETING August 3, 2017 A regular meeting of the Town of Sterling Planning Board was held on Thursday August 3, 2017 at the Sterling Town Hall at 7:00 pm with the following members present: Vernon Bishop ~ Acting Chairman Scott Crawford ~ Member Paul Kelley ~ Member Absent: Members June Ouellette and Sue Allen. Also Present: Russell Patchen, Joan Kelley, Carolyn Waterman, Sharon MacLeod and Virginia Fichera. Acting Chairman Bishop called the meeting to order at 7:43 pm. The meeting was started late due to late arrival of third Board Member required for a quorum. PUBLIC HEARING Russell Patchen Acting Chairman Bishop read aloud the legal notice and opened the Public Hearing at 7:43 pm. Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board of the Town of Sterling will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday August 3, 2017 at 7:00 PM at the Sterling Town Hall, 1290 State Route 104A, Sterling, NY 13156. An Application for the Review of Subdivision by Russell Patchen will be heard regarding the Minor Subdivision of property located at 935 Sterling Station Road, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax Map # 15.00-1-35.11. 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 Russell Patchen presented a subdivision survey map for the Board to review, he stated that he had added the various elements requested at the last meeting. The members checked the map against the listing in the minutes of 7/6/17 as follows, and found the map to be complete: ~ Add existing septic and well location. ~ Add slope arrows. ~ Add adjacent property owner’s information around entire parent parcel – both sides of the road. ~ Add Final to title block. The following corrections were made to the short form EAF and initialed by the applicant: ~ Question 5b yes. ~ Question 9 N/A (not applicable). ~ Question13 yes – wetlands detected on EAF Mapper. The Board members read aloud Part II of the EAF and found that there would be no adverse environmental impacts to the surrounding area from this project. The hearing was opened for comments from the public. Ms. Fichera stated that the EAF Mapper did not coincide with the applicant’s paperwork and was satisfied that the work was reviewed and corrected. She added that the GIS parcel viewer could provide acopy of wetlands search per parcel and be kept in the Planning Board project file. Without further comments, Acting Chairman Bishop closed the Hearing at 8:15 pm. ---PAGE BREAK--- A motion was moved by Member Crawford to approve the requested subdivision for Russell Patchen, the motion was seconded by member Kelley, all were in favor and the motion carried. Resolution 2017- 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 Russell Patchen and located at 935 Sterling Station Road, Sterling, NY 13156; Tax Map # 15.00-1-35.11 is hereby GRANTED upon the following express conditions: NONE but to be filed with Cayuga County within 62 days. Roll call vote was taken: Chairman Ouellette Absent Member Allen Absent Member Bishop Aye Member Kelley Aye Member Crawford Aye 3 AYES 0 NAYES 0 ABSTENTIONS – APPROVED BUSINESS Jason MacLeod - Sketch Plan Conference for Minor Subdivision Sharon MacLeod, mother of property owner Jason MacLeod, approached the Board to answer any questions they have regarding the proposed 3 lot subdivision of a parcel located on Hadcock Drive with West Bay Road running along the back yard. Sharon MacLeod stated that her son had purchased the property as one tax number from the owner who had already merged the three existing lots into one for tax purposes. Member Kelley asked why they didn’t just split the lots back to the original parcels and was told that the deed had been rewritten as one parcel which would not allow them to split through the assessor. She also stated that the proposed plan provides ample road frontage per lot and building setbacks that are compliant with the dimensional requirements of the LUR – the previous property lines had two lots with less than 85’ of road frontage and the two-story house had less than the required 20’ side setback. Some discussion ensued regarding the two residential structures on a single parcel which is not permitted in Sterling. Sharon MacLeod explained that the one story frame house is actually a one story garage and unfinished on the interior, if the subdivision is allowed then a residence could be considered for that property. A third drawing had also been supplied that proposes a site plan to develop the third parcel which is vacant of structures. The prospective buyer for that parcel is Peter Vanbuskirk who resides in Florida, is the Uncle to Jason MacLeod, and the owner of an additional parcel along West Bay Road. Mr. Vanbuskirk initiated contact with the clerk and has supplied the paperwork provided for tonight’s meeting. The third drawing illustrates his future plans to build a primary residential structure with garage and utilizes a building envelope comprised of the required property line setbacks. The Board members acknowledge the fact that the minimum lot size required is 40,000 sqft and none of the three parcels is that large and will therefore require ZBA approval before the subdivision process can commence. A motion was moved by Member Crawford and seconded by Member Kelley to refer the project to the ZBA for relief of the minimum lot size requirement and to further recommend approval because the proposed plan creates 3 viable residential properties that are similar in size as the surrounding community and is compliant with the road frontage and building setbacks required by the LUR. Without further discussion, all were in favor and the motion carried. The Board suggested that the drawings have the property ---PAGE BREAK--- line setback dimensions for the existing structures added before presenting to the ZBA to show conformance with the LUR. The applicants can resume the subdivision process with the Planning Board if approval is received for the variance requested. William Greer Jr.- Sketch Plan Conference/Preliminary Meeting for Minor Subdivision Mark Greer has been in contact with the Clerk to start a process of subdividing property his brother owns into three parcels, one to be retained by William Greer with existing residence, a second for a sibling to build future single family dwelling, and the last to be merged with adjacent parcel owned by sibling Mark Greer. Mark Greer has discussed the property with the Town Assessor and Planning Board Clerk to maintain compliance with Town regulations and had a completed survey map drawn to present to the Board for their review. A paid application with completed short form EAF has also been provided in hopes that the meeting could be considered a preliminary review and schedule of public hearing if the proposed map is accepted. The dimensional requirements of the proposed lots appeared to be compliant with road frontage and width to depth ratio (4:1) on the new lots created. Mr. Greer had notified the clerk before the meeting that the second parcel may be altered to gain 40 additional feet of frontage from parcel 3, and that the surveyor had found a discrepancy of 53’ ultimately affecting parcel 3 also. The design would still be compliant with the depth to width ratio even if parcel 3 loses 93’ of frontage. The Board members reviewed the map against the required elements checklist and found some missing items as follows: ~ Add details of wooded area and any other areas of physical significance. ~ Add utilities, such as power lines along Martville Road. ~ Add location of existing driveways, septic/leach and wells. ~ Add existing buildings and property line setback dimensions. ~ Add ‘Final’ to the Title block. The clerk will notify the applicant of the requested changes. The short form EAF- Part I for SEQR was also reviewed and the following changes will be addressed at the Public Hearing when scheduled. Question #9 – Should be N/A instead of yes. Question # 12b – Should be yes, the EAF Mapper designates area to have potential archaeological sites. Question #13a – Should be yes, the EAF Mapper designates area to have wetlands. Question #14 –Forest should be checked. The Board members were satisfied that the project could proceed to the next step of a Public Hearing provided that the requested changes are made and that the map can be checked for completeness by the clerk and Chairman Ouellette when the surveyor has provided an updated map. If the turnaround time on the map goes beyond time for proper notification before the September 7th meeting then a Special meeting may be scheduled. Land Use Regulations The Zoning Commission has proposed an additional line in the Use Chart allowing the construction of a pole barn, garage or similar structure for personal storage on a vacant parcel. The Town will hold a Public Hearing for consideration of this amendment in the near future. ---PAGE BREAK--- ADJOURN On a motion by Member Kelley and seconded by Member Crawford, the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 pm. Approved Minutes, Respectfully submitted, Lisa Somers, Planning Board Clerk