HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin-02-15-06CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 15, 2006
PRESENT: Herb Engman, Cathy Valentino, Pat Leary, Fred Wilcox, Kirk Sigel, Diane Conneman.
OTHERS: Jonathan Kanter, Director of Planning; Susan Brock (Susan), Attorney for the Town; Sue
Ritter, Assistant Director of Planning.
Chair Herb Engman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Agenda Item No. 1 - Member Comments/Concerns: None.
Agenda Item No. 2 – Approval of Minutes of January 18, 2006 Meeting:
Herb pointed out a correction that should be made on page 3, Agenda #7, referring to the next meeting
scheduled for “February 15, 2006”, not March 15, 2006. Several other typos were pointed out. By
consensus, the Committee agreed to accept the Minutes of the January 18, 2006 meeting with the
corrections noted above.
Agenda Item No. 3 –Report Regarding Proposed Indian Creek Gorge and Lake Slopes Conservation
Zone:
Sue Ritter reported that the re-scheduled public information meeting on the proposed Conservation Zone
was held on February 9, 2006, and that about 15 residents attended the meeting in addition to board and
committee members and staff. Sue mentioned that the Berggrens, who own one of the large parcels in the
area, attended the meeting, but did not make any public comments. Sue added that Joe Fitzgerald, Vice
President at Cayuga Medical Center, was also present – the Medical Center had submitted a letter
indicating that they were concerned with the Conservation Zone proposal in relation to future expansion of
the hospital. Herb indicated that a woman present at the meeting spoke with him, and expressed interest in
donating an acre of land that she owns on the west side of Route 89 to the State, Town or other entity.
Herb added that perhaps owners of other small parcels on the uphill side of Route 89 could be convinced to
do the same, and that the Finger Lakes Land Trust might be able to help with this kind of effort. Sue added
that State Parks and NYSEG own most of the land of the proposed Black Diamond Trail near Route 89.
Jonathan summarized the process for advancing the Conservation Zone proposal – that the Town Board has
referred the zoning change to the Planning Board for a recommendation, the Planning Board is scheduled to
hold a public hearing at their February 21st meeting and then consider a recommendation to the Town
Board, and then the Town Board would be asked to schedule a public hearing and consider adopting the
zoning on April 10, 2006.
Cathy asked whether the Medical Center’s concerns have been addressed. Jonathan responded that the next
item on the Committee’s agenda is to consider an amendment to the Conservation Zone regarding
permitted uses.
Sue reported that staff had also met with the Holochuk Group, who owns the former Cayuga Cliffs
property, and that they do not appear to have a problem with the location of the Conservation Zone
boundary. Sue added that they are proposing a higher density on the more level part of the property than
would be allowed under the MDR zoning. Sue mentioned that the discussion with the Holochuks also
covered issues regarding access, infrastructure, development costs, and other issues.
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Agenda Item No. 4 – Discussion Regarding Possible Language Amendments for Conservation Zones:
Susan Brock indicated that the Committee had suggested the possibility of an amendment to the
Conservation Zone language to allow hospitals as a permitted use, and explained the difference between
by-right and special permit uses. Susan suggested that the special permit approach would allow the use of
criteria that have to be met in order to issue the special permit, and this approach could also address issues
such as maximum coverage. There was some discussion regarding whether storm water facilities are
permitted as principal or accessory uses, and whether the Medical Center might want to consider
consolidating their parcels so that the question of whether a storm water facility on a separate parcel might
be considered as an accessory use, which normally is not permitted unless there is a principal use on the
property as well. Sue explained that under the new State DEC storm water regulations, developers are
required to provide adequate storm water accommodations to control rates of runoff as well as to protect
water quality.
Kirk asked whether the Committee should consider a coverage limit if hospitals are added as permitted uses
in the Conservation Zone, such as maximum site coverage of 10 percent, including buildings and parking.
Jonathan reminded the Committee that the Medical Center’s main concern with the proposed Conservation
Zone was that hospitals are not currently allowed in that zone. The Committee continued the discussion
regarding the justification of allowing hospitals in the Conservation Zone but not in other residential zones.
Jonathan explained the Low Density Residential Zone previously allowed hospitals by special approval, but
that the Medical Center property had been rezoned to the new Office Park Commercial Zone at the time of
the Comprehensive Zoning Revisions, and it was felt that there was no need to allow hospitals in other
areas.
Kirk suggested that another approach could be to revise the location of the proposed Conservation Zone
boundary or leave such a revision to the Town Board for future consideration. After further brief
discussion regarding the location of the boundary, Cathy recommended simply amending the Conservation
Zone to allow hospitals by special permit. The Committee agreed. Kirk asked again about including a
coverage limit. Fred said that he would not be comfortable with coming up with a random coverage limit
and suggested just keeping it as a simple use amendment. The question also came up as to whether
hospitals are defined to be intended for people or whether animal hospitals are also permitted under that
definition. Susan suggested adding an amendment to the definition of hospital to clarify that they are for
sick or injured humans. The Committee agreed.
Agenda Item No. 5 – Update Regarding Coy Glen Conservation Zone:
Sue reported that she had not had time to advance the Coy Glen Conservation Zone work and would report
back to the Committee after she has had a chance to look at it further.
Agenda Item No. 6 – Continuation of Discussion Regarding Work Plan Priorities for 2006:
Herb indicated that items 2a and 2b on the draft Work Plan Priority list (Indian Creek & Lake Slopes
Conservation Zone and amendment to Conservation Zone to add hospital as a permitted use) appear to be
moving ahead. Susan Brock indicated that she feels that the Committee needs to work on the review of
dock regulations as a high priority because of recent applications that have been before the Planning Board,
and that the Planning Board has urged that the Committee address this issue very soon. Fred Wilcox
explained the Sokoloff dock proposal specifically that has led to frustration on the part of the Planning
Board because there is no good documentation of what reasonable dock dimensional standards should be.
Jonathan added that there is no inventory of existing docks along the shoreline and no good description of
water depth or other conditions of the lake bottom along the shoreline. The Committee agreed that the
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review of the dock regulations should be moved up as a high priority on the Work Plan list. The
Committee requested that staff try to assemble some preliminary information on docks for the next
Committee meeting. Kirk suggested that it would be important to gather information regarding the “L” (or
deck) at the end of the dock and to also look at the height of other structures, such as boathouses and boat
lifts – that possibly a height limit above the water surface should be considered. Susan agreed that an
inventory of existing docks and other shoreline structures would be an important step. Other ideas
mentioned by Committee members were that the purpose of docks is to access deep enough water to store a
boat, and that other recreational purposes, such as swimming and fishing, should be considered as a
function of docks. It was also mentioned that floating docks are listed in the Zoning Code as the preferred
type of dock, but that it is not clear how many floating docks are located on Cayuga Lake, nor how feasible
they are.
Cathy mentioned that the issue of noise will need to be addressed soon. Other items mentioned by the
Committee that will be high on the priority list as they are ready to address include the Stream Setback
Law, Outdoor Lighting Law, and Coy Glen Conservation Zone. Diane indicated that the Conservation
Board has discussed the issue of tree preservation regulations, especially as they might relate to forest
management. Jonathan added that there is a need to also address the issue of tree cutting on private land in
general, and mentioned that some property owners clear large areas of land for various purposes that may
not be related to logging. Fred mentioned that the County Housing Needs Study draft report will be
released soon, and could help with the Town’s efforts in affordable housing.
Agenda Item No. 7 - Other Business: None.
Agenda Item No. 8- Schedule and Agenda for Next Meeting:
The next Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 15, 2006. Proposed agenda items
include a report on the proposed amendment to the Conservation Zone section of the Zoning Code
regarding hospitals as a permitted use, a preliminary report on work done regarding the review of the dock
regulations in the Zoning Code, and update on the Coy Glen Conservation Zone mapping, including the
revisions discussed and what the metes and bounds descriptions might look like.
Adjournment: As there was no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 9:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jonathan Kanter, A.I.C.P.
Director of Planning