2006-06-20
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
QUEENSBURY PLANNING BOARD MEETING
FIRST REGULAR MEETING
JUNE 20, 2006
INDEX
Site Plan No. 57-2005 Northeast Dining & Lodging 1.
Tax Map No. 296.18-1-6
Site Plan No. 66-2005 Martin Barrington/Mary Devine 27.
Tax Map No. 226.15-1-21
Site Plan No. 1-2006 1093 Group, LLC 45.
Tax Map No. 302.6-1-55
Subdivision No. 4-2006 Lee Jarvis 54.
PRELIMINARY STAGE Tax Map No. 307.-1-32
Subdivision No. 3-2006 John Whalen 60.
PRELIMINARY STAGE Tax Map No. 289.17-1-1
THESE ARE NOT OFFICIALLY ADOPTED MINUTES AND ARE SUBJECT TO BOARD
AND STAFF REVISIONS. REVISIONS WILL APPEAR ON THE FOLLOWING MONTHS
MINUTES (IF ANY) AND WILL STATE SUCH APPROVAL OF SAID MINUTES.
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QUEENSBURY PLANNING BOARD MEETING
FIRST REGULAR MEETING
JUNE 20, 2006
7:00 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT
ROBERT VOLLARO, CHAIRMAN
GRETCHEN STEFFAN, SECRETARY
THOMAS SEGULJIC
ANTHONY METIVIER
THOMAS FORD
DONALD SIPP
TANYA BRUNO, ALTERNATE
LAND USE PLANNER-SUSAN BARDEN
TOWN ENGINEER-C.T. MALE-JIM EDWARDS
STENOGRAPHER-MARIA GAGLIARDI
MR. VOLLARO-Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the meeting of the
Queensbury Planning Board, June 20, 2006. Any housekeeping to do tonight? I don’t
think so.
MRS. STEFFAN-No. Approval of minutes, but it doesn’t say approval of what minutes.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I saw that. Okay. In that case, I guess we can proceed with the
first application on tonight’s agenda, which is Site Plan 57-2005.
OLD BUSINESS:
SITE PLAN NO. 57-2005 SEQR TYPE UNLISTED NORTHEAST DINING &
LODGING AGENT(S): THE CHAZEN CO. OWNER(S): RICHARD CUNNINGHAM
ZONING HC-INTENSIVE LOCATION NORTH QUAKER ROAD APPLICANTS
PROPOSE A 10,330 SQ. FT. RESTAURANT AND ASSOCIATED SITE WORK.
RESTAURANTS REQUIRE SITE PLAN REVIEW BY THE PLANNING BOARD.
PLANNING BOARD WILL CONDUCT SEQRA REVIEW AND MAY MAKE FINDINGS.
CROSS REFERENCE AV 68-2005 WARREN CO. PLANNING 10/12/05 LOT SIZE
3.104 ACRES TAX MAP NO.296.18-1-6 SECTION 179-4-020
JON LAPPER & CHRIS ROUND, REPRESENTING APPLICANT, PRESENT
MR. VOLLARO-For the record, you are?
MR. LAPPER-Good evening. For the record, Jon Lapper, the project attorney, with
Neral Patel, the President of the applicant, and Chris Round, the project Landscape
Architect on behalf of the Chazen Companies. Mr. Chairman, we’re very pleased to be
on the agenda finally tonight to present this project.
MR. VOLLARO-I didn’t know that Mr. Round was the Landscape Architect.
MR. LAPPER-Planner.
MR. VOLLARO-Just checking.
MR. LAPPER-As I was saying, we were pleased to be back here. The last time we
appeared was at the February meeting and the Board was, at that point, ready to do a
SEQRA review which we anticipated a Negative Declaration. It was determined, instead,
to table it for a list of nine items so that we would put in writing the conditions that we had
all come up with that evening, and we made the submission, anticipating to be on in
March, and the Chairman had asked that a few of the issues be looked into in greater
detail, primarily engineering issues, buildability issues, in terms of soil, and that we have
a C.T. Male signoff on the project and on traffic, and we made a couple of submissions
since then to augment our March submission, and we did receive the C.T. Male signoff
letters, and from our perspective there’s nothing remarkable about putting a restaurant
on Quaker Road, the five lane road, a compatible, appropriate use, and we’d like to get
through with SEQRA so that we can go to the Zoning Board for what we consider two
relatively minor variances, a setback from a small wetland, which is really just a bunch of
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cattails where Quaker Road drains off onto the site, and a parking variance so that we
can provide extra parking to make sure that we don’t create a parking issue. One of the
issues that’s come up is the access to the site next door and in February the Board was
comfortable that because we have a loading dock next door, it’s not a good place,
although access management is generally a very good concept. In this particular case,
because we’ve got the loading docks on the side of the Mark Plaza next door, it doesn’t
make a lot of sense, but nevertheless we’re still providing that for a future connection in
case that site ever got re-developed. So we can go through the Staff notes, if you’d like
to start with that. However you’d like us to handle it, Mr. Chairman.
MR. VOLLARO-We certainly can go through Staff notes if you’d like to. Would you like
them read, or do you want to just go through them? I have an agenda, I’d like to ask a
couple of questions first, to put a few things forward before we go into that.
MR. LAPPER-Sure.
MR. VOLLARO-I guess on Friday, that was 6/16, at about 4:43 p.m., we received
information that some of the latest drawings from Chazen were just received, and that
was too late for us to do anything over the weekend.
MR. LAPPER-That wasn’t for this meeting. Those were the site plan drawings, because
we anticipate and hope that we will get through SEQRA, get to the Zoning Board next
week. We’re on the agenda, and we’ll be back in July for site plan. So those were site
plan drawings that don’t apply.
MR. VOLLARO-So you just want to go through SEQRA tonight?
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Before we even have, I’ve got some SEQRA issues I’d like to talk about
before we really get into SEQRA, but just a moment and just let me ask the Board if all
members of this Board are ready to proceed with the SEQRA. I’m going to start with
you, Don.
MR. SIPP-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Tom?
MR. SEGULJIC-Well, a couple of issues I’d like to have fleshed out is in this.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, are you ready to go to SEQRA tonight, right now?
MR. SEGULJIC-Right now, not right now, no.
MR. VOLLARO-Because that’s what they’re asking us to do.
MR. SEGULJIC-Not right now, no.
MR. VOLLARO-Tom Ford?
MR. FORD-No.
MR. VOLLARO-Gretchen?
MRS. STEFFAN-Well, I need the questions answered on the fill situation before I can
consider going to SEQRA.
MR. VOLLARO-Tanya?
MRS. BRUNO-No.
MR. VOLLARO-Tony?
MR. METIVIER-I agree with Gretchen.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So I don’t think members are ready yet.
MR. LAPPER-It sounds like we could answer some questions and go through some
issues and hopefully they’ll become ready.
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MR. VOLLARO-Yes. There’s some issues that I’d like to bring up and discuss. Usually I
don’t like to take the Board through SEQRA until they’re comfortable with it.
MR. LAPPER-What I really meant is that I hope we get there tonight, not necessarily the
first minute, but that’s where we hope to end up tonight, to get through SEQRA.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. All right. Now, getting back to the Staff notes. They’re rather
lengthy. I’ll have Staff do is to read Staff notes. Do you want to try to abbreviate them,
though, if you could.
MR. LAPPER-If you don’t want to bother reading them, we could, Chris, we can just
respond to them, and state the question and we’ll give you the answer.
MR. VOLLARO-I think all members have read the Staff notes. I think I’ve read them.
Certainly you know what they are.
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MR. HUNSINGER-We received those either the 14 or 15 . So, you know, this process
doesn’t allow us to give you timely response. So that’s why I want to give you what we
know, when we go through those. Question One was regarding a SHPO consultation,
okay. In our EAF, that we prepared and submitted back in August or September of 2005,
we identified that SHPO consultation was not required because the site, if you’re familiar
with the site, it’s entirely either filled or wetlands. SHPO’s, there’s three rules that are in
play when we’re dealing with SHPO. One is the Federal, Section 106 laws, with regards
to historic preservation. There’s the New York State laws with regard to historic
structures, and then there’s SEQRA, and you’re concerned with SEQRA. We don’t
require any State or Federal permits that are discretionary in nature. So we’re not
required to consult with SHPO. With regard to SEQRA, the question is, will you have an
impact on historic or archeological features on this site, and our response is that, and
what SHPO provides in their guidance on the website is if you can document that the site
has been significantly disturbed or substantial prior ground disturbance, so if you have a
road and you’re proposing to repave your road, you don’t need to consult with SHPO. In
this case, the same standard applies. Generally, you don’t do archeological
investigations of wetlands, because wetlands are not areas where you would have
habitation, either historically or pre-historically and then in areas of fill, it’s an area that’s
been identified as previously disturbed. So that was our response in Question One.
MR. VOLLARO-And that was my comment in my own notes. I mean, it’s been a
disturbed area, it’s been filled extensively from the remains of Quaker Road.
MR. ROUND-Right, and we think that probably occurred 30 some odd years ago when
Quaker Road was constructed. So that was our response to One. Is there any
questions on that issue that I might illuminate further?
MR. VOLLARO-I think the SHPO thing’s pretty clean.
MR. ROUND-Two was the discrepancy between groundwater. What we did is we
provided you soils information on our EAF, and in the soils information, we gave you a
table that said, here’s the three types of soils that are found in the area of the site, and
here’s the general range, the depth to groundwater. We also gave you a geotechnical
report where they actually observed groundwater. So our response to that was, well,
groundwater is at the depth at which our geotechnical report that was prepared prior to
our doing the work, that’s where groundwater is at, and I don’t have that number in front
of me. Susan referenced it in her.
MR. VOLLARO-I looked at that, when I looked at it, and I said when Gifford did that
report, it was after it was filled.
MR. LAPPER-That’s exactly what it is.
MR. VOLLARO-So they got a much deeper than the soils and water was old data that
talked about somewhere between one and a half to two feet.
MR. ROUND-Soils information is very broad. It’s for planning processes, not for site
specific engineering reasons.
MR. VOLLARO-I saw that right away.
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MR. ROUND-The third question was, hey, do you have correspondence back from DEC
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Natural Heritage Program. We do have that, and that was dated August 26. I have
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copies available if you’d like that. It was August 26. It says we have no records of
known occurrence of rare, State or listed endangered species and as you might expect,
we’re in a relatively urban like environment, if not urban, the site does have some
wetlands on it.
MR. VOLLARO-Is that from Kathy O’Brien?
MR. ROUND-This is from the Natural Heritage Program, and it’s from Betty Ketchum,
who’s the information services director, and I can give you a copy of that. Fourth
question was in regards to wetland impact disturbance and I think there was some
confusion, and I think we talked about this at our last Planning Board meeting, that
there’s a wetland in our site area. Of that wetland, .52 acres fall or reside within our
property. Nine tenths, or ninety-five one-hundredths.
MR. VOLLARO-Pretty close.
MR. ROUND-Less than a tenth of an acre is going to be disturbed. So that was the
confusion. The question asks, how much wetlands are on site. .522 acres. How much
are we going to disturb, .095 acres. So that’s it. It was accurate.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. My only comment on that is if you can hold .095 when you’re doing
excavating and stuff, pretty good, pretty close. Too close for comfort for me.
MR. LAPPER-It’s not a coincidence. It was designed to make sure it wasn’t
jurisdictional, and you’re right. It requires care.
MR. ROUND-And that’s why a retaining wall is used. If we didn’t use a retaining wall,
we’d have to grade and impact significantly more area.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MR. FORD-Could I just address that?
MR. ROUND-Go right ahead.
MR. FORD-Isn’t that difference really dependent upon who’s placing the stake and
whether they put it down with their right hand or their left hand?
MR. ROUND-No, it’s not. The Army Corps of Engineers, I’m reading this to you. Did
anybody happened to attend the planning meeting last week on wetlands delineations?
Gretchen was there? And I think at that meeting they explained, wetlands delineations,
you’re required to comply with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wetland delineation
manual, and so it’s a prescribed method. There’s very little latitude. There are
processes of wetlands do change, delineations do change through the jurisdictional
review process. In this case, if you’ve been to the site, and you look at where the
wetlands are, there’s very little latitude where this wetland is going to be. It is, generally
it’s at the toe of the filled slope. They have filled the site, historically right to the
wetlands, or probably had filled the wetland prior. So there’s not a lot of latitude.
Sometimes there are difficulties in determining soil horizons and the colors of soils and
where wetland hydric soils end and non-hydric soils are, or where a particular vegetation
that is wetland indicative stops and starts, but it is science. There is some judgment
involved. I don’t disagree with you, but it is largely science.
MR. FORD-So it can be subjective?
MR. ROUND-Yes, it can be.
MR. FORD-Okay. Thank you.
MR. ROUND-Regardless of whether it’s subjective or not, and regardless of whether you
folks feel that there’s a significant wetland impact or not, the applicant has to comply with
the Nationwide permit requirements and the Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction, and if
we exceeded that one-tenth of an acre, and that note is on the plan, if the contractor
exceeds that, he is subject to the permitting requirements of the Corps, and what’s going
to have to get a, still covered under a Nationwide permit, but you would trigger a pre-
construction notification and examination of mitigation. So that’s why we’re designing it.
Every project that you’re going to come in here, Jim’s probably been involved with
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projects like this, you design to meet those thresholds to the extent you can so you can
avoid this, and there was a court case, the Supreme Court ruled on wetlands yesterday,
is that the process is time consuming, very expensive, and it’s something that you avoid
at all costs, and that’s why it’s designed to be under one-tenth of an acre. Long winded
answer, I apologize. Question Five was regarding the fill. Maybe we should come back
to that one, because there was some concern about fill quantities. Let me talk about it.
We answered zero fill was to be taken off the site, and we designed the project, we did
not propose to remove fill from the site, or fill in such quantities that was going to trigger
an environmental impact, and that’s what we’ve got to think about, is there an
environmental impact as a result of fill leaving this site. Through the review process, the
engineer has asked us to say, you need to comply with the geotechnical report
requirements, and the Building Code requirements, and therefore you need to excavate
fill from the site to accommodate the placement of foundations of your structure, and
that’s generally going to involve excavation of six feet of fill around the building pad and
associated structures that need that type of support, and areas of the retaining wall that
are going to be reclaimed. So what the question’s trying to ask you is, are there
significant quantities of fill that are going to leave the site that are going to create a truck
traffic problem that you didn’t think about. In this case, it’s a relatively minor amount of
fill. It’s not going to be an inordinate amount that’s going to trigger a hundred or two
hundred trucks leaving the site. So we haven’t quantified that, though, because we
haven’t, you know, designed that element of the project.
MR. VOLLARO-Of the amount of fill that’s in there, in the Gifford engineering report that
was done, they talked about somewhere between six and nine feet of fill that was put in
by the Quaker Road construction. Now you’ve got two areas, in the foundation of the
building and also you’ve got to stabilize your engineered wall as well.
MR. ROUND-Well, and the stormwater structures. So you’re going to be putting
constructed features where there is now fill. So we’re going to have to remove fill from
that area as well. You’re right.
MR. VOLLARO-So you’ve got to calculate how much fill that is, and you haven’t done
that yet, have you?
MR. ROUND-No, we haven’t, but we don’t think that rises, the threshold, just taking a
step back, the environmental review process, and the review of the SEQRA form is
designed such that you ask those questions, okay, and if you answer, yes, there is an
impact to this particular feature, environmental characteristic, you know, soils,
groundwater, etc., is it so significant, is it adverse and large enough that it’s going to
require us to cause us to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement?
MR. VOLLARO-We don’t know the answer until you tell us how much you’re going to
take out.
MR. LAPPER-I think part of the answer is that, if you think about what done on Lowe’s,
the Lowe’s site where they brought in six feet of fill over a multi-acre site, in terms of the
number of truck trips, what Chris is saying is that the area where the building is going to
be, if it has to be partially compacted and partially removed and restored, that that can’t
get to the level, on Quaker Road, a five lane road, where taking out dump trucks and
bringing in some new soil is going to require an Environmental Impact Statement on
whether or not that’s going to be a problem. It’s just not that significant of an issue.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I think this project stands on its own. It doesn’t stand on Quaker
Road in the prior manufacturing and building of Quaker Road. It really stands on its own.
It’s got its own unique thresholds that have to be looked at in terms of how much soil
does have to be taken out. Anyway, we know that there’s got to be some excavation
done there.
MR. ROUND-Right, and our point is that, our opinion is that it doesn’t rise to the level
that it’s a significant issue or that it’s an issue. I think Jon’s point is that if you look at
other projects you’ve looked at, it’s not going to rise to the level of, we’re using a project
as a comparison, not as a.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, as long as we’ve got our engineering folks here tonight, I’d like to
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just ask that question to Mr. Edwards. I’ve read your May 23 letter, in particularly the
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last portion of the May 23 letter done by Mr. Houston, I believe, but you had your
geotechnical folks look at this at C.T. Male. Is that correct?
MR. EDWARDS-That’s right.
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MR. VOLLARO-And the results of that were the ending of your May 23, the last few
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paragraphs of the May 23 letter. When I read that, it talks, to the words that I looked at,
it talked about a significant amount of removal of fill. The applicant is saying, well, we’re
only going to remove the fill that’s around the foundation of the building and that fill which
the stabilized wall or engineered wall needs to be done, so it rests on some stable
ground. What’s your opinion of that? In other words, when you wrote that letter of May
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23, what was on your mind in terms of the amount of fill that had to be removed?
MR. EDWARDS-It could be significant, compared to the size of this site. There could be
some parking lot areas, Chris, also that have to be removed because you’ve got to have
a stable ground to build a parking lot on top of. There’s a building pad issue. There’s a
foundation issue for the building. There’s stormwater management structures that have
to be stabilize and perhaps the ground has to be taken out for some stormwater
management treatment items as well. If you add that up, along with the retaining wall
perimeter area, I mean, compared to the size of the site, it could be significant, but in the
grand scheme, I can’t tell you number of yards. I couldn’t even guess that.
MR. ROUND-I can give you a number. I can do the math in front of you. It’s not a
complex issue. If we took six feet of fill off of the entire site, which we’re not going to do,
we could give you that number here and now.
MR. VOLLARO-That’s a simple calculation. I could do that, too.
MR. ROUND-Yes, but that’s what it is. Is the order of magnitude such that it’s going to
cause a significant adverse environmental impact. We’re using a commonsense
approach rather than an empirical approach, and I think you’re looking for an empirical
approach.
MR. VOLLARO-No, I’m just looking for a quantity that I can assess. The empirical
approach is something that we all need. I’ll ask Board members how they feel about
that.
MR. SIPP-You’ve got more than the footprint of the building. You’ve got the driveway
where you’re going to have delivery trucks of considerable weight. Impact of stormwater
facilities and so forth, and I’m quite concerned, not that we’re going to have a major
earthquake in this area, but there is a possibility of a big one always coming, and that fill
is not what I would consider the best stuff left in position.
MR. LAPPER-But that issue is that we’re going to be removing it. I mean, that’s the
buildability issue that C.T. Male addressed that, right now, you’re right, it needs to be
fixed, and so the issue in terms of the SEQRA, I think, is the truck traffic to remove it, but
there’s nothing remarkable about removing fill and replacing it with compacted material.
If we didn’t remove it, there might be an impact, but it’s going to be removed.
MR. SIPP-Yes, but I think you’ve got to remove more than what you’re saying.
MR. LAPPER-Even if that were the case, why would that be a SEQRA issue, in terms of,
I mean, that building sites, that happens in Queensbury all day long, that dump trucks
and front end loaders come in and fill is moved and replaced.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I understand from reading the C.T. Male letter that there is a new
requirement to look at this liquification.
MR. ROUND-We’re getting bogged down in very fine detail, Bob, and what we’re looking
for is a SEQRA determination. I just need to put that on the table. Number One. The
reference Jim makes, it’s a Building Code requirement. Under the Building Code, when
you’re designing foundations, you need to design to address seismic loading, seismic
conditions, and you also need to, under the seismic conditions issue, you need to identify
whether soils are liquifiable or not, and I don’t know that that’s a SEQRA issue. That
wouldn’t be an issue that you would be looking at. I don’t know if you have applied that
litmus test to any project that’s been in front of you.
MR. VOLLARO-We haven’t had to before. It’s rather new.
MR. ROUND-But regardless, it’s not because of the site conditions. It’s because of the
Building Code. The Building Code applies to every structure in New York State.
MR. VOLLARO-True.
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MR. ROUND-Not just to this structure.
MR. VOLLARO-I understand that.
MR. LAPPER-It means that there may have to be gravel added, just in terms of the
conditions of the site.
MR. VOLLARO-These are all things, I think, that the Board has to take into consideration
when they’re doing their deliberations and when there’s something they need to know.
MR. LAPPER-We’re saying that that is a, that C.T. Male answered and said that there’s
no buildability issue, and replacing the soil is a building permit issue for Dave Hatin to
rule on when they apply for a building permit, but in terms of SEQRA, there’s nothing
remarkable about a site that has to have some prior fill removed.
MR. VOLLARO-That may be true, but when you’re up here answering yes or no to
SEQRA questions, it’s nice to have a feeling of comfort when you say no or yes, and that
feeling of comfort comes from the fact that you understand the project. That’s where you
get your comfort feeling from. I think.
MR. LAPPER-We certainly want you to understand the project.
MR. ROUND-Let me come back to the fill question, because I don’t know that I’ve
answered all your questions. I think our response that you have in front of you to Five
was we haven’t calculated that. We can give you that calculation. Six was the access
easement. We were here in front of you in March. We were here in front of you in
November. We were here in front of you September. The easement location’s been
shown. Staff comment said Fire Marshal preferred it at our previous location. In our
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March 14 correspondence to you, we said this is our preferred location, placement of it
further in the rear of the site doesn’t add any value to circulation issues. Maybe it would
be helpful just to look at a.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, don’t give us any information tonight, Chris, because we can’t
assimilate that at the meeting.
MR. ROUND-I just want to show you a picture.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. That’s good enough for you to make your point, in terms of
interconnection, I think.
MR. ROUND-Here’s a photograph. It’s easier to see it here. If we move the access to
the rear of the site, you can see the building on the adjoining property, there is no
circulation path behind that building, and so I think, logically, if we were to move the
easement location to the rear to provide circulation on the site, it’s a logical
recommendation, but in this case, there is no, there’s no place for traffic to go, and I think
Jon mentioned in his opening remarks that the circulation area and loading docks really
prohibit free movement of traffic, and I think the rule says you have to provide an
easement location. We provided it. We don’t provide the construction details because
that wasn’t asked of us.
MR. VOLLARO-I, personally, had no problem with where you put it. I never do until,
because I know when it’s got to be used then we’ll determine whether it functions or it
doesn’t function.
MR. ROUND-Okay. Question Seven was, why is there no retaining wall, at the northeast
corner of the site, I think we’re talking at this location here, none’s required. The grades
don’t, there’s not a differential in grades between these two locations that require
installation of a retaining wall.
MR. VOLLARO-Incidentally, while you’ve got that up, what is the grade elevation of that
wall down near Quaker Road roughly? I know it degrades as it goes south, I believe, or
it increases.
MR. ROUND-Well, the walls, it would intersect the access drive, okay, you see where
the wall, where it’s closest, where the sign location is shown? The top of the wall is 335.
The bottom of the wall is 335. So it’s roughly half a foot. So it’s six inches tall at that
location. At the other end, where there’s an angle point in the wall, it is 336.40, and the
bottom of the wall is 328. So it’s roughly eight feet tall at that location. So it does, the
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reveal, the exposed face, increases as you, doesn’t go like this. It’s the same elevation,
but there’s more exposure of the face at that at that location. Eight was a question on
the stormwater management system and the consideration be made for a performance
bond for installation of that system. Back in March you asked us to provide or allow the
Town to inspect that facility during the inspection process, and you also asked us for us t
to provide you with inspection reports, as well as the annual maintenance reports. We
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made that adjustment back in our March 15 submittal. We agreed to do that. That’s on
the plans that you have in front of you.
MR. VOLLARO-The plans that we have in front of us don’t have a revision date of 6/14
on them. The plans that I have.
MR. ROUND-That’s right. I think what we did, and I won’t go back through our
chronology, but at the last Planning Board meeting we agreed we would do that. We did
not provide you a new submittal for another reason, and we can talk about that later if
you like, why that submittal’s not in front of you tonight. Nine was snow removal. We
agreed, snow is going to be removed from the site as required in order to maintain our
parking field. The applicant needs to have a parking field to serve his customers and
he’s going to take every provision to do that, and I think the concern was that snow was
going to be dumped over the retaining wall. Snow will be removed from the site via
contractors, as it’s done in most of our commercial sites in Queensbury.
MR. VOLLARO-I have, on site plan issues, SP-3, of the old SP-3 now, I’m not talking
about your new submittal, but on SP-3, I didn’t see anything on there that snow would be
removed from the site, or did I miss it?
MR. LAPPER-No, that’s a new note.
MR. ROUND-No, we agreed to that at the meeting, and you don’t have that submittal in
front of you.
MR. LAPPER-It’ll be there for site plan.
MR. ROUND-We concurred with your request.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MR. ROUND-Ten, the comment was with project is within the lower Route 9 corridor
design area and it’s not. It’s on Quaker Road, some distance from Route 9. We have
been sensitive to the aesthetic issues. We have a color rendering for you tonight.
Eleven was a comment to perhaps consider additional maple trees within the planted
islands. Our initial response is that we meet the landscaping requirements, and it may
be difficult to put two trees on those islands, but we would consider it if that’s a deal
breaker.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, if it’s not aesthetically pleasing to do so, that’s something that I
think, you know, I’m not an advocate of stuffing trees in spots where they don’t look well,
just because you need to have a Code that says you need to have so many trees for
each. I think the tree design for that should be aesthetically pleasing, and not look
overcrowded. That’s my opinion.
MR. ROUND-Understood.
MR. LAPPER-We’ll do whatever the Board wants on that.
MR. VOLLARO-The Board will have to decide that. That’s just my opinion.
MRS. STEFFAN-I’d be happier to trade off a larger tree than more trees.
MR. LAPPER-That’s fine.
MR. SIPP-Has any thought been given to the west side of putting a series of trees
through there to create a buffer between you and Mark Plaza?
MR. LAPPER-We can do that, on the west side.
MR. ROUND-The way we have it, there is a slope between the back of, the side of our
building and the adjacent property, and there’s a service area. So we didn’t propose to
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
do any. We think it’s, you’re going to see it’s fairly attractive building, but we would
consider it.
MR. LAPPER-I mean, if that’s something that the Board wanted, we’ll certainly grade it
so that we can do that.
MR. VOLLARO-There’s pluses and minuses to that. I looked at Don’s recommendation,
because I saw it in one of the e-mails.
MR. LAPPER-It would soften it up if we did that.
MR. VOLLARO-The only problem is, does it interfere with, I know that your adjacent
neighbor, who happens to be in the audience this evening, uses that for his trucks to
move back and forth, and I wouldn’t want the trees to overgrow and make it difficult for
his trucks to load in that area, because they do load, right, they’ll be loading right next to
your building.
MR. LAPPER-Okay.
MR. VOLLARO-So I believe that has to be thought out a little bit.
MR. SIPP-I still think something in there would create a much better looking buffer than
what, with no trees at all.
MR. LAPPER-We view that as more of a site plan issue, but we’ll certainly, we’ll find a
way to put trees in that satisfies the Board.
MR. SIPP-Do those trucks back in to that service area or are they driving straight in?
MR. LAPPER-I think they have circulation. You mean on the site next door?
MR. SIPP-Yes.
MR. LAPPER-I think they have circulation around the whole building.
MR. VOLLARO-They go around the back.
MR. SIPP-And how do they get out? How do they exit then? If they drive around the
back from the northeast corner.
MR. VOLLARO-He’s talking about the truck traffic on the adjacent site interfering with the
trees.
MR. ROUND-I don’t know. I haven’t seen how trucks maneuver the site.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t know either. There’s a person in the audience that we could call
upon to give us the answer to that, I believe.
MR. ROUND-The last one was with regard to the sign. Back in our March submittal we
offered to you architectural renderings and you asked for sign details back from our prior
meeting. What we had given you was a photo typical sign which includes both a sign
mounted on the Quaker Road face as well as the internal parking lot face. That would be
two wall signs which is not allowed under your Code. We don’t propose to place the sign
on the parking lot side. It would only be a sign on the Quaker Road face, and it is shown,
and there’s a detail shown on the rendering there. There would be a pole mounted sign
as well.
MR. SIPP-Is this pole mounted sign nine feet, is that what it was, or twelve feet?
MR. ROUND-I think it’s 25 feet is your standard. We’ll comply with the Town standard.
We’re not asking for a variance.
MR. SIPP-Has any thought been given to a monument type sign?
MR. LAPPER-If that’s what the Board wanted, the applicant would be willing to replace it
with a monument sign.
MR. SIPP-This sign obviously will be lighted?
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
NERAL PATEL
MR. PATEL-Yes.
MR. SIPP-And lighted all night?
MR. PATEL-No.
MR.SIPP-Now, on the eaves of these buildings, you have lights.
MR. PATEL-It’s an LED light, yes.
MR. SIPP-And these would be on only in operational times?
MR. PATEL-Correct.
MR. SIPP-And this is red in color?
MR. PATEL-Yes. It’s an accent light, more or less. It’s not something that’s going to be
blinding or it’s not, Outback, I believe, has a neon light. It’s not that bright.
MR. SIPP-And the sign on the Quaker Road sign is also lighted?
MR. PATEL-Yes, it is.
MR. SIPP-Backlit?
MR. PATEL-Backlit.
MR. SIPP-Backlit.
MR. SEGULJIC-Mr. Chairman, it seems as if we’re hung up on the impacts, the potential
impacts of the removal of the fill on the site. I guess where I’m really hung up is that,
because the removal of the fill could effect the site design, in particular the stormwater
management, because correct me if I’m wrong, you have like six feet of fill on the site
that may have to be removed, and I don’t see how you’re going to manage stormwater,
then, if you’re only going to be left with a foot and a half or so to groundwater. That’s
where I’m getting hung up.
MR. ROUND-No, it would be all, what you see the plan as it’s shown, the same
elevations will be adhered to, Tom.
MR. SEGULJIC-How would you handle stormwater, then?
MR. LAPPER-The soil would be replaced.
MR. ROUND-The soil would be replaced, and the structures, the surface elevations of all
our utilities would be identical.
MR. SEGULJIC-So you would dig everything out and bring in new fill?
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. ROUND-Correct.
MR. LAPPER-And that’s all we’re talking about.
MR. ROUND-The geotechnical report, it was uncontrolled fill. So it’s basically, it wasn’t
compact. It wasn’t placed like you would place it for construction purposes, and that’s
what we’re talking about.
MR. LAPPER-Out with the bad, in with the good.
MR. ROUND-Right, and the report says, I didn’t mean to discount the volumes. What I
could do is give you, here’s, the worst case scenario is the whole site is stripped of fill,
and I could give you a quantity with that, and then I could give you half of that, and it’s
going to be about half of the site when you consider the building footprint, the other
utilities, and so I’ll give you that number, and enough said on that issue.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MRS. BRUNO-Is there any anticipation of what the stripping of that fill until it’s replaced
will do to the water levels in the adjacent wetlands? As is noted in a couple of our
reports, there’s been, you know, more flooding next door since that initial fill was put in. I
know Mr. Lapper had said that the area is really just a bunch of cattails where Quaker
Road drains off, but in another one of our reports, it talks about a quality water that
perhaps drains into Halfway Brook. Just talk to me a little bit about, once that fill is
removed, the water levels of what could potentially happen to the adjoining wetlands,
you know, might happen. Have you ever thought about that?
MR. LAPPER-Tanya, before Chris answers that, I just want to clarify one point. The
cattails that I was referring to was in the very southwest corner of the site. That’s just
where we have a setback issue because there happens to be a little drainage ditch from
Quaker Road. The area in the back is an important wetland, but that’s not what I was
referring to in terms of the cattails.
MRS. BRUNO-All right. Thank you.
MR. ROUND-There may be, during the excavation process we may encounter
groundwater and you would have to control that to manage the construction process, and
there’s a process to that where you temporarily lower the groundwater in the area that
you’re going to disturb, and you have to manage sediment and erosion control like you
would on any construction site and discharge it appropriately to the wetland. So
basically you’re not removing any water from the wetland. It would be short term and
temporary in nature and just during the removal process until the fill was replaced on the
site.
MRS. BRUNO-When you say temporary, how long do you really anticipate?
MR. ROUND-I don’t know, Neral, if you have a response to your construction schedule
timing? I would imagine site work would be a matter of weeks, and not months, and then
the entire construction process would probably several months, but that’s a lot of interior
fitting, but the site work itself is a matter of a couple of weeks.
MRS. BRUNO-Thank you.
MR. SEGULJIC-So worst case would be, how much soil would have to be removed? If
I’m correct the site is like three acres or so?
MR. LAPPER-A lot of the site we’re not touching.
MR. ROUND-You’re talking two acres, you’re talking 80,000 square feet of land area,
times six feet. I can give you a number, but that would be very conservative. The
geotechnical report which we you asked for, we provided it, and I know the report
recommends removal for placement of foundations, for placement of utility structures.
As Jim mentioned, it does ask, in those areas, down to basically native or undisturbed
soils, and it mentions, hey, you need to strip that topsoil as well, do not leave the topsoil
in place. So that’s the one issue, that’s with regard to structures. Over the entire site
south, it recommends removal of a minimum of two feet of soil so that you can get
compaction and so that you can get enough material, so you will not get differential
settling across the site and cause, you know, your pavement to crack or a structure to
move etc., and we would recommend that you take additional soils below that two feet,
you know, basically below a utility structure. You’re going to remove it wherever your
utility structures are, whether it’s a manhole or a culvert pipe, or in some cases where,
Bob, as you mentioned, the retaining wall is going to be on native ground. So we
basically, you’re going to strip and you’re going to hog the soil out and put the wall on
native ground, and you’re going to need to use some of that fill as backfill, but not to the
extent that, you know, you’re going to want to use clean material in most instances.
MR. VOLLARO-It would be really to your advantage to do this right.
MR. ROUND-Well, we’re not disagreeing. We agreed that the geotechnical report for
construction purposes, it’s on the new submission that went in. We agreed to it
previously. C.T. Male acknowledged that we agreed to it, and we have no qualms about
that. I think the point of debate was whether the fill amounts were significant such that
they would cause an environmental impact. I tried to dismiss them through language,
we’ll give you a volume, a number. It could be as large, if this is the entire site, as large
as 10,000 cubic yards.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. SEGULJIC-Then you’d have to replace that. So 20,000 cubic yards. So, best case,
a couple of hundred thousand dollars, just for that.
MR. ROUND-Yes, it’s a significant construction cost.
MR. SEGULJIC-And you’re aware of that?
MR. ROUND-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-In any event, how many trucks, we’re talking what in terms of
truckloads? Twenty cubic yards, fifteen cubic yards per truck.
MR. EDWARDS-Fifteen to twenty, Bob, is about average.
MR. VOLLARO-Fifteen to twenty is about right?
MR. EDWARDS-For a single dump, yes.
MR. ROUND-But just so you’ve got your hands around it, we’re not stripping the entire
site. So it would be something less, half of that would be my guess.
MR. VOLLARO-So what’s half? You’re talking five now.
MR. ROUND-Five thousand cubic yards, twenty yards a truck. I’m just doing the math
here, Bob, on the spot.
MR. SEGULJIC-Maybe I shouldn’t say this. I’m satisfied with moving forward with
SEQRA now.
MR. ROUND-Three hundred truckloads, and generally one’s going to come take it and
the other one’s going to come back. They never travel empty because it doesn’t pay.
MR. SEGULJIC-I guess what I was hung up on was how is the removal of the fill going to
impact the site, but they’re saying they’re going to remove it and replace it. So it’s not
going to impact, and I assume he’s aware of the potential expense.
MR. PATEL-Yes.
MR. SEGULJIC-So I’m good to go.
MR. VOLLARO-Our concern is not with the expense. That’s the applicant’s problem.
MR. SEGULJIC-Correct. I’m with you on that.
MR. VOLLARO-As long as we’re in some of this, on your SEQRA Part I submission, on
A-8, I think there was two answers on A-8. I think we’ve talked about that. The two to
nine feet was from Gifford and zero to 1.5 was from the U.S.G.A soil data. That’s on
groundwater levels. Now, I have a note here that the Army Corps of Engineers should
be required to verify the flagging of .095, since it’s so close to .1. I don’t know how
anybody else feels, but this is an ACOE site, I believe, and I think that the Army Corps
ought to at least be required to verify that flagging.
MR. ROUND-Generally for a Nationwide permit, you don’t confer with the Corps, you
wouldn’t notify the Corps unless you were disturbing greater than a tenth of an acre and
greater than a half an acre.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, if it wasn’t so close.
MR. ROUND-They would verify wetlands delineations if a permit application, so a pre-
construction notification for greater than a tenth of an acre was in front of them. We have
no reservations. I think the thing to keep in mind is that Mr. Ford asked us, well, how
close is the wall to the disturbance area, and what we’ve included, we’ve included a five
foot buffer for that wall. So that whole area is included in our calculations of disturbance.
So we’ve overestimated what I think we think we are going to disturb, just so that there’s
some comfort level on the part of the contractor.
MR. FORD-Excuse me, but that wasn’t what I asked, how close it was to the wall. I was
really interested in how close you were to that tenth of an acre, and it really had nothing
to do with the wall.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. ROUND-Well, I thought there was a question about, about how close was the
structure, the stormwater structure outlet, perhaps, to the wetland, and we said it’s
contiguous to it.
MR. FORD-I’m interested in actual designation of the wetland per se, and it was my point
that if a person is standing there, and has a stake in one hand and a stake in the other, it
all depends whether he goes down with the left hand or the right hand, whether it comes
out to ninety-seven hundredths or ninety-seven thousandths of a tenth of an acre or
whatever.
MRS. STEFFAN-Can you show us on that picture right there where the part of the
wetland is that we’re talking about? The picture right here in front.
MR. ROUND-You can see that this line here is the wetland, okay. You follow this
around, it comes over here. There are several areas where we propose disturbance,
and I did trace it in front of the site. There’s an area here that we are proposing
disturbance. We actually fill the wetland in that location. We’re filling it in the location
here, and there’s two other locations, two or three other locations where that calculation
is presented. It’s on our site plan document. It’s on the erosion and sedimentation
control plan, SP-2, that you have in front of you. Here’s those cross hatched areas. So
those are areas, this is a point by point delineation. So you can see this, there’s a flag
hung five and ten feet apart. If you walk up to them, they’re individually numbered, and
they’re surveyed in. So there’s potential for error throughout this process. I don’t
disagree with you. The surveyor goes out there and holds his rod next to a flag. If he
holds it one way or the other, there may be some discrepancy. The calculations are
performed in Auto CAD. It’s not something that somebody’s going like this, it’s below a
tenth of an acre. It’s a calculation that we have to support with documentation and it’s a
calculation that the Army Corps of Engineers takes very seriously, we take very
seriously, and it’s something that the applicant has got to comply with. Again, there’s a
note on there that provides that disclosure. This is what every project, everything to this
point, we were here with the Amedore project. Wetland disturbances. It’s a calculation
that we do routinely.
MR. VOLLARO-Does that calculation, will that calculation hold up now with the degree of
excavation that you’re planning to do?
MR. ROUND-Well, yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. On A-20, I think the answer on your Part I SEQRA should be yes
when you talk about solid material. Do you want to go to your Part I, A-20. We’re going
to do some administrative changes to that here, so it’s correct.
MR. ROUND-Twenty, the question is solid or hazardous waste, solid and hazardous
waste is defined by New York State Code of Rules, you know, Part 360 is the solid waste
thing. So, what they’re asking for, was there a landfill on the site, or was there
hazardous waste. We answered no to that. So I think the appropriate answer is no.
MR. VOLLARO-There was a landfill on the site. That site was fill.
MR. LAPPER-That’s a waste landfill. That’s municipal waste.
MR. ROUND-Soil is not considered solid or hazardous waste.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So it’s not solid material.
MR. FORD-So concrete and pavement and so forth, that’s not considered solid waste?
MR. ROUND-Not under the definitions. I’m not making this stuff up. I tell you, yes, it is,
and you check yes, but I don’t want you to do it incorrectly.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-Some of our caution is we’ve had an application here of a property that
has substantial fill, and you couldn’t define what was in this property, there was so much
stuff, and so that’s one of the reasons why we’re very critical, or we’re asking a lot of
questions.
13
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. ROUND-Sure. The footnote that’s provided there, Footnote 10, it says we looked at
the inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. It’s not a listed site, and generally that’s the
first special, granted the geotechnical report says there’s fill placed on the site, but we
don’t believe it would fit the characteristic of solid or hazardous wastes.
MR. VOLLARO-Let’s go to B in there, and A is site description, B is project description,
and under B1(g), where it says maximum vehicular trips generated per hour, that’s 172,
with an end note of 11. It says week day PM peak.
MR. ROUND-And that was prior to a traffic analysis being done.
MR. VOLLARO-So this really ought to be, in my view, anyway, it should be 321, which is
the weekend peak. I think what you used for your weekend peak was 321, if I remember
correctly. The most recent submission you have, you went back to the full ITE’s.
MR. ROUND-Right.
MR. LAPPER-That’s right.
MR. VOLLARO-So that’s the number that probably ought to be inserted in there.
MR. LAPPER-That’s the worst case, but you’re right.
CHAZEN MEMBER-Right. The latest analysis was done using the full ITE trip rates.
MR. VOLLARO-You used the full ITE. You didn’t discount them. I know that. So what’s
the number that should be plugged in there?
MR. ROUND-Trips generated per hour.
MR. VOLLARO-It says maximum vehicular trips generated per hour. It says week day. I
want weekend peak.
CHAZEN MEMBER-Saturday peak hour would 186 entering, and 135 exiting.
MR. VOLLARO-It’s still 321.
CHAZEN MEMBER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So that 172 ought to be 321. Just so we get it for the record as
correct. Now on B-2, this next page, it says how much natural material, earth/rock, will
be removed from this site. The answer is zero, and I think you’ve got to change that to
something. That’s on Page Four at the top.
MR. ROUND-Say less than 10,000 yards.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So that would be less than 10K yards. All right. Now it says,
again on Number Four, how many acres of vegetation, trees/shrubs/ground cover will be
moved from the site. They have 2.8 some odd acres, and I guess I’ve just got a little
note on mine that says debrief from Quaker Road. I guess maybe that 10K, less than
10K cubic yards is probably the same comment in there, or not?
MR. ROUND-They’re stripping the entire development platform, if you will, and that’s
roughly two acres. So they’re talking about vegetation, not quantity, but area of the site.
MR. VOLLARO-All right. So the 2.8 is correct. I just had a note that said, okay.
MR. ROUND-Sure.
MR. VOLLARO-Number 19, the product will routinely produce odors, but I did some
looking into, and I think restaurants are eliminated from the odor requirement. I didn’t
realize that, but in our spec they are.
MR. ROUND-Are you talking about the Town standard?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, 179. I was amazed.
14
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. ROUND-We had answered no, not knowing that, but I think you could probably put
in either answer. Generally you’re looking, is there an offensive odor, and some people
find it offensive, some don’t. We’ve completed the form
MR. VOLLARO-Just to digress for a second, so that clock doesn’t run, when we did
Outback, we dwelled a considerable amount of time on this question and had them
install particular odor filters, if you remember, on Outback.
MR. ROUND-Because of its proximity to the apartment complexes.
MRS. STEFFAN-They were backed up to an apartment complex.
MR. VOLLARO-And will the project produce operating noise exceeding the local number
of ambient noise levels, I had down possibly during construction, but probably, in the life
of the project, the answer is no. Does the proposed, I’m sorry, I’m on Page Five, C,
Zoning and Planning. It says the zoning amendment, a zoning variance. You’re not
looking for a zoning variance on this. Are you?
MR. LAPPER-A ZBA variance, an Area Variance, not a zoning.
MR. VOLLARO-Not a zoning variance, okay. You’re going to have to go for a parking
variance.
MR. ROUND-The term’s antiquated that’s used on the form, but it’s a variance.
MR. VOLLARO-It’s a variance.
MR. LAPPER-Area Variance is what it should say.
MR. VOLLARO-All right. Well, I guess on Number 12, there are people on this Board
who have concerns about Number 12, Number 12 under C reads, will the proposed
action result in the generation of traffic significantly above the present levels, and the
answer there is no, and there’s been a tremendous amount of discussion, I know, among
the Board members on their own, people who live and work in that area, Mr. Ford being
one of them, who works right there at Realty USA.
MR. FORD-Realty USA.
MR. LAPPER-And our response is we were asking you to look to C.T. Male on that,
because we feel did the detailed traffic study and that they did a pretty detailed review of
that.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. With all of the reviews of the traffic studies, I know there’s still
some concerns, but we’ll talk about that as we go down the pike here.
MR. LAPPER-And we’re not saying that there won’t be any traffic generated. We’re just
saying, it’s Quaker Road, and that’s where it’s supposed to be.
MR. VOLLARO-Right, and I think that’s the end. I’m into the end notes, and that’s all of
the corrections that I see that might possibly be on your Part I.
MR. LAPPER-Okay. We agree with all of those.
MR. VOLLARO-Now, on your SWPPP, I just had a question. There’s a stormwater
pollution prevention plan that I read over. The document revised the previous
September 14, 2005 SWPPP. It’s revised March 8, 2006. All 32 pages in here are
identical to the one that was issued on 14 September 2005. So I was wondering what’s
in here that’s different. Am I missing something?
MR. ROUND-No. All we gave you was the text. We gave you the Executive Summary,
and some supporting text. We did not give you the appendices. If you’ve seen the
original document.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, the original document’s here, I have the original document. It’s
here. I’ve looked at that.
MR. ROUND-There were comments about supporting calculations were one of the
comments. I can pull out C.T. Male’s comment letter, but they reviewed it. We updated
15
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
those things. They don’t have sizing for a particular culvert. You didn’t have, and so that
information was provided to C.T. Male.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So this document has been upgraded?
MR. ROUND-That’s right.
MR. LAPPER-At their request.
MR. ROUND-And the Town has, we gave you multiple copies of it. Susan and I, we’re
trying to track it down where it’s landed, but C.T. Male has it and has reviewed it, and
signed off on it.
MR. VOLLARO-It’s not part of our current record tonight, though. We don’t have this?
MR. LAPPER-We submitted it.
MR. VOLLARO-You submitted it, I understand that.
MR. ROUND-The Town has it. I guess you don’t have it in front of you tonight.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t have it in front of me tonight. That’s what I’m trying to get at here,
and this is really just an executive summary that I really don’t need because it’s in here
already. I’ll get rid of that. That’s one piece of paper I can get rid of. Let’s get back to
the issuance of a performance bond. Did you want to talk about that for a minute? On a
project like this that’s rather extensive in terms of some of the pre-construction work that
has to be done, and I think that we’d be looking here for a performance bond of one type
or another to make sure all this work is done. There’s a lot of it. I mean, I think that the
excavation of it alone is going to require something of that nature.
MR. LAPPER-Do you have any number in mind?
MR. VOLLARO-No, I do not. I haven’t really, I don’t know whether the Board has, or we
should be going back to Staff for them, for Staff to calculate that number or not.
MR. LAPPER-I guess if you wanted to defer that to site plan review, in terms of making
the calculation of what would be appropriate, we can come up with it at that point, but
we’d probably ask you at that time that maybe it only would have to be in existence for
some period, and then after the site was built returned, or after a year, but, you know,
just in terms of the cost of that, but Neral’s not going to argue, if that’s going to make the
Board feel comfortable.
MR. VOLLARO-We’ve had one comment from Board members here, from Mr. Seguljic,
that said he feels he’s ready to go through SEQRA on this. Tony, can I ask you that?
MR. METIVIER-I think I can through it.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re okay with that? Tanya?
MRS. BRUNO-I’m more comfortable now.
MR. VOLLARO-Gretchen, how about yourself?
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes, but I think we need to open the public hearing first.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. I just wanted to see how you folks were looking at that. Tom, how
do you feel about going to SEQRA now? You’re okay with it?
MR. FORD-Proceed.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Before we get into the SEQRA, we have a public hearing tonight,
and we’d like to get some comments from the public before we go into the SEQRA
process. With that, I’m going to open the public hearing on this application, and if
anybody here would like to speak to this, please come forward.
PUBLIC HEARING OPENED
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t see any comments at all. Mr. Boychuk, do you have any
comment at all? None? In this instance, we’re going to leave the public hearing open.
16
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. LAPPER-For site plan or forever?
MR. VOLLARO-Until I close it.
MR. LAPPER-I understand. No objection.
MR. VOLLARO-I suppose we want to get to Part II on the SEQRA now, and, Gretchen,
do you want to start us off?
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Will the proposed action result in a physical change to the
project site?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MR. FORD-Yes.
MR. SEGULJIC-Yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will there be an effect to any unique or unusual landforms found on the
site?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect any water body designated as
protected?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect any non-protected existing or new body
of water?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect any surface or groundwater quality or
quantity?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action alter drainage flow or patterns or surface water
runoff?
MR. VOLLARO-It may.
MR. FORD-Maybe.
MR. SEGULJIC-No.
MR. VOLLARO-You don’t think so, Tom?
MR. SEGULJIC-No, when you look at the examples they give, proposed action would
affect floodwater flow. Proposed action may cause substantial erosion. Proposed action
is incompatible with existing drainage pattern. Proposed action will allow development in
a designated floodway. I don’t think it does any of these.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So the answer is no.
MR. FORD-All right. No.
MR. VOLLARO-No.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MRS. STEFFAN-Thanks, Tom. Will the proposed action affect air quality?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect any threatened or endangered species?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action substantially affect non-threatened or non-
endangered species?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect agricultural land resources?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect aesthetic resources?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action impact any site or structure of historic, pre-
historic or paleontological importance?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action affect the quantity or quality of existing or
future open spaces or recreational opportunities?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action impact the exceptional or unique
characteristics of a Critical Environmental Area, established pursuant to subdivision
6NYCRR 617.14?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will that be an effect to existing transportation systems?
MR. FORD-Yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-The criteria for that is alteration of present patterns of movement of
people and/or goods.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MR. SIPP-No.
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. SEGULJIC-Well, I think it’s going to be small to moderate, and it’s going to be
mitigated.
18
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MRS. STEFFAN-And, Proposed action will result in major traffic problems. That’s the
next item.
MR. FORD-Yes.
MR. SIPP-It could.
MRS. STEFFAN-So small to moderate, potential large, or can be mitigated by project
change?
MR. VOLLARO-Let me just digress for a minute on that, and let me ask, do we have a
response from Warren County DPW related to the proposed striping change on Quaker
Road median? This was a comment that was done in C.T. Male’s response on 4/7/06,
and do we have anything from Warren County related to our proposed striping of Quaker
Road to mitigate what’s been talked about here, in this particular section?
MR. ROUND-We do not. Our mitigation, as you’ll recall, was prohibition of left hand
turns out of the site.
MR. VOLLARO-Out bound.
MR. ROUND-Our analysis that C.T. Male reviewed, I think one of the people on the
Board mentioned, is there a significant impact on the transportation system. The
analysis said that there wasn’t a significant degradation of the level of service measures.
That was agreed upon, and I think that there was a concern about a queuing, blocking
driveway. Our queuing analysis indicated that we only had one vehicle during peak
period times. I think that our big concern, I think all of our concerns was the left hand
turns out of the site, and the potential for a collision through that, and it’s an existing
condition all along the corridor. We’re prohibiting that. So I think that, you know, it’s
reasonable to say.
MR. FORD-That was one of the concerns.
MR. ROUND-Yes.
MR. FORD-So you eliminated the left hand turn. That does not address the concerns
that I have voiced from the very first time you were before us, and that deals with the
plaza next door, and access and egress there, and the impact that the right hand turns
only will have on that.
MR. LAPPER-We think that C.T. Male has reviewed our report and that they.
MR. VOLLARO-They have.
MR. ROUND-C.T. Male’s response was that we will pursue both options as a part of a
work permit, which follows this, and that we don’t think that that’s, in either instance,
necessary for your decision tonight.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, but we’re really being forced to answer a SEQRA question.
MR. ROUND-I’m just giving you a response to what our position is.
MR. VOLLARO-Let me say that, in one of the responses, and I’m trying to get what it
was. Left turn entering movement. There is a left turn entering movement.
MR. ROUND-That’s correct.
MR. VOLLARO-That operates at Level of Service B & C. What is C? C goes to D, but C
is, it’s A, it’s B, and then it’s C. So, left turn entering movements do decline to a C level
at some point.
MR. C is a generally accepted.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, it’s generally accepted for the people who are not in a car. I
understand what you’re saying.
MR. LAPPER-Maybe we should look to Jim on this.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. EDWARDS-If you want a reply, I can give you one.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MR. EDWARDS-C is considered an average condition, if you will, not a long delay, not a
big stacking condition, acceptable would be a reasonable term for Level of Service C.
When you start declining to D, E, and F, you’re talking about longer delays, more
aggravation on the driver’s part, and more impact, potentially.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So C is basically the average condition on the roadway.
MR. EDWARDS-I suppose you could consider C an average condition. Definitely not a
long delay.
MR. ROUND-When you’re saying, Bob, it’s approaching a C, that doesn’t mean, are
traffic analysis is full build out, and over projects traffic. We’re using ITE build out
numbers, not the numbers that we collected at an existing Golden Corral site. So we
think those are very conservative, just so you have that in front of you.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, we had asked C.T. Male to have you look a the Wilton site, and I
guess you felt it wasn’t appropriate, for some reason, to take a look at the traffic.
MR. LAPPER-Because it was a motel, and there was no, it wasn’t segregated.
MR. ROUND-Yes, and we couldn’t.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I talked to Jim about that, and he, do you mind if I?
MR. EDWARDS-No.
MR. VOLLARO-And he said it would be pretty easy. That one’s going to the motel. That
one’s going to the restaurant. I thought it was a very simplified answer, and one that
made some sense, but anyway, that’s fine. There are some concerns by Board
members, myself included, about adding this restaurant in that area, and the traffic flow.
We’re into SEQRA now, you know, once we give a no to SEQRA, then right away what
happens is, Mr. Lapper, you know, it goes, we’ve been through the SEQRA, let’s not talk
about that any more. So we want to get a clear definition in our minds here of what we’re
doing.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. So on Question 15, the Board, Will there be an effect to existing
transportation systems?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MR. METIVIER-Yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes. Okay. Now I’m going to go person by person. Alteration of
present patterns of movement of people and/or goods.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MR. SEGULJIC-No.
MR. FORD-Could I hear that again please?
MRS. STEFFAN- Alteration of present patterns of movement of people and/or goods.
MR. FORD-Absolutely.
MRS. BRUNO-Yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Tony, you say?
MR. METIVIER-I said no.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
20
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. METIVIER-Although, if I’m misunderstanding the question, let me hear a yes from
somebody, and why they say yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I said yes, Tony.
MRS. STEFFAN-Let me just go down. Tanya?
MRS. BRUNO-Yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-You said yes. Small to moderate impact, or potential large impact?
MRS. BRUNO-Somewhere in between. Small to moderate, I guess.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
MRS. BRUNO-I’m concerned about, I believe, the same turning, right hand only, and
then you hit the left hands coming from the adjacent property.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Bob, small to moderate or potential large?
MR. VOLLARO-I think small to moderate. I can’t say it’s potentially large, but it’s small to
moderate is the answer.
MRS. STEFFAN-Tom Ford?
MR. FORD-Potentially large.
MRS. STEFFAN-Tom Seguljic?
MR. SEGULJIC-I’d say no.
MRS. STEFFAN-Don?
MR. SIPP-Moderate.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Tanya, Bob, and Tom Ford, and Don, can the impact be
mitigated by project change?
MR. VOLLARO-That gets back to, the answer to that is, what does the response have to
be? What does it say there?
MRS. STEFFAN-It says can the impact, you’ve got three options actually, can the impact
be mitigated by project change?
MR. VOLLARO-Project change? Yes. It could be mitigated by a project change. Now
what do I mean by that? In our Code, it talks about, because of the trip requirements, I
think it talks about 440 foot separation between curb cuts. If we could get that 440 foot
separation, then I would think we could mitigate it by project change, but we can’t get it
because they haven’t been able to get an easement from the neighbor to do that. So I
have a problem, now, in trying to determine the project change, in my mind.
MR. FORD-I had submitted, in a previous meeting, the potential for tying in the traffic
light at the intersection of 254 Quaker Road and Lafayette with a traffic light in that
location, and that recommendation was basically dismissed out of hand.
MR. VOLLARO-Some of the other mitigation could be, does the applicant have in mind a
proposed striping change on Quaker Road to act as a mitigation to the traffic?
MR. LAPPER-I don’t think you did the math right, because four people said no or small to
moderate on that question.
MR. ROUND-Yes. I think if it’s large then you would ask if it the project could be
mitigated. I don’t think you’re triggering that response necessity.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Thank you.
MR. FORD-I just wish every member of this Board could try making a left hand turn out
of Mark Plaza, out of the eastern exit, as I do several times a day, and I think they would
21
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
see what the potential impact would have of this project, with right hand turns only
coming out a few feet to the east.
MR. LAPPER-But if you make a left from the right hand driveway, it’ll be easier from
Mark Plaza.
MR. FORD-Well, sure, and if I, and there are people who do that because they fear so
much, Jon, making the left hand turn period. They don’t make a left hand turn out of
either driveway. They make only right hand turns.
MR. LAPPER-That’s how the whole road works, and at various times of the day it’s more
crowded, and other times it’s not.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Let me go to the next part of the question. Because we can
address some of these issues in site plan if we get through this part. B, proposed action
will result in major traffic problems. Tony?
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Tanya?
MRS. BRUNO-I’m hesitant. I’m uncomfortable. I’ve actually experienced it in Saratoga
and I know we’re not supposed to use that type of information.
MR. VOLLARO-I think you can use any information that you think you need to, Tanya.
It’s not restricted in terms of, you’re on the Planning Board and you can make any
decision or, you know, you can relate to anything you need to relate to to make a
decision. You’re hands aren’t tied in any way.
MRS. BRUNO-I think it could, yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Small to moderate, or potentially large?
MRS. BRUNO-Small to moderate.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Bob?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Tom Ford?
MR. FORD-Repeat the question, please.
MRS. STEFFAN-Proposed action will result in major traffic problems.
MR. FORD-Potentially large, yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Tom Seguljic?
MR. SEGULJIC-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Don?
MR. SIPP-I think it depends upon the definition of major. You’re open from four to ten?
Is that the hours that would be? What would the hours be?
MR. PATEL-Eleven to nine.
MR. SIPP-Eleven to nine.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action result in a major traffic problem?
MR. SIPP-Not major, no.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. I think we can proceed, then. Will the proposed action affect the
community sources of fuel or energy supply?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will there be objectionable odors, noise, or vibration as a result of the
Proposed Action?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will Proposed Action affect public health and safety?
MR. METIVIER-No.
MR. SIPP-No.
MR. FORD-Safety, yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Well, if you look at the descriptions, we’re talking about risk of
explosion, burial of hazardous waste, storage facilities of one or more gallons of liquefied
natural gas, excavation or disturbance within 2,000 feet of a site used for disposal of
solid or hazardous waste.
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. FORD-No.
MR. VOLLARO-The answer is no.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will proposed action affect the character of the existing community?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MRS. BRUNO-No.
MR. SIPP-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-Is there, or is there likely to be, public controversy related to potential
adverse environmental impacts?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
RESOLUTION WHEN DETERMINATION OF NO SIGNIFICANCE IS MADE
RESOLUTION NO. 57-2005, Introduced by Gretchen Steffan who moved for its
adoption, seconded by Anthony Metivier:
WHEREAS, there is presently before the Planning Board an application for:
NORTHEAST DINING & LODGING, and
WHEREAS, this Planning Board has determined that the proposed project and Planning
Board action is subject to review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED:
1. No Federal agency appears to be involved.
2. The following agencies are involved:
NONE
3. The proposed action considered by this Board is Unlisted in the Department of
Environmental Conservation Regulations implementing the State Environmental
Quality Review Act and the regulations of the Town of Queensbury.
23
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
4. An Environmental Assessment Form has been completed by the applicant.
5. Having considered and thoroughly analyzed the relevant areas of environmental
concern and having considered the criteria for determining whether a project has
a significant environmental impact as the same is set forth in Section 617.11 of
the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations for the State of New
York, this Board finds that the action about to be undertaken by this Board will
have no significant environmental effect and the Chairman of the Planning Board
is hereby authorized to execute and sign and file as may be necessary a
statement of non-significance or a negative declaration that may be required by
law.
th
Duly adopted this 20 day of June, 2006, by the following vote:
AYES: Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Metivier, Mrs. Steffan, Mr. Sipp, Mr. Vollaro
NOES: Mr. Ford, Mrs. Bruno
MR. VOLLARO-I think the votes carried.
MR. LAPPER-Thank you. We know that Mr. Ford works next door and is concerned.
We assure you that during site plan review, we’re going to continue to make project
changes. If we need more trees, we’ll deal with the striping of the island. We’ll continue
to make it a better project, but appreciate the neg dec.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Under site plan review, I don’t think we’ll have to get into any
further depth. You’re going to do the excavation and we know you’re going to do it, and
we’ll discuss it at site plan review.
MR. LAPPER-We’re going to go to the Zoning Board and we’ll hopefully be back next
month.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MR. ROUND-Yes, we’ll be at the Zoning Board next week.
MR. LAPPER-We made that submission so that we could procedurally be back in July.
MR. ROUND-But if there is an issue that you have that pertains to site plan and you want
to provide us that feedback, we would love to have that, rather than have to come back.
MR. VOLLARO-How do you want that data flow to take place? Through Staff?
MR. ROUND-Yes, through Susan, and please forward it to us.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, instead of getting hung up the night of the meeting on it, I
understand what you’re saying.
MR. ROUND-We’d love to have it.
MRS. STEFFAN-I certainly think you’ve gotten a great deal of information tonight.
MR. LAPPER-Absolutely. Neral’s instructions to us tonight were to make any
reasonable changes to satisfy the Board, and that’s how we’re going to continue with the
project.
MRS. STEFFAN-One question that we didn’t talk about, Board members, what do you
think about the aesthetics of the plan? We didn’t talk about how we like the aesthetics,
which they need to know before they come back.
MR. SIPP-Well, I, for one, would say what is there now is fine, but I still would like to see
a buffer added to the west side, and I’d like to see that post sign eliminated.
MR. LAPPER-The monument, we’ll do that.
MR. SIPP-And I think maybe there’s a need for some conifers in there.
MR. LAPPER-We’ll find a way to do all that.
24
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. FORD-Is that pavement on the west side, that northwest quadrant there, right
through there, yes, where you just had your hand. That’s the existing road now?
MR. ROUND-And I don’t know if that’s representative of the existing condition. How this
was produced is we provided our site plan to the architect and they produced this. I
know they saw that information on there. They put the building right here as well, and I
don’t know that it’s uniform in how wide that is. It’s illustrated.
MR. FORD-But that is the location of that road, or where it is approximately?
MR. ROUND-Correct.
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, the one thing we’re going to have to grapple with, one way or the
other, when we come back for site plan, is the issue of driveway separations. It talks
about that 440 feet, and it allows us to do away with it. It says that, but it says and
having, you probably read it.
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-You know what the paragraph says and it talks about the need for an
easement.
MR. LAPPER-And we are definitely going to provide the easement for the future. It’ll be
on the plan.
MR. VOLLARO-That’s not the easement we’re talking about. You’re talking about the
interconnection.
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-That has nothing to do with the 440 feet between driveway separation.
To me, they’re mutually exclusive.
MR. LAPPER-What are you referring to?
MR. VOLLARO-I’m referring to, you’re going to be operating on a single curb cut.
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. The curb cut that’s next to you is roughly 100 feet away.
MR. LAPPER-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-And the next one over is X number of feet. I think it’s.
MR. LAPPER-A couple of hundred feet more.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. In order for us to give you a waiver from our spec, from 179, and I
know that somebody said, well, if you don’t give us this waiver, it’s tantamount to a
taking, we are not condemning the property. It’s a question that of it’s highest and best
use, I think, but what it says in there is we can’t give you a waiver on that unless you’ve
got some sort of an easement from your, because it talks about in-fill. It’s sensitive to in-
fill. We’re putting something in there, and it talks about having to get this.
MR. LAPPER-Well, the issue there is that the site next door is nonconforming because
they’ve got two.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, but we’re not dealing with that site next door. We’re dealing with
this site.
MR. ROUND-We can get into that, Bob, but we’ll illustrate that we’re compliant with that
requirement.
MR. VOLLARO-So long as you understand that I’m going to be coming at you from that
point of view. I’m putting my cards on the table so that you know.
25
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. ROUND-I think the test says something that so long as there’s not a negative impact
on the highway system. We’ll explore that.
MR. VOLLARO-And then it says and. Read the word and, because it says you can do
this wavier for that reason and, you’ve got to read the words in there pretty carefully.
MR. ROUND-We’ll be prepared to address that.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I think that’s it.
MRS. STEFFAN-Aesthetically, I think that the colors are a little bold. They’re a little
bright for me.
MRS. BRUNO-That was where I was going, too.
MRS. STEFFAN-The Board, we’ve often talked about Adirondack themes and colors and
those kinds of things. Certainly the windows that are in the front of the building lend
themselves to an Adirondack theme. I’d rather see some colors of the earth, you know,
browns, greens.
MR. ROUND-Versus the yellow. Did you have a pallet that we could bring?
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes, some pho stone, something like that. Because just the front of
that building, it lends itself to arches or beams or something like that.
MR. VOLLARO-Take a look at what we did to Outback, in terms of the colors there.
MR. ROUND-Well, we don’t want to look like an Outback.
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MRS. STEFFAN-No, I was the one who said I didn’t like the way that looked at all.
MR. ROUND-We will try to bring you some options.
MRS. BRUNO-So the orange isn’t necessarily?
MR. LAPPER-The roof?
MR. PATEL-No, I think I talk to my architect after he already finished the rendering, and
he did have to show contrasts in the roof lines, and the color of the shingles is whatever’s
going to fit the rest of the building and what the Town expects to see.
MRS. BRUNO-I wasn’t sure if that was like the signature color.
MR. LAPPER-So we’ll make it look better.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MR. LAPPER-Thank you. Thanks very much.
MRS. BARDEN-Can I just say one last thing on aesthetics? This is in the lower Route 9
corridor, as far as the design guidelines are concerned.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, it is.
MR. ROUND-It says Route 9 from Quaker Road to 149.
MRS. BARDEN-It does, but if you look at the zoning map, and you look at the boundary,
it goes further than just properties that are abutting Quaker Road.
MR. ROUND-I wasn’t aware of that.
MR. VOLLARO-I wasn’t, Chris, I wasn’t aware of it, either, until.
MR. ROUND-The Route 9 corridor, I wouldn’t consider this part of the Route 9 corridor.
MR. VOLLARO-No, I didn’t, either. When I questioned it, I talked to, and you know
George Hilton, I’m sure you do, and Susan pointed out, take a look at the zoning map.
26
(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. ROUND-We’ll get that, and we’ll make sure that we have that.
MR. FORD-Great.
MR. LAPPER-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-Thank you.
MR. LAPPER-Thank you.
SITE PLAN NO. 66-2005 SEQR TYPE II MARTIN BARRINGTON, MARY DEVINE
AGENT(S): THOMAS FROST, JR., FROST ARCHITECTURE OWNER(S) SAME
ZONING WR-1A LOCATION 84 BAY PARKWAY APPLICANT PROPOSES A 3,419
SQ. FT. SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING WITH ATTACHED GARAGE WITHIN 50 FT. OF
THE SHORELINE OF LAKE GEORGE. ADDITIONALLY, A STONE PATIO AND
WALKWAY LAKESIDE. HARD SURFACING WITHIN 50 FEET OF THE SHORELINE
REQUIRES SITE PLAN REVIEW BY THE PLANNING BOARD. CROSS REF. AV 85-05
WARREN COUNTY PLANNING 5/10/06 ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY YES LOT
SIZE 0.34 ACRES TAX MAP NO. 226.15-1-21 SECTION 179-6-060
MICHAEL O’CONNOR & TOM JARRETT, REPRESENTING APPLICANT, PRESENT
MR. VOLLARO-You are for the record, sir?
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m Michael O’Connor from the law
firm of Little & O’Connor. I represent the applicant, and with me at the table is Denise
Platt from Frost Architecture, Keith Mantz is the design engineer for the septic system,
and Mr. Jarrett, Tom Jarrett, who is the stormwater engineer.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. We will have a public hearing this evening, so that everybody
knows that, and I will open the public hearing when it’s time.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. I think we tabled this last month, until such time as you receive
the C.T. Male signoff, and received a final set of revised plans, and I believe that you
have received correspondence from C.T. Male, as a signoff. I will note that after the last
meeting we went back to the applicant and spoke to the applicant about the concerns as
to the solidness of the patio, and the patio was re-designed, and those plans were
submitted on a timely basis, and those are the plans that you have before you. Basically
probably half of that patio area now is open drainage, and also I saw a letter from C.T.
Male that they thought that that would allow the patio to drain itself. I think they used the
word permeable.
MR. VOLLARO-They used the word pervious surface.
MR. O'CONNOR-Pervious surface, but in addition to that, we still have the infiltration
system that serves that area. So it should be pretty well taken care of. I did send a letter
to the Board, through Mr. Vollaro, subsequent to the last meeting, with regard to some of
the comments that were made at the last meeting and I presume it was distributed to
Board members. If you have questions on that letter, I’d be glad to answer them. I also
have a letter from Mrs. Barrington, who tried to get here and was not able to get here.
These people, right now, are in Switzerland, but are in the process of retiring and coming
here to make this their permanent home, and the letter was addressed to Mr. Chairman
and members of the Board. Please accept my apologies for not being able to attend
your next meeting on our project. At the Zoning Board meeting in March, the resolution
approving our project included a recommendation that the patio be designed using
permeable materials. That has been our intent all along, and therefore we concurred. It
is my understanding that the other issues which require further review by the Planning
Board are highly technical in nature and concern the stormwater management plan, the
septic system, and the confirmation of the patio surface. I did not appear at the Planning
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Board meeting on May 17 as I did not think I could add anything substantive to the
discussion of those issues. Our representatives, Tom Frost Architect, Michael O’Connor,
lawyer, and Tom Jarrett, engineer appeared on our behalf to answer any questions. I am
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told by them that our project was tabled until the June 20 meeting for procedural
reasons relating to changes in our drawing which were made in response to the
comments from the engineer who reviewed our project on behalf of the Board, C.T. Male.
I would like to point out that those changes were made as quickly as possible, given the
time allowed. I believe that you had then received, but had not had the opportunity to
review, the response of C.T. Male to those changes. C.T. Male has now twice
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
communicated to this Board our revised plans addressed their concerns and that they
had signed off on the plans. As stated, the reason for my letter is to further apologize for
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my inability to be present at this June 20 meeting. Both my husband and I are out of
the country and cannot make arrangements to get back in time. I would also like to
respond to some of the non-technical comments and questions that were made during
the May meeting as reported to me. First and foremost, we are not building a trophy
house or a McMansion. My husband and I were born and raised in the Albany area. We
grew up in and around Lake George and we have vacationed there every year with our
own children. We are trying to build our primary home in order to move back to the area.
This is a three-bedroom, two-car garage home for a family of four. It has some of the
amenities that one would expect for a primary home of a professional couple with a large
extended family in an area where the home will be assessed at well over one million
dollars. It is true that this will not be a summer camp, but it will not be anything like the
McMansions which have been already built recently and it would be occupied throughout
the year by a family which will be active in the community. The second matter requiring
clarification involves concerns over the large hemlock on the lakeside east of the
property, and this was a tree that was mentioned also in Staff notes. The Zoning Board
minutes reflect that we fought to protect that tree. The Zoning Board had recommended
that the house be sited in the middle of the lot in order to comply with their required
setbacks. To do that, however, would have required the destruction of the hemlock, at
least one double birch tree and several evergreens. We are not willing to make that
compromise and therefore had to spend considerable time, effort and money to convince
the Zoning Board to grant the necessary variances. This tree has been nursed back to
health following a disease which killed its larger twin to the east two years ago. We
intend to do everything in our power to protect this tree. We plan to make this area our
home. We are very much interested in protecting the integrity and the beauty of the lake
and the neighborhood. All of our actions to date reflect this. We have compromised
significantly to build our home. Please do not become sidetracked by ancillary issues
which do not directly involve the project before you. We are anxious to begin
construction so that we can make our plans to move back. She really wanted to
apologize for not being here. She is an attorney. Her husband is an attorney, and I think
they understand the importance of conveying to you that this is something that’s
important to them that they have sincere feelings about the property. Basically that’s it,
unless you have questions as to what we’ve submitted. I think that we’ve gone through
this a number of times.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I’m going to throw this open to the Board, Mr. O’Connor.
MR. SEGULJIC-Yes, I have a few questions. With regards to the status of the type of
project. It’s listed as a minor project. Correct?
MR. JARRETT-As far as stormwater, yes.
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes.
MR. SEGULJIC-To, what was it, 147. Now, the way I read it, this would be considered a
major project, because you are in a CEA.
MR. O'CONNOR-If you read the definitions in the Section that you’re talking about.
You’re talking about may be considered. Because it’s in a CEA it may be considered a
major.
MR. SEGULJIC-And in my opinion it would be a major project.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. Our opinion is that there is no triggering device that would throw
it into the major, because if you look at all the regulations, it then says go to the CEA, go
to the criteria for CEA, and then look to see if you are impacting any of those criteria. I
don’t think we’re impacting any of those criteria in a negative way, and I suppose you
might look at it, I’m still looking at it as the project before the Board that we’re seeking
approval for is this 200 and some odd square foot patio, and I’m very clear with that. If
you include the house and include the site, stormwater drainage for this entire site, and
the entire project, I still don’t think you have any negative impact.
MR. SEGULJIC-Well, it was listed as a minor project. The only way it could be a minor
project if you exceeded the 1,000 square foot impervious surface. The only way you get
that is the house. So it is acknowledged as being subject to 147, and is the Board aware
of sub chapter 147?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I am.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. SEGULJIC-Is the whole Board aware of that?
MRS. STEFFAN-No.
MRS. BRUNO-No.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t think the Board is aware of that, no. I know what it is, but I’m sure
that the Board hasn’t really, you can ask each member, but I’m sure.
MR. SEGULJIC-Well, I’m a little concerned because, in some ways, I think we ought to
table this until the Board gets up to speed on sub chapter 147. Essentially what it says is
it’s a stormwater regulation that’s directed towards the Lake George basin, and all
properties therein, and in particular it defines projects as either minor or major. They’re
saying this project is minor, and I’m saying it’s major.
MR. JARRETT-Mr. Chairman, if I could address this. Typically the 1,000 square foot is a
triggering mechanism for stormwater management regulations in general, and the
15,000 square foot disturbance limit is what triggers the difference between a minor and
a major. Our calculations show the disturbance limits are less than 15,000 square feet.
So we feel it’s a minor project under stormwater regulations.
MR. O'CONNOR-We don’t have 15,000 square feet in this parcel.
MR. SEGULJIC-If I may clarify it for the Board members, what he’s alluding to is the
definition of a major project. It says the following may be considered major projects, and
under B it says minor project may be treated as major projects. It goes on to say “any
minor project may be treated as a major project if such treatment is desirable due to
specific site limitations or constraints, anticipated environmental impacts or the need or
advisability of additional public notice and comment”, and it continues on, and one of the
things it lists is the project is listed within a Critical Environmental Area which this project
is. I am disturbed that they say it will have no impact. They’re right on the shores of
Lake George. All we are asking them to do is adhere to the major project requirements.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. If you look at 147-8, the first definition is a minor project. A
says, “The following development activities shall be considered to be minor projects: any
building, land clearing, or development activity affecting less than 15,000 square feet.”
That’s how we got into the minor. We are in that category. Part B of that same section,
which Tom just read to you, says, “Minor projects treated as Major projects “any minor
project may be treated as a major project if such treatment is desirable due to specific
site limitations or constraints, anticipated environmental impacts or the need or
advisability of additional public notice and comment. When determining whether to treat
a minor project as a major project, the criteria to be considered shall include, but shall
not be limited to whether the site lies within or substantially contiguous to any of the
following:” And A is “A critical environmental area established in accordance with
SEQRA;” and we understand that this is in a critically environmental sensitive area, but
when you go to that, and then you look at the standards for the environmentally critical
area, and you have a stormwater plan that shows that you have less flow off the site than
you did before construction, you show that you have a septic system that is in
compliance as opposed to what might be there now, I don’t think you reach any of the
criteria in the critical environmental area that says that you would come into a
requirement and can actually exercise your discretion saying may or may not be.
MR. JARRETT-Let me add to that, Mike. Traditionally the most significant stormwater is
that from vehicular traffic areas. In this case it’s the driveway, which is near Assembly
Point Road. There’s no driveway that extends near the lakeshore, and our stormwater
system deals with all the driveway runoff. The most significant runoff, in our opinion,
traditionally what the regulations mainly address. So I would argue that the impacts are
very minimal. In fact, we’ve dealt with the significant impacts from stormwater on this
property.
MR. VOLLARO-And this is the system you put up in back by the garage? Is that the
system you’re talking about?
MR. JARRETT-Yes. Between the garage and Assembly Point Road, that system to
infiltrate stormwater from the driveway.
MR. SEGULJIC-So what would you consider to be a major project, then?
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MR. JARRETT-In our opinion, anything less than 15,000 square feet of disturbance
constitutes a minor project, unless there’s extraordinary impacts, even given it’s in a
CEA. There has to be extraordinary impacts, in my opinion, to warrant moving it to a
major project status.
MR. VOLLARO-What happens when it moves to major?
MR. JARRETT-The calculations become more complicated. The techniques don’t
necessarily change, but the calculations are much more complicated.
MR. SEGULJIC-You’re not allowed to infiltrate water from 100 feet of the lake.
MR. JARRETT-Which we’re out of that now.
MR. SEGULJIC-You can’t have your drywells or infiltration basins within two feet of
groundwater. You have to list all your stormwater management programs on your deed.
It’s a lot more aggressive, and I, once again, believe that this is a major project.
MR. JARRETT-We meet those technical standards now. We just don’t have all the same
level of calculations. The minor projects are designed so that homeowners and
contractors can comply fairly easily with the standards. They don’t have to go through
the rigorous calculations that engineers have to do for major projects, but the design
standards are very similar. There are some differences but they’re not very significant.
MR. O'CONNOR-There’s not high groundwater on this site. There’s good soils on this
site for the septic. There’s clearance between the septic and sufficient clearance below
the septic. I mean, there aren’t extraordinary.
MR. VOLLARO-Was this site ever filled, do you know, previously?
MR. JARRETT-I don’t think I saw evidence of that. Keith, can you address that?
KEITH MANTZ
MR. MANTZ-I don’t believe so. I’ll look at the test pit results and refresh my memory. I
don’t believe so offhand.
MR. JARRETT-It’s certainly possible, but I don’t recall evidence to that. We can look it
up.
MR. MANTZ-No evidence of fill from my test pit done on September 15, 2005.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re the engineer that looked at the Eljen system.
MR. MANTZ-Yes.
MR. O'CONNOR-All right. If you go back to the site plan, you will also remember that a
good goal of people is to probably keep a third or maybe even better than a third of the
site undisturbed. That was part of the reason for the placement of the house where it
was place, and if you’ve been up to the site, you’ve seen the gardens that are on the
south side of the property. The intent is to maintain those and not to have them disturbed
at all.
MR. VOLLARO-This is a total re-build, though, of that house, isn’t it?
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes, it is. The area of disturbance is probably going to be close to the
footprint of the house.
MR. VOLLARO-You’ve got to get onto some of these construction sites to see how that
actually takes place when the shovels start to hit the ground.
MR. O'CONNOR-If you see the gardens that are there, Bob, I think that’s what these
people went through all this business about. We actually did visuals with the Zoning
Board with before and after, and the intent here was to maintain everything to the south
side of the walkway, without disturbance. So you’re probably talking about a third of the
site, at most, being disturbed, and you’re not disturbing down by the lake, except in the
patio.
MR. SEGULJIC-I would ask, how does the Board feel about minor versus major?
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. VOLLARO-Personally, I guess, I’m leaning in your direction on that as a major
project, but I would like to have the opportunity to go back and really read 147 in a little
further depth, but based on the way you described it, I’ve got it home, and I haven’t really
delved into 147 to that extent, but I would go along with the fact that I’d like to see what
147 says before I could answer the question as to whether I want it to go major, but I
think from what you’ve told me, from what you’ve done, I would lean in that direction.
MR. O'CONNOR-If the major difference is, in all sincerity, when you’re all said and done,
putting something in the deed, we have no problem with putting a description in
reference to the stormwater management plan in the deed to the satisfaction of the
Board.
MR. SEGULJIC-Well, it’s a little more than that, though. You can’t have infiltration within
100 feet of the lake, and the roof.
MR. O'CONNOR-That was at the request of Staff.
MR. SEGULJIC-That’s fine. That’s not us.
MR. VOLLARO-Staff can do what they want. The problem is, I think a lot of, in the past,
Mr. O’Connor, there’s some things that have taken place in terms of the relationship of
this Board to a very proficient Staff, I might add. The Board is beginning to recognize that
it is a Board that operates autonomously to itself. It’s got to make its own decisions.
Staff recommendations are taken, and in consideration we look at them, but the Board
must deliberate on its own, without the help or the advice or adherence to Staff
recommendations. I think that’s what they’re talking about here, and I think all the Board
members are beginning to recognize that we have a responsibility, as a Board, to act as
a Board. Once we get recommendations from people, that’s fine, we take them into
account, but the ultimate yes or no when Maria asks for the vote is up to us. Nobody
else votes. While we’re dwelling on 147, let me ask a question. On 136, before I ask
this question, let me ask another one. The Eljen system is basically a proprietary system
to the Eljen people. It is not a fill system. It is not a mound system. It is not a
conventional system as we know it. It’s an alternative system.
MR. MANTZ0-No, it’s not an alternative system, according to DOH definitions. It’s
approved by Department of Health, in the same category as conventional systems. The
infiltrator, the Equalizer 24, a shallow absorption trench, they all appear in Appendix 75A
and the red design book, before you get to alternative systems, which are mounds,
raised systems, fill systems, evapo-transpiration systems. So they’re automatically
approvable by the local Building Department. They don’t have to go to Department of
Health like alternative systems do.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay, and the Eljen system being a proprietary system is considered not
an alternative system.
MR. MANTZ-Correct. It’s proprietary in that Eljen, I believe, is the only manufacturer of
it.
MR. VOLLARO-I’ve spoken to the guys down in Troy about that. He gives you a pretty
good spiel on the Eljen system.
MR. O'CONNOR-Page 33, I think, of that, it says these systems are classified as
conventional sewage treatment systems with specific site design and construction
constraints.
MR. VOLLARO-Where are you reading from?
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MR. O'CONNOR-This was an attachment to that letter that I wrote to you on May 18.
MR. MANTZ-Yes, that’s from this book.
MR. O'CONNOR-That’s from the red book.
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MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Yes, I was wondering, when you wrote your May 18 letter you
jumped right into that, and I didn’t, it wasn’t headed. So I didn’t get it. Okay. I guess we
haven’t gotten off 147 yet.
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MR. SEGULJIC-I got the impression that we have to, with regards to 147, we need to
table this and let everyone get up to speed on it. We can move on to the other concerns
we have.
MR. METIVIER-Well, if you’re going to table this, don’t waste anybody’s time. What is
the big deal over this project versus any other house being built on Lake George right
now? Can somebody please explain that to me?
MR. SEGULJIC-I’m aware of Subchapter 147.
MR. METIVIER-So are you going to go to every single house being built on Lake George
and stop the project?
MR. SEGULJIC-Well, these regulations are in place. They were promulgated in 1999.
It’s about time we start following them.
MR. METIVIER-If they took this patio off the plan, would they have to be here right now?
MR. SEGULJIC-In my opinion, yes.
MR. METIVIER-No. If they took this patio off the plan, would they have to be here?
MR. VOLLARO-Tony, let me try and answer that.
MR. METIVIER-We’re talking, they’ve met the 50 foot setbacks on everything except for
this patio. You wanted it impervious. They brought it back impervious, and we’re back to
where we started again. Am I missing something? What is it, compared to every other
house that was ever built on Lake George in the last five years.
MR. SEGULJIC-And have you noticed the water quality of Lake George? And there’s a
reason for that. There’s a reason why they came out with these regulations to help
improve the quality and protect it.
MR. METIVIER-Believe me when I say nobody in this room has more care for that lake
than I do, and when I see an older home being torn down and re-built, it gives me great
satisfaction to know that the septic system has been improved, the houses have all been
moved back to the 50 feet. It’s only done good things. It’s done terrible things to taxes,
mind you, but it’s done good things to the water.
MR. SEGULJIC-No one here is saying that they can’t build their house there. I am just
asking them to follow major project under 147. That’s all I am asking.
MR. O'CONNOR-But you’re blindly applying 147 simply because it’s in a CEA area.
You’ve not pointed out any special circumstance that says that we are going to impact
the CEA area. CEA is a designation which says you take a hard look. It doesn’t say you
prohibit. You take a hard look at the project and see if there are impacts that need to
have special mitigation, and you’re simply applying it like a blank check, once we’re in a
CEA. Every property on Glen Lake is in a CEA. Every property on Lake George is in a
CEA. I think the only two bodies of water in Queensbury that aren’t are probably
Sunnyside and the Hudson River.
MR. SEGULJIC-And why are they designated CEA areas?
MR. O'CONNOR-So that when you have properties that have specific characteristics that
you’re going to impact, you would be sure to take the hard look.
MR. SEGULJIC-My concern here is most of the Board is not even aware of 147. So,
what I recommend is we can move on to the other areas of concern and get back to this.
MR. VOLLARO-I want to answer, Tony’s question went unanswered, and I’m going to try
and answer it for him. There’s two contrasts here. One is Kirshon. If you remember
that’s going to be coming up for us. They have a building permit there, and we were
charged with looking at the first 50 feet in terms of impacts from the first 50 feet of the
mean high water mark of Lake George, and there I think we can only look at the first 50
feet because the people already have a building permit. In terms of Barrington, there’s
no building permit been issued yet. When you go to our 179, Article 9, and it says when
a site plan is triggered, and in this particular instance it has been, when a site plan is
triggered, the Planning Board is empowered to look at that site plan with respect to all
the contents of this Chapter in 179. So what we’re in now is we’re in a site plan review of
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
the Barrington property, not just the first 50 feet. Now I checked this out with, well, I don’t
have to check it out with really anybody. I read what I read, and it says to me that when
a site plan is triggered, we have the responsibility of going over the whole project, as a
site plan. So I hope that answers your question when you said why are we into this.
They supplied the patio. The patio has been determined to be pervious. Why are we
going with it any further. Because there are other things and questions that I have about,
you said, what’s different about this site. This is a fairly small piece of property, with a
fairly large house on it. It’s not a very large piece. If you go back to the old maps that go
from a long time ago, it talked about these lots as being camp lots, years and years and
years ago. There is a drawing of that, on Rockhurst, and so what we’ve done is we’ve
been taking down, in this case this house, and are going to build a much larger house,
which requires a lot more attention, I think, on our part, in terms of its impact on the lake.
I think that’s what Tom is trying to get at here.
MR. SEGULJIC-And I’m not saying they can’t build there. I’m just saying, I’m requesting
that they follow, make this a major project. Considering I believe there was a statement
of an assessed value of one million dollars. I don’t think it’s going to cost that much to
bring this project up to major project standards, and I think that the impact upon the lake
will be minimized dramatically. That’s all I’m requesting.
MR. O'CONNOR-My problem is that you are blanketly saying that, by blanket coverage,
you’re saying that because it’s in a CEA zone, automatically it goes from minor to major.
You have the discretion, and I don’t deny that you have the discretion to make that. It
also requires that when you make that, you give us written statement and findings as to
why you were doing that. That’s part of that section that you’re reading from, but you’ve
got to look at the triggering devices, and, you know, soils of high potential for overland or
through soil pollutant transport, an area with a slope of 15% or greater when measured in
any direction over a distance of 100 feet from the center of the proposed building site or
an area where soil percolation rate slower than 60 minutes per inch. Those are
engineering type criteria that you’re supposed to exercise in making or consider in
making this exercise. This site, and when we went through the Zoning Board, has no
stormwater right now. This is an engineered stormwater management plan. This is an
improvement to the site. This septic system is an improvement to the site. It’s not a large
house. You characterize it as a large house.
MR. VOLLARO-It’s large in terms of the lot that it’s on.
MR. O'CONNOR-It’s 21. something percent Floor Area Ratio. It’s 174 feet larger than
22%. Twenty-two percent is the permitted size.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, in that zone, that’s correct.
MR. O'CONNOR-So you’re talking, your largeness is 174 feet. I mean, it started out
much large, and after a lot of gyrations and everything else, a lot of it was downsized, to
try and make it compliant. These people have tried to do everything that they can to
satisfy requests that have been made of them.
MR. VOLLARO-I guess Mr. Edwards has been listening to this chatter now for about 25
minutes or so, in terms of major and minor with respect to 147. Have you got any
comments on that?
MR. EDWARDS-Yes. I haven’t really gone through the 147. I’ve got to be honest.
Beyond that, though, I think every stormwater sanitary issue that could have been
addressed has been. This sanitary system is put in a location that maximizes distance to
the lake. The Eljen is an accepted system. It’s State of the Art, in my opinion. It’s pre-
packaged. It’s a good system. It doesn’t rely on stone development for treatment. It’s a
pre-packaged system. It’s a very good system, and even the patio has its own infiltration
collection treatment system. So I’m not sure what else could be done to mitigate runoff
from the site, albeit it’s a small site.
MR. SEGULJIC-But have you read Subchapter 147?
MR. EDWARDS-I haven’t read it in detail, no.
MR. SEGULJIC-Okay, and this is the problem. People are not aware of it and they don’t
adhere to it.
MR. EDWARDS-I can appreciate that.
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MR. SEGULJIC-And I recently stumbled upon it myself.
MR. VOLLARO-Tom, let’s hold that. I think your suggestion is to hold that. I don’t want
the clock to spin too long on this one. What we’ll do is hold that for a minute and ask the
Board if they’ve got any other questions with respect to, before I get into my thing here.
Has anybody else got anything?
MR. FORD-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Tom, go ahead.
MR. FORD-Flagstone. I note that the smaller of the two, the dimensions are 12 inches
by 16 inches. I can’t find the, and they’re probably on here someplace. I don’t find the
dimensions of the larger flagstone tiles.
MS. PLATT-Sixteen by sixteen.
MR. FORD-I beg your pardon?
MS. PLATT-Sixteen inches by sixteen inches. So they’re all squared.
MR. FORD-Thank you. Do you have this? And that’s 16 by 16?
MS. PLATT-Yes. The stones are 12 inch square, and then the others are 16 inch
square. They’re alternated.
MR. FORD-Okay. Then I misread that, I guess, where it says 12 inch – 16, it’s not 12 by
16. There are 12 inch square and 16 inch square tiles, or flagstone. Thank you.
MS. PLATT-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-Go ahead, Tom.
MR. SEGULJIC-I was just going to bring up also 179-6-070, under C, Standards,
Number 22 states “Whenever lawns are established, areas of natural vegetation shall be
maintained to filter fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals before the runoff enters
natural streams or drainage channels, lakes, or other bodies of water. Property owners
shall be encouraged to leave natural vegetation rather than develop lawns.” I don’t see
any areas of natural vegetation to filter.
MS. PLATT-The natural vegetation, as we have shown before, is all the gardens that are
on the south side of the house will be remaining. So the landscaping pretty much stays
the way it is.
MR. SEGULJIC-I think the intention is to filter it before it runs into the lake.
MS. PLATT-Filter, what area are you in question of filtering?
MR. SEGULJIC-The whole, the entire site. I mean, if you could just look at 179-6-070,
22.
MR. JARRETT-I don’t recall the exact break point on the site, but much of the
stormwater on this site runs back toward Assembly Point Road and all of the, in our
opinion, contaminated stormwater is now being diverted into our new infiltration system.
I can’t speak to the vegetation but I think Denise is maintaining as much of the natural
gardens that were there before, and there was lawn there before as well. Right? So it’s
pre-existing and then we’re diverting stormwater into our new system.
MR. SIPP-To go along with that, Mr. Ford and I visited this site about a month ago, and
in visiting we walked down this wooden walkway, to the gardens, and on the edge of one
of those flower beds was some dead grass, burned by the use of fertilizer, and the lawn
on this site is in very good shape, and I don’t think that’s natural. So there must be
fertilizer being used in this area which is the closest part of the property to the lake.
MR. O'CONNOR-I can’t tell you what type of fertilizer is used or not. I don’t know that. If
you have a condition that you want to impose on your approval, then I would understand
your basis for doing that.
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MR. SIPP-Because there was a definite burn, just as you would take a fertilizer, drop
type fertilizer, when you come to the edge of the flower bed you stop, and before you
click it shut, you get extra fertilizer dropping onto the grass, in that case causing a burn,
and it was very evident that day we were there. Secondly, I’d like to know, the test pit,
where is this test pit or where was the soil sample taken?
MR. MANTZ-The test pit for the septic system design was taken up on the flat slope
where the existing system lies. I would say it’s south of the structure. In fact it’s shown
on the septic system design. It’s right in the center of a grassed area where the existing
disposal field lies, just off of the roadway.
MR. FORD-Where the grass is not doing too well?
MR. MANTZ-When I did the test pit it was doing pretty well. That was a year ago,
though.
MR. VOLLARO-The test pit was done with an auger, or was it done with a backhoe?
How did you do your test pit?
MR. MANTZ-Let me just check. It was done with a small backhoe.
MR. VOLLARO-A backhoe?
MR. MANTZ-Yes, it was.
MR. SIPP-It had to have been because it goes to 72 inches. Now, was there any test pit
done or any soil sampling done where your stormwater management is next to the
garage or in front of the garage? Were there any soil samples taken in that area?
MR. JARRETT-We’re looking that data up right now. I know we relied primarily for deep
test holes on Keith’s test pit, and I’m looking to see what we have. I think we did, as I
recall we did a shallow test pit in the area of the driveway, but I have to double check
that. I’ll look for that data.
MR. SIPP-Now, was there any soil sample taken for the stormwater for the patio, the
patio area?
MR. O'CONNOR-The house is in that location right now, where the patio is going to be.
When the house is moved back, that area will be filled. There’s a dotted line.
MR. SIPP-I see the dotted line.
MR. O'CONNOR-That shows the existing structure.
MR. SIPP-Right.
MR. O'CONNOR-Seventy-five percent of it is within that dotted line.
MR. SIPP-That area will be filled?
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes. It’ll be slightly filled. This is not a full basement underneath this
house. It would be a crawl space.
MR. SIPP-Now, the present septic tank is in the area where the garage will be, the new
garage?
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes. I’ve seen on the septic plan the area where they presume the
existing septic is.
MR. SIPP-Now, that will be taken out and the soil removed?
MR. O'CONNOR-Disposed of in a manner approved by DEC.
MR. SIPP-And also the leach field that went with that septic tank?
MR. O’CONNOR-Yes, both will be removed.
MR. SIPP-Now, if the soil sample was taken from that existing leach field, was that fill
brought in for that leach field at the time that that was established?
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MR. MANTZ-Did you ask if fill was brought in for the prior septic system, meaning the
existing one?
MR. SIPP-Right.
MR. MANTZ-There was no evidence of fill from what I could see, but I don’t know the
history of that site, and what it looked like before they placed the first system.
MR. SIPP-I mean, you’re calling it a loamy sand, and so forth, down to a depth of six
feet. Now, if you don’t have any other test pit results, isn’t it possible that that could have
been brought in, because you go from zero to sixty-six, in a loamy, fine sand, and then
the next six inches is a gray, moderate sandy loam. Is that the native soil?
MR. MANTZ-It could have been brought in, but there’s no way to tell. It’s stabilized in its
current state.
MR. SIPP-That’s why I’m wondering why we haven’t had any other test pits done for the
stormwater in front of the garage and the stormwater down by the patio.
MR. MANTZ-That break was primarily a coloration difference in the soil. They were still
sandy, loamy soils at 66 inches. So I wouldn’t say it’s a different type of soil, just change
in coloration, which is most likely due to chemical or possibly, you know, saturation.
MR. SIPP-That will all be removed, though.
MR. MANTZ-What will?
MR. SIPP-Where that leach field is for the present system, will all that be removed?
MR. MANTZ-No. That’s a grassed area that stays in its current state in the same
elevation. It just gets a new system put in, existing tank taken out.
MR. O'CONNOR-The absorption area gets taken out. The old absorption area does get
taken out.
MR. MANTZ-Yes. Right. Just the lines themselves and the stone. The existing system,
not all of that soil, though. That was pretty deep. I mean it was an awfully low lot if it’s
fill. We were just saying that the existing system will be removed and as Tom said, it’s
awfully deep soils, and he said he’d be surprised if it was filled that much, and I said
unless it was an awfully shallow and steep lot from that road, in its original state.
MR. SIPP-Now is there a difference in elevation from your proposed stormwater
underneath the driveway to the future leach field? Is there a difference in elevation
there?
MR. MANTZ-From the proposed driveway to the new leach field area?
MR. SIPP-Right.
MR. MANTZ-Tom was saying not materially. Maybe a minor difference. The area where
that leach field is going to go is like a two percent slope. If you looked at it by eye, it
looks like a flat grassy area in the southwest corner of the site, and I imagine the
driveway would be slightly higher. It has to pitch somewhere to drain, but we’re talking
inches, I believe.
MR. SIPP-I would like to see, when we get to the end of this, that there be a proviso that
no fertilizer would be used on that lawn, and I’d like to see some soil samples for the
stormwater from the patio and also for the stormwater for the garage area.
MR. MANTZ-What was that last thing, the stormwater for the garage area?
MR. SIPP-Garage area, driveway area.
MR. VOLLARO-Don, are you slashing most of these toward the way the soil percs?
MR. SIPP-Yes.
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MR. VOLLARO-Yes. Right. Okay. So we’d need perc tests in there in order to establish
some of that, as well.
MR. SIPP-I would think in the proposed leach field we would definitely need a perc test.
MR. MANTZ-Yes. We did perc tests in the vicinity of the existing and the proposed field,
as required by DOH.
MR. SIPP-Yes, well that vicinity, what vicinity is that?
MR. MANTZ-Right in the middle of where the proposed field will go.
MR. SIPP-I wish you would have marked it on the map.
MR. MANTZ-I should have. It should be a small filled in dot, rather than a slightly larger
open circle. It’s just below the “TP” and the hollow circle, filled in small dot, if you look in
the legend on the right hand side of one of the sheets, that’s the perc test location.
MR. SEGULJIC-Pardon me, but we don’t see it. We’re looking at S-1.
MR. VOLLARO-There’s two sheets you prepared.
MR. MANTZ-Yes, two 11 by 14 sheets. That’s the septic design. On the right hand
column, you see the legend of the small filled in circle. That’s where the percolation
tests were performed and it’s shown on the plan view, just below, south of the test pit.
MR. VOLLARO-Where you have “TP”?
MR. MANTZ-Yes, that’s the test pit.
MR. VOLLARO-Is right here?
MR. MANTZ-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. It’s on the second sheet, Don, if you go over where the drain field
is located, you’ll see a mark that says “TP” with a circle.
MR. SEGULJIC-Gotcha.
MR. SIPP-Okay. Thank you.
MR. FORD-I have a question.
MR. VOLLARO-Go ahead, Tom.
MR. FORD-Could we agree that flagstone would not allow water to percolate regularly
and easily through it?
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes, except as it’s placed on the stone bed, the stone bed will allow it
to percolate even under the stone, as I understand what everybody has agreed to from
an engineering point of view.
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes, we’ve got a C.T. Male signoff on that one. That’s not an issue.
MR. VOLLARO-I think they calculated that when they said the proposed design.
MR. FORD-With the grass around the non-permeable?
MR. VOLLARO-Well, what you don’t have in front of you, the problem that we’re
experiencing, and it’s not your fault, on Barrington and Devine, we don’t have the letter
from Jim Houston to Susan Barden that says the proposed design of the patio is
considered a pervious surface. We don’t have that data with us.
MRS. STEFFAN-Well, we got the e-mail.
MR. VOLLARO-We got the e-mail, yes.
MR. SEGULJIC-If you look at the definition within the Queensbury Town Code, it says
permeable, ground surface through which water can percolate in a natural manner. Said
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ground surface should be undisturbed natural terrain or a landscaped area with generally
unpaved surfaces. I don’t understand how that could be.
MR. FORD-Flagstone is obviously a paving surface.
MR. O'CONNOR-But I think it’s on how it’s set up. It’s set up on this pea stone gravel
with fabric underneath it and I’m presuming that they’re thinking that if you have a storm,
it’s going to bounce off that and go into the pea stone and it’ll be equally.
MR. JARRETT-We have four inch gaps between the stone.
MR. FORD-Which is grassed area, correct?
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes.
MR. JARRETT-And then pea stone underneath.
MR. O'CONNOR-Jim Houston’s e-mail to Susan, I don’t know if this is the one you’re
referring to, June 19, at 11 a.m.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes it is, probably.
MR. O'CONNOR-“I want to clarify my prior e-mail regarding the patio for the above
referenced project. My previous e-mail referred to the patio as an impervious surface,
but the proposed design would more accurately be considered a pervious surface. The
classification as a permeable surface is attributable to the proposed pea stone bed that
the patio blocks are placed in. The pea stone will surround each block and collect the
runoff from the block and direct it to the ground versus running off.”
MR. VOLLARO-I think in this instance I would have to go along with C.T. Male’s
recommendation here. Although, Tom, a lot of times when we talk about parking lots,
and where it’s a stone cover, we consider that an impervious area, in our Code. We do
that almost all the time.
MR. O'CONNOR-Where an area is likely to get compacted to the point that it won’t allow
the migration of water.
MR. JARRETT-When we do stormwater calculations for you, and any other Board, and
it’s a driving surface subject to vehicular traffic, we assume that over time it’s going to
become compacted and become relatively impervious.
MR. VOLLARO-Even if it’s stone.
MR. JARRETT-And we assume, conservatively, that it becomes impervious, and we
treat it that way. This is not that same type of surface.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I’m sure that C.T. Male took a pretty good look at this design
before they decided that there was a pervious capability here. I don’t want to.
MR. FORD-Is the public session still open?
MR. VOLLARO-I haven’t opened the public hearing yet.
MR. FORD-It was left open from the last meeting?
MR. VOLLARO-It’s still open.
MR. FORD-Yes, that’s what I meant.
MR. VOLLARO-What I do want to do, I want to make just a comment, and then I am
going to open the public hearing. I’m probably going to take a little flack on this, but in
our Code, 136, in the Appendix A of 136, we talk about in Appendix A, it’s Table I,
Horizontal Separation Distances for wastewater sources, and it talks about the
absorption field, and it talks about Lake George and its tributary, and it says 100 feet, but
then it’s got a little bit of a B in here that’s kind of interesting. It says “Sewage disposal
located of necessity upgrade in the general path of drainage to a well shall be spaced
200 feet or more away.” Now, I know that the Barrington’s are taking water from the
lake, and in my view, I’ve looked at the potable water source as being a well or the lake,
can be one or the other, and when I look at this digression here, in terms of, if a well had
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been set down there close to the lake, that septic system would have to be 200 feet
back.
MR. METIVIER-Actually, Bob, it goes on to read, though, that if it’s to replace an existing
septic, it only has to be 100 feet away.
MR. VOLLARO-That’s what it says. It says, however, if the drainage pattern of that
septic system, the leach field, is in a direct path to a well, then it must be 200 feet back.
That’s what it says right there. Now, because they take lake water, you know, and
probably chlorinated, I would guess, but we’re looking at, in my view anyway, a well and
the lake are both sources of potable water. Whether it’s the lake or a well. I know that I
would probably lose the battle, and I already have lost the battle. I have something here
from Mr. Hatin that I have to talk to him about that he says that we’re not supposed to
even look at 136 as a Code. It’s not our responsibility to interpret that, but the site plan
review requirements in 179 says you will look at it. So we’ve got a little bit of this going
on internally, but it seems to me that any potable water source has to be looked at. A
well is potable water source and so is the lake. So, I know I’m going to lose this battle.
MR. SEGULJIC-Don’t give up yet.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I wouldn’t be backed up by our own.
MR. SEGULJIC-That’s fine. We are entitled to our own opinion.
MRS. STEFFAN-I think Mr. Mantz had some information that he wanted to share.
MR. MANTZ-Yes. I had something that I think takes care of that. If it’s the same quote
as in Appendix 75A, it does say located in course gravel or upgrade in the general path
of drainage to a well. The general path of drainage in that area that’s relatively flat goes,
most of it goes slightly towards Bay Parkway, and also towards the south, towards a
wooded area between the lots. So I would not say that it’s a large concern because you
don’t have a drainage path that’s sloping at three five percent towards the lake.
MR. VOLLARO-I noticed that Mr. Jarrett said that at the beginning of this meeting, that
most of the water collects up in back of the driveway and that’s why you’ve put that
retention system in there, stormwater system that you’ve got in there. So I was under
the impression, because I was at the site, and I’m under the impression that if I look at
the site topographically, and this is the road, this is the lake, that I’ve got a slope that
looks like this. You’re saying that a good deal of that water infiltrates back?
MR. JARRETT-That’s correct. There’s a divide on the property, and some goes toward
the lake, but in the area where the leaching system is, I believe, and Keith is mentioning
that it flows towards the road.
MR. MANTZ-Would you like to see this? This is right where the system is going, and it
shows how flat it is how, I don’t know if you can see the general, it grades towards the
road and towards the woods.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re saying that if I could, I would see the grade in this direction.
MR. MANTZ-Right, if you could see it.
MR. FORD-And to the right.
MR. MANTZ-And to the right, correct.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. That, in a sense, satisfies me, in terms of my concern here. The
drainage is not toward the lake here, it looks like. Okay. I just wanted to bring this up.
One of the things we’re trying to do here, you can probably sense that, is there’s a great
deal of desire upon this Board to protect what we can of that lake. As long as I’m sitting
here, I’m going to do everything I can to do that.
MR. O'CONNOR-I don’t have any objection to that, but I think you heard your third party
say that, based upon his review of the septic and the stormwater that we have, we’ve
done what you can possibly do on this site. I don’t have a fear that the stormwater is an
improvement. I have a strong belief that it’s an improvement. I have a strong belief that
the septic system’s an improvement. I have a strong belief that moving that back further
from the lake is an improvement. I mean, so far this applicant has gotten a caught up, a
couple of different times, in an education problem or a communication problem, to their
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detriment, and it just is unfortunate. I mean, we’ve tried, we’ve submitted things. Let’s
not go down there, but let’s see where we go. Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-Mr. Chairman, we’ve spent 50 minutes on this particular application and
I’m not exactly sure where we are. I know that we do have a public hearing.
MR. VOLLARO-And I will open the public hearing now, and I’ll ask the applicants to
please step back. Does anybody want to speak? Mr. Brothers, in the interest of time,
we’re going to try to give you five minutes because we’re watching the clock here, and
we don’t want to get out of here at midnight.
PUBLIC HEARING OPENED
PETER BROTHERS
MR. BROTHERS-Understood. For the record, Peter Brothers. My parents owned a
home nearby the applicant for 35 years, and we’re very concerned with regard to the
project that is being proposed before your Board, and appreciate any consideration that
you can give to making this an environmentally sound project. In my opinion this
application is less than perfect, and as he mentioned is a very large house on a very
small lot, and for the record, if it sounds like one path, I am not anti-development by any
means. I have several friends, neighbors, who are builders and they build responsibly,
and I’m not saying that the builder who will build this project is not irresponsible either,
but in the way that this project is proposed, it will have, in my opinion, serious
degradation for water quality. I noticed over the year degradation of the water quality,
and used to be where maybe once a year we’d wash the bottom of our boat. Now it’s
probably every three or four weeks because of runoff from development along the
lakeshore is a serious issue, and in a Critical Environmental Area, my family has been
drinking the water. It’s a lake that we’re very fortunate to be able to enjoy and hopefully
we can enjoy it for some time. Who knows. There has been mention during this
presentation, the deliberations, the effect on the taxes. When a realtor shows a
prospective buyer a property, they buy it with the intent of either they like the parcel, they
like the structure, or if they don’t like the structure, they make sure that they can do what
they want with that specific parcel, and if they can’t do it then they’re not going to pay
that kind of money per se, but they buy it with the intention that they can do that, and the
realtor tells them who are the go to people, so to speak, to make it a reality, and
oftentimes neighboring concerns are often ignored in the process, and there have been
several conflicts on the Zoning Board which is how it got to your Board. Mr. Stone, Lew
Stone, he’s not only involved with the Zoning Board, the PORC Committee, I believe, the
Assessment Review, but also the Lake George Association. So I do feel that there’s
potential for a conflict. Also Charles McNulty mentioned during his minutes, I think it was
either this project or one similar, where he said if a project like this is not approved, then
it has significant impact on assessed valuation and the taxes, and certainly this Town
relies on the gravy train that is forthcoming from that area. Certainly there’s some
politicians that like to milk the cow until the cow runs dry, and I think that this shouldn’t
have any bearing as far as the assessment is concerned, and should mention that
Charles McNulty’s wife, I believe, is a realtor. So there, apparently, is a conflict, as well
as Mr. Abbate, even though it’s not a conflict, the Chair of the Zoning Board, I do feel that
he has been pressured, unduly influenced to let projects like these just get rubber
stamped and pushed through the process, and I appreciate, again, your consideration for
requiring any sensible issues being addressed to make this an environmentally sound
project.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Thanks very much, Mr. Brothers. Mr. Salvador.
JOHN SALVADOR
MR. SALVADOR-Thank you. My name is John Salvador. Just a few comments. With
regard to the CEA, the reason we have a CEA around Lake George, and it was put in by
the Park Commission, is that at the time the APA promulgated their regulations, the
shoreline of lakes and rivers was not considered to be a Critical Environmental Area.
That whole SEQRA process didn’t come into effect until the 80’s, and so the idea and the
need for identification of Critical Environmental Areas first came up when the Park
Commission promulgated their regulations. That’s why it’s there. Mr. Jarrett I know
served on an LGA committee advising the Park Commission when they promulgated
these regulations. Mr. O’Connor was the hearing officer at the time they were in the
promulgation process. They’re very familiar with why we have this here. Have we
reached a point where this project will be a SEQRA Unlisted Action?
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MR. VOLLARO-Not yet.
MR. SALVADOR-I think it should be given serious, serious consideration. I think it
meets all the criteria for SEQRA Unlisted, and does not qualify for SEQRA Type II, in
accordance with SEQRA law.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re talking about 617 now?
MR. SALVADOR-Absolutely. Yes, and wastewater is a part of this site plan review?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, of course.
MR. SALVADOR-Okay. Fine. There should be no excuse for not knowing the project
history when it comes to wastewater. This Town undertook an inspection program, hired
people specially for this project. It was an outgrowth of the Park Commission’s
wastewater regulatory program where the municipalities were to inspect each site and
register the wastewater systems. That should be on record down here at this Town.
Dave Hatin was the Code Enforcement Officer then, and this person worked for him.
With regard to the FAR calculation, if you take a good look at it, they have shoehorned it
in. It’s close, but it’s a shoehorn job. They have put a bilco door as an exit from this
cellar area to escape the need for that to be classified as living space. A bilco door on a
home designed, this just doesn’t fit. It’s put in a place where it’s going to be a terrible
maintenance problem, in a valley right under a roof. They put a center wall. Why would
they do this, I couldn’t tell you. The cellar, they’re going to, as I understand when they
knock down this house, the foundation is going to go. You take a look at that site when
they get in there, hogging this out. The foundation has got to go. They’re going to put a
new foundation in. You would excavate the perimeter of this whole thing and then put a
center dividing wall across the cellar and fill half of it in after you’ve done all that work? I
can’t explain this. With regard to the Eljen system, I have a few remarks prepared.
Firstly, Mr. O’Connor submitted his letter and he read that to you this evening, and he
attached some pages to that, and one of the items he attached to that is Page 33 from
the Health Department’s design manual for the gravelist system. I’ll read two sentences
from this. Gravelist absorption systems are generally proprietary products which all
septic tank aerobic unit effluent to infiltrate soil in the absence of installed aggregate.
These systems were developed where aggregate was not economically available or to
increase the soil infiltration area in constructed trenches. Well I haven’t heard that we
can’t find gravel around here. Number Two’s, Number One’s, Number Three’s, all sizes.
I get them from one day to the next, a truck load. So we don’t have that problem of an
absence of economically available gravel. There should be no reason to be using these
Eljen systems. Taking a look at, let me just read a few prepared sentences I have here.
Final site plan approval for this project should be held in abeyance pending completion of
an application to install and operate an on-site wastewater disposal system. The Eljen
gravelist system, which is a part of the design package, may not qualify for building
permit unless variances can be granted by the local Board of Health. This wastewater
system has been designed to the New York State Department of Health standards,
Appendix 75A, and there’s a standards and design handbook for this. There is no
mention of the Town Code, Chapter 136, which the Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 179,
refers to as a related Code, and to which Section 179-6-060, Shoreline and Wetland
Regulations, and particularly Section 179-6-1060D(1) sewage facilities shall comply with
Chapter 136. We have, I don’t know if it’s an unwritten rule, but we usually, the most
restrictive Code applies. What I’m getting at here, our 136 does not provide for a
gravelist system, and therefore I believe the applicant has to appear before the public
Board of Health to get a Use Variance. They want to employ a system that has not been
approved in our Town Code. So they need a Use Variance for that. This is a completely
different application. The process, everything is different about it, with these Eljen in-
drains. It doesn’t conform to the process technology of our 136. That’s my point.
MR. VOLLARO-John, we’re going to have to shut you down.
MR. SALVADOR-I’d just like to mention that at the Town Board, public Board of Health,
they are asking some very, very serious questions on these wastewater systems now
around the lake. Mr. O’Connor can tell you. He was there last night. They’re going to
have a tough, tough test. We have not adequately defined what we call a seasonal use.
We haven’t adequately defined bedroom. Those things have got to be done. Otherwise
we’re just shooting in the dark.
MR. VOLLARO-I understand what you’re saying, John. Thank you very much.
Appreciate your input.
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MR. VOLLARO-Would anybody else like to speak to this application? Having seen
nobody else, I’ll have them come back up again.
MR. O'CONNOR-Let me respond, if I might, Mr. Chairman, in general. This is an
application that has undergone a lot of scrutiny with a lot of input from neighbors, and I
address that comment as to Mr. Brothers’ comments. Initially, the neighbors were
concerned because the house wasn’t coming back. It was staying at the 42 feet that the
existing house was. When the compromise was made it came back to 52 feet for the
house. The property to the north is the Morse property, and he wrote a general letter
saying he was concerned about the welfare of the trees along his boundary line, even
though the existing house was closer than what this house was originally planned. We
moved it further south. We still tried to maintain keeping the trees and the garden. The
prior house that’s on here is a house that you really couldn’t stand up in all of the
upstairs. It was an old camp. As to Mr. Salvador’s comments. If his recollection was
that I was a hearing officer some 30 years ago, maybe I was. I used to do that for DEC,
but I can’t tell you if I was at that one.
MR. SALVADOR-It was only 18 years ago.
MR. O'CONNOR-Eighteen years ago? Well, I don’t remember 18 years ago either, I
guess. As to his comment as to whether this is a Type I or Type II, he also wrote a letter
which I think you received, and again, I think we get into giving part of the story, and not
the full story, and that’s the only reason I brought a book with me tonight. If you look at
617.5.
MR. VOLLARO-What page are you on, on 617? I have it here.
MR. O'CONNOR-617.5, Type II actions defined.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I’ve got it.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. If you look at I and II, which Mr. Salvador referred to. I’m sorry,
let’s do this right. If you look at C (1), maintenance or repair involving no substantial
changes in an existing structure or facility and replacement, rehabilitation or
reconstruction, in his letter, not necessarily his comments, he says that’s not what we’re
doing, and I agree that’s not what we’re doing, but Section Nine, which says these are
Type II actions, construction or expansion of a single family, a two family or a three
family residence on an approved lot including provision of necessary utility connections
as provided in Paragraph 11 of this Paragraph and the installation, maintenance and/or
upgrade of a drinking water well or a septic system. My understanding of his comments
before was that because we were also building a new septic system, we didn’t qualify for
Part II. We automatically went to an Unlisted action. That doesn’t say except for a septic
system. It says including, and I’m quoting this. I’ve got a copy that I can give to you.
MR. VOLLARO-No, I’ve got my own 617 sitting right in front of me.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. So it is a Type II action. What we’re talking about is
construction of a single family home with a septic system, and I really don’t know where
he comes with that. The bilco door, they wanted access, I think. At a lake house you
have a lot of patio furniture and what not, and rather than take it down through the house
and try to get it around the corner and bang things up, they put a bilco door in the back
side of the house. It’s a hedged area. It’s not going to be obtrusive to anybody. As to
the center wall, which is really immaterial, I think, for what you’re considering, but the
front part of this house is a crawl space. The center wall was put in there because that
area is not a crawl space. That area is a full basement, a near full basement. That’s
where the utility functions are going to go. So it’s, I’m not sure where we’re going with
that. He talks about the problems with defining whether this is a seasonal or not a
seasonal house. This is not a seasonal house. This is a year round house. This is
going to be these folks permanent residence when they retire here, and I don’t think
there’s any other comments that I really need. I think you can add something.
MR. JARRETT-To put the context of Eljen systems, and Mr. Salvador was quoting the
gravelist system section of the New York State Department of Health Design Manual, I
would conservatively say 95% of the systems put in in this Town are gravelist. Not Eljen,
but gravelist systems include infiltrator units. So you have to put that in context, and the
Department of Health, excuse me, the local Board of Health, which is the Town Board,
has acted on this design many times, and probably starting at least 10 years ago they’ve
acted on this and approved these systems for use in the Town of Queensbury.
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MR. O'CONNOR-I know of no variances that are required, even under our local Code. I
do know that the house was shifted, in fact, to get the proper separation from the
foundation to the base of the system and to allow the proper setback from the road and
from the adjoining property line. I do present applications to the Town Board for
variances for septic systems, and I typically am presenting an Eljen system, but I’m not
seeking a variance because it’s an Eljen system. I’m seeking a variance because they
don’t have the proper setbacks. The Town has accepted those as being an approved
system.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Let me try and give me, and the Board hopefully indulge me five
minutes here or less, 617.5 Type II actions. It says, in no case have a significant
adverse impact on the environment based on the criteria contained in Subdivision
617.7C. If I go to 617.7C and look what they’re talking about, it says, this is 617.7C(3),
the impairment of the environmental characteristics of a Critical Environmental Area
designated as pursuant to 617.14G of this part, and you go to that, and they read you
through this thing, they make you work, and there’s two sections to this, and it talks
about, to be designated as a CEA in a natural setting of space and area important to
aesthetic scenery and inherent ecology, geological or hydrological sensitivity. If you
read through here, and this is how we get, in my view anyway, we get from 617.5, which
is your Type II actions, to get to where we probably ought to be looking at this as an
Unlisted action, because of the requirements of the CEA. So, 617 is difficult enough to
read. You know it. You read it. I read it, but in my view in reading it and following it
through as it says, I think I can make a case, and I don’t want to do it here, because I
think this isn’t the setting to do that, but I think we’re slowly arriving at the fact that the
Board, this Board, looking at 617 makes its decisions. Now, on an application before this
Board, and I don’t know whether I want to say who it is or not, we’ve overturned a Type II
to an Unlisted and gave it 30 days for the attorney on that application to challenge, based
on 617, and it was not challenged, and it was in a CEA, not this CEA, one of the four
CAE’s that are designated in the Town of Queensbury, and so far we haven’t been
challenged on it.
MR. O'CONNOR-But I think you have to read the whole section together, and you’re
reading the first paragraph, and then the second part of the paragraph says the following
actions are not subject to review under this part, and it specifically talks about the single
family construction.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, but it’s not as clear as that. They talk about that, yes, but then they
say, you know, the impairment of the environmental characteristics of a Critical
Environmental Area designated pursuant to 617.14g. What they’re saying is, if the
significance of the Critical Environmental Area is significant enough then you’ve got to
consider going to an Unlisted, as oppose to a Type II. Now we can argue this forever.
MR. O'CONNOR-Well, I come back to the fact that we’ve got an approved septic system.
We’ve got an approved stormwater management plan, and you’ve got an approved
setback, if we even get into the visual part of the CEA. I don’t know where you’re
thinking that you’re seeing evidence that there is a significant impairment to the
characteristics of a CEA.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I think that Tom brought one up in terms of 147. I am not familiar,
that familiar with 147 to stand on that document myself, being perfectly honest with you.
MRS. STEFFAN-Based on all the information I’ve heard, as one member of the Board, I
certainly would classify this minor versus major, with the improvements, maintaining of a
third of the site undisturbed, keeping the gardens, an improved stormwater plan, an
improved septic system. I just, I’m just, I understand that sometimes we need to draw
the line in the sand, but I’m just not believing that this is the project to do it on. We’ve
gotten input from our engineer, and I’m not seeing major issues here.
MR. VOLLARO-In the interest of time here, we’ve done a lot of work on this, and I
appreciate the applicant’s patience with us on this particular one. I would like somebody
on the Board to make a motion one way or the other for this, if they would. I think we’re
at the point now where, if we hold this a Type II, we will not have a SEQRA on this, since
there’s no SEQRA on Type II.
MR. SEGULJIC-I will make a motion. I’ll make a motion to table this application for
additional information, and the fact that I think the Board has to look at 147 and we have
to come to a decision as to whether this is a minor or a major project.
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MRS. STEFFAN-I just think, Tom, based on the information that Mr. O’Connor
presented, I don’t know if you could substantiate that.
MR. SEGULJIC-Absolutely we can.
MRS. STEFFAN-I just don’t think it’ll meet the threshold of a major.
MR. SEGULJIC-Under 147?
MRS. STEFFAN-We’re talking stormwater?
MR. SEGULJIC-Yes. You’re talking SEQRA. I’m talking 147. Minor and major is under
147.
MRS. STEFFAN-Right.
MR. METIVIER-I’ll tell you. We have a motion. Why don’t we have somebody second
the motion?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. I don’t think we’re going to get a second on that. I’m waiting for a
second. I don’t know. I haven’t heard one.
MR. METIVIER-I’ll make a motion to approve.
MOTION TO APPROVE SITE PLAN NO. 66-2005 MARTIN BARRINGTON MARY
DEVINE, Introduced by Anthony Metivier who moved for its adoption, seconded by
Gretchen Steffan:
WHEREAS, a site plan application has been made to the Queensbury Planning Board
for the following; Applicant proposes a 3,419 sq. ft. single family dwelling with attached
garage within 50 ft. of the shoreline of Lake George. Additionally, a stone patio and
walkway lakeside. Hard surfacing within 50 feet of the shoreline requires Site Plan
Review by the Planning Board; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was advertised and was held on 5/16/06 tabled to 6/20/06;
and
WHEREAS, this application is supported with all documentation, public comment and
application material in the file of record; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to relevant sections of the Town of Queensbury Zoning Code
[Chapter 179], the Planning Board has determined that this proposal complies with the
requirements as stated in the Zoning Code; and
WHEREAS, where appropriate, i.e. done at the completed review, and/or when required
[either Type I or Unlisted] the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review
Act have been considered and the Planning Board has adopted a SEQRA [Negative /
Positive] Declaration and /or if the application is a modification, the requirements of the
State Environmental Quality Review Act have been considered, and the proposed
modification[s] do not result in any new or significantly different environmental impacts,
and, therefore, no further SEQRA review is necessary; and
WHEREAS, final approved plans, in compliance with the Site Plan, must be submitted to
the Community Development Department before any further review by the Zoning
Administrator or Building and Codes personnel. Subsequent issuance of further permits,
including building permits are dependent on receipt.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we find the following: This application is
hereby APPROVED with the following: There’ll be a restriction on any pesticides or
chemicals or fertilizers used on the property for lawns or otherwise.
th
Duly adopted this 20 day of June, 2006, by the following vote:
AYES: Mrs. Steffan, Mr. Ford, Mr. Metivier, Mrs. Bruno
NOES: Mr. Sipp, Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Vollaro
MR. VOLLARO-It carried.
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MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. Can I ask for clarification. When you say no pesticides or
fertilizers. You’re talking about no chemical.
MR. SEGULJIC-Or organic.
MR. O'CONNOR-Or organic or not.
MR. METIVIER-I was assuming chemical. I don’t know about organic.
MR. SIPP-Either one. They both contain phosphorus.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. I thank you for your patience.
SITE PLAN NO. 1-2006 SEQR TYPE: UNLISTED 1093 GROUP, LLC AGENT(S):
WILLIAM PALADINO OWNER(S): MARY JANE CANALE ZONING HC-INT.
LOCATION 724 UPPER GLEN ST. DEMOLISH EXISTING TELEPHONE STORE AND
CONSTRUCT A NEW 11,153 SQ. FT. RITE AID PHARMACY AND ASSOCIATED SITE
WORK. NEW RETAIL USES REQUIRE SITE PLAN REVIEW BY THE PLANNING
BOARD. CROSS REF. SP 48-90 WARREN COUNTY PLANNING 3/8/06 LOT SIZE
2.88 ACRES TAX MAP NO. 302.6-1-55 SECTION 179-4-020
TIM O’BRIEN & WILLIAM PALADINO, REPRESENTING APPLICANT, PRESENT
MR. VOLLARO-Before we get started, let me ask a question. I’ve looked at the C.T.
Male. Have you made a response to those 40 items?
MR. O’BRIEN-I’m Tim O’Brien with BL Companies.
MR. PALADINO-I’m William Paladino with Elcant Development Company who
represents 1093 Group. We’re the owners of the property, or the contract purchasers of
the property and developers.
MR. VOLLARO-All right, and you’ve talked with C.T. Male on this?
MR. O’BRIEN-Yes. We’ve spoken with C.T. Male about this. I actually sent them an e-
thth
mail last week. An e-mail was sent on June 15, Thursday June 15, I had spoken to
Mr. Houston earlier that morning that they went over the comments with them. Basically,
we can address all of them. I’ve spoken with Mr. Paladino, and I’ve also spoken with
Rite Aid regarding them. We’re going to do some test pit out there in the location of the
detention basin, and we’re also going to do a perc test there as requested. Most of the,
like a little clarification with some of the utilities, all things that we can do. We’re going to
call the fire department, try to get the flow test for a fire hydrant. We’re going to look into
connecting into the water line going into the Senior Center. We’re going to add the
striping to the plan. We received this, his comments, I believe on Tuesday. We started
addressing the comments, but we could not get them in in time for him to review them,
but we’re addressing those comments as we speak.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. In view of the hour, I would say that, and I, myself, in reviewing
this project, have 16 comments.
MR. O’BRIEN-Okay.
MR. VOLLARO-I would say, if you know what you’ve got to do, what I probably ought to
do is go down, and the Board ought to maybe do the same thing, but I’ve got a lot of
comments here that have to be resolved on this.
MR. PALADINO-Can we get a written copy of those comments?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. You probably can. They’re my review comments. They’re not the
Board’s comments, by the way. I’d hesitate to give them to you. I can recite them to you
quickly.
MR. PALADINO-Sure.
MR. VOLLARO-Your Floor Area Ratio is still missing. You require a 30% calculation on
that. The Notice of Intent is still missing, the NOI. Mr. Shaw’s comment of June, Mr.
Shaw is our Wastewater Superintendent. Manhole Number One shall be a minimum of
10 feet from the sanitary sewer and storm pipe crossing over the sanitary sewer.
Apparently, looking at the drawing.
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MR. O’BRIEN-It’s very close.
MR. VOLLARO-It’s very, very close.
MR. O’BRIEN-We can move that. That’s no problem.
MR. VOLLARO-Now has Warren County commented on this submission? And I think
there’s been a change in the Warren County position on this. Is that correct?
MR. PALADINO-Warren County has approved our application. I believe last
Wednesday.
MRS. STEFFAN-We didn’t get it.
MR. VOLLARO-It was originally denied without prejudice.
MR. PALADINO-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-And then a revision info was sent, which was approved. So I guess
Warren County has come up with an approval.
MRS. BARDEN-Approval with the condition that landscaping, lighting and signage meet
Town guidelines, approved June.
th
MRS. STEFFAN-Approved on June 14.
th
MRS. BARDEN-Approved on June 14, thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-There’s the status of the Army Corps of Engineer permit. This is my
note. The relationship of Parcel A with the future use of Parcel B, I have in parens the
word Canale in there. Don’t really know what’s going to happen to Parcel B, and neither
do you, I suspect.
MR. PALADINO-He has no idea. It’s just going to sit as vacant land until some future
development opportunity comes along to Mr. Canale. There’s no plans. He’s not talking
to anybody at this point in time. There’s, it’s just going to sit as is. I’m sure he’s going to
market it the same way he was marketing this property when we came along.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. Note that, and we would like to know a little bit about that. He
doesn’t have to divulge that. I’m call him from the public hearing.
MR. PALADINO-I think Mr. Sears is, as a representative of Mr. Canale, can speak on his
behalf.
MR. VOLLARO-When the public hearing is open, I’ll call Mr. Sears up. We need a
revised site development data sheet to verify the 35.8 permeability as shown on the
information block on SP-1.
MR. O’BRIEN-I believe we have submitted that to the Staff already.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t have it. When I did my review on Sunday and Saturday almost all
day both days I didn’t find this. So, I didn’t see it.
MR. O’BRIEN-Okay.
MR. VOLLARO-You need to show the driveway spacing per 179-19-010. The drawings
should show the adjacent curb cuts. Now I don’t think you’re going to have a problem
with that, because your traffic is not like the Golden Corral’s traffic was, the application
just before us, but traffic, trip generation determines driveway spacing. You have to look
at that and I’m giving you the area to look at in our Code is 179-19-010. If you look at
that, it’ll determine your driveway spaces. You may be okay on that. I don’t know, but
the drawing has to show us that. On the lighting drawing, now in order for me to do, or
any Board member to do the right lighting design, you have to give us the average, the
max, the max over min, and the average over min, and the average over min is used to
calculate a uniformity ratio. I think your engineer would understand what that is, but we
need that in order to do that. We need foot candles on the ground. That’s what we really
need. In the parking lots, you refer to 179-6-020 for coverage information on the parking
lots. It’ll tell you that commercial parking lots need an average of two foot candles. Now
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
there was a comment on the previously submitted contract for sale, was dated July 20,
2005, in particular Page 8E, this document is between Mary Jane Canale and the 1093
Group. Do you know the one I’m talking about, where it says?
MR. PALADINO-I’m not sure what that refers to. I don’t have a copy of the contract with
me.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I think Mr. Sears might know, but I’ll ask him when he comes up
here, and by that time I’ll have it. What it is, basically, is a contract agreement or a
proposed contract agreement.
MR. PALADINO-An easement agreement between the parties it discusses?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. It goes on to talk about more than that, though. Contract of Sale
between Mary Jane Canale residing at 28 Fox and so on, and it goes on to, and I think I
have a comment in here that’s highlighted. It says the seller’s cooperation with rezoning,
the seller shall cooperate with the purchaser, should it be necessary to rezone the
premises. It makes no representation that the exact site plan prepared by the purchaser
complies with the applicable Zoning Ordinance. That I understand. There’s something
in here that talked about, it had words to do that, and it may not be in this document. It
says purchaser and seller finalizing a reciprocal easement agreement providing
purchaser’s access to Lafayette Street over Parcel B and seller access to Upper Glen
Street over Parcel A, and then it goes on to say, seller and purchaser will be responsible
for maintaining the easement areas on their respective properties, and so on. I guess
what I’m really asking, is this document still in full force and effect?
MR. PALADINO-Correct, it is.
MR. VOLLARO-It is. Okay.
MR. O’BRIEN-It sounds like you’re talking about a cross access.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I have a note I see up here that says this contract talks to the
future development of Parcel B on Page 8E, and I think that’s what I just read.
MR. PALADINO-Yes. What it’s referring to is just, once everything is defined here as to
what we’re doing, the easement agreement will be finalized between the parties.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. We’ll certainly need to know what that easement agreement is.
MR. PALADINO-You’ll have a final draft.
MR. VOLLARO-A final draft. Okay. I’ll get back to my notes. Your response to the 40
item comment letter, we talked about that, the C.T. Male, you’re going to do that. I guess
SP-1 shows that no setback variances are required. Is that true?
MR. PALADINO-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re okay with that.
MR. PALADINO-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-Now the fire lane should be shown on SP-1, after consulting with the
Queensbury Fire Marshal. We want to make sure we can get all around that. Now those
are my comments, in my review. It doesn’t represent the comments of this Board, but it
represents my comments of review, of the things I think are required before we can get
going on this. So, I’ll ask the Board this question. I’ve given the applicant the benefit of
my notes. Would the Board have any objection to me making these notes available to
the applicant, so that he has some idea of what at least I was thinking, as one member of
the Board on this application?
MR. FORD-Absolutely not.
MRS. STEFFAN-That’s fine.
MR. FORD-Present them.
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MRS. STEFFAN-Because between your comments, the C.T. Male, all 40 of them, the
Staff notes, and then Mike Shaw’s comments, there’s quite a bit of things to address on
this plan.
MR. VOLLARO-There’s a lot of stuff to address, yes. I wanted to give them the benefit
of, I would give them this copy. I only have one.
MR. PALADINO-You can fax it to me. I don’t want to take your only copy.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-Also, on the traffic study, I just have two comments. In the Executive
Summary, in Paragraph Two, it talks about peak hours, and the numbers are the same
for weekday peak hours and Saturday peak hours, and I don’t know whether that it actual
or whether it might be a typographical error. Because week day peak hour trip rates are
39 entering trips, 42 exiting trips, and Saturday peak hour trip rate, 39 entering trips, 42
exiting trips, to be distributed on an area roadway. So that jumped out at me. It also
said, operationally, the new Rite Aid store pharmacy, and this is in Paragraph One, will
be open for services weekdays and weekends, beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 6.
Most of the pharmacies are open until 9. I thought that might be a typo.
MR. FORD-I picked up on that as well.
MR. PALADINO-It’s 9 to 9.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. So that’s another typo.
MR. FORD-Why do we have 9 to 6, then?
MR. PALADINO-It was probably a typo. Some areas they are 9 to 6.
MR. FORD-So is this a boilerplate?
MR. PALADINO-No, it’s not a boilerplate that they do take, obviously, some information
from other studies.
MRS. STEFFAN-Right, and as I was reading the Executive Summary, the first question
that I wrote down was, have the people who did this ever been to the site, and then when
I continued on, Section One, it says information presented below was complied from
reference material provided by Department of Transportation, the client as well as from
related local planning agency. The remaining transportation data was collected and
summarized by Transportation Concepts, LLP. So I’m not sure whether there was a
human that actually came to look at the site and do the traffic analysis, but there are
some very strange traffic patterns that happen there with the curb cuts in the adjoining
properties, and I certainly think that those have to be reviewed when looking at the traffic
survey. So I just want to throw that out to you.
MR. O’BRIEN-I know they were at the site and they did consult with different people in
the Town regarding the traffic also.
MRS. STEFFAN-All right, because based on my experience, I wasn’t feeling real good
about it.
MR. VOLLARO-One of the redeeming qualities of this site is probably the exit over onto
Lafayette Street, through the back. It’s a redeeming quality of this site to keep people off
Route 9, and I think that fundamentally it looks to me like a good project. I’m not
predisposed against it. We’ve just got to get ourselves lined up so your data coming to
us gets reviewed by us, and that’s the process, and I don’t want to break that process
down. So, I’m going to make a motion to table this application tonight.
MR. PALADINO-Are there any other comments? The last time we were here, there was
a motion to table, also, because of different comments from the Board. It seems like
every time we come back, I mean, could we get comments from all the Board members,
possibly? We’ve gotten them from a few.
MR. VOLLARO-Sure. What I’ve already given to Staff is my copy to be faxed to you.
That’s one.
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MR. PALADINO-I think the two of you spoke last time, too, and had comments, but we
never heard from anybody else, and I guess let’s get all the comments out on the table
so we hopefully can put this.
MRS. STEFFAN-I have two more that I just want to add to mine. As far as the design,
the aesthetic design, it was very vanilla to me, and so I thought that it could be different.
MR. PALADINO-The new design that we have there?
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes. I just, I would have rather seen something.
MR. O’BRIEN-This is the original elevation. This is the new elevation.
MR. FORD-You’ve gone to brick.
MR. PALADINO-It’s always been brick. It was originally brick. It is brick now with some
block on the bottom.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MRS. STEFFAN-The roof lines are skewed.
MR. O’BRIEN-This is a reddish brick, a dark, more black on the bottom, cement (lost
word) a hearty plank board, and this is a drivet and some aluminum flashing and/or
drivet, and these are obviously the roof lines in this area here.
MR. VOLLARO-I’d ask our resident architect for comment here. Tanya, what do you
think?
MRS. BRUNO-Could you flip it back over? I’m sorry. It’s definitely an improvement from
before.
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MRS. BRUNO-You’ve taken it from very box like to at least putting a couple of gables in
and switching the materials of the envelope. I have a problem with comparing it to the
Bank. I think the Bank doesn’t, I don’t really want to use that as, I don’t think that
particular style goes along with what were searching for in either area of our Town.
We’ve talked about the Adirondack style, more north, where maybe more of a city or
town kind of style down towards the Glens Falls area, or somewhere in between.
MR. O’BRIEN-I think, in talking with Staff, that’s what we were trying to accomplish here,
also.
MRS. BRUNO-Yes. I think you’re getting closer to it. Perhaps what Mrs. Steffan’s just
reaching towards is because of the size of the length of the building it does get, start to
become too.
MRS. STEFFAN-There’s a lot going on, and the term that I use is visual spaghetti. You
have so many roof lines going. There’s just so much going on it’s very confusing. It’s
not aesthetically pleasing.
MRS. BRUNO-Is that the drive thru on the northeast?
MR. O’BRIEN-This is what would be seen from Route 9.
MRS. STEFFAN-Right. I mean, you’ll see one side from Wendy’s, the other side you
won’t see at all.
MR. O’BRIEN-This would be looking at it from the north. This would be the rear. This
would be the drive thru area.
MR. FORD-The drive thru is on the east side?
MR. O’BRIEN-Yes, correct. Drive thru to the east. This would be facing out towards
Wendy’s. As I said, this would face our neighbor to the north.
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MR. VOLLARO-Now on the drive thru thing, taking into account that you’ve got this exit
onto Lafayette, how does the drive thru operate with respect to the Lafayette, in other
words, if you come through the drive thru, is that to pick up prescriptions, is that what that
would be for?
MR. PALADINO-Correct. There’s two lane. One’s a drop off. The lane removed from
the pharmacist is a drop off. This would be a drop off. This is a pick up and drop off
lane. People entering can either enter here from this direction or come this direction and
through this way.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay, and does that give them the advantage of getting off onto
Lafayette as opposed to Route 9?
MR. PALADINO-Well, either way. If they want to get off of Lafayette they can access the
drive thru. Either way they can access the drive thru. Either way, they can access the
drive through. To exit the drive thru, they’d have to come around the building, go back
out to Lafayette or come out to Route 9.
MR. FORD-Okay. So there’s no way of going through the drive thru, other than looping
around, as you said, to go back out Lafayette. Is there any way of configuring that so
you could access that without making that loop or going out onto Route 9?
MR. PALADINO-No, there’s not enough room there. I mean, the majority of people,
once they get used to us, are probably going to realize that Lafayette is an easier way to
exit the site, and will, therefore, use that exit. The drive thru is not like a McDonald’s
drive thru. The stacking is very minimal, and you can’t buy any other goods, just pick up
and drop off prescriptions, and what they find is most people will drop off and most
people may come, they’ll pick them up because they want to get other things at the store
when you’re there. They will enter the store when they do pick them up.
MR. VOLLARO-Does anybody else have any other comments for them, other than what
I’ve given them? They’re going to fax mine over. How about you, Tony? Have you got
anything?
MR. METIVIER-I’m going to apologize to you, Bob, and I was telling Gretchen, I honestly
understood this application to be tabled for tonight. So I am not prepared for it, and I
absolutely apologize for that, but I didn’t think we were hearing it. So I can’t offer
anything at this time.
MRS. STEFFAN-The other thing I did notice in the plan aesthetically is the sign issue,
and as the County said, they want the project to comply with our local standards, and we
have to make a recommendation, at some point, to the Zoning Board on signs, and I am
not in favor of rolling message boards, period. We have one in Town. I think it was a
mistake, and I would lobby very hard to discourage that.
MR. O’BRIEN-The sign as we had shown it, we’re looking for two pylon signs, one at
Lafayette to show that there’s access there for it, and one on Route 9, and what we’re
looking here is for the Rite Aid and they were looking for a reader board, which is I think
what you were referring to.
MRS. STEFFAN-A reader board.
MR. O’BRIEN-And that would meet the current zoning, but we’re also looking for, on both
sides, is another table or another face to put whatever Mr. Canale should do in the rear
at some point in time so that some business can have some type of advertising, at least
know somebody’s back there, coming from Route 9. On Lafayette, Rite Aid would have
this face, and whoever he has back there.
MR. VOLLARO-So this would be a dual advertising sign, one for Canale and one for Rite
Aid?
MR. O’BRIEN-Rite Aid would have the main sign, and then I guess you can call for
directional signage to show that something is back there and you can access something
back there, because as it’s shown now, somebody might drive on Route 9 and not know
that you can access any other type of future development in the back. The same way,
when you drive on Lafayette, directional signage there so people know you can access
the Rite Aid coming in from Lafayette. So I guess it’s dual in its concept, for Mr. Canale,
for his future uses, and for us currently.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. SIPP-Would you consider a monument type sign?
MR. O’BRIEN-Because all the other signs on Route 9 are mainly pylon, we’d like to stick
with a pylon sign, just because that’s what the visual effect.
MR. SIPP-Is this lighted?
MR. O’BRIEN-This will be lighted, internally illuminated.
MR. SIPP-I’d still like to see a monument in both places, and I’d like to see all those
pylons on Route 9 taken down. I think it’s an abomination. How many signs do you
have on the building itself?
MR. O’BRIEN-On the building, we have a sign over the front door, shield, Rite Aid sign.
Pharmacy, by law in New York you have to have pharmacy posted somewhere. GNC.
Inside the store they will have a GNC component, GNC nutrition, and then on each side
they have one hour photo facing out towards Route 9, and food mart, facing towards
Wendy’s.
MR. SIPP-That makes five signs.
MR. O’BRIEN-Correct.
MR. SIPP-No, I would like to see.
MR. FORD-Plus the freestanding.
MR. O’BRIEN-Plus the pylon signs, correct. Then there’s some directional signage, too,
just to show people the drive thru, how you access it and get around the building. Like
right here there’s an arrow that would show.
MR. SIPP-Have you considered having no exit onto Route 9 from your building, make
everybody go to Lafayette?
MR. O’BRIEN-No. We wouldn’t consider that.
MR. SIPP-Why not?
MR. PALADINO-It would just be prohibit on the tenant. It would restrict their business.
The tenant would never agree to that. Everyone else on the street has two exits in and
out.
MR. SIPP-Yes, but that doesn’t mean that everybody has to have one.
MR. SEGULJIC-I think that would lead to trouble, too. The traffic on Route 9 wouldn’t
know how to get there. I think there would be confusion.
MR. SIPP-Have you ever thought of somebody cutting through Lafayette to miss that
light on the corner?
MR. PALADINO-Yes, we’ve thought about it, but in the end we think we’re reducing curb
cuts from two curb cuts to one curb cut. The access onto Lafayette does help traffic in
this area. C.T. Male agrees and our traffic engineer agrees.
MR. SIPP-What about no left turn on that access?
MR. PALADINO-No, we’d like full access onto Route 9 from all directions.
MR. SIPP-You’ve got enough problems out there now, without adding more.
MR. PALADINO-Well, we think what we’re doing here is going to decrease the amount of
traffic.
MR. SIPP-Decrease the amount of traffic, how?
MR. PALADINO-To that site, because the current building is over 20,000 square feet.
We’re doing 11,000 square feet of retail.
MR. FORD-And what kind of business is it?
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. PALADINO-Existing? It could be, he’s had night clubs look at it. He’s had all kinds
of different businesses look at his building, but we’ve had it under contract now for over a
year. So obviously nothing’s been put in the building, but it is 20,000 square feet that
he’s had. Mr. Sears can attest to it.
MR. FORD-So it’s hard to compare traffic over the last year with traffic that’s going to be
generated when Rite Aid goes in there.
MR. PALADINO-Yes. Well, you have to look at the current uses and different uses that
could be placed in there. Mr. Sears can talk to the different uses that have been
discussed for the location, should our proposal not be approved.
MR. FORD-You’re suggesting that it’s a decrease.
MR. PALADINO-We will be a decrease. We will be a better situation, traffic wise, than
what is presently there.
MR. FORD-How close is that curb cut to Wendy’s?
MR. PALADINO-Wendy’s, we’re probably about 25 feet, but when you take into account
the way the new DOT radiuses have to be, you know, the radiuses somewhat come
together. The centerline is about 50 feet.
MR. O’BRIEN-From this point right here and this point right here. So that’s centerline to
centerline.
MR. FORD-Okay. When you come back I’d like to know exactly what it is, not
approximately, please.
MR. O’BRIEN-We can provide that to you.
MR. FORD-I also would be interested in how you can modify those two freestanding
signs, because that’s pretty ugly.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. Does anybody have anymore input for the applicants?
MR. O’BRIEN-Centerline to centerline is 90 feet, I just measured it.
MR. SIPP-Ninety feet.
MR. FORD-Ninety feet.
MR. O’BRIEN-From centerline of driveway to centerline of driveway.
MR. FORD-And do you have alignment up from across Route 9?
MR. O’BRIEN-Route 9 it’s a little tough to get aligned. We’re not lined up with Dunkin
Donuts. That’s off more in front of the Wendy’s. The curb cut in front of ours is probably
about a 60 foot wide cut. There’s really no defined access across the street from us, the
way the curb cut is. If you remember actually the site the way it is previously, there’s just
sort of islands out there, and there’s two big curb cuts. Across the street’s a similar
nature. There’s probably an island at some point in the middle that’s not there anymore.
MR. O’BRIEN-As part of this development, we’re closing one curb cut that’s
approximately 70 feet wide.
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes, there was a great deal of discussion on the traffic pattern in that
particular area, and in your traffic study you do mention the intersection at Route 9 and
Aviation Road, which will be going under major construction project next Spring, I
believe, but one of the reasons that construction project’s happening is because the
system’s failing, and that intersection must be addressed, because within the next the 20
years, according to our consultant’s report, is that traffic intersection will fail, and so we
will be looking a lot at traffic and curb cuts on this particular strip.
MR. O’BRIEN-Like I say, we (lost word) a curb cut and we have tried to line up as best
we can with things across the street. We think the Lafayette access on there would
definitely help circulation accessibility for the site, and we have made accommodations
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
for future interconnections should they, existing owners and/or new owners be amenable
to it at such time. Currently they’re not amenable to it, but in the future you never know.
MRS. STEFFAN-It is often helpful when you have a feedback sheet like you’ve gotten
from Staff and that you’ve gotten from C.T. Male. One of the things that the Board
appreciates is when you go and you take the items and you list those items in your
response to us, and then identify how you’ve mitigated the problem, or how you’ve fixed
the problem. That would help us go through the application much more quickly, since we
have so many outstanding items. It could be helpful, and I think the Staff could probably
give you examples of that if you need them. I want to make a tabling motion for this
application.
MR. SEGULJIC-Public comments?
MR. VOLLARO-There’s a public hearing on this tonight, I believe. Does anybody want to
speak, is there anybody here to speak to this?
PUBLIC HEARING OPEN
BRETT BACKST
MR. BACKST-Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board. For the record my
name is Brett Backst. I represent the Howard Group Management Incorporated, and we
represent the Queensbury Plaza. I have a prepared statement for Mr. Howard Carr, as
the President of the Howard Group, and I’d like to have it read and admitted into the
record, as well as a written copy for you afterwards.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. As far as getting it into the written copy, you can give that to Staff,
but if you read it, it’ll go into the record, since you’re on the mic.
MR. BACKST-Mr. Chairman, I represent the Howard Group Management company
incorporated, Manager of the Queensbury Plaza Shopping Center, an adjacent and
abutting landowner to the property under consideration by your Board at 724 Upper Glen
Street. Please be advised that we have filed a Freedom of Information application with
the Town Clerk to receive any and all documents relating to the application being heard
this evening for the property at 724 Upper Glen Street. On behalf of the owner of
Queensbury Plaza, Eileen Flaum, we hereby request that your Board maintain the public
hearing in an open status until such time as we are able to receive copies of the
documents which are being presented for consideration by your Board at this time. We
will make the appropriate comments once we have had an opportunity for our
professionals to review the documents and comment to your Board on the impacts, if
any, as they relate to our property and the area in our general. Please accept a copy of
this statement as our written request for this consideration by the Planning Board.
Sincerely, Mr. Howard Carr, President of The Howard Group.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay, and the public hearing will remain open for that purpose.
MR. BACKST-Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Board, for your time.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re welcome. Mr. Sears, did you want to make a comment? You
can come on up.
BOB SEARS
MR. SEARS-Hello. My name is Bob Sears. I’m the realtor involved with the project.
You made reference to what Mr. Canale had for plans for the adjoining property. There’s
approximately four acres there that has frontage on Bank Street. It has frontage on
Lafayette Street. It is between two lights, one on Quaker Road and one on Route 9. So
the accessibility to that site is as good as any site that you will find in the Town of
Queensbury at this time. At this point in time, Mr. Canale has instructed me to take the
property off the market, because of his tax situation and so on. He’d prefer not to do
anything with the property at this time. He didn’t say for how long.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MR. SEARS-So it’s probably going to remain like it is, although in the future I’m sure he
will want to develop it in the bounds of the zoning as is allowed for the property which is
Highway Intensive. Again, he has maximum exposure on two different streets, and he
has access to two different lights and now he’s allowed also for the crisscross agreement
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
to take effect so that there is another additional roadway accessibility with the road from
Lafayette Street to Route 9. So, I mean, he’s doing everything he can to make it traffic
friendly, and I think Rite Aid is doing the same thing.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, I think that the ability to go from Rite Aid to Lafayette and out, but
what I’m concerned about is just take a bird’s eye view for a minute here. You see the
Golden Corral going in there, and then the people from Rite Aid will slowly begin to use
that Lafayette, rather than deal with the Route 9 entanglement, and then another
property coming in there, so we really have to start to take a look at how that loop
shapes up there, with respect to the impact on Quaker.
MR. SEARS-Right. I understand, Mr. Vollaro. You’re people doing this work, I
appreciate all your efforts, and I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. Okay. We’re doing
everything we can on this side of the table to make your job hopefully not easy, but
hopefully as accommodating as possible.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I thank you very much, Mr. Sears.
MR. SEARS-Thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-Does anybody else want to speak to this application? If not, I’m going to
leave the public hearing open, and I think that the secretary wants to proceed with a
tabling motion.
MOTION TO TABLE SITE PLAN NO. 1-2006 1093 GROUP, LLC, Introduced by
Gretchen Steffan who moved for its adoption, seconded by Thomas Ford:
For them to come back after they address the issues in the 6/20 Staff notes under
General Comments, Traffic Access Management, Landscaping, Lighting, Signage, and
design guidelines. They also need to address the C.T. Male comments, all 40 of them,
and address the Mike Shaw memo from the Wastewater Department.
th
Duly adopted this 20 day of June, 2006, by the following vote:
MRS. STEFFAN-I think that your questions are in the minutes.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, she’s going to fax them to them. She’s got my questions. She’ll fax
my questions in, and they’ll add to what you have in the motion.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. So we don’t have to have that as a matter of this record.
MR. VOLLARO-No, I don’t think so.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
AYES: Mr. Ford, Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Sipp, Mrs. Steffan, Mrs. Bruno, Mr. Metivier,
Mr. Vollaro
NOES: NONE
MR. VOLLARO-Thanks very much.
MR. O’BRIEN-Thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-If you’ve got any further questions, get them to Staff and I’ll e-mail those
kinds of questions, or she can, to the Board, so we can stay in touch with what you’re
doing.
MR. O’BRIEN-Thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-It’s a process you’re just going to have to live with.
MR. O’BRIEN-Understood.
SUBDIVISION NO. 4-2006 PRELIMINARY SEQR TYPE UNLISTED LEE JARVIS
AGENT(S) VAN DUSEN & STEVES OWNER(S) SAME ZONING SR-1A LOCATION
729 LUZERNE ROAD APPLICANT PROPOSES SUBDIVISION OF A 7.76 ACRE
PARCEL INTO 3 RESIDENTIAL LOTS OF 1.50, 1.55, AND 3.84 ACRES
RESPECTIVELY. SUBDIVISIONS OF LAND REQUIRE REVIEW BY THE PLANNING
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BOARD. CROSS REF. AV 29-2006 & 3/28/06 SKETCH WARREN CO. PLANNING
N/A LOT SIZE 6.31 ACRES TAX MAP NO. 307.1-32 SECTION A-183
MATT STEVES, REPRESENTING APPLICANT, PRESENT; LEE JARVIS, PRESENT
MR. VOLLARO-You are, for the record?
MR. JARVIS-I’m Lee Jarvis.
MR. STEVES-And I’m Matt Steves.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay, and this is for Subdivision 4-2006.
MR. STEVES-That’s correct.
MR. VOLLARO-There’s a public hearing tonight, and a Long Form SEQRA. Okay.
MR. STEVES-Just re-hash a little bit here, Bob, or did you want to, secretary want to
read something in?
MR. VOLLARO-Well, you’re coming off a Sketch Plan, right?
MR. STEVES-Yes. We’re coming off a Sketch Plan. We went to the Zoning Board, after
we had discussed with this Board the separation distance on the driveways, and we
were granted that variance for not having double lot width because the driveways would
still remain 300 foot separation.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I saw that in the ZBA notes.
MR. STEVES-Okay.
MR. VOLLARO-Before I get started, I want to throw this open to the Board. Did you want
to do a little bit of intro?
MR. STEVES-It’s completely up to you, Mr. Chairman. It’s a pretty straightforward
subdivision. I think everybody’s been over and seen the property. We did ask for the
waivers. We talked about them before. As far as the topography, we discussed the test
pit data asking if you wanted that. You knew the area. Mr. Chairman, you even talked
about that yourself at the last meeting. We did perform the perc tests. I did submit a
letter that Tom Nace has reviewed the perc test and has utilized us to perform perc tests
for him, that he’s quite aware of the results, they’re accurate, that that letter was sent
over to the Town.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, obviously we don’t have that letter.
MR. STEVES-Okay, but it was sent over to the Town by Tom.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. It’s a question that I had, where that is, but.
MR. STEVES-Plus there’s other facts, but I did get Mr. Nace to write the letter. We also,
under the Code for engineers, we do have, Leon, my father, that’s within the company,
has the N exemption. So he’s certified to do them as well, but I thought the letter from
Mr. Nace would be appropriate. There was some comments that the Staff had made
regarding the test pit data. I believe we had discussed that at the last meeting, and I
know I asked this Board specifically if you wanted us to dig test pits, and the answer was
no.
MR. VOLLARO-And I have it right here in my notes. I said deep test pits seem
unnecessary since adjacent properties have shown no seasonally high groundwater, and
the fact that I know that, I happen to personally know that area with deep sands. So
when we made that recommendation to you under Sketch, I think we, and I don’t,
additionally, don’t see a need for the two foot contours either.
MR. STEVES-There were two other comments, instead of going through all of them, that
I think may be pertinent that I can address very quickly. One of them was the C.T. Male
letter talking about the contouring and that in the Long Form there was the portion written
that a third of the site had 10 to 15% slope, because it says 10 to 15, because a third of it
is about 11%, and if you’ve been up to the site, as you can see, it’s not a 25 or a 15
percent slope, but when they give you that range, I have to apply the range they give me
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
within the SEQRA form, but I would hope everybody’s been to the site and can see that it
is not a steep issue.
MRS. STEFFAN-No.
MR. STEVES-All right. That was the one, and the other question they had was regarding
the sight distances, on the proposed driveway. Both driveways to the east are existing,
and on the sight distance on all three, being the two existing and the proposed one to the
west is all the way back beyond the intersection with West Mountain Road, and the
shortest sight distance out of all the three, looking westerly up toward the water tower is
just over 900 feet.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I went up there the other day, Sunday, and I looked at the sight
distance thing, and it’s like you can see forever.
MR. STEVES-I just wanted to address those that they had.
MR. FORD-What’s the actual acreage? I’ve got two different acreages, 6.31 and 7.76.
MR. JARVIS-It started out as 7.75, 7.76.
MR. FORD-And it got smaller?
MR. JARVIS-No, I think what happened was when I conveyed the .88 acres to my sister,
I think it was taken out of the equation somehow, but if you add it all up and you keep the
.88, you add my 1.55 to 1.5 to 3.84, and that comes to 7.76.
MR. STEVES-But if you add up Lots One, Two, and Three, you’re .88 shy of the total,
and that’s what the confusion is, is they’re adding the three lots, but there’s also the area
that’s proposed to be conveyed around the sister’s lot to increase her holdings. So
you’re correct in the statement that it is 7.76 acres.
MR. FORD-Thank you.
MR. STEVES-And I believe there was one other comment they had, the sight distance
and the topography, and we discussed that with the Board, and I didn’t see any reason
for the two foot contours myself, but we did take care of the sight distance, and there isn’t
an issue with sight distances.
MR. VOLLARO-The C.T. Male thing talks about a SWPPP erosion sediment control plan
has not been provided. I guess we need to provide one.
MR. STEVES-I did the calculations for the proposed house driveway, septic and clearing
area on Lot One and on Lot Three with the existing driveways, and it ends up being like
.85 acres, so with that, it’s under one.
MR. STEVES-It’s under one.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. You sound like the guys that came to me today with .095.
MR. STEVES-No, no, no. I didn’t want to go .99, but on a one acre, acre and a half lot,
where you typically see with the house, the driveway, your lawn, your septic field, you
typically see just over a third of an acre of actual disturbance. I mean, you go to lots and
most of the lots are half acre lots, say in the subdivisions around the Town here. You
don’t usually see every inch of the site disturbed. It’s usually around a third of an acre.
MR. VOLLARO-So what you’ve really got to do to satisfy everything here is to answer
the C.T. Male letter, just like that.
MR. STEVES-And we have. I’m just waiting for his response back.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So there’s something in already on this?
MR. STEVES-That’s correct.
MR. FORD-The Notice of Intent and all that good stuff.
th
MR. VOLLARO-All that. He has to answer everything on the June 8 letter.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. STEVES-And anything you do, and I realize public hearing and you have to move
forward, but anything you do would be contingent upon that. We understand.
MR. VOLLARO-See this puts us in a position of having to condition this Preliminary, but
you’re going to be coming back with Final.
MR. STEVES-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-When you come back with Final, all this stuff will be done.
MR. STEVES-That’s correct.
MR. VOLLARO-We’ve done this with Tom Nace a couple of times. Like on the
Schermerhorn application. Everything was done and I checked the clock, and he was
out in eight minutes. If you get everything put together for us, we’ll get you out of Final
quickly. So, just get the answers to C.T. Male. Tell them that the Board sees no need
for the waiver. You can make that statement.
MR. STEVES-And we’ll pass on your minutes from the previous meeting.
MR. VOLLARO-Right, and the deep test pits also are necessary. Perc tests should be
verified by a P.E. You’ve got it.
MR. STEVES-Yes. Sight distances were verified.
MR. VOLLARO-Right.
MR. FORD-What about contour intervals?
MR. VOLLARO-Two foot contour intervals on a flat plane like this is almost unnecessary.
I mean, I think we said that in Sketch.
MR. STEVES-Yes, you did.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, in Sketch Plan we said it was not necessary.
MR. FORD-I just wanted to make sure we addressed it, and it was a recommendation.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. I have a quick question, Mr. Steves, if you can just help me out
here with this. This driveway here goes down to Lot Number Three.
MR. STEVES-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-Right here.
MR. STEVES-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-And then this is going to go away, and this is going to be all?
MR. STEVES-Lands of Stanton.
MR. VOLLARO-Lands of Stanton. Pamela Stanton, correct, that’s your sister.
MR. JARVIS-Yes, sir.
MR. VOLLARO-Right. Now, the driveway, what’s the story with this lot having a 40 foot
access to Luzerne Road?
MR. STEVES-The Stanton parcel?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes.
MR. STEVES-That was created before that requirement, I believe.
MR. VOLLARO-So you’re saying we’ve got a pre-existing situation here?
MR. STEVES-That’s correct.
MR. VOLLARO-So the 40 doesn’t apply.
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MR. STEVES-That’s correct. That lot is an existing tax parcel, existing lot, existing
house, an existing driveway, I believe it’s 15 feet.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So the answer to that, it’s pre-existing, I think, on that 40 foot
frontage?
MR. STEVES-Yes, and we’re stipulating that Lot Three share the driveway with her lot.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. Well, I can see how Lot Three is doing it. You’re going to come
down, and Lot Three comes in this way, and your sister comes in this way.
MRS. STEFFAN-So you’ll have a right of way over the part that you share with her
driveway.
MR. JARVIS-Right. I gave her .88 acres.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I, personally, have no other comments that I surfaced in. What I
did is I went over and I read the comments we made at Sketch, and that’s how this got
developed, and sometimes I don’t know why an application like this necessarily goes to
C.T. Male, but this one did, and the next one on Mr. Whalen also goes to C.T. Male, and
I’m not sure.
MRS. STEFFAN-Because it’s subdivision, I think. Because it’s subdivision, it has to go, I
think.
MR. VOLLARO-I think it’s a Staff call when it goes to C.T. Male.
MRS. BARDEN-It is. It’s a Zoning Administrator call on what gets sent.
MR. STEVES-I don’t believe that it’s a requirement that it has to be.
MR. VOLLARO-No. I will probably talk to Craig about, some of these, I think, you know,
on one or two lot subdivisions, flat, why do it anyway. Anyhow, I don’t have any further
comments on this one. I’m fine with it.
MRS. BARDEN-You have a public hearing.
MR. VOLLARO-Does anybody want to talk to this application?
PUBLIC HEARING OPENED
NO COMMENT
PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED
MR. VOLLARO-And now I will call for a motion for approval.
MRS. BARDEN-Do you want to do the SEQRA before you do that?
MR. VOLLARO-We have a Long Form SEQRA to go?
MRS. BARDEN-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-All right. Okay. Part II, Long Form SEQRA.
RESOLUTION WHEN DETERMINATION OF NO SIGNIFICANCE IS MADE
RESOLUTION NO. 4-2006, Introduced by Gretchen Steffan who moved for its adoption,
seconded by Anthony Metivier:
WHEREAS, there is presently before the Planning Board an application for:
LEE JARVIS, and
WHEREAS, this Planning Board has determined that the proposed project and Planning
Board action is subject to review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
RESOLVED:
1. No Federal agency appears to be involved.
2. The following agencies are involved:
NONE
3. The proposed action considered by this Board is Unlisted in the Department of
Environmental Conservation Regulations implementing the State Environmental
Quality Review Act and the regulations of the Town of Queensbury.
4. An Environmental Assessment Form has been completed by the applicant.
5. Having considered and thoroughly analyzed the relevant areas of environmental
concern and having considered the criteria for determining whether a project has
a significant environmental impact as the same is set forth in Section 617.11 of
the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations for the State of New
York, this Board finds that the action about to be undertaken by this Board will
have no significant environmental effect and the Chairman of the Planning Board
is hereby authorized to execute and sign and file as may be necessary a
statement of non-significance or a negative declaration that may be required by
law.
th
Duly adopted this 20 day of June, 2006, by the following vote:
AYES: Mr. Metivier, Mrs. Steffan, Mr. Sipp, Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Ford, Mrs. Bruno,
Mr. Vollaro
NOES: NONE
MR. STEVES-I just have one question, if that’s okay. I understand what you’re doing.
As far as the Preliminary, you’re asking for the C.T. Male signoff. What the C.T. Male is
basically asking for is what this Board has already now granted the waiver for. I just
wanted to confirm that. So I’ll pass this on to them that you were okay with the waiver
requests. I just wanted to make sure that that was put into any motion.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. The waiver request itself, you’re asking for waivers for two foot
contours.
MR. STEVES-That’s correct.
MR. VOLLARO-And we can put that in the motion if you want.
MR. STEVES-Understood. Absolutely, because that way I can pass that through to them
and we they can realize that it’s already been accepted by this Board.
MR. VOLLARO-When you come back with Final, the final drawing and all of that stuff,
make sure there’s a stamp on it.
MR. STEVES-Not a problem.
MR. VOLLARO-Does anybody want to make a motion?
MRS. STEFFAN-I’ll make a motion.
MOTION TO APPROVE PRELIMINARY STAGE SUBDIVISION NO. 4-2006 LEE
JARVIS, Introduced by Gretchen Steffan who moved for its adoption, seconded by
Thomas Ford:
WHEREAS, a preliminary subdivision application has been made to the Queensbury
Planning Board for the following: Subdivision of a 7.76 acre parcel into 3 residential lots
of 1.50, 1.55, and 3.84 acres respectively. Subdivisions of land require review by the
Planning Board.
WHEREAS, a public hearing was advertised and held on 6/20/06; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Board has determined that this proposal complies with the
subdivision application requirements of the code of the Town of Queensbury; Chapter A-
183 entitled subdivision of land; and
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WHEREAS, the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act have been
considered and the Planning Board has adopted a SEQRA Negative Declaration; and /or
if the modification is a modification, and the proposed modification[s] do not result in any
new or significantly different environmental impacts, and therefore no further SEQRA
review is necessary; and
WHEREAS, this application is supported with all documentation, public comment and
application material in the file of record; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we find this Preliminary application to be
Approved:
We would approve this application with the following conditions:
1. The waivers are granted for the two foot contours,
2. That we’ll be looking for stamped drawings upon their return,
3. And that we’ll be looking for a C.T. Male signoff.
th
Duly adopted this 20 day of June, by the following vote:
AYES: Mr. Ford, Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Sipp, Mrs. Steffan, Mrs. Bruno, Mr. Metivier,
Mr. Vollaro
NOES: NONE
MR. STEVES-Thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-That’s it, sir.
MR. JARVIS-Thank you.
SUBDIVISION NO. 3-2006 PRELIMINARY SEQR TYPE UNLISTED JOHN WHALEN
AGENT(S) VAN DUSEN & STEVES OWNER(S) SAME ZONING WR-1A, RC-15, LC-
42A LOCATION BIRDSALL ROAD APPLICANT PROPOSES A SUBDIVISION OF A
6.31 ACRE PARCEL INTO 4 RESIDENTIAL LOTS OF 1.12, 1.26, 1.39 AND 2.33
ACRES. SUBDIVISIONS OF LAND REQUIRE REVIEW BY THE PLANNING BOARD.
CROSS REFERENCE 3/28/06 SKETCH WARREN CO. PLANNING N/A LOT SIZE
40.29 ACRES TAX MAP NO. 289.17-1-1 SECTION A-183
MATT STEVES & MICHAEL O’CONNOR, REPRESENTING APPLICANT, PRESENT
MR. VOLLARO-Would the applicants like to identify themselves for the record, please.
MR. O'CONNOR-For the purposes of the record, I’m Michael O’Connor from the law firm
of Little & O’Connor. I represent the applicant. With us at the table is the applicant, John
Whalen, and Matt Steves, who’s the surveyor for the project.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MR. STEVES-Do you want me to briefly describe it and we can go through some
comments?
MR. VOLLARO-We’ve seen this at SEQRA. There’s been some changes, however, not
SEQRA, sorry, at Sketch. There have been some changes from Sketch to this
application.
MR. STEVES-I’ll go through those. This is a four lot subdivision that is the property
located on Birdsall Road, just past the County bike path, heading toward Glen Lake.
When we had first come in here, we were looking at putting in a cul de sac down along, if
anybody’s been up to the site, there’s an existing road that goes down through there,
which was the old railroad bed, where the Niagara Mohawk line runs right next, parallel
to that, then back just a little bit to the west of that you have the County bike path, and
slightly west of that, again, you have another large Niagara Mohawk line. There’s a
service line that runs down the old railroad, and we looked at it and we had talked about
the grading in there with the banks on both sides, and if there was a way to not impact
that much grading, and we would like to be able to put in a Town road and then we
listened to this Board, we looked at it, engineering wise. Tom Nace and myself went out
with Mr. Whalen, looked at the property and said, you know, we have an existing road
here, driveway here, that we don’t have to clear anymore. To put in a cul de sac with the
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radius and the clearing requirements for grading a cul de sac, we just looked at the
impact and said there’s no way. It’s crazy. Why impact that much property, the idea
would be to keep the buffer that is in place between the existing driveway and to the
west, to the bike path, and now we don’t have to touch it. So, that was the change in the
subdivision. I know that there was a Staff comment regarding other properties that Mr.
Whalen owns that is divided by the County bike path and the County ownership as being
a fifth lot. If the Board wants to consider that a fifth lot, understood, but at the same time,
it is not reviewable by the Department of Health, unlike the Staff comments have
indicated. The Department of Health only reviews subdivisions of five lots or more under
five acres. We have four lots of an acre in size, and the remaining property is 35. So
the Department of Health is non-jurisdictional. As far as the lot configuration itself,
nothing has changed except for the fact that the three lots on the westerly side would
then share that, two lots, I should say, on the westerly end would share the driveway,
and the two lots that border on Birdsall Road would have their driveways coming off of
Birdsall Road. The one on the easterly side most likely would enter in right where the
little driveway is to the north side, in front of the two existing cottages, but that’s not a
definite, depending on where somebody would want to build on that lot.
MRS. STEFFAN-That was the question I had.
MR. STEVES-We’ve shown the clearing limits, the septic systems. We do have the perc
rate that we do not need 200 feet separation from the lake, but we did provide the 200
feet separation from the lake. I don’t think there’s too many sites on Glen Lake that the
septic system does comply with the 100 feet, much less 200 feet. So we were able to
comply with that, and in large part due to the fact that we didn’t have to provide a cul de
sac. He does own the other five parcels on the lake that we had discussed during
Sketch Plan, and that there could be attached four different portions of the five tax
parcels he owns independently to the lots as non-buildable areas. There won’t be any
houses built down there. I think that helps substantially with existing five lots that are
nonconforming that could be sold. We’re asking to attach them to these lots as lakefront
access only, and to place a dock like you would typically see on Glen Lake, a dock with a
“T” on the end for a chair, but no houses will be developed on those lots.
MR. FORD-No boathouses?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes. He plans to put a boathouse on there, I believe.
MR. O'CONNOR-You might be able to. I think that’s up to the individual purchaser of the
lots.
MR. STEVES-Purchaser.
MR. O'CONNOR-Probably on the two lots that have 75 feet of frontage, you’d be able to
accommodate a boathouse. On the two lots that have 50 foot, you wouldn’t be able to
accommodate a boathouse, because you have to have 20 feet on each side of whatever
you put in there, side setbacks projected out into the water. So if you were going to put
a, you’d be limited to 10 foot. Probably on these two lots, Lots Three and Four, I think,
the most that they would have would be a “T” that goes out into the lake, probably four
feet, five feet wide in the center, so that they maintain the proper setback from each of
the neighboring, adjoining property lines. On the other two, conceivably you could put a
boathouse. Forty feet would leave you thirty-six feet in the center of the lot. So, that
would have to come back to you for site plan approval, and I think that’s the way it
operates.
MR. FORD-Thank you.
MR. STEVES-But again, they would only be for the lake use, not to try to build a house
there.
MR. VOLLARO-I understand. These are pre-existing lots, and that’s how we get away
from the 150 foot requirement.
MR. STEVES-That’s correct.
MR. O'CONNOR-He actually has given them up as pre-existing lots by attaching them to
the back land. Right now he could sell them individually without consideration of the
back land if you wanted to.
MR. VOLLARO-But he’s attaching it to.
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MR. O'CONNOR-He’s attaching it to it, and as Matt said, we’ll do some restrictive
covenants. John wants to put as much in writing as he can that says that the people
could use them for access to the lake. They probably will have stairs on them. They
probably may want a small accessory building down there for storage, water skis,
whatever you have near the lake, but that’ll have to all be.
MR. FORD-Well, that’s what I was getting at, trying to get at was what kind of structures
would be down there? I know no houses, but.
MR. O'CONNOR-Small accessory structures, that would have to abide by the setbacks.
One of the setbacks is 50 feet from the lake. I don’t think there’s any difference between
accessory and a principal structure in a lakeshore zone. I’ll have to check that.
MR. STEVES-If they wanted to put a shed in there, 10 by 10, 10 by 12, for storage.
You’re not going to want to haul your water skis back and forth, but we’re not talking
building a 60 by 50 garage or something down at the lake, no.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I have some questions, I guess, on the calculations for density.
MR. STEVES-Okay.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re going to have to include in your density calculations that 33 foot
wide Town road, Birdsall Road.
MR. STEVES-It’s not included in the area of the lots. That’s an ownership, the right of
way, when we say right of way, it’s a two rod road, which is owned by the Town. That’s a
Town road that the area was not, when we calculated the density, the road area was
already subtracted.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. How about the NiMo easement?
MR. STEVES-The Niagara Mohawk easement runs down the edge of the driveway, the
old railroad bed, and Niagara Mohawk has no set width. It’s just an easement to run a
feeder line to the camps.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I was looking for a width on this drawing and I didn’t see one. Is
that the reason?
MR. O’CONNOR-At the best it’s a pole line easement.
MR. VOLLARO-Pole line easement.
MR. O'CONNOR-Pole line without plottable definition of size, or whatever.
MR. STEVES-But again, Bob, if you took out, even if there was a width associated with
it, like a 20 foot, for the length of what’s in Lot Two, it wouldn’t do anything to it.
MR. VOLLARO-It would do much. Yes.
MR. STEVES-And one other thing is we had the test pits done and then we went back
and had them re-done, if you’ll recall, during the time that was required by the Town. We
had them re-done with Tom Nace.
MR. FORD-Was there one done in Lot One?
MR. STEVES-Yes.
MR. VOLLARO-One of the things is a tradeoff in here, I guess, just let me explore that
with you. When we did Sketch, I think you talked about and agreed to the house would
be about 150 feet from the lake, but I think what you’ve done is you’ve put the septic in a
much better place.
MR. STEVES-No question.
MR. VOLLARO-And I would trade the septic positions off for the house position at any
day. So I’m not unhappy with that.
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MR. STEVES-And the houses are still, basically on the two lots, at least at least 150, and
the other two there may be 135, because those lots on the frontage of the lake now are
over 100 foot in depth, but taking the road out of the equation, the disturbance area is
reduced substantially, and then allows us to pull the septics 200 feet from the lake. I
think it’s a win/win.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, that, to me, is a giant step. This is the kind of stuff that I like to see,
in terms of the way bodies of water are protected. That’s all, no more than that.
MR. O'CONNOR-I’ll say this to you. When John first came to me and talked to me about
this and Matt talked to me, I was surprised that he had the acreage that he could attach.
I mean, there’s probably only three other lots on the lake, the one down at the far end
and the two that Al Christensen owns, and none of those lands are as deep as this. I
don’t think there’s any. There’s one vacant one on St. Mary’s Bay.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, this is certainly a plus in terms of protecting the lake, that’s for
sure.
MR. O'CONNOR-This comes very close to being a conservation subdivision.
MRS. BRUNO-Will these lots be developed before they’re sold off, or are these going to
be sold as lots?
MR. O'CONNOR-I think Mr. Whalen has expressed that he’s not a builder. So, he will
probably put the, we’ll get the approvals, and put the infrastructure in that we need to do,
and then market the lots individually, is probably the best way that he would operate, but
that doesn’t preclude him from saying, okay, I’ve got four approved lots. You want to be
the exclusive developer, you buy the whole package from me, but it won’t change the
development as to who does it.
MR. FORD-Restrictions.
MR. O'CONNOR-Restrictions.
MR. VOLLARO-The only thing there is that whoever develops, whether it’s one
developer or whether it turns out to be four, one on each lot, is to make sure that the
septics remain where they are, based on the fact that the test pits and percolation tests
were done in those areas.
MR. STEVES-That’s understandable. No problem. We’ve had other ones, Bob, where
we’ve stipulated that they would be staked in the field.
MR. SEGULJIC-You’ve indicated you have no cut zones listed on the map.
MR. STEVES-No, clearing limits.
MR. SEGULJIC-Clearing limits, but I don’t think they’re labeled as such.
MR. STEVES-Yes, we show a typically clearing limit on each lot. It’s just a clouded area.
It might be in the legend.
MR. SEGULJIC-If you could just label those as clearing limits.
MR. FORD-While you’re up there, could you please show us where the test pit was doe
on One?
MR. STEVES-Right where the perc test is on One.
MR. FORD-I see the perc test.
MR. VOLLARO-The perc test and then this is the rate, one inch in thirty seconds. That’s
what the perc is. This is, the perc test is right here, “PT”.
MR. FORD-That’s different from the test pit.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re on Lot Three.
MR. FORD-Yes, and I wanted to see that symbol on Lot One.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. VOLLARO-TP you want to see on Lot One.
MR. FORD-That’s right, and I don’t see it. You see what I don’t see?
MR. STEVES-Yes. Well, then I’ve got two comments now, to label the clearing limits
and then correct that to show the test pit data as well as the perc test.
MR. VOLLARO-That’ll be on the Final?
MR. STEVES-Yes. We went back and we did four deep tests originally, and we went
back and re-did four more. One reason to slide one test pit further to the west as
requested during the Sketch Plan, and also to do them during the high groundwater
period.
MR. O'CONNOR-If you see the soil test information, they’ve got the results listed, but
they don’t show you where on the map it is.
MR. STEVES-They were the old test pits on there. I apologize for that. Maybe I could
blame Mr. Nace. He’s not here.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-We have been to the site before, but I’m assuming, actually this is
recollection, that there are some big trees in there. I’d like to see some of those
protected, if this is developed. Even if it’s, you know, it’s subdivided and sold off. I think
we need to make some notations here that some of that’s protected.
MR. STEVES-Where we have shown the housing on the property, as Gretchen pointed
out, is to try to fit them in between some of the larger trees and where some of those little
side slopes, even though it looks a lot steeper than it is because these are one foot
contours. If you’ve walked up in there, you’ll notice that there’s remnants of a lot of old
cabins on here. I think Jack can attest to, how many were there at one time, six or
seven?
JOHN WHALEN
MR. WHALEN-Yes, well there were six buildings on it when I bought it. I tore down the
four which were on Lot One, Two, and Three. I tore those down and I didn’t have the
heart to take down the two matching ones. So I re-roofed those and left them to await
their fate.
MR. STEVES-But where the houses are shown and the clearing limits is predominantly
within the smaller, brushier stuff that is on the lot now.
MRS. BRUNO-I wanted to make a completely unofficial suggestion, and that just is, if
somebody were to come in here and purchase one of these pieces or whatever, they
might appreciate having a couple of pictures of the camps taken before they’re
demolished, just for, you know, if there’s an architect that’s sensitive to bringing in some
of that. If I remember right, the roof lines were typical Adirondack camp.
MR. WHALEN-Hip roofs, yes.
MRS. BRUNO-It might just be.
MR. WHALEN-Yes, I can take some pictures, and maybe Paul can take some pictures.
Yes, I think we’ll have to do that.
MR. FORD-What’s the status on the DEC and what has not been submitted, as far as
Karner blue butterfly habitat?
MR. STEVES-That was sent to Kathy O’Brien, because the Town, in going through their
Karner blue report a few years ago, identified some areas up in the CEA area as
potential. That’s predominantly in the cleared area up near the Warren County bike
path, on the sides of that, and over on the other side where you had the old gravel pit.
She didn’t have any issues with this area. I’ve tried to contact her again today for the
letter and she’s been out in the field for the last two weeks and will still be in the field for
the next two week and please leave me a message and she’ll get back to me after she
returns because the Karner blue is in their brood at this point. So she’s out watching her
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butterflies every day for the next couple of weeks. So before we come back for Final, I
will have that letter from her.
MR. O'CONNOR-Or looking for her butterflies.
MR. STEVES-It was too heavily wooded.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I don’t think you’d see anything on that site, unless, you know,
places that have been constantly mowed and sandy will grow the lupine, but other than
that, in shaded areas.
MR. STEVES-More concerned with the old gravel area on the other side, west of this,
and along the southeasterly side of the bike path where it gets some of the good sun.
MR. VOLLARO-If we ever get any sun.
MR. FORD-There’s a public hearing on this.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, there is, but I want to get a couple, what’s the story with the need to
supply the SWPPP. You said that you’re underneath the?
MR. STEVES-Tom Nace was doing that, and he said that he providing that. He was
talking with C.T. Male today.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So that’s going to be provided.
MR. STEVES-That is going to be provided. It’s very close to the acres, so he already
has it prepared. He’s been in discussions with C.T. Male today when I was in the office.
MR. VOLLARO-So basically if you come in with a signoff on the C.T. Male letter of
6/08/06, then that would be fine. Go over with me one more time why we don’t need to
look at the entire 40.29 acre parcel showing.
MR. O'CONNOR-It’s not a contiguous part of the parcel. They’re separated in ownership
by the lands of the Niagara Mohawk and the County of Warren.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Is that, I see.
MR. O'CONNOR-I think on the location map you can see, even on the location map,
which is a copy, it’s in the lower left hand corner, it’s a copy of the tax map. You can see
the separation of ownership.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I see it, and that separation is basically Birdsall Road.
MR. O'CONNOR-No, it’s a Niagara Mohawk heavy transportation or heavy duty line and
the bike trail.
MR. STEVES-Take a look, Bob. That’s our Lot Four. He also owns all this.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I’ve got you. All right, and that’s where Niagara Mohawk breaks
that continuity?
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes, that’s an ownership from Niagara Mohawk where in the
subdivision along the common driveway we show an easement for their feeder line.
MR. VOLLARO-I’ve got it. I didn’t realize when I looked at that.
MR. O'CONNOR-And also that bike trail is separately owned. That’s owned by the
County.
MR. VOLLARO-So it certainly separates that site from the rest of it. Yes, I’ve got it.
Okay. Karner blue we’ll find out from Kathy what she’s going to do.
MR. STEVES-She didn’t have any issue with it, but I just, like I say, in the last couple of
weeks she’s been tied up with the outdoors.
MR. VOLLARO-The waiver of the stormwater management plan. You’ve asked for a
waiver for that.
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MR. STEVES-Yes, but we’re preparing the SWPPP as well, though.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re going to do that, and what about the waiver of the grading plan?
Now this is in part of the C.T. Male signoff, and they recommended not approving that.
MR. STEVES-Like I say, in discussions with Tom, before leaving the office this evening,
in discussions he had with C.T. Male, it was so close he’s going to prepare that, and
during that, within the SWPPP he’s going to have a generic graded plan for each of the
lots.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. So that’s going to be done. So that’s okay.
MR. STEVES-Again, we can guarantee the exact shape of the buildings, but we can sure
say that this is basically what’s going to be done on each lot.
MR. VOLLARO-On the clearing limits, what we’ve been asked to do by a member of
Staff, I guess Bruce Frank has asked us, when you’re doing the clearing limits, to flag
those with an orange flagging, so when he goes out, he knows approximately what the
clearing limit’s were to be.
MR. STEVES-Prior to construction.
MR. VOLLARO-Prior to construction.
MR. STEVES-Certainly. Like I say, that has been done in the past as well as staking the
septic system, and that’s fine.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-But if they’re sold, then you don’t own them.
MR. STEVES-To be honest with you, I don’t have an issue with that, because as a
surveyor for the projects I do, I basically return to 95 to 99% of them to stake the house,
the septic, and the clearing limits.
MR. O'CONNOR-You can’t get a building permit without a survey showing location of
your proposed structure and you can’t, new construction you can’t do a closing without
having an as built survey. So there’s other people that have already put controls into the
system that makes you, not makes you, but brings Matt back out to the site, prior to
construct and then after construction.
MR. FORD-It makes a protracted sequence here.
MR. STEVES-Every lot that we develop I end up going back and staking out the home
and the clearing limits and the septic and the well.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t have any other questions. I think all my questions have been
answered. How about anybody else on the Board have any questions on this now that
we’ve been through it? My checklist is finished.
MR. FORD-Mine is, too.
MR. O'CONNOR-Do you have a public hearing, Mr. Chairman?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, we do.
MR. O'CONNOR-You have neighbors here.
MR. VOLLARO-I just want to look over my stuff. I’ll open the public hearing. I think
we’re finished with our questions. Okay. I’m going to open the public hearing. Is there
anybody here that would like to speak to this application at all?
PUBLIC HEARING OPENED
GEORGE WINTERS
MR. WINTERS-My name is George Winters. I’m here to represent Leesha Cushing,
Leesha Kingsley, and she owns Birdsall, 101 Birdsall Road, and she lives right next to
the property. Her property, my concern would be where they’re putting their septic tank.
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Is that 100 foot away from my daughter’s well? They’re all wells there. I don’t know if
they’re going to put in wells.
MR. VOLLARO-I need to know where that is, because I can’t tell that from the maps that
we’ve been given because it doesn’t have the adjacent properties.
MR. WINTERS-I don’t know if it’s shown on here or not.
MR. VOLLARO-No, it doesn’t show that, does it?
MR. STEVES-If you can just show me where you’re talking about. Here’s Birdsall Road.
MR. WINTERS-Okay. Her land would be in the back of here. These are the camps?
MR. STEVES-Correct.
MR. WINTERS-Yes, and 60 foot, I’d say 60 foot back. Are you putting Town water in?
MR. STEVES-No.
MR. WINTERS-No.
MR. FORD-What would be the approximate distance?
MR. STEVES-Approximately 130 feet.
MR. FORD-Thank you.
MR. STEVES-If you’d like, we did locate that well, I can show that well. We located all
the water sources from around the area, so that we can confirm within 100 feet. He’s
saying he’s about, the well’s about 60 feet to the northeast of the property line near
those buildings, and if you look at that going 60 feet to the northeast, and then coming
over to our septic, it’s well over the 100 feet, but I would gladly show that and confirm
that for Final.
MR. VOLLARO-Why don’t you just, on your Final map, why don’t you just put it on there,
so we know.
MR. STEVES-Absolutely.
MR. VOLLARO-Because it’s an adjoining well.
MR. FORD-Great.
MR. STEVES-Yes, no problem.
MR. WINTERS-I don’t know if this is where to bring it up or not, but the traffic on that
road, you know, that’s a narrow road. I don’t think it’s as wide as a normal Town road,
and then the Town has the bikes going up through there, and if you come up over the top
of the hill and stuff, I don’t know whether there would be any impact on more houses in
there, but say if they develop all the land down in there, there certainly would, you know,
that’s bad right now, but most of the people in there go slow. They’re familiar with the
area, and they go slow through there, but if you get a lot more houses in there, and then
when you come just over the hill, Marley Way cuts off there, then you just come up over
the top of the hill, they put the other houses up in there, and the bike trail, the Town of
Queensbury should widen that. For a bike, to get the bikes off the road, they’re actually
on the road, because that’s a narrow road. They stay right in the middle of the road.
That’s one other concern I had, too.
MR. FORD-That’s a County, the bike path is County.
MR. WINTERS-Yes, but it goes right on that road. That’s my only concerns, I guess.
Thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Thank you.
MRS. STEFFAN-Thank you, Mr. Winters.
PAUL DERBY
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MR. DERBY-Paul Derby, 86 Ash Drive, also President of the Glen Lake Protective
Association. I’d say overall the project looks pretty good. We have very few open
spaces left on the lake. I’m sure you know that. This is one of the few, so of course
we’re concerned about that. I’d also like to mention that there were, earlier tonight, 11
neighbors from right around the area that were here because they wanted to see what
was going on. We did see the map, and they had to go home and go to sleep. So we
always are concerned what’s going on. Really I just have questions, and maybe some
are procedure you can answer right here, and then the applicant can, if we come back. I
am somewhat concerned about that so called fifth lot, the 34 acres in the back. I know
it’s zoned differently. It’s not attached to this, the RC-15 and the LC-42 lot, and I guess I
would ask that it be stipulated that anything in the future that happens on that lot not be
connected to the lake in any way. I’m not sure we can do that.
MR. VOLLARO-You mean right of ways or usage?
MR. DERBY-Yes, if there’s a right of way or something in there. I mean, I’d love to see
that remain green space, but it’s private property.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re talking about lake rights, that kind of thing.
MR. DERBY-Yes, lake rights. Those types of things. I believe just since you mentioned
the boathouse, I think you need 300 feet of lake front to put a boathouse in, according to
the new regs, but just a note.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I think all these four connecting lots up here, the 50’s and these are
all pre-existing lots.
MR. DERBY-Right.
MR. VOLLARO-So I don’t know that you can apply that to these. In the future you will,
but these are pre-existing. So if they can get, and meet the side setbacks, like Mr.
O’Connor was talking about, probably nothing on the 50’s, but on the 75’s I think they
could sneak something in out there. It looks very small, a dock.
MR. DERBY-Okay. Docks you can put in.
MR. FORD-He was talking about a boathouse.
MR. DERBY-I’m talking about boathouses.
MR. VOLLARO-Boathouses.
MR. DERBY-Yes, I think you’d need much more space than that.
MR. VOLLARO-Much more space for a boathouse.
MR. DERBY-But docks you can put on any of those. I had a question about if there are
such things as restrictive covenants, such as no buildings being put on the lakefront
properties or positions of septics. I’m curious about the process of that. Are they put in
to the deed, and do they transfer with selling of lots? So for example if there were
restrictions put on at this point, and then those sold, do they transfer with that sale?
MR. VOLLARO-I think once a deed is drawn, and it’s got deed restrictions on it, I know
my deed has deed restrictions on it when I bought it, and it would pass when I sell it, I
would assume.
MR. FORD-That was also a recommendation, a Staff comment that deed restrictions,
that no residential would be built on the waterfront portion of the lots would be
appropriate.
MRS. STEFFAN-I think, in addition to that, because this is a subdivision, you’d need plat
notations because the deed restrictions can be on the deed, but they’re not enforceable.
The plat notations allow the Town to be able to take enforcement action on that.
MR. STEVES-The Town can enforce, but the deed restrictions would be left to the other
owners.
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes. You have to rat your neighbor out if you want some kind of
enforcement.
MR. DERBY-That’s what I was just curious about. So what’s a plat notation? Is that
something you put in?
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes, that’s notations right on the plat. There’s something noted. It’s a
direction for the Code Enforcement people.
MR. DERBY-Okay.
MR. FORD-It’s good to have both.
MRS. STEFFAN-We’ve learned.
MR. DERBY-With the lakefront properties that are going to be attached to where they’re
going to build in the back, I know that people would have to cross over roads, either
Birdsall or Canterbury, in some cases, to actually get to those lakefront properties, and if
that was a concern at all about having to pass a public road to get from one to the other,
if there were going to be pathways.
MR. VOLLARO-You mean for somebody that’s in Lot Number Four to get to?
MR. DERBY-If you were Number Three, I think, which is right there in the corner of
Birdsall, and you went down to your lakefront property, you’d have to cross over a road
to get there, and I didn’t know if that was a public concern about having to cross a road.
MRS. BRUNO-I think it’s for the house owner.
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, if you lived on Four, you’d have to cross Birdsall to get to your lot.
MRS. STEFFAN-No, there’s a little road that goes down in here.
MR. DERBY-There’s a little road that goes the other way also.
MR. VOLLARO-There is?
MRS. STEFFAN-Because see there’s other lands here.
MR. VOLLARO-The asphalt drive. So they have to cross this.
MR. DERBY-Yes, those are private drives.
MR. VOLLARO-They’re private drives. They’d have to cross that.
MR. DERBY-Okay. Can you tell me what a clearing limit is?
MR. VOLLARO-Where they have this notation on the drawing where it’s squiggly lines,
the house is set in there and then the clearing limits are where the house is. These
areas here, these are all clearing limits. The outside of these represent the limits of
clearing, and they get flagged, so when the house is being built, the guy doesn’t come
with the bulldozer and bulldoze all this out. It has to remain as open space.
MR. DERBY-Okay, because that’s one of our concerns, the visual impact on the lake,
and it is such a beautiful space up there with those trees. We’d love to see as many
trees as possible kept on the lot.
MR. VOLLARO-I think that that was Mrs. Steffan’s position as well.
MR. DERBY-Okay. Just a few more. The septic systems are away from the lake, and
we think that’s great.
MR. VOLLARO-I’ll trade that off for most other stuff.
MR. DERBY-Yes. Definitely. Hopefully they’re sloping away from the lake. I think they
are in most cases on those lots. I’m wondering why there would be a stormwater waiver
for this.
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MR. VOLLARO-They’re not asking for that. It’s going to be done by Mr. Nace, I believe.
There’s going to be a SWPPP done, which is a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan.
MR. DERBY-Okay. Similarly, the actual lakefront lots themselves, we would like to see
really some kind of stipulation to minimize the tree cutting on those lots.
MR. VOLLARO-That’s what the clearing limits are all about.
MR. DERBY-On the building lots or the front lots by the lake?
MR. VOLLARO-Well, on the front lots. You mean these 50 foot lots?
MR. DERBY-Correct.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t even know, there’s nothing shown on those lots, as far as clearing
limits are concerned.
MR. DERBY-Right.
MR. VOLLARO-Because they don’t plan on building anything on those lots.
MR. DERBY-Correct, but there’s nothing to preclude the owner to go down and take out
trees, except you can only take so many trees within the Critical Environmental Area.
MRS. BRUNO-Well, don’t these smaller lots become really part of the larger lot, so if you
were looking at these clearing limits, they’re really beyond the limit, or within the limit, I
should say.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re saying that the limit extends all the way up into the lot?
MRS. BRUNO-Right, because that is no longer its own little lot. It’s part of the larger.
MR. DERBY-Okay, well, if we could stipulate that, and that’s the case, that would
probably save a lot.
MR. VOLLARO-Matt, can you put something like that on your Final?
MR. STEVES-Yes.
MR. O'CONNOR-With limitations. I’ll respond to that.
MR. STEVES-With limitations.
MR. DERBY-Okay.
MRS. BRUNO-Well, we didn’t go, at least I didn’t go down that far, and I haven’t spent a
lot of time on Glen Lake, unfortunately. How treed are those areas closer to the water?
MR. DERBY-Very. I mean, they’ve all re-grown, tree lots. They’re nice. Then just one
personal note, this is not coming from the Association, but I am an anthropologist by
profession, and I know that there are some, that site on Birdsall, there is potential that
there are some significant archeological finds up on that hillside. For example, perhaps
our oldest prehistoric site, some 5, 6,000 years ago, was an identified Birdsall site in that
area, and also, even with the buildings that have been taken down, some of our very nice
history, when the railroad went through there and the old Glen Lake hotel, as it was, and
the little buildings were there, and I didn’t know if there would be any way to build in an
idea that either looking for finds, or if something emerged at that time. I’m not sure how
the process works, but I just wanted to make you aware that the potential is there for
that. I think that’s all I have.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I thank you very much.
MR. DERBY-Thanks.
MRS. BARDEN-I have one written comment if there’s nobody else from the public that
wants to speak.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t see anybody else that wants to talk on this.
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MRS. BARDEN-This is an e-mail from Russell Pittenger to Craig Brown, dated today,
th
Tuesday, June 20. Subject is John Whalen Four Lot Subdivision. “Chairman Vollaro
and Planning Board members: We are seasonal residents of Birdsall Road, and have
long had an interest and concern for how this parcel would be developed. Upon review
of the design plans, I believe this is an appropriate and reasonable proposal, deserving
of the Board’s consideration and approval. I am confident that the Board will exercise
care in their review to protect the lake quality, preserve shoreline vegetation, and insure
use of the appropriate stormwater controls during construction. Given the construction
within these parameters, I believe this project will be an asset to the neighborhood.
Russell Pittenger 139 Birdsall Road”
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Thank you, Susan.
MRS. BARDEN-You’re welcome.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I think we’re in pretty good shape here. We have to do a SEQRA
on this, I believe.
MR. O'CONNOR-I’d like to make one comment, and I understand what Paul just said
about the lake lots, and probably for our benefit we would probably show or try to figure
out each of those lots would have a beach area that would be cleared, and I don’t want
to leave an impression that it wouldn’t be. I think there are lakeshore cutting restrictions
that says that you can cut 35% of your frontage, or something to that effect, which is
typical. I mean, somebody is not going to buy a lot with lake frontage and not want to
have some cleared area down there where they can sit with their family, swim, bath, do
all the stuff that they normally do. So I don’t want to leave the impression that the
clearing limits extend all the way to the lake, and maybe we ought to show that, Matt. I
hate to show too much stuff, because you may get down there and find out there’s a big
rock right there and the guy wants to move it a little bit over to the other side, but I mean,
this’ll be a generalization. This is good deep water off here, if you’ve been down to the
lake. The other comment, I don’t know how you’d tie the other parcel into this parcel.
We probably would not be willing to do that. It’s a separate parcel, separate zone. We
don’t have any particular plans for it.
MR. VOLLARO-Are you talking about the beach rights?
MR. O’CONNOR-The beach rights, and whether or not we would give beach rights, it’s
not our plan to do that, but if somebody eventually somehow or other that becomes
residential and they have their brother-in-law over there and they want to give him beach
rights, then I think they abide by the rules of the Town. I don’t think you can give beach
rights on a 50 foot parcel or you might be able to on a 75 foot parcel, but I’d have to look
at that. There is a specific provision in the Ordinance that says when you can grant
upland beach rights, and I just don’t think that that would be reasonable to say that
they’ve got to waive that, unknown what’s going to happen.
MR. VOLLARO-It may stay that way.
MR. O'CONNOR-I don’t know.
MRS. STEFFAN-What about rental properties? That just jumped into my head, because
somewhere in our package we were talking about rental properties. Any kind of
restrictions on whether we would not want these to be rental properties? I know this is
kind of a gray area.
MR. O'CONNOR-Will you guarantee that the taxes will be such that everybody can
afford to not rent their property? There’s a lot of people on Glen Lake that never rented
their property before that now with the new assessments are picking a week, picking two
weeks, and they’re renting them to cover part of their taxes, and I think you’ll find more of
that happening until we get some other relief for taxes. I think you’ll also find that on
Lake George. So, I mean, that’s an individual right to rent your property if you choose.
MR. VOLLARO-Well, what’s happening on Lake George is a little bit different, I think.
We’ll discuss that at another time, but I think we’re.
MR. STEVES-You’re talking like a cottage colony.
MR. O'CONNOR-No, typical Glen Lake rentals are a week, some are two weeks. Some
are a month. There’s a few places that rent for the summer. They’re not overnight type.
The only place on Glen Lake that you can stay is Glenmore. That’s the only two
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commercial places on the Lake is Glenmore and the Docksider, and that doesn’t have
residential.
MR. VOLLARO-Let’s say I wanted to buy the whole thing, and put a motel here instead,
what would happen to that? The zoning wouldn’t allow that.
MRS. STEFFAN-No, but if bought those two or three parcels and I put buildings on there
and then I rented them out, I don’t know.
MR. METIVIER-There’s no way to regulate that, though, you know.
MRS. STEFFAN-Yes.
MR. STEVES-It’s zoned for single family homes. I built a single family home, whether I
occupy it or I rent it out on a monthly basis, it’s still a single family home.
MR. VOLLARO-I don’t think that’s is what this will gravitate to.
MRS. STEFFAN-I hope not. There was a letter to the editor in the paper this week about
that issue. It was on Lake George, but you could visualize what the neighbors were
going through, and it just popped in. So I thought I’d put it out there.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay.
MRS. BARDEN-Can I just interject one comment on the shoreline regulations. There is
a cutting restriction for 35 feet extending inland from the mean high water mark, no
vegetation may be removed. The exception is allowance for lake access, but anything
within that 35 feet has to be deemed by the Town okay the removal of any diseased or
damaged trees.
MR. VOLLARO-Does that say that if I buy one of these lots I can clear from the mean
high water mark back 35 feet?
MRS. BARDEN-It means that you cannot do that.
MR. VOLLARO-You cannot do that.
MRS. BARDEN-The exception is lake access. There is an exception to this standard,
shall be an allowance for lake access and beaches, and there is a stipulation. It’s 35 feet
back from the mean high water mark, inland from the mean high water mark.
MR. O'CONNOR-Is there a width? I don’t recall if there’s a width.
MR. FORD-That’s the length of it, so how wide can it be?
MR. METIVIER-As wide as the lot is.
MR. FORD-Fifty feet?
MRS. BARDEN-That’s the depth.
MR. FORD-Yes, and can it be fifty feet wide?
MRS. BARDEN-From the mean high water mark 35 feet inland.
MR. FORD-Right, and can it be fifty feet wide if my lot is fifty feet wide?
MRS. BARDEN-It’s from the entire mean high water mark.
MR. STEVES-The restriction is 35 feet back you can’t do anything, and it’s for the entire
width of your lot.
MRS. BARDEN-For your entire lot length.
MR. STEVES-Except for access and beaches.
MR. O'CONNOR-And I don’t know, does it define lake access?
MR. FORD-Right, that’s what I was getting at.
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MR. STEVES-Right. So you know what width you’re actually.
MR. O'CONNOR-The only thing it says Lake George Park Commission.
MR. STEVES-Right, restrictions says that, and you’re asking whether or not I can claim
the whole width of the lot as access?
MR. FORD-Right.
MR. O'CONNOR-I don’t know. I think it has to be reasonable. I thought you could take
up to 35%, but I may be thinking about APA regulations, on a total gross, looking at
what’s within that no cut zone basically that 35 feet, you could take up to 35%, but I may.
MRS. BARDEN-It does say that the creation of a contiguous clear cut opening in the
buffer strip shall not exceed 20% of the shoreline frontage of any individual lot.
MR. O'CONNOR-Okay. Must be an awful lot of violators on Glen Lake.
MR. FORD-Kind of.
MR. O'CONNOR-Ten feet wide doesn’t give you a very big access.
MRS. BARDEN-But that 35 feet should be shown.
MR. O'CONNOR-The other comment that was made is about upland access, and neither
of these lots would qualify. None of these lots would qualify for upland access. I think
you need.
MRS. BARDEN-A total of not less than 100 linear feet of shoreline.
MR. O'CONNOR-100 lineal feet. You need 100 lineal feet before you can start granting
upland access, I think, reading it quickly. I haven’t read that in a while.
MR. STEVES-And then so much per every lot on top of the first lot.
MR. O'CONNOR-Yes.
MR. STEVES-Twenty-five feet, and then five for each additional. By the time you add
two lots, that’s 135 feet of frontage.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. We’ve got to go through SEQRA, folks.
MRS. STEFFAN-Do we require another EAF for this because it’s, or do we decide?
MR. VOLLARO-It’s a Long Form.
MRS. STEFFAN-I know, but it says the EAF has to be revised. Can we do the SEQRA?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, there’s a small revision to the EAF.
MRS. STEFFAN-Matt did say that because this is in a contiguous parcel, that it may not
require it being done, but I don’t know. I’m not sure.
MR. VOLLARO-I think that stipulation, make a minor correction to Part I EAF Page Two
of Staff notes.
MRS. STEFFAN-Because the entire parcel, and that’s the back parcel on the other side
of the bike trail, but what Mr. Steves said, it’s not contiguous. So it shouldn’t be
considered a 40 acre parcel.
MRS. BARDEN-It is identified as one tax map number. It’s identified as all inclusive in
one tax map number, the 40 acres.
MR. VOLLARO-The 40 acres is all one tax map number?
MRS. BARDEN-It is.
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MR. O'CONNOR-Which is illegal, and the Assessor will tell you that. You can’t put flags,
you can’t tie parcels that are separated by separate ownership by flags. It actually was
to the advantage of taxpayers, because that way they ended up with more surplus land
and less prime land, and ended up with lower assessments. We’re going through that
right now. Your father went through it over on Hall Road. They had property on both
sides of Hall Road attached by a flag, under the same tax map number. It’s not the same
parcel.
MR. STEVES-At this time, I understand your dilemma, but that’s not a building lot at this
time. We didn’t include that. We didn’t show the test pit data, the house, the well, the
septic. Anything that happens on that lot will come back in front of this Board as a
complete review of that parcel. So however you want to word it on the Long Form, I don’t
think it really makes a difference. If you want to include it.
MR. VOLLARO-I’ve got to take a look at the way the Long Form reads first.
MR. O'CONNOR-It says proposed four lot subdivision.
MR. VOLLARO-What page of the Long Form did you want to have corrected? Do you
remember that? Is it Five?
MRS. STEFFAN-Page Five of Twenty-One does say that it’s a 40 acre parcel, under the
Project Description, total contiguous acres.
MR. STEVES-Contiguous owned or controlled.
MRS. STEFFAN-Right, project acreage to be developed, 6.3 initially, 40 acres ultimately.
MR. STEVES-It says contiguous owned or controlled. So I included it in the Long Form.
MR. VOLLARO-I think this reads correctly. I don’t think that anything has to be changed,
and I can understand where you, even though the tax map number is the same, is it
being split by two owners, either side. So something’s wrong with the tax map id there,
showing what it is.
MRS. STEFFAN-So we can do SEQRA?
MR. VOLLARO-We can go forward with it just the way it is.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-Will the proposed action result in a physical change to the project site?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, there will be a physical change to the site, but it’s minor.
MRS. STEFFAN-It can be mitigated. How does everyone else feel?
MR. FORD-I agree.
MRS. STEFFAN-That it can be mitigated. Will the proposed action affect any threatened
or endangered species?
MR. VOLLARO-Once we get a letter from Kathy O’Brien we can say no.
MR. METIVIER-So how can we do this until we get that letter?
MR. VOLLARO-I’ve got the same question here, that’s why I raised it. I don’t know.
Normally, looking at the lot, it’s heavily treed, my guess it won’t be.
MR. METIVIER-Well, you can always re-open the SEQRA like we did once before
should we find something.
MR. VOLLARO-If she comes back and raises a whole bunch of flags and says, wait a
minute, I found 14 butterflies.
MR. O'CONNOR-She looked at the aerials and said she didn’t think there was any
problem, but we don’t have a letter.
MR. VOLLARO-So I think we can go along with that.
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MR. METIVIER-So we’ll say no.
MR. VOLLARO-So the answer is no.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay. We’ll say no for now. Will the proposed action effect any site of
historic, prehistoric, or paleontological importance?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. METIVIER-No.
MR. SEGULJIC-But we did have some discussion tonight.
MR. METIVIER-Yes, we did have some discussion about that tonight, with the
gentleman that spoke.
MR. FORD-It needs to be monitored.
MR. METIVIER-Now how do you do that?
MR. VOLLARO-Read that again.
MR. METIVIER-Well, we don’t know.
MR. STEFFAN-Let me read the descriptions. Proposed action occurring wholly or
partially within or substantially contiguous to any facility or site listed on the State or
National Register of historic places.
MR. METIVIER-Which it’s not.
MRS. STEFFAN-It is or it isn’t? Any impact to an archeological site or fossil bed located
within the project site, and then the third descriptor is Proposed Action will occur in an
area designated as sensitive for archeological sites on the New York State Site
Inventory.
MR. O'CONNOR-Mr. Whalen’s owned the property for about 35 years, and has never
had any indication that there’s anything historical on there. There may have been an old
hotel on there, but it’s not there now. I mean, I’ve got pictures of the property that go
back to 1912 when they used to have a railroad trestle that went across from the upper
hill down to the lake, as some other people here in the room have the same postcards,
but there’s nothing on the site.
MR. SEGULJIC-Mr. Chairman, could we call back the gentleman?
MR. STEVES-You had the railroad that ran on the south side, and you had the old trolley
that ran right along the lake.
MR. VOLLARO-One of the Board members is asking whether they could call back one of
the gentleman from Glen Lake to talk about this. Is this archeologically sensitive, this
area, well enough for us to dwell on this on the SEQRA thing do you think? I don’t know.
MRS. STEFFAN-Mr. Derby, Paul Derby.
MR. VOLLARO-Paul Derby. Okay. Paul, if you’re going to comment, you’ve got to
comment on the record.
MR. O'CONNOR-And I don’t know that Marilyn VanDyke has ever listed this on any
inventory that she has prepared for the Town, and even in your PORC meetings where
she’s gone through what she thought were sensitive sites that should be of concern.
MR. VOLLARO-This is the first time I’ve heard of that, but.
MR. O'CONNOR-She’s pretty well aware of what’s in the Town.
MR. DERBY-I guess, you know, I don’t want to be an obstructionist here, but I’m writing
my dissertation on the history and pre-history of Glen Lake, and there is a pre-historic
site near that Birdsall area. I would have to go and find the actual State Register site, to
find out exactly where it is, and I don’t have that information.
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MR. VOLLARO-Yes, I wouldn’t want to hang this one up on that.
MR. DERBY-Yes, I mean, I wouldn’t hang it up on that, but I’m going to go, because I’m
curious now, to see exactly how they’ve designated that site.
MR. VOLLARO-And where it is.
MR. DERBY-And where it is.
MRS. STEFFAN-And the public hearing will remain open, and so if you get more
information and come back to us then we can deal with it in another way.
MR. DERBY-Right.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
MR. DERBY-Okay.
MRS. STEFFAN-Thank you.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. I think right now the answer is no. If you come up with additional
data, we can change it.
MRS. STEFFAN-So, will the proposed action effect any site of historic, prehistoric, or
paleontological importance?
MR. VOLLARO-No.
MR. SEGULJIC-No.
RESOLUTION NO. 3-2006, Introduced by Gretchen Steffan who moved for its adoption,
seconded by Anthony Metivier:
WHEREAS, there is presently before the Planning Board an application for:
JOHN WHALEN, and
WHEREAS, this Planning Board has determined that the proposed project and Planning
Board action is subject to review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED:
1. No Federal agency appears to be involved.
2. The following agencies are involved:
NONE
3. The proposed action considered by this Board is Unlisted in the Department of
Environmental Conservation Regulations implementing the State Environmental
Quality Review Act and the regulations of the Town of Queensbury.
4. An Environmental Assessment Form has been completed by the applicant.
5. Having considered and thoroughly analyzed the relevant areas of environmental
concern and having considered the criteria for determining whether a project has
a significant environmental impact as the same is set forth in Section 617.11 of
the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations for the State of New
York, this Board finds that the action about to be undertaken by this Board will
have no significant environmental effect and the Chairman of the Planning Board
is hereby authorized to execute and sign and file as may be necessary a
statement of non-significance or a negative declaration that may be required by
law.
th
Duly adopted this 20 day of June, 2006, by the following vote:
AYES: Mr. Metivier, Mrs. Bruno, Mrs. Steffan, Mr. Sipp, Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Ford,
Mr. Vollaro
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
NOES: NONE
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. Does anybody want to make a motion to turn this in to Final?
Make a motion to approve the Preliminary?
MRS. STEFFAN-Susan, Item Four on the Staff comments, deed restrictions that no
residences would be built on the waterfront portion of the lots would be appropriate, and
then to go on about accessory structures. There isn’t enough frontage.
MR. VOLLARO-We couldn’t build anyway on those lots, I don’t believe, with 75 foot up
front. The Code wouldn’t allow it.
MRS. BARDEN-They could if they were setback from the shoreline.
MR. O'CONNOR-We would give you a deed restriction at Final.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
MR. O'CONNOR-We’ll give you a deed restriction. Those are pre-existing lots. Probably
a side line setback is 12 feet on the 50 footers. You could build a 36 foot wide home on
it. So we’ll give you a deed restriction. No principal structure within 100 feet of the
water.
MR.FORD-How about a plat notation as well, on Final.
MR. STEVES-And is that principal structure okay, principal structure or residence?
MR. VOLLARO-Yes, principal structure tells you you can probably use an accessory
structure. It would define it that way.
MR. O'CONNOR-Principal structure within 100 feet of the mean high water mark.
MR. VOLLARO-Anything else?
MRS. STEFFAN-What about no cut zones? We talked about.
MR. VOLLARO-The no cut zones I think he defined them as the clearing limits.
MR. STEVES-I’ll label them as clearing limits.
MR. O'CONNOR-And we’ll put a note on the map that the lake frontage is subject to the
cutting restrictions of the Zoning Ordinance.
MR. VOLLARO-Okay. What did you refer to when you referred to that, do you
remember?
MRS. BARDEN-6-060
MR. O'CONNOR-179-6-060.
MRS. STEFFAN-Say that again, Susan?
MRS. BARDEN-179-6-060.
MRS. STEFFAN-Okay.
MOTION TO APPROVE PRELIMINARY STAGE SUBDIVISION NO. 3-2006 JOHN
WHALEN, Introduced by Gretchen Steffan who moved for its adoption, seconded by
Thomas Ford:
WHEREAS, a preliminary subdivision application has been made to the Queensbury
Planning Board for the following: Subdivision of a 6.31 acre parcel into 4 residential lots
of 1.12, 1.26, 1.39 and 2.33 acres. Subdivisions of land require review by the Planning
Board; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was advertised and held on 6/20/06; and
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(Queensbury Planning Board 06/20/06)
WHEREAS, the Planning Board has determined that this proposal complies with the
subdivision application requirements of the code of the Town of Queensbury; Chapter A-
183 entitled subdivision of land; and
WHEREAS, the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act have been
considered and the Planning Board has adopted a SEQRA Negative Declaration; and /or
if the modification is a modification, and the proposed modification[s] do not result in any
new or significantly different environmental impacts, and therefore no further SEQRA
review is necessary; and
WHEREAS, this application is supported with all documentation, public comment and
application material in the file of record; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we find this Preliminary application to be:
Approved
1. That a C.T. Male signoff will be required,
2. That there will be deed restrictions and plat notations for no principal
structures or a residence within 100 feet of the mean high water mark,
3. That clearing limits and no cut zones will be noted, and that lakefront clearing
will be subject to Zoning Regulation 179-6-060, specifically lakefront clearing
restrictions,
4. And that there will be a test pit denoted on Lot One.
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Duly adopted this 20 day of June, 2006, by the following vote:
AYES: Mr. Ford, Mr. Seguljic, Mr. Sipp, Mrs. Steffan, Mrs. Bruno, Mr. Metivier,
Mr. Vollaro
NOES: NONE
MR. STEVES-Thank you.
MR. O'CONNOR-Thank you for your stamina.
MRS. STEFFAN-Thank you and good night.
MR. O'CONNOR-Let me ask this question. Can we submit for your July meeting 10
days prior to your July meeting?
MR. VOLLARO-I’ll tell you, I went for a completion review the other day, and we were
looking at 29 back logged applications for the Town, and we had to pick out 14 of them to
go to the July meeting. So we’re way backed up, real big time backed up. So I don’t
know what the heck to do.
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MRS. BARDEN-The next deadline is July 15, so get it in as soon as you can before that
to get in the queue for August.
MR. STEVES-We’ll get it on as an old item.
MR. VOLLARO-Because we do our completeness reviews, and then I’ll look and see if
we can move it in to that, because I know it’s going to be small and it’s not going to take
a lot of time, if you do it, and get out of here in 15 minutes. We’ve done that before.
MR. O'CONNOR-Thank you very much.
MR. VOLLARO-You’re welcome.
On motion meeting was adjourned.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
Robert Vollaro, Chairman
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