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1970-04-15 ~/~ MINUTES of the public hearing of the Town of Queensbury Zoning Board of Appeals held at the Town Office Building on April 15, 1970, at 8:00 p.m. There were present: John Fit~gerald James Keller Charles Sicard George Kurosaka Allison Ellsworth being the members of the board, Because there were no items of business, no March meeting was held. Minutes of the February meeting were not acted upon. Mr. Fitzgerald, the chairman, announced that the first item on the agenda, Special Permit #18 for TORRINGTON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, had been withdrawn and would, therefore, not be considered at this meeting. There was reaction from people appearing who were concerned about the request and they were advised by Mr. Fitzgerald that since the company had given up their wishes for a variance from the Zoning Ordinance, as far as the members of the board were concerned, the matter was a dead issue. Mr. Edward Barrett questioned the public's being advised of a withdrawal. Mr. Fitzgerald replied, "Since the request was withdrawn, there is no issue. They can only use it for a conforming use." Further questions from Mrs, John Parsons caused Mr. Keller to read the applicable section of the ordinance referring to M-l zoning. Mr. Fitzgerald urged continuance of the meeting, stating, "The Building Inspector will give ~ 2/~. you (Mr. Barrett, Mrs. Parsons) all the answers at another time." When asked if he would accept a list of names petitioning against the request, Mr. Fitzgerald said, "This case is closed. A new request will be a separate application with no previous petitions or information on record." He then read proof of publication for application for special permit #19 by SKI AND SHORE CORPORATION. 206 Glen Street. Glens Falls. to construct and operate a gasoline service station on the property situated at the southwest corner of Gurney Lane and Route 87. the Northway. in the Town of Queensbury. Appearing for the petitioning corporation was Robert J. Nolan, Esq., 206 Glen Street, Glens Falls, who told the board the corporation was comprised of three members, "Thomas Meath, Albert Trudel, and myself." Mr. Nolan told the board that the 18 acre tract, former county property, was zoned C-3 by the Town Board on March 26, 1970, and it was Ski and Shore's wish to use Ii acres for the gasoline '- station and the overall plan was to include 2 additional acres for construction of a motel and restaurant. The present request for instant application is for a colonial style service station. The architect's rendering has been filed with the Planning Board. Mr. Keller stated that this board did not have the rendering but did have the Planning Board's approval. When Mr. Kurosaka questioned the C-3 zoning, saying, "It is R-3," Mr. Nolan replied, "Listed under municipal, this was zoned by your Town Board March 26, 1970, C-3, and 2/~. includes the land between the re-located West Mountain county road and the Northway, extending down to the lake which is called Rush Pond and consists of 18 acres. The instant application does not cover the 18 acres, only It acres." Mr. Ellsworth asked if the station would serve just West Mountain Road and Mr. Nolan answered, "Primarily Interstate 87, southerly." would be the Mr. Keller, "w.h!i/effect of the amendment to the zoning ordinance adopted on April 9 by the Town Board?" Mr. Nolan, "The resolution would require written ~onsent of 60 per cent of the property owners or mortgagees within 200 feet of the site as a pre-requisite for granting a special permit. Those owners include the County of Warren and Mr. W, H. Robinson. I contacted him Monday after I received this notice and am going to ask tonight that the approval be granted subject to the written consent of the other two property owners, County and W. H. Robinson." Mr. Fitzgerald, "Ypu said that your corporation was the owner of the adjacent property, The outer limits of the property owned have always been the 'people' involved." Mr. Keller stated that the abuting property owner on the south is George Brayton. When Mr. Fitzgerald asked for any other appearances, the following stated their disapproval for the record: Mrs. Lynn LaBarge W. T. Robinson Mrs. W. H. Robinson Dr. Lester C. Huested Mr. William Tichner Mrs. Lynch Linkie Mr. Clifford Lewis '- :( /9. Mr. Thomas Lawson, "On behalf of the County of Warren, I am not here to oppose nor consent, since Warren County is governed by a Board of Supervisors. We have a meeting this Friday and I would like the opportunity to present it to the board and consider the new ordinance. I would respectfully request that the (Zoning Board of Appeals) board not make a final determination until the supervisors have had time to consider it." Mr. William Tichner asked, "I have sat here and listened to what has been presented. How is it going to be deter- mined who the bordering property owners are?" Mr. Fitzgerald, "We are going to have to consider this during the executive session that will take place after the applications have been heard. I am afraid that this is a . legal decision that will have to be made after. In view of the ordinance, I am governed by the Town Attorney who makes the determinations as to legal effects of these ordinances. He will have to make the determination," Mr. Tichner, "I am opposed on two grounds - lack of necessity and esthetic grounds. This is approaching a strictly residential area with the exception of the infirmary and I see no reason why there is a need to establish this sort of a business in that location...,.I am on record as being opposed for the two reasons mentioned." After the executive session, the application was referred to the County Planning Board. This occurred because of a letter dated March 4, 1970, written by Town Attorney Harold W. Katz to the Town of Queensbury Planning Board. The letter '---' follows: !, " Town! of Queensbury' Planning Board· Town! Office Bu:f:.løing.:; '. ; . ,', RDl" Bay aoad. '., , ' Glens, Fall..,. N'.. Y., ,12801 : ". : . , . . ~. -'1' . '/ ',; . " i ! : ~, " . , .. . ¡ , . ~,In r.sponse· to your request, herewith is my interpretation of General Municipal Law 239-m. I The, ~ectiongoverns ,any special permit,use I pe~it,exception or other special authorization ,which a board'of'appeals, planning board or legislative body is authorized to iS8l,1e. under. the provisions ,of a zoning , ordinanc~ under the, fOllowing,circumstances: ",,'. . ,I , ¡:'", ' \ , ." ,.. ! 1.i . The Coµnty has a planning board. Warren County! does bave such a board. , . , The change of zoning district.classifiea- tion'applies to real property lying within a distance of 500 feet from the boundary of any city , village or to'ft1n. or from the . bounda~y of ,any' county or state park or other.: recreation area,' or from the 'right- of-waý o£any' county or state parkway, thruWay,'" expressway 'etc.. or from the. boundary ;0£ any county or state owned land' onwhic'ba publi~'b':1ilding or institution .iss1t;uated; and,ålsoto any proposed sPQcialpermit',or varian~e affecting land or4builc1ingwithin 500 feet. . " 1 '.::) , 1 ' . "~i ,I i "-' . .,' ;t ~ O. t". ' . '. \ \ ".'....,0 2.:;'1. .' ''"-----'j >¡':¡' Tn of Queensbury 1'1",,,,,iDg Board -2- March 4, 1970 li<1 ... If a matter. 1>efor~ your board méets the· fore- .... gø:Lng criteria. .the matter must be referred to the county ·p~anning boardbefore¡your board car, take any action on the . application., ' ,'. , , . :~', ': ¡. -, I I " ,;'; ,',' I ~ ' ,: . , \ .' ,·i.;; , .'../Within.30· days after receipt.'the county planning board.must'make its.recotnmendationsand the reasons therefor. If$uch.areport.isnot made within the 30~day period, your boa~d·._,. ~ct w1tbout; such report. . ": i' , ¡ . .' .,If .the countypianning board' disapproves the , , proposal or·recommendsmodificat1on. this may. be. overruled by'amajørity vote:of all of. the members of your board, mad~' by .resolutionfully setting forth.. the reasons for . .. youxt boardts· action. ' . . . " " .,' .' . ;J ,. ','. .Theforegoing provisions merely. establish.pro- cedures for. the. appl1.cation' of'. the powers of your board in administertngthe zoning,ordit)ance under the conditions se.t ,forth ·above. Th1.ssection bas limited application. It doe~ not,contravene,,.ou~powersunder the zoning ordinance. t ! - , ' . .~ " . , . -i '. .! Respectfully. ,"'," ,.HAROLD w. 1<ATZ Counsel. to Town Board ! ,', . i ' Town Supervisor: " : .. ,"' Zoning Board of,.Appea18·~ , ! .t' :J.. J. .:¿. '-- The next item of business was the announcement of Mr. Fitzgerald of the proof of publication for "application for variance #153 by EDWARD A. WARDWELL. DBA UNITED RENT-ALL. for a variance in the-Ieouired setb.ck from sideline requirements on the property situated at 684 Upper Glen Street in the Town of Queensbury. Appearing on behalf of the application was E. A. Wardwell who told the board that the State is taking away their parking facilities in front and it is United Ren~All's plan to build a new building in back to house RentAll. Mr. Sicard, "Are they (State) taking any portion of the building or just the parking lot? You would not have to move?" Wardwell, "No." Appearing in opposition were Pauline Smith, 5 Foster Avenue and Jean Smith, 7 Foster Avenue, who were concerned with the removal of the pine trees abutting their backyards. Mr. Ralph Woodbury, appearing on behalf of the appli- cation, stated for the record, ".,.,..when you get all done. ,..we will improve the whole area. If he (Wardwell) builds a building approximate with the other buildings, they (buildings) are not going to be a detriment to the Town and I request the approval of this application." There were no other appearances. The Planning Board approved the request but in no way did they want the approval to involve future development. Mr. Keller, "You are under the assumption the approval of this application would include a sign?" Mr. Wardwell, "1 withdrew the application for the sign." ',---, ~~3. The Board referred the application to the County Planning Board. Mr. Fitzgerald then read proof of publication to consider application #154 for a variance of JAMES F. VAN VALKENBURG seeking permission to build closer to the front property line than is permitted by the zoning requirements on the property situated on the west side of Brayton Lane on Assembly Point in the Town of Queensbury. Appearing on behalf of Mr, Van Valkenburgh was Terry Van Valkenburgh who told the board they had approval for a building permit. He said the remodeling would not obstruct any views and that they had owned the property approximately '" 5 or 6 years, Mr. Kurosaka asked for clarification of the request to which Mr. Keller replied, "It is the remodeling of an existing building." Confusion of the board and questions from Mr. George Engeman caused Mr. Fitzgerald to re-read the application. Mr. Keller, "Our present ordinance requires only a plot plan; construction plans are not required. There was a misunderstanding of interpret ing the plot plan. Pre- sently, our ordinance does not require all the information to be submitted. This was an honest mistake made by the Building Inspector and he issued a building permit based on that information." Mr. Esseling Brayton stated, "I owned the lot next door and I deeded it to Van Valkenburgh. It is o.k. as -- far as we are concerned." The Planning Board approved with no comment. ~~~ The Board: RESOLVED: application for variance #154 by James F. Van Valkenburgh to remodel the upper floor of an existing building which would cause the building to be closer than 7' to the property line be approved as applied for in that a hardship exists. Since applications for variances #155A, 155B, and 155C were like requests by BOARDMAN'S LTD. QUEENSBURY FURNITURE AND FAIRBANK'S FURNITURE. all of Quaker Road, to seek permission to erect siqns less than the required 50 ft. setback from the property line on the property situated on the south side of Quaker Road in the Town of Queensbury, Mr. Fitzgerald read all notices of public hearing and asked that the board consider all applications at once. Appearing on behalf of the applications was Robert Morris, who told the board there are other signs along Quaker Road closer than 50 ft. to the front line. The companies do not want their signs back 50 ft. because it would put them in their parking area. When Mr. Kurosaka asked about size and shape, Mr. Morris described them saying they would be conforming signs. He asked for special consideration of Boardman's request since they planned to open that weekend. He said, "It would be more pleasant to the eye to have 3 signs on one post. All 3 businesses are in the same building. They could erect signs on separate poles but for pleasing looks, it would be better to put them all on one,N There were no appearances for or against. '-- Mr. Morris asked if there were any doubts, would the board please consider each application separately, especially Boardman's who wished to open on the weekend. The board referred the applications to the County 2~C Planning Board. The final item of business was Mr. Fitzgerald's reading the proof of publication for application for variance #156 of WAGGAMAN and COLLYER CONTRACTORS. INC. to construct low-rent apartments in variance of Section 6.902d - arrangement of buildings, on the property situated on the south side of Aviation Road. west of 87, the Northway, in the Town of Queensbury. Appearing on behalf of the application were John W. Bishop, vice-president of Waggeman and Collyer and Robert Tierney, attorney for the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Makers. Mr. Bishop advised the board that the request is to eliminate one external wall and the ordin- ance calls for 2 external walls. Mr. Bishop, "There are 13 buildings involved in this project. They are single story buildings and would have 2 exterior exposures. The other 150 units will be in 6 buildings, 2 story. Out of these 150 units, there are 48 conforming. It is the apartments between the ends of the buildings that do not have 2 exterior exposures. Basically, we are talking about the bathrooms and kitchens. They are middle-income rental units, financed Federal Housing Project, and we want to comply with their requirements." Mr. Tierney, ".......Jack Bishop has spent considerable time working with the F.H.A. people working out requirements. .22 b. We have been down the route through the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals and hope you will approve this request tonight so that we can get away.....The Brotherhood intends this as a memorial for the sulphite and paper union....." Mr. Edward Barrett asked a question regarding low rent. Mr. Bishop, " $110-$160 per month. Not for the elderly, but for the middle income." Mr. Barrett questioned an access road. Mr. Bishop, "Either Aviation or Dixon. Approximate location will be determined by the architect who does not want to chop down all the < ¡rees." Ronald Stanton asked if low rentals for the elderly is still the same project. Mr. Keller said, although he had no copy of the Planning Board's report, he could advise they were in favor of it. Before Mr. Keller read the action of the board (from executive session) Mr. Fitzgerald stated for the record that he did not participate in this decision. The Board: RESOLVED: application for variance #156 by Waggaman and Collyer Construction, Inc. be approved as applied for in that the variance is the minimum required for reasonable use of the land. In final business, the board approved expansion of two non-conforming uses, the Earl Maille garage on Connecticut - Avenue and the Freihofer bakery building on Meadowbrook Road. :.{:{ 7, There being no other business to come before the meeting, upon motion duly made, seconded and carried unanimously, the meeting was adjourned. ~Q\ c.< GJ - ~ .Q-llcv- Secretary "-"