Staff Notes AV 16-2012 Armstrong
Town of Queensbury
Zoning Board of Appeals
Community Development Department Staff Notes
Area Variance No.: 16-2012
Project Applicant: Dave Armstrong
Project Location: 130 Eagan Road
Meeting Date: April 25, 2012
Description of Proposed Project:
Applicant has constructed an 85 sq. ft. residential addition and is seeking relief from the Septic System
Certification requirement after the fact.
Relief Required:
Parcel will require an area variance as follows:
Relief from the septic system certification requirement for the expansion of a non-conforming structure in
the WR Zone as per §179-3-040(5)(e), see below.
Septic system certification. All development activities, including new construction, expansions or
extensions, conversions and remodeling, for all uses that require septic systems that commence
subsequent to the effective date of this section, shall be required to establish that septic systems comply
with the most recently adopted standards and requirements or to update systems accordingly. Written
certification from a professional engineer and/or from the Town Engineer as to compliance of existing,
updated or new systems shall be required prior to the issuance of a zoning permit or building permit. In
addition, any septic system that fails shall be required to be reconstructed with a design that meets the
most recently adopted standards.
Criteria for considering an Area Variance according to Chapter 267 of Town Law:
In making a determination, the board shall consider:
1.
Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a
detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of this area variance.
Moderate
impacts to the neighborhood may be anticipated as a precedent could be set for existing non-
conforming leach-fields within a floodplain with the granting of relief from the Septic System
Certification as described above. Further, improperly designed and installed wastewater systems could
potentially lead to water quality issues both on the surface as well as subsurface.
2.
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method, feasible for the
applicant to pursue, other than an area variance.
Feasible alternatives would include citing the
septic system and associated leachfield in a compliant location upslope and not in a floodplain.
3.
Whether the requested area variance is substantial.
Any waiver requested from the Septic System
Certification must be approved by this board and should be weighed if substantial on a case by case
basis.
4.
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or
environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district.
The potential for an adverse impact
may be realized as the wastewater system was not professionally design or installed.
5.
Whether the alleged difficulty was self created
. The difficulty may be considered self created.
Parcel History (construction/site plan/variance, etc.):
BP 97-338: Deck Approved 1997
Staff comments:
The applicant submitted a wastewater design that was installed in 1991 to best of his recollection. During
discussions with the applicant, it was stated that the laterals where cited were water was encountered. The
detail submitted shows a design that indicates 2 feet of separation from the laterals to the water table. The
Zoning Board may wish to discuss this inconsistency and gain clarification on what design is actually in the
ground. Test pits to determine both the location of the high water table within the soil column as well as
percolation tests are prerequisites to designing a proper wastewater system.
If approval is not forthcoming from this board, the applicant has the option to appear before the Town
Board as the BOH and seek a septic variance.
Town Engineer comments attached.
Note: Relief is not necessary for the expansion as the location of the expansion does not violate any area
requirements as per §179-13-010F. However, a building permit is required.
SEQR Status:
Type - Unlisted
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Zoning Board of Appeals
Community Development Department Staff Notes
North Country Office
100 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801
P: (518) 812-0513 F: (518) 824-8391
www.chazencompanies.com
Hudson Valley Office (845) 454-3980
Engineers
Environmental Professionals Capital District Office (518) 273-0055
Land Surveyors
Landscape Architects
Planners
April 5, 2012
Mr. Craig Brown
Zoning Administrator and Code Compliance Officer
Town of Queensbury
742 Bay Road
Queensbury New York 12804
Delivered via email only: CraigB@queensbury.net
Re: Dave Armstrong Area Variance
Town of Queensbury, Warren County, New York
Chazen Project # 91204.11
Queensbury Ref No: Area Variance 16-2012
Dear Mr. Brown:
The Chazen Companies (Chazen) received a submission package from your office for an area variance
application for the above referenced project. Submitted informa
Plan entitled, Building Improvements David A. & Nancy J. Armstrong, dated last revised March
12, 2012, prepared by Darrah Land Surveying, PLLC; and
An Area Variance Application with supporting documentation.
Your office has requested that we limit our review to the designsubsurface disposal system items as it
relates to compliance to local, state or relevant codes and regulations.
information provided, Chazen offers the following comments for t
Subsurface Disposal System:
1.The Applicant is proposing interior renovations to an existing home, as well as an 81.4SF addition at
the western edge of the home. It appears that portions of this work have commenced without
issuance of a building permit. The home is served by an existing subsurface disposal system, wh
was improved in 1991 (to include a 500-gallon steel septic tank and (3) 40-60 distribution laterals),
when the property was purchased by the Applicant. The Applicant is now requesting a variance
from requirement to upgrade the existing subsurface disposal system to be in compliance with
Town Code Section 136.
2.More information is needed to complete a comprehensive review of
Applicant should provide the following:
Town of Queensbury
Area Variance 16-2012 Dave Armstrong
April 5, 2012
Page 2
Number of bedrooms in the camp;
Existing topography around the septic system;
Existing soil information around the existing system. Specifically, percolsoil
profile, depth to seasonally high groundwater and bedrock;
Location of the 10-year flood plain (It shall be noted that the seasonal camp and existing
subsurface disposal system are located within the 100-yr flood plain). Disposal systems are
not to be located within the 10-year flood plain pursuant to Appendix 75-A.4(a)(1).
3.Based on the current NYSDOH Regulations (Appendix 75-A Wastewater Treatment Standards -
Individual Household Systems) the following items are in non-compliance:
Septic tank capacity; minimum required is 1,000 Gallons for a 1-3 bedroom home (a larger
tank may be needed if more bedrooms exist). A 500-gallon tank exists;
Width of the existing lateral trenches; the Applicant has indicated that the trench width is
18 , the minimum required is 24 ;
Gradation of stone embedment around the distribution laterals, the Applicant has
indicated that the stone used was ¾ to 2.5 in size. The required gradation is ¾ to 1.5 .
Maximum depth of the distribution trenches is 30 ; the Applicant
trench depth is 36 ;
The existing well serving the home is located within 45-feet and 60-feet of the existing
septic tank and distribution field respectively; the minimum separation distances to a well
are 50-feet and 100-feet respectively to those items;
It appears that no distribution box was included in the 1991 imp
box is required by Appendix 75-a.
4.The Applicant should depict the location of any neighboring wells on the plan
compliance with the minimum separation distances to wells in App-a.
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Town of Queensbury
Area Variance 16-2012 Dave Armstrong
April 5, 2012
Page 3
Conclusions and Recommendations
It is our opinion that the applicant should provide clarificatioor the above items and incorporate the
changes in subsequent plan submissions.
If you have any questions regarding the above, please do not hescontact me at (518) 824-1926.
Sincerely,
Sean M. Doty, P.E., LEED AP
Senior Project Engineer
cc: Pam Whiting, Town Planning Office Administrator (via email)
Keith Oborne, Town Planner (via email)
Joel Bianchi, P.E., Senior Director - Municipal Engineering (via email)
File
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