Staff Notes AV 61-11 Queensbury Partners
Town of Queensbury
Zoning Board of Appeals
Community Development Department Staff Notes
Area Variance No.: 61-2011
Project Applicant: Queensbury Partners
Corner of Blind Rock Road and Bay Road
Project Location:
Meeting Date: December 21, 2011
Description of Proposed Project:
Applicant proposes a total of 56,180 sq. ft. of commercial development distributed between five (5) buildings and
development of 175 residential apartment units distributed between 11 buildings to include 93 residential units
within four (4) of the proposed commercial structures.
Relief Required:
Parcel will require area variances as follows:
Variances required as presented:
1. Density – 142 residential units allowed / 175 proposed. Calculation based on 1 acre per 8 dwelling units as
17.81 buildable acres x 8 units = 142 units. Note: Usable acreage after
per §179-3-040B(2)(b)[1][b].
deducting the commercial uses proposed is as follows: 21.83 usable acres on parcel; 0.5 acres/7,000
square feet with 56,180 square feet commercial development proposed results in 4.02 acres utilized for
commercial density calculation. 21.83 acres – 4.02 acres = 17.81 acres remaining for residential
density.
2. Residential units within 300 feet of Bay Road Professional Office setback line as per §179-3-040B(2)(a)[1].
3. Bay Road Travel Corridor Overlay (TCO) – Buildings 1 and 3 within 75 foot setback requirement. Further,
parking associated with buildings 1 and 3 within 75 foot green space requirement. All as per §179-4-030C.
4. Front setback – Buildings 1, 3, 11, and 13 within 75 foot front setback requirement as per §179-3-040.
5. Wetland setback – Buildings 8, 9, 10, and 13 within 75 foot wetland setback requirement as per §179-3-040.
6. Height – As per Development Study on Site Statistics page, it is assumed all but buildings 3 and 6 would
require height relief as per §179-3-040.
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.
The proposal has elements that could
be categorized as promoting change to the neighborhood, however, any undesirable change or detriment to nearby
properties may be subjective.
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.
While a compliant plan is possible, as was the first plan shown to the
Planning Board by the applicant, the current proposal is a result of Planning Board discussion and public
comment.
3.
Whether the requested area variance is substantial.
See table and written description of variances below.
4.
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental
conditions in the neighborhood or district.
As this project is a Type I SEQR Action it is likely that the
Planning Board will be performing an in-depth review of any of these issues and sharing their findings with the
Zoning Board of Appeals.
5.
Whether the alleged difficulty was self created
. The difficulty may be considered self created, however, the
Planning Board has challenged the applicant to produce a Town Center feel to this project that will require
variances as presented. Please see response to question 2 above.
Parcel History (construction/site plan/variance, etc.):
SB 13-1999: 35.12 acre parcel - 14 commercial lots Approved 8/15/2000
SP 62-2011: Pending
Staff comments:
Changes to the initial plan shown to the PB and ZBA at the joint meeting in August include the re-orienteering of
Building 5 to totally be within the 300 foot setback for residential structures and corresponding change to parking
configuration. Further change also deals with building 5 and includes the elimination of ground floor residential units
in favor of commercial/office space. It is understood that the project is contingent upon Zoning Board of Appeals
approvals of variances of which little indication was offered from the ZBA concerning these issues at the joint
meeting in August.
The applicant was before the Planning Board on December 15, 2011 in order to garner a recommendation to the ZBA
concerning the variances requested and their potential impacts on the surrounding community, please see attached
minutes. Apparently the applicant has not commenced detailed engineering or design portion of the project. Further,
the project is listed as a Type I action under SEQRA and will require both the Planning Board and ZBA to
commence the protocols as set forth for this type of action, in particular Lead Agency. As such, no Planning Board
recommendation can be forwarded to the ZBA at this point in time and no ZBA decision can be rendered until SEQR
has been completed. However, staff affirms that this does not preclude the Planning Board from forwarding the
minutes of this meeting or any other communication it would deem beneficial for the ZBA to review.
SEQR Status:
Type I
QUANTIFIED AND QUALIFIED RELIEF
Zoning Board of Appeals
Community Development Department Staff Notes
300 ft. 75 Ft. Travel 75Ft. Front 75 Ft.
Building # Density Residential Corridor Setback Wetland Height
setback Overlay Setback
1 √ √ - 268 ft. √ - 43 ft. √ - 43 + 37ft. √ - 3 ft.
2 √ √ - 128 ft. √ - 14 ft.
3 √ √ - 45 ft. √ - 45 ft.
4 √ √ - 138 ft. √ - 14 ft.
5 √ √ - 172 ft. √ - 14 ft.
6 √
7 √ √ - 3 ft.
8 √ √ - 11.6 ft. √ - 3 ft.
9 √ √ - 16.4 ft. √ - 3 ft.
10 √ √ - 21.7 ft. √ - 3 ft.
11 √ √ - 17.4 ft. √ - 3 ft.
12 √ √ - 3 ft.
13 √ √ - 5.3 ft. √ - 44.6 ft. √ - 3 ft.
Concerning the issue of residential units located within the 300 foot setback, the range of relief from an empirical
sense is 268 feet or 89% relief for building 1 and 128 feet or 43% relief for building 2; Buildings 4 and 5 would
require relief within the ranges of buildings 1 and 2, 138 feet or 46% and 172 feet or 57% respectively.
Additional relief for parking within the 75 foot green space requirement associated with Buildings 1 and 3 will need
to be considered by the ZBA
Please see density relief calculations above. Please note that density relief has been calculated for the residential
aspect of this proposal; relief could be designated for retail uses also.
L:\Keith Oborne\2011 Staff Notes\Zoning\December 21\AV 61-11 Queensbury Partners.doc
Zoning Board of Appeals
Community Development Department Staff Notes