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West Seneca Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Minutes 12/07/2005
The regular meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of West Seneca was called to order by Chairman William H. Bond on December 7, 2005 at 7:00 PM, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present -
Daniel P. Dunn Penny K. Price Sandra Giese Rosenswie Dale J. McCabe, Deputy Town Attorney William Czuprynski, Code Enforcement Officer Excused - Joseph Kleinfelder II OPENING OF PUBLIC HEARING: Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Price, to open the Public Hearing.
APPROVAL OF PROOFS OF PUBLICATION: Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Price, to approve the proofs of publication and posting of legal notice.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES #2005-10: Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Price, to approve Minutes #2005-10 of October 26, 2005.
TABLED ITEM: 2005-063 Larry Okon, 5560 Seneca Street, noted that the revised plan submitted to the Zoning Board of Appeals indicates the height of the garage to be 17 ft
and submitted amended letters from the neighbors in agreement to the revised height. Mr. Okon stated he has a 4 x 4 truck which is higher than normal and he needs the extra height in order to get the truck in the garage. The height of the garage door will be 8 ft. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Rosenswie, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 5560 Seneca Street to erect garage 17 ft in height.
NEW BUSINESS: 2005-071 Lisa Strauss, 40 Gardenville LLC, presented the plan and photos of the proposed sign. The sign is to be located on a small piece of property at the property line. Mr. Bond asked how far back the sign will be from the exit of the parking lot. Ms. Strauss stated approximately 8 to 10 ft. Mr. Bond asked is the proposed sign will be on the same spot as shown. Ms. Strauss stated it would be back somewhat farther. Mr. Bond noted there appears to be no clearance on the bottom of the sign. Ms. Strauss stated that was correct. This is a dead end street. Mr. Bond stated a problem arises when a person is pulling out of the parking lot and may not be able to see around the sign.
Ms. Strauss stated that the sign will be tilted. 40 Gardenville is the first building on the street with enough land to Union Road offering good visibility. Mr. Dunn stated his concern was with the visibility of a person on Union Road to see a car pulling out of the street. Ms. Strauss stated they could place the sign next to the parking spot shown on the plan so as to not block the view. Mr. Bond noted that the application is requesting 5 ft from the front lot line. Ms. Strauss stated the sewer runs in front of the bush shown on the plan so they did not have an exact footage. It would be approximately 7 ft from the sewer if placed next to the parking spot. Mr. McCabe asked when the survey was prepared and if any changes were made since then. Ms. Strauss stated the survey was prepared in 2001 and there were no changes since then to that area. Mr. McCabe stated the line shown on the survey is not necessarily the street and applicant will have to stay at least 5 ft behind the actual lot line. Mr. Czuprynski reviewed the variances required with the Board. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mr. Bond, seconded by Mrs. Price, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 40 Gardenville Pkwy to erect ground sign with 0 ft clearnce to the bottom of the sign and reducing the setback from 10 ft to 5 ft from the front lot line on the condition that the sign be set back the farthest part away from the driveway.
2005-072 Donna Brennan, 3786 Wolf Road, Orchard Park, appeared with her father, Anthony Suffoletto, the applicant. Her father has owned the property for 27 years and it is their intention to sell the property. The garage was there when the property was purchased. Mr. Bond noted that the purchaser has requested that a variance be obtained since there is nothing on record to show that there was a variance previously granted. He asked if the lot next door is vacant. Mr. Suffoletto stated that the lot next to the garage is vacant. The entire lot is 110 x 100. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mrs. Price, seconded by Mr. Dunn, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 158 Thorndale to approve existing building that was erected closer than 5 ft to property line. On the question, Mr. Dunn stated that granting this variance was appropriate since this has been in existence since 1977 and the lot next door is vacant.
2005-073 David Galbo, Galbo Architects, 1701 Hertel Avenue, stated the Sunoco Gas Station at the corner of Clinton and Union has been vacant for several years. Mr. Singh and Mr. Pudie recently purchased the property from Sunoco Corporation with whom they have a lease agreement to sell gasoline. The station itself will be a convenience store. This is the standard Sunoco pole sign and fits in with the sign at Union and Center and some of the other signs along the street.
Mr. Bond asked if the proposed sign would be the same size as the one at the corner of Union and Center. Mr. Galbo stated the sign at Union and Center is actually larger. This is the smallest the corporation has to offer in order to get the three gas prices on. Mr. Dunn stated that when the Zoning Board dealt with the Sunoco Station on Orchard Park Road at Berg, they were able to come up with a smaller sign. Mr. Galbo stated that applicants have a lease agree with Sunoco from Philadelphia and this is the only size sign they have to offer. Letters from Fox Equipment and St John Lutheran Church, both adjacent properties, were submitted, stating no objection. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mr. Bond, seconded by Mrs. Rosenswie, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 3502 Clinton Street to erect 80 sq ft pedestal sign.
2005-074 Michael Pasquale, 44 Sage Street, represented the applicant. Mr. Bond noted that construction on the garage has already started and asked Mr. Pasquale why a permit had not been obtained before the garage was started.
Mr. Pasquale stated the homeowner was contacted by the Building Inspector. Mr. Bond asked why the building could not be set back to meet with the zoning ordinance, other than the financial consideration in having already started construction. Mr. Pasquale stated the homeowners requested it be in that location where it had existed for a number of years. He stated the adjacent neighbors were not opposed to the request. Mr. Dunn asked if the garage would be any closer to the street than the house on the property. Mr. Pasquale stated the garage will not be any closer to the street. He stated this garage is being built on the same footprint as the previous garage. Mr. Czuprynski asked why Mr. Pasquale started the project without obtaining a building permit first. Mr. Pasquale stated he was coming in for another permit and started this project ahead of time. It wasn’t the correct thing to do but he was trying to save time. Mrs. Price noted that this is an old neighborhood where all the homes are close together. If the garage had to be moved back, the applicants would have no back yard. Mr. Dunn stated that moving the garage back would leave an area of concrete which would be detrimental to the neighborhood. A letter of no objection was submitted from the adjoining neighbors, the Kelseys, 171 Indian Church Road. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Rosenswie, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 23 Manhassett Street to rebuild garage on existing pad, 16.42 ft from street.
On the question, Mr. Bond stated he was against the variance based on the applicant’s failure to show a hardship in complying with the ordinance, other than the financial consideration. When something like this is non-conforming, it should be made to conform whenever possible.
2005-075 Mr. Bond noted that this was the subject of a court matter and both town justices in West Seneca excused themselves from the case. It was then heard in the Town of Elma. An agreement was reached whereby the applicant was to comply with the drainage tile and culvert, and the town would recommend that he be exempt from complying with the hard surface parking, as long as he could get rid of the water. Mrs. Price asked if the items agreed to had been completed. Mr. Goodman said he had to get a variance from this Board first. Mr. McCabe stated that through negotiations in the Elma Town Court with Mr. Pinnevaia from Building Department and Mr. Bommer from the Engineering Department being present, Mr. Goodman has submitted a drainage plan which was acceptable. Based on his agreement to comply with the plan submitted, there was as stipulation entered into conditioned on the applicant not being required to hard surface the rear portion of the parking lot as long as Mr. O’Malley had no objection to that. The stipulation was entered into the minutes, together with the letter of no objection from Mr. O’Malley. Mr. Goodman stated the garage with the apartment in the back is Mr. O’Malley’s. There are driveways on both sides of the shop building. His property has a house in front and small regular garage. Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Rosenswie, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 358 Center Road to omit hard surface parking, conditioned on the applicant complying with all the terms of the stipulation signed by all parties, by June 1st.
2005-076 Robert Nowak, 27 Curlew Court, East Amherst, submitted photos of the 9 ft x 14 ft patio which was already started and other homes in the neighborhood with similar parking problems. He also obtained signatures of 25 residents in the immediate area, stating they have no objection to the brick paved area. Mr. Bond stated he was well aware of the parking issues along the city line. Some people who were without off street parking were allowed to park in the front of their properties in the past. Applicant does have a driveway. He also noted that it appears a tenant at the property is parked across the sidewalk and subject to a ticket. Mr. Czuprynski reviewed the photographs submitted and noted that a number of the homes shown are not in violation because they are not parked directly in front of the house. Mr. Dunn stated requests similar to the one before them are frequently denied. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mrs. Rosenswie, seconded by Mrs. Price, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at 46 Thorndale Avenue to allow parking in front yard setback. On the question, Mr. Dunn felt the hardship was created by the applicant by having too many vehicles on the property and similar requests are denied by this Board.
2005-077 William Paladino, Ellicott Development Company, stated they are planning to purchase the corner of Seneca Street and Union Road, from McDonald’s to Mr. Lorigo’s property and the former Manhasset Bagel, to include the Nextel and Carolina Furniture buildings, for a Rite Aid Pharmacy. Mr. Paladino reviewed the site plan with Board members and the area encompassed by the contract. Under the town code, 88 parking spaces are required and they have 56 spaces, which are more than enough to service customers using the Rite Aid Pharmacy. The Pharmacy will have a drive thru in the rear. There will not be the continuous business during the day as with a McDonald’s or Blockbuster. Most of their customers are elderly and need to have parking spaces available and the drive thru will eliminate the need for a number of parking spaces. The plan for the proposed Rite Aid Pharmacy and the site plan were reviewed in detail with members of the Zoning Board. Hours of operation will be from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and may be changed in the future. The rear yard and front yard setbacks were discussed with the amount of green space being proposed. Mr. Dunn asked if the petitioner had any discussions with the adjoining neighbors to the rear of the property of the proposed Rite Aid Pharmacy.
Mr. Paladino stated they had not spoken with the adjoining neighbors yet. Mr. Czuprynski asked where the petitioner planned on disposing of snow. Mr. Paladino stated they had an agreement with Mr. Lorigo to put the snow on his property and if it became a problem then they would haul it offsite. Mr. Bond asked the size of the sign being requested. Mr. Paladino state the proposed sign is the standard Rite Aid sign and similar to other signs in the area. They want their main sign but will eliminate one of the reader board levels if requested.
Mr. McCabe asked whether removing one panel would affect the height or if it would remain 20 ft in height. Mr. Paladino stated it would remain 20 ft. One panel is 1 ft by 7 ft. Mr. Czuprynski asked when they planned to start the project. Mr. Paladino stated they would like to start immediately. They already own the building on the corner. Mr. McCabe asked what type fence would be erected on the back line of the property. Mr. Paladino stated they planed on a new stockade fence 6 ft to 8 ft high. The lighting was minimized in the back to two light standards with shielded down lighting. The drive thru is not like the McDonald’s drive thru but more on a convenience type for customers. Mrs. Price stated her concern on the size of the sign and also noted that there will be signs on the side of the building. There will be a drive thru pharmacy on another side and a pharmacy sign on the front, and all of this is on a very visible corner. The size and illumination of the proposed sign was discussed in detail. No comments were received from the public. Motion by Mr. Bond, seconded by Mrs. Price, to close the public hearing and grant a variance for property located at the NW corner of Union Road and Seneca Street for a reduction in parking from 84 parking spaces to 69 parking space, including the 10 stacking spaces. On the question, Mr. Dunn stated the proposed variance then necessitates granting the reduction in green space.
The Board then discussed the issues of the easement for snow removal which may be a problem in the future, setbacks and other concerns.
Mr. McCabe suggested that the Board withdraw the previous motion and table this matter until the January meeting. Mrs. Price also requested that the petitioner make contact with the adjoining neighbors and consider elimination of the loading dock which would allow for more green space in the front. The sign is excessive in size and Mr. Paladino should return to Rite Aid for an alternate sign. Ms. Price stated the town is beginning to look like a strip mall. This is one of the busiest corners in the town and the Rite Aid already is planning on signs around the entire building. Motion by Mr. Bond, seconded by Mrs. Rosenswie, to reopen the motion previously made at this meeting and amend the motion to table the request for variances until the January meeting, with the petitioner to notify the neighbors and submit a revised plan on parking, setbacks, green space, proposed sign, and other issues discussed at this meeting.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mrs. Price, to close the public hearing and adjourn the meeting (8:30 p.m.).
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Patricia C. DePasquale, RMC/CMC |
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