Planning Board
July 16, 2018

 

Attending: John Kincart, William LaScala, Richard Fon, Robert Garrigan

 

 

REGULAR SESSION

 

1. Fieldstone Manor, Strawberry Road

Mr. Riina explained that the applicant is still lining up his finances.  With Mr. Kincart recusing himself, the board voted to reapprove the subdivision.

 

2. Hearthstone Minor subdivision

The applicant advised the board that he has submitted a request to the Town Board to have the proposed sewer line added to the town’s system.  At Mr.Tegeder’s suggestion, the board voted to approve the subdivision with the condition that when the applicant is ready to get a building permit, he return to the board for approval for the location, size and grading of each lot. Mr. Tegeder was concerned that if the driveway grade exceeded the allowed 10% (it’s currently at 9.8%), the applicant would need a variance.

 

3. PCSB Bank, Commerce Street, Public Hearing

(See Planning Board 6-25-2018.)There were no comments from the public and the board thanked the applicant for making the requested changes regarding the canopy roof. In response to a question as to whether the applicant had considered ABACA’s suggestion about adding a cupola to the roof, the applicant explained that it was considered but rejected, in light of the other changes the board and ABACA had requested and which the bank agreed to make.

 

4. Anderson subdivision, public hearing

(See Planning Board 6-25-2018.)There were no comments and the hearing was adjourned pending the applicant’s appearance before the ZBA later this month. If the variance is granted, the applicant will return to the board in August. 

 

 

WORK SESSION

 

(Prior to the Lowe’s discussion, the board went into a closed executive session.)

 

5. Lowe’s off site sewer extension

(See Planning Board 6-11-2018 and Town Board 6-5-2018.) Having reviewed the documents related to the site plan approvals for both Costco and Lowe’s, the board’s attorney concluded that there was a clear condition in the Costco approval that Breslin would connect up to 12 properties along Old Crompond Road to the sewer trunk line what would service Costco. She added, however, that the language was less clear for the Lowe’s approval that was based on the Costco approval and advised the board that the Lowes’s approval should be amended to reflect the language in the Costco approval. Mr. Tegeder agreed that the language of the resolution was clear that Breslin would provide the sewer connections.

 

Speaking on behalf of Breslin, former supervisor Michael Grace disputed that the Costco approval obligated his client to provide sewers to each of the properties, arguing that the resolution did not explicitly state that Breslin would “pay” for the connections. Calling the language of the approval resolution “ambiguous” and an “open check” as Breslin had no idea what engineering issues might be involved in bringing a sewer connection to each of the properties, he said Breslin was willing to provide stubs in the trunk line but that it should be the homeowners’ responsibility to bring the sewer line from the stub to their septic system.

 

Speaking for the homeowners, Ann Kutter rejected the latest settlement offer from Breslin which would have given them a sum of money (the amount was not mentioned) in lieu of making the connection or a promise to construct the sewer lines in two years if the properties were not going to be developed. (In 2015-2016, the properties were slated for development as part of the proposed Crompond Terraces, making the sewer connections to the single family houses a moot point. But that proposal is now dead and there is no current development application before the board for the same properties.) The rejection was based on the homeowners’ concern that in two years, Breslin will be gone; she said the homeowners want the connections put in now while the construction crew was putting in the trunk line.

 

When one of the homeowners questioned whether Mr. Grace had a conflict of interest, the board said no.

 

The board asked Mr. Grace to work with the homeowners and see if a settlement could be worked out and report back to the board at its August meeting.

 

6. Unicorn Contracting, Kear Street

Noting that there redundancies in the separate maps for the site plan and subdivision approvals were creating legal issues and obstacles to the applicant securing financing,  Dan Ciarcia asked the board to eliminate the redundancies from the subdivision map. The board had no problem with this and went into special session to approve the change.

 

In a second issue, Michael Grace asked the board to modify the bonding requirements related to installing the site’s stormwater facilities. Stating that the bond was designed to cover construction only, he characterized the cost of the bond as “no small matter,” and argued that since the building would never be built if the stormwater facility wasn’t built, the town was not likely to complete the stormwater measures and therefore there was no need for the bond.  He also argued that since the developer was paying a separate $80,000 inspection fee, the construction would be done properly. After Mr. Tegeder described the bond as a performance bond designed insure that the stormwater system, once constructed, operated as it was supposed to, Mr. Ciarcia said that the bond could cover maintenance issues once the building was constructed.

 

Part of the issue was that the amount of the bond is based on the estimated cost of constructing the stormwater facilities; although the Planning Board sets the amount, it is typically based on a cost estimate provided by the town engineer and to date the engineer has not provided an estimate.  With a consensus that the amount of the bond had to be “reasonable,” it was left to off line discussions what that amount should be.

 

7. RPG (Mohegan Court), Lexington Avenue

Reminding the board that the Town Board was very concerned about the architectural aspects of the project, especially the view from Lexington Avenue, when it approved the rezoning, Mr. Tegeder advised the board that the latest plans differed from the colored renderings that were the basis of the Town Board’s rezoning. Mr. Tegeder asked the applicant to provide architectural elevations from the street and to show the actual windows that would be used in the modular buildings. He advised the applicant to meet with him to iron out the needed details.

 

8. Popeyes – Staples Plaza

Removed from agenda. To be discussed at August 13 meeting.

 

11. Mohegan Audi Addition, East Main Street

The applicant is scheduled to appear at this months’ ZBA and will provide the Planning Board with an update at its August meeting.

 

12. Jeffferson Valley Mall/ZBA referral

The Planning Department will send a memo to the ZBA in support of the variance which is related to the subdivision of the properties as part of the ring road agreement.