1997-04-08AGENDA
Town of Wappinger Zoning Board
MEETING DATE: APRIL 8,1997
TIME -- 7:30 PM
Approval of March 25, 1997 minutes.
DISCUSSION
Nor •AWO'
Town Hall
20 Middlebush Road
Wappinger Falls, NY
Frances Stevens Reese - Discuss Appeal No. 1243 requesting a variance from Article IV,
Section 410.3. The applicant is requesting to use the lands of Parcel 2 for ingress and egress
from Parcel 3 until such time as future subdivisions take place on property located on New
Hamburg Road in the Town of Wappinger.
fir.W err
MINUTES
Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals
April 08,1997
Minutes
Members Present
Mr. Prager:
Chairman
Mr. Fanuele:
Member
Mr. Warren:
Member
Others Present
Town Hall
20 Middlebush Road
Wappinger Falls, NY
Mr. Lehigh: Vice Chairman
Mr. diPiemo: Member
APPROVED
D
Mr. Donald Close: Zoning Administrator JUN 1 o, 1947,
Mrs. Linda Nguyen: Secretary to the Zoning Board pLANNING BOARD 13
ZONING BOARD of APP�Al 6 .1
Mr. Prager: I would like to call the Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals to order. Roll
Call please.
ROLL CALL: Mr. Warren: Here. Mr. diPierno: Here.
Mr. Fanuele: Here. Mr. Lehigh: Here.
Mr. Prager: Here.
Mr. Prager: The first item of business tonight, since we do not have our minutes from the last
meeting, is a discussion on Appeal No. 1.243 by Frances Stevens Reese. She is requesting a
variance of Article IV, Section 410.3. The applicant is requesting to use the lands of Parcel 2 for
ingress and egress from Parcel 3 until such time as a future subdivision takes place on property
located on New Hamburg Road in the Town of Wappinger. I would like to ask who would like
to speak for this?
Mr. Hait: I am Don Hait. I work for the Reese family.
Mr. Kalaka: I am Bob Kalaka the surveyor.
Mr. Fanuele: Can I get one clarification on what they are saying here? It says, "Until a future
subdivision takes place."
Mr. Halt: We know of no future subdivision.
Mr. Kalaka: We do not know where that came from.
Mr. Fanuele: Okay, so maybe you can start off by stating what you want.
Town of Wappi g r Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes - April 8, 1997
Page 2
Mr. Hait: What we are doing is trying to .... Actually, all of this is going on for estate planning
purposes for Mrs. Reese. She has to get her affairs in order as everyone will when their time gets
closer. It is not easy to die in the United States anymore. Anyway, she can only have 24 point
some odd acres.
Mr. Kalaka: Something less than 25 acres.
Mr. Hait: Originally, we tried to return all of the property to the original condition, which was
about 33 acres. It was unacceptable to the attorneys' and the IRS. So, she has to cut it down
even further. The only way we could do it was to knock off a few of the pieces, which you can
all see on the map there. There is one house that will be on Parcel 2 that we would like to use the
main drive to get in and out of that house. What is that Parcel 3?
Mr. Prager: That is where I was confused.
Mr. Hait: There is enough frontage on the piece that we are creating and there is a driveway on
the piece that we are creating to get in and out. It used to go to the house, but because it was
difficult to get in and out of there and a family member was in the house at that time ... .
Mr. Kalaka: He meant to say the house on Parcel 3.
Mr. Prager: Basically, what you are interested in doing is using the main driveway that goes into
the house going back to Parcel 2. You want to have your other driveway come off that to go into
Parcel 3.
Mr. Hait: Correct, for the house.
Mr. Lehigh: The house is going to stay just as it is right now?
Mr. Hait: Yes.
Mr. Lehigh: They used to have a driveway in the front that went out onto ... Road, but it is kind
of a treacherous spot. It is right on that curb.
Mr. Hait: That used to connect to the dirt drive to the barn and then at one time we had a drive
between the dirt drive and the barn and where the main driveway is now. This is really the safest
way to get in and out to this house.
Mr. diPierno: Is the house on Parcel 3 occupied?
Mr. Hait: Is the house on Parcel 3 occupied? Yes.
Mr. Prager: This subdivision is all tentative?
Mr. Hait: To your approval.
Town of Wappi g r Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes - April 8,1997
Page 3
Mr. Kalaka: Right now our only glitch is this driveway.
Mr. Prager: Right now the whole piece is one piece?
Mr. Hait: Right now the whole piece is one piece.
Mr. Kalaka: Parcel 2 and Parcel 3 ... .
Mr. Hait: Parcel 1 is not.
Mr. Kalaka: Is one piece. To the right of Parcel 2 is a 2 '/z acre piece and then down near this
house we are speaking about to the right of that there is a 2.91 acre piece, that is all one lot now
presently.
Mr. diPierno: That is all Parcel 1.
Mr. Kalaka: No, that is actually Parcel 2.
Mr. Lehigh: Actually, they are forced to subdivide it. Can I ask you one question that may not
be pertinent? This thing is an active farm. I did not realize you had to divide up an active farm
to leave it in an estate.
�. Mr. Hait: Well, it is the acreage that apparently .... This is what her attorneys' are battling.
She has been advised by her attorneys' that this is all she can ... .
Mr. Kalaka: Do they have full agricultural ... ?
Mr. Hait: We have some agricultural exemptions.
Mr. Prager: I want to get something straight in my mind what we are talking about.
DISCUSSION OF THE SITE PLAN
Mr. Prager: Is this 100 feet across here?
Mr. Kalaka: Yes, it is 100 feet in width. It is not exactly 90 degrees to the road so it is a little bit
more.
Mr. Prager: All your asking for is to take this driveway off of here, off of this road here?
Mr. Kalaka: Yes, we just want to use it the way it has been used for years.
Mr. Lehigh: It is existing there now. It has been for years.
Mr. Prager: I know there was some discussion .... Was it last night with the Planning Board?
**Apr, norNowTown of Wappi g r Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes - April 8,1997
Page 4
Mr. Close: Yes, it was the legalese .... It was just the legalese that Roberts was worried about.
Mr. Hait: As far as?
Mr. Close: I did not hear that. All of a sudden everything got kind of globally.
Mr. Hait: If you read the Law that we are pertaining to or whatever, it says every lot that you
create has to have X amount of frontage and it has to have egress over its own frontage. It does.
Mr. Kalaka: But, this is a much safer avenue.
Mr. Hait: We do not want to argue with anybody. We just want to use this driveway to get in
and out of this house. I have a feeling that at some point and time over the years we will
probably be making some other appearances here.
Mr. Fanuele: Can I offer a suggestion where you would not need a variance? Give this piece to
this property and make the two driveways adjacent to each other.
Mr. Kalaka: The only problem with that is there are some stump columns and stonewalls in the
front of this entrance. Then, you would have to rip down the stonewalls and rebuild the
stonewalls to make it look nice.
Mr. Fanuele: You could always pick up a little bit there and move it over a little bit. All I need
is 50 feet for this. Then, I do not need any variance.
Mr. Kalaka: What Mrs. Reese is concerned too that there are some very nice trees that run down
along this driveway. Well, she wants control over those trees. She does not want to subdivide
this and all of a sudden have the kids come in and sell the piece of property to somebody and this
guy comes in and cuts down all of her beautiful pines. She does not want that.
Mr. Hait: Believe it or not, we have been trying to accomplish this for over a year.
Mr. Lehigh: Well, flag lots are not new to the Town of Wappinger. This one in my estimation is
for a good cause. It has been that way for years Howard.
Mr. Prager: What I would like to do is since there was a question last night, from what I
understand with the Town Attorney, I want to find out what exactly his problem is that he sees
and I do not.
Mr. Fanuele: The legalese I think is probably just the way he wants to write the document.
Mr. Prager: It might be, but I want to .... Before we ... .
i"w Mr. Close: Didn't you understand that someone was going to see Mrs. Reese?
�.► '" Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes - April 8, 1997
Page 5
Mrs. Nguyen: I do not want to get into it because it was very confusing last night at the Planning
Board Meeting. It went back and forth and I do not want to speak up and say something wrong.
Mr. diPierno: Were you guys at the Planning Board last night?
Mr. Kalaka: No, we were there two or three weeks ago when we first proposed this. They said
everything looks fine except for this.
Mr. Hait: We will write a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals recommending this.
Mr. Prager: We got that and I understood that it was not exactly what they wanted.
Mrs. Nguyen: That is why it was brought up at the meeting.
Mr. Prager: I have been trying to get a hold of the attorney all day today to find out. I thought I
could get a jump on it today before tonight's meeting. I could not get a hold of him. Before I do
anything, I definitely want to find out what is going on.
Mr. Kalaka: Even if they approve this right now, we would still have to come back for a public
hearing?
ftw Mr. Fanuele: Yes, what we can do tonight is set a public hearing, if you so desired. You would
still have to come back for a public hearing.
Mr. Kalaka: Can we get this sort of approved before he talks to the attorney so we do not have to
come back for another two weeks?
Mr. Prager: No, you cannot.
Mr. Hait: I do not want to be difficult, but what is it about this that ... ?
Mr. Prager: I am not sure. I have no idea and I want to find out.
Mr. Hait: This lot does have plenty of frontage for ingress and egress.
Mr. Fanuele: My other suggestion is to put the driveway on the paper.
Mr. Hait: We could have connected it back to where it went on paper if we wanted to, but why
do that? That is the one we use.
Mr. Close: Why not draw itin?
Mr. Hait: Just to draw it in? We can do that, but we did not want to overstep any bounds.
Mr. Prager: I think they will want to see that too. I am still going to ask to have this adjourned
for two weeks until we find out what is going on.
Town of Wappi ger Zoning Board of Appeal
Minutes - April 8, 1997
Page 6
Mr. Lehigh: This is a workshop anyway.
Mr. Prager: I realize that, but I do not want to have a public hearing until .... That is basically
what I want to do.
Mr. Hait: Nobody knows why this is not approved?
Mr. Prager: No, I have no idea. I do not know what happened at the ... .
Mr. Hait: What about this is not right?
Mr. Prager: I am not sure what our Town Attorney is discussing. I have no idea. If he has a
problem ... .
Mr. Hait: I thought that is why we are here.
Mr. Prager: I want to check with the Town Attorney to find out what he was talking about.
Mr. Close: This came up late last evening John.
Mr. Kalaka: Do we have to resubmit anything for the ... ? Just come back in two weeks.
Mr. Prager: No, we will have a discussion in two weeks.
Mrs. Nguyen: For the 22°a of April.
Mr. Lehigh: You know you have plenty of recourse.
Mr. Hait: I think so.
Mr. Prager: It is better this way because if I set a public hearing for two weeks, then you have to
submit all of the paperwork and everything else. It might all be changed. There is no sense
coming back and paying twice for that.
Mr. Hait: Okay, I am assuming we will be contacted as to what we need to do from here.
Mr. Prager: Yes, as soon as I find something out, I will let Linda know and she will contact you.
Mr. Hait: Thank you.
Mr. Prager: I would like to go on to say we did hold a site inspection at the Hampton Business
Center. (LPV Associates, Appeal No. 1240,1241, 1242) We looked at the signs that they were
`"' talking about and we gave them some suggestions. They are coming back on April 22". I see
we have a letter here that they approve that we do not have a public hearing on that night, that we
come back just for a discussion about the new drawings and their ideas for the signs. I would
"or
`"' Town of Wappi ger Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes - April 8, 1997
Page 7
like to change the .... Well, I did not really make a motion, but I would like to put it in the
minutes that they will have a discussion at the next meeting instead of the public hearing. The
other piece of business is the Planning Federation Seminar, which is on May 14''. If anybody
is interested in going, let Linda know tonight because she has to submit the names to the Town
Board for their 14' meeting.
Mr. Lehigh: I have to much going.
Mr. diPierno: I do too.
Mrs. Nguyen: Doug will be going?
Mr. Warren: No, I cannot.
Mr. diPierno: If I decide to go, I will pay myself.
Mr. Fanuele: If I decide to go, I will pay myself.
Mr. Prager: No.
Mrs. Nguyen: No one is going.
Mr. Prager: Any other business that you would like to discuss at the meeting?
Mr. Lehigh: I do not think we need a site inspection on this.
Mr. Prager: No.
Mr. Lehigh: I make a motion for adjournment.
Mr. diPierno: Second.
Vote: All present voted aye.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
-.r
rs. Linda Nguyen, Secretary
Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals