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1997-02-11`40.001'""' Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals Town Hall February 11, 1997 20 Middlebush Road Agenda -- 7:30 PM Wappinger Falls, NY Approval of December 23, 1996 minutes. DISCUSSIONS Ellen & Joseph Proto -- Discuss Appeal No. 1236 requesting a variance from the Zoning Law, Article IV, Section 410.4.2.4 -- whereas a fence is not to exceed six (6) feet in height above adjoining grade. The property is located at 9 Crabapple Court in the Town of Wappinger. Michael DiZillo -- Discuss Appeal No. 1237 requesting a variance from the Zoning Law, Article II, Section 220, Definitions -- which states an accessory apartment is to be located within the same building as a permitted one family dwelling. The property is located at 75 Ketchamtown Road in the Town of Wappinger. 1"W r.. Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals °r.• February 11, 1997 Minutes Members Present Mr. Prager: Chairman Mr. Fanuele: Member Mr. Warren: Member Others Present Mr. Donald Close, Zoning Administrator Mrs. Linda Nguyen, Secretary to the Z.B.A. Town Hall 20 Middlebush Road Wappinger Falls, NY Mr. Lehigh: Vice Chairman Mr. diPierno: Member An pROVED rL�� S iyyT pLA.NNING 60AR0 13 i0iyl"!G ;FD ✓p APPEALS Mr. Prager: I would like to call the Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting 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 is the approval of the December 23, 1996 minutes. Mr. Lehigh: So moved. Mr. Warren: Second. Vote: All present voted aye except Mr. diPierno since he was absent for that meeting. Mr. Prager: The next item of business on tonight's agenda is a discussion of Appeal No. 1236 -- Ellen and Joseph Proto. They are requesting a variance from the Zoning Law, Article IV, Section 410.4.2.4 — whereas a fence is not to exceed six (6) feet in height above adjoining grade. The property is located at 9 Crabapple Court in the Town of Wappinger. Mr. Proto: I am Joe Proto, the owner. Mr. Prager: It is not a public hearing. It would probably be in two weeks. Basically what we would do at this meeting is try to get as much information as we can. Explain to us exactly what the problem is and what you need. Mr. Proto: On about December 9, 1996, I put a fence on both sides of my property. In grand total it comes to a 320 foot fence. It is made of cedar. Don Close and I did measurements. Out vr.. Town of Wappinger Zoning Board February 11, 1997— Minutes 2 of the whole 320 feet there are about five spots that are over six feet by no more than one to four inches. We did several measurements on both sides. I would just like relief of the situation because I feel it is not obstructing any views. Mr. Lehigh: That was from the ground line you measured up? Mr. Proto: Yes, from the ground all the way up to the top of the fence. I have pictures if you would like to see them? Mr. Prager: I believe we have them unless you have different ones. We have copies of them here. There is a couple of things I noticed. Okay, so December 9, 1996 was when the fence was put up. Did you have a fence there before? Any type of fence? Mr. Proto: Yes, I did. I put up a green fence on September 30, 1995. My neighbor ripped it out of the ground and I had to have him arrested. I was just going to put up a green fence because I did not want my handicapped child to go over the boundary lines. So, I tried to put up a barrier because they did not want any trespassing on the property. I put this original fence up and it was ripped down. Financially when I had enough money, I said let me put a good sturdy fence up. This way my kids can be protected within their property. I had it professionally done by Mid - Hudson Fence Co. I wanted it done correctly. Mr. Prager: Primarily you put the fence up for your child? Mr. Proto: Yes, one is handicapped and I live under a very stressful situation. Mr. diPiemo: How old are the children? Mr. Proto: He is nine years old, the handicapped child. He has cerebral palsy. The other one is six years old. I wanted to have boundary lines so they could stay right there. MIXED DISCUSSION ABOUT THE FENCE CONTRACT Mr. Proto: I did ask Mid -Hudson Fence how come in some spots the fence does not come to the ground. He basically said since the fence is so tight, the boards are so tight, that is so the wind can go through the fence. I would have like to have him here. Unfortunately, he is on vacation. I did make several calls to the Zoning Office to make sure that I have the right height of the fence. In the front of the house I made sure that it was not six feet, that it is at three feet. I tried to do everything by the book. The issue here, I feel, is not really the one to four inches. I think my neighbors just want the fence down. I was quoted when I moved in that no fences are allowed in our cul-de-sac. Mr. Prager: Is that in your deed or anything like that? on Town of Wappinger Zoning Boar"' February 11, 1997 —Minutes 3 Mr. Proto: No, none at all. As far as I know, I do not have any easements or anything. I checked all of that out. Mr. Prager: This is a copy of your map that you gave us. The names Joann Oakley and Cypher, are these the people you purchased the property from? Mr. Proto: Yes, I bought my house from Richard and Teresa Cypher. Mr. Prager: Cypher must have bought it from Oakley. Mr. Proto: Now, the same surveyor came out on November 6, 1996 because I wanted him to come back and stake out the property. This is proof that he was there on November 6, 1996. In one of the pictures I have the survey stakes showing .... Mr. Prager: Are they still up? Mr. Proto: The survey stakes? Only on one side of the property, on the other side my neighbor ripped them down. There are stakes still in the ground on the right side. Mr. Prager asked Mrs. Nguyen to make copies of the letter from Mr. Kihlmire stating he staked the property. Mr. diPierno: Is it all cedar? Mr. Proto: It is all cedar. The poles are five by five. Mr. Fanuele: Is it the same on both sides? Mr. Proto: Yes, the same design. Mr. Fanuele: Where on the fence is the violation? Mr. Proto: There was like three spots and then like two others on this side. We did spot checks on each area and there are a couple of spots that are over one inch, two inches and the other was four. The back is stone. I just have it on two sides and then I have a stoned wall in the back. Mr. Prager: How high is that? Mr. Proto: The stone wall is maybe two feet. Mr. Prager: Does anybody else have any questions? Mr. Lehigh: I would like to take a look at the property. u Con Town of Wappinger Zoning Boar February 11, 1997 —Minutes 4 SITE INSPECTION SET FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1997 AT 9:30 AM. Mr. diPierno: Motion for Lead Agency. Mr. Lehigh: Second. Vote: All present voted aye. Mr. Prager: Do you want to wait for a Negative Dec. until next month? Mr. Lehigh: Lets leave it until we go out there. Mr. Prager: Let us set the public hearing then for the next meeting, which is February 25, 1997. Mr. Lehigh: Just one question, do you have a new copy of the survey? Mr. Proto: He (Mr. Kihlmire) said nothing changed. He made me one of these. Mr. Lehigh: That is your new survey. Mr. Prager: I definitely want that. Mr. Proto: Did I give you one of these? Mrs. Nguyen: All I have is the old one. We did not take that because it was not stamped by the surveyor. Mr. Lehigh: Don, did you check it against the new survey to see if the fence is on anyone else's property? Mr. Close: It was within the State lines that I observed. Mr. Proto: I am one foot in on one side. Mr. Prager: Can you have him (Kihlmire) put a stamp on this? Mr. Proto: The reason why he ... He said the measurements are the same. He checked it. Mr. Prager: We will need some sort of record of that. Mr. diPierno: How ... (too low to transcribe) Mr. Proto: 1984. 1%W Town of Wappinger Zoning Boarir February 11, 1997 —Minutes 5 Mrs. Nguyen: What if he just took this back to Kihlmire and had him stamp it? Mr. Prager: Yes. Mr. Proto: Okay, I will have him stamp this. I have another one of those. I will have it stamped. Mr. Prager: Bring both of them to the next meeting. Mr. Proto: That is what shows in the Schedule A. It is the same measurements. Mr. Prager: Okay, why don't you get us a copy of that (Schedule A). Mrs. Nguyen: How about when you come in and you bring in the stamped survey, then you can bring that in (Schedule A). Then, I will make the copies. That way we are not running back and forth and disturbing the meeting. Mr. Proto: Okay. Mr. Prager: So, February 25`' would be the public hearing. What I will do is probably ask you to go over it again and show any evidence. Anybody that has a problem and wants to speak, they will be welcome to speak. ,%W Mr. Proto: Thank you very much. Mrs. Nguyen: When I get the legal notice done, I will give you a call. Mr. Proto: Okay, because I have to send it certified. Mrs. Nguyen: I will go over all of that with you again. Mr. Prager: The next item of business on the agenda is a discussion of Appeal No. 1237. Michael DiZillo who is requesting a variance of the Zoning Law, Article II, Section 220, DEFINITIONS — which states an accessory apartment is to be located within the same building as a permitted one family dwelling. The property is located at 75 Ketchamtown Road in the Town of Wappinger. Mr. Petrucelli: I am Robert Petrucelli, the Architect. Mr. DiZillo has a house that he built in 1985. It is a one story contemporary house. If you look at sheet A-1 of 1, it shows the existing conditions of the house. When it was originally built it was built as a two bedroom house with a one car garage. He had taken out a permit to convert the one car garage into a third bedroom, which he never did finish. Then, he went through a divorce and his spouse now lives in Albany. He has custody of their child who is asleep in the back. He is five years old. Mike owns Razzles Night Club over behind where Ury's Hardware used to be. His club is open a minimum of two night a week. Sometimes it is open four nights a week. What he would like to do is to take the Town of Wappinger Zoning BoaTt February 11, 1997 —Minutes 6 garage ... He started to put in a tool shed, which the foundation and lower deck had been built. Then, if you go to sheet A-1 of 3, he would like to enclose the corners to tie the two together so that he can create an accessory apartment that his spouse would use when she comes down from Albany for visitation. Also, he could have his Aunt take care of his son the nights ... She will have to sleep over because he is open until four o'clock in the morning. He would like to create this accessory apartment. I brought along the existing elevations of the house. It is a one story house with battered wing walls at the ends of it and it has a flat roof. This is the front of the house that faces towards Ketchamtown Road. This is the rear of the house and this is where the existing garage is. This is where we plan to put the addition on. In this area is an 11 ft. 4 in. X 24 ft. foundation that we want to tie this all together. I originally filed some drawings with Mr. Close, the Zoning Administrator, and we discussed that since we were not within the footprint, that our option was to come to the Zoning Board for the hardship that we have. Mr. diPiemo: How many acres does he have? Mr. Petrucelli: He has 5. 459 acres. It is in a R-40 district. I will submit photographs for the next meeting to show the house. Mr. Lehigh: I think we should take a look at it. BOARD AGEED TO A SITE INSPECTION. *a.. Mr. Lehigh: Does this have a full basement? Mr. Petrucelli: No, part of it is slab on grade. Then, there is a small basement. If you go to (sheet) 1 of 1, there is a set of stares that comes down. There is a basement under there, which is a boiler room. That is the only basement in the house, right under the main entrance. The rest of it is all slab on grade. There is a lot of rock on the site. The topography, if you look at the site plan, you will notice the topography changes quite a bit. There is a meadow along side of it. There is a brook that flows through the property and a man-made pond that is spring fed. All through this area it is all flat. Then, it comes up around and the next property owner's house sits up on a knoll. Behind Mike's property is Woodland Court. It comes up into a plateau. There are power lines down past Woodland Court. It is when you go down Ketchamtown Road where you get to the "s" curve. Mr. Prager: The addition itself is approximately 1200 sq. ft.? Mr. Petrucelli: No, that is the floor area of the accessory apartment. The addition is, if you go back to sheet No. 1 of 3, you are talking about approximately 27 X 19. I believe it is 475 sq. ft. Mr. Lehigh: You have on your first drawing 1205.24 sq. ft. floor area. That is the accessory apartment. Town of Wappinger Zoning Boase February 11, 1997 —Minutes 7 Mr. Petrucelli: This part here is 452 sq. ft., the existing garage area that he has an open permit on to finish a bedroom. In this area here it is 276. It is around 500 sq. ft. that we are proposing to add. It should be in the zoning tabulations, not in the accessory apartment part. It is sort of hard to read this stuff upside down. Mr. Prager: The whole accessory apartment is 34. Mr. Petrucelli: Yes, your allowed 35%. The only variance we need is ... Mr. Prager: To allow you to ... Mr. Petrucelli: because of the footprint, because of the configuration of the house. It does not lend itself to go up. It makes more sense to try to get a variance to tie that corner of the house in together. Mr. Lehigh: With that amount of acreage you could always build another house on the same lot. Mr. Petrucelli: No, you are only permitted to have one house. Mr. Lehigh: Well, you would have to subdivide the lot. Mr. Petrucelli: He is not looking to do that. He is looking to have an accessory apartment. Mr. Lehigh: I just said you have enough land to do that. You could just put another house ... Mr. Petrucelli: Theoretically, if he did not have any water running through the property ... Mr. DiZillo: It can not be subdivided. There is a brook and there is no way it can be subdivided. Mr. Lehigh: In other words, topography wise you can not subdivide it. Mr. Petrucelli: No, there is a brook running through the property here. You would never be able to get another 40,000 sq. ft. that would support a septic system. You would end up having to create a flag lot. That is the only way you would be able to do it. The brook splits the property in half in this area. There is not enough area there to subdivide. It just does not work. It is a real hardship in terms of the site the way it is laid out. The way the house is positioned in the site, part of it is dictated by where the septic can be located in relationship to the body of waters that you have on the site. Then, you have a lot of topography and rock outcrops through the upper part of the site. It was not a good site to begin with. The house was designed as a two bedroom house. Then, his marriage failed and the type of business he runs ... Mike, when does your club open up in the evening? Around seven? Mr. DiZillo: I get there at nine o'clock. 05 c. on Town of Wappinger Zoning Bo31r February 1l,.1 997 — Minutes 8 Mr. Petrucelli: You leave around five o'clock in the morning? Mr. DiZillo: Yes. Mr. Petrucelli: You guys are getting up to go to work when he is coming home. Mr. Prager: Mr. DiZillo, I have a question. You mentioned your spouse will come down a couple of days a week? Mr. Petrucelli: No, she comes down once ... Mr. DiZillo: Every other weekend. Mr. Prager: Your Aunt would stay there? Mr. Petrucelli: No, my sister. Mr. Petrucelli: She is going to stay there the nights that his club is open. Mr. Prager: So, it will not be permanent. She has a home someplace? Mr. DiZillo: Yes. Mr. Lehigh: In other words, one bedroom is not enough to accommodate them. Mr. Prager: That is what I was wondering. I mean you have a whole apartment with a kitchen, dinning room, living room. I mean it is not as if she is going to stay there all the time. Can you get away without making it this large? Mr. DiZillo: It just fits. It just works out that way. Mr. Petrucelli: He has the existing ... This area here is existing. Mr. Prager: I realize that. What I am looking at is ... Right here you have a garage that you do not even have to do anything. You have a permit. There is a bath there. Mr. Petrucelli: He almost has it all framed out here. He has an active building permit where he started to make this into a third bedroom. Mr. Prager: That is what I am saying. If you could just get away with that it would be ... Mr. Petrucelli: It is a little bit too small. That is the problem. Mr. DiZillo: When his (son's) mother comes down there is two kids. on Town of Wappinger Zoning Boar`r February 11, 1997 —Minutes 9 `"' Mr. Petrucelli: She has two children from a previous marriage. Mr. Prager: Can she use the same kitchen as yours? Mr. Petrucelli: We could. I just figured because we are doing this .... To be quite honest, he is split with his siblings up there. She actually wants to come back this way. This may be a way to where the siblings can be together and we can be separated. Mr. Lehigh: I think we need to go out and look at it. I make a motion that the ZBA be Lead Agency. Mr. diPierno: I second that. Vote: All present voted aye. Mr. Prager: Vic, do you have anything else? Doug? Mr. Fanuele: No, not right now. Mr. Warren: No. SITE INSPECTION SET FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1997 AT 10:00 TO 10:30 AFTER THE FIRST SITE INSPECTION. Mr. Prager: Will somebody be there to ...? Mr. DiZillo: Yes. Mr. Prager: I will set the public hearing for the next meeting on February 25, 1997. Mr. diPiemo: Motion to adjourn. Mr. Lehigh: Second. Vote: All present voted aye. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:05 PM. Res�ectfuullly submitted, Linda Nguyen, Secretary Zoning Board of Appeals