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1994-03-22NOW Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals March 22, 1994 `.► Agenda - 7:30 P.M. Town Hall 20 Middlebush Road Wappinger Falls, N.Y. Approval of the January 25th and February 15th minutes. PUBLIC HEARING: Appeal 41165 - At the request of Wappinger Associates which are seeking a variance of Article IV, Section 473.2 (Size of parking spaces) and Article IV, Section 474 (Off street parking requirements) as follows: A. Wappinger Associates proposes to maintain parking spaces with a width of nine feet (91) instead of the required minimum with of ten feet (101), requiring a size variance of 1' per parking space; B. Wappinger Associates proposes to maintain 685 existing parking spaces instead of the required minimum amount of 803 parking spaces, requiring a 118 parking space variance. The property is located at the intersection of Route 9 and Myers Corners Road and identified as Tax Grid #19-6157-02-653974-00 in the Town of Wappinger. It is proposed to use the subject property for the construction of an Old Country Buffet restaurant in accordance with the Amended Site Plan dated July 19, 1993, last revised November 12, 1993 and prepared by Gray, Railing & Heinsman, Engineering & Surveying, P.C. Please take further notice, the Zoning Board of Appeals has declared itself Lead Agency and has made a Negative Declaration of Significance for this project on February 15, 1994. on 09 Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals March 22, 1994 Minutes Members Present Mr. Hirkala: Acting Chairman Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Bitterlich: Member Mr. Prager: Members Absent Mr. Sasser: Chairman Others Present Mr. Levenson, Zoning Administrator Dawn Idema, Secretary to the Z.B.R. -moo, Town Hall 20 Middlebush Road Wappinger Falls, N.Y. Member Member APPROVED NAY. 24 Wt R AWM SOARO 10N" SOARO OF APPFXS Mr. Hirkala: Called meeting to order. In Mr. Sasser's place, I will assume the role of chairman at his request. I don't see anyone in the audience but in case of an emergency you should exit through the back doors and there is also no smoking in the building. The first item on the agenda is the approval of the January 25th and February 15th minutes. Mr. Bitterlich: I move that they both be accepted. Mr. Prager: Second. Vote: All ayes. Mr. Hirkala: Public Hearing - Appeal #1165 - At the request of Wappinger Associates which are seeking a variance of Article IV, Section 473.2 (Size of parking spaces) and Article IV, Section 474 (Off Street Parking requirements) as follows: Wappinger Associates proposes to maintain parking spaces with a width of nine feet (91) instead of the required minimum width of ten feet (101), requiring a size variance of 1' per parking space; Wappinger Associates proposes to maintain 685 existing parking spaces instead of the required minimum amount of 803 parking spaces, requiring a 118 parking space variance. The property is located at the intersection of Route 9 and Myers Corners Road and identified as Tax Grid #19-6157-02-653974-00 in the Town of Wappinger. It is proposed to use the subject property for the construction of an Old Country Buffet restaurant in accordance with the Amended Site Plan dated July 19, 1993, last revised November 12, 1993 and prepared by Gray, Railing & Heinsman, Engineering & Surveying, P.C.. Please take further notice, the Zoning Hoard of Appeals has declared itself Lead Agency and has made a Negative Declaration of Significance for this project on February 15, 1994. Mr. Levenson: Mr. Chairman, the advertising has been done, we have a paid bill and the green cards have all been returned. )%W rM Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 2 vr.r Mr. Hirkala: Is there anyone here representing Wappinger Associates? Mr. Gray. Mr. Bitterlich: I make a motion to open the public hearing. Mr. Lehigh: Second. Vote: All ayes. Mr. Hirkala: For the record, there is nobody from the public present to speak for or against this appeal. We will leave the public he open in case someone comes in. Mr. Gray: I wrote a letter on February 24, 1994. Mr. Levenson: The board has received it. They received the packet on my letter of March 7th (reading letter). Attached you will please find the following documents that will be used at the public hearing to be held on Tuesday, March 22, 1994. 1. Letter of explanation from Gray, Railing Sr Heinsman regarding the history of the site from the inceptions. 2. Parking layout dated October 16, 1978, last revised March 8, 1980, drawn by Richard G. Barger, L.S., P.E.. 3. Parking layout dated July 16, 1981, last revised June 20, 1983, drawn by Richard G. Barger, L.S., P.E.. 4. Amended site plan for Old Country Buffet, dated July 19, 1993, last revised March 2, 1994. If you have any further questions, please feel free to call upon the undersigned at your earliest convenience. Mr. Chairman, there has been a lot of research done by both Bob and I. Bob's letter will give you the summation of the research that was done. Mr. Hirkala: I don't think the letter has to be read but, for the record, I think it should be a part of the minutes. Will someone give me a motion to make the letter part of the minutes? Mr. Bitterlich: I'll make that motion. Mr. Prager: Second.. Vote: All ayes. COPY OF LETTER FROM ROBERT J. GRAY OF GRAY, RAILING & HEINSMAN IS ATTACHED. Mr. Hirkala: Are there any other comments? Mr. Gray: In going through this, as Herb says, it got kind of complicated. Part of which complicated this was that some Planning Board minutes are missing from around 1979, right when this thing was approved, there are about three or four months missing. We were originally looking for them when the variance went into plan. Going through this, Fre originally thought that there were 803 spaces required. It is in this letter, we believe that it is more like 736. Herb has had a chance to look at that and I think he is in agreement with that. Which would make the variance then _.. Mr. Hirkala: So what you are saying is that the reduction in parking Cm *Akw •ove Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 3 spaces is non -conforming .... Mr. Gray: No, it reduces the amount of the requested variance. Mr. Hirkala: Under today's ordinance it would be 803. Mr. Gray: No, it would be 736. Mr. Hirkala: Under today's ordinance? Mr. Gray: And there are 685 there now. So the variance .... Mr. Bitterlich: So you are reducing the requirement for the variance. Mr. Gray: That is right. If you were to grant a variance it would be only for 51 spaces where as the first time you saw this you thought it was 103. Mr. Hirkala: What were the conditions under which you arrived at the 803 figure? Mr. Gray: We took a better look at the uses and the square footages and got a little more accurate with it. Mr. Hirkala: So this actual variance would be only .... Mr. Gray: 51. Mr. Levenson: 51 spaces. Mr. Gray: In terms of the parking space size, there was an ordinance effective from 1963 to 1980. That is this one right here. This project was originally approved in 1978 or 1979 so it would have been under that ordinance. I think it was late 178 or early 179. Mr. Bitterlich: What did the ordinance call for? Mr. Levenson: No size on parking spaces. Mr. Gray: There is no size specified in that ordinance. Mr. Levenson: Nothing. you could have put an 8' X 10' spot in there. Mr. Hirkala: 10' X 20' was a figure that was always around. I think that might have been a policy of the Planning Board or it may have been a subdivision regulation, I don't know. Mr. Gray: I remember working with Hans Gunderud at the time and we were researching parking space sizes, looking at all of the other towns. LaGrange is 9 1/2' wide even to this day. Then in 1980 there was a new %aw ordinance and that was effective 1980 - 1991, in that ordinance it was specified 10' X 201. The current ordinance which came into effect in 1991 also specifies 10' X 201. These spaces existed prior to that ordinance so it is my belief that these become non -conforming ... Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 4 Mr. Hirkala: If that is the case, if that is a fact .. Mr. Gray: You can grant the variance but the fact is that it is non -conforming ... they existed.. Mr. Hirkala: If the 9' space existed and pre -dated the 1980 ordinance ... when was the project built? Mr. Gray: 179 - 180. Mr. Levenson: Approved, the first phase of the job was approved before the 180 ordinance was adopted. It was in the spring. The new ordinance was approved, I believe sometime in the early fall. Mr. Hirkala: I think it was October. Mr. Bitterlich: In other words, this project was already up? Mr. Levenson: Yes. Mr. Hirkala: If that is the case, then the 9' is legally non -conforming. Mr. Levenson: I just want to assure you that Bob and I really looked at this really hard. Mr. Bitterlich: If this place was being used for any other purpose, other than this restaurant, would that change the required spaces? Mr. Levenson: No, you have to understand something, all of the spaces in the parking lot measure 9' wide. Mr. Bitterlich: No, if this were not Old Country Buffet, if it were a hardware store or whatever, would it have any effect on the number of spaces required in the parking lot? Mr. Gray: Actually it would. Retail is one space per 150 and restaurant Mr. Levenson: He's talking about size. Mr. Hirkala: No. Mr. Levenson: Oh, O.K., I'm sorry. Mr. Gray: Under the current ordinance. Mr. Bitterlich: What does it say? Mr. Gray: One per 100 for a restaurant and one per 150 for retail. In the original ordinance it was approved under it was one space for 50 sq. ,r, ft. patron area. Mr. Hirkala: So what you are saying is that there are higher requirements for the restaurant. Cm 03 Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 5 Mr. Bitterlich: Under the current ordinance, but under the old ordinance that the project was originally approved by, there was no distinction between hardware store or restaurant. Mr. Gray: There was a distinction. Let me read it to you. For a restaurant you needed one space for every 50 sq. ft. of patron area. For retail you needed one space for every 100 sq. ft. of retail area. It is kind of hard to say .... Mr. Levenson: It is very difficult to administer too. That is why in 1980 they wrote it the way they did.. Mr. Gray: The way that plan was approved was, they just took one space per 100 sq. ft. of retail area and that was it. In other words, there was 106,000 sq. ft., roughly, of building area. It assumes 71,600 sq. ft. of retail area. They did not distinguish between restaurant .. Mr. Hirkala: Was this all part of the Resolution of Approval by the Planning Board? Mr. Gray: I couldn't find it. Mr. Hirkala: I'm going back in my mind when this thing was approved and I know the general discussions that were taking place. I swear, but there is no way that I can prove it, one of the conditions, in my mind, that was placed on this plaza was restaurants were not going to be in the main. building. That is why the parking was based on retail. There weren't going to be any eating places in the main part of the building. All of the eating places were going to be outside. Roy Rogers was suppose to have been behind the Mobil Gas Station. Mr. Lehigh: But they have always had eating places in there. There was a restaurant _.. Mr. Hirkala: Pizza Barn. Mr. Lehigh: There was a pizza parlor and there was a bar in there also. They had food. There was a restaurant. Mr. Lehigh: How many people is this new restaurant going to seat? Mr. Gray: Almost 300. Mr. Lehigh: My only problem with the whole thing is that you are crowded in that shopping center as it is right now. Mr. Levenson: There is plenty of open space. I have never seen ... Mr. Lehigh: I have, I go over there probably once a day. Mr. Bitterlich: I do too. It gets very crowded in there but I can't see what we can do about it. You can't do anything about it because the plan is approved. It was approved with what they have. Mr. Gray: What we did do with the Planning Board was .... we said that we 09 0 Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 6 would make sure that all of the employees park in the back. There are plenty of spaces in the back that aren't used. Mr. Levenson: The landlord has written a letter. Mr. Hirkala: One of the things that I have looked at this winter, just with the construction alone, I couldn't find a place to park to go into Channel because of the construction trailer and the construction vehicles and the people that are working on the project are parking in all of the spaces. Plus the snow. I think the owners of the plaza could remove some of the snow. A lot of the parking spaces are messed up because of the snow piles. Mr. Lehigh: Snow removal, when you are talking about getting a loader in there at $80.00 or $90.00 an hour, a driver and a truck and haul that away, you are talking some big bucks. Mr. Hirkala: What do you think they do every place else? What do you think they do in N.Y.C. and in other highly populated areas? Mr. Bitterlich: It just seems to me that all we can do is make a suggestion ..... Mr. Lehigh: I've seen the N.Y.C. streets where the cars are plowed in for 2 or 3 days and couldn't move. That shopping center, I would have to say, `- is taken care of a lot better than that. Mr. Hirkala: That shopping center was a disaster this year. Mr. Lehigh: There is not much you can do with the snow. There is one area that is under utilized which is that one parking lot on the side of waldbaums. Very seldom is that area full. Mr. Hirkala: That is where Roy Rogers was suppose to be. That is the whole problem with that plaza. The whole problem with that plaza is that is where Roy Rogers was suppose to be and that area in the front was suppose to be open to the rest of the businesses. Mr. Prager: The other thing too that you have to look at, the only one that is probably going to get hurt from this is the people that have businesses in there. If the parking lots are all full, the cars can't go in it. They are going to say, "The heck with it". Mr. Bitterlich: I think we should make a suggestion to them about the snow removal and ..... Mr. Levenson: I can tell you what we have already done, last Friday I had a meeting with the new, this is the fourth new, manager that they have there. We had a pot hole problem. I called him and told him and I threatened him and I told him that he better be here as quickly as ,,,possible. He introduces himself to me and says, "you know I'm a P.E.". So I said "Well, I'm an accountant with an MBA in accounting, neither you nor I are practicing our professions so let's put it aside". I said to him, "The only thing I am going to tell you, you are going to fix all of the parking lots and you are going to re -do all the entrance ways, 0""'J Lon Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 7 resurface. Take up all the old blacktop and resurface those entrance ways". I don't think the guy is too swift but if I kept plugging this stuff with this hot patch and doing it for three or four years, I'm throwing away money. Mr. Lehigh: It's not only that, there is that one side over by Waldbaums where the road has just disintegrated It's not a pot hole it is a sheet 40 feet long by 40 feet wide that is gone. There is nothing there. Mr. Levenson: The other thing that you should know, in the stand alone building where the Poughkeepsie Savings Bank is and Subway, the Chinese place and the pet store, you get five minutes of rain and you have a swimming pool there. I tried to tell him that the drainage is wrong. He says, "Well, I can't see it", I said "Well, come when it rains and you can see it". They are requesting bids to re -do some resurfacing. Mr. Bitterlich: I make a motion that we close the public hearing. Mr. Lehigh: Second. Vote: All ayes. Mr. Bitterlich: I make a motion that we approve Wappinger Associates for the variance that they requested for 51 parking spaces. I will further say, just for the record, I don't think that it should be before this board. It was approved once before, nothing has happened to change it and I don't know what this board is hearing it for. Mr. Hirkala: I think that it is to legitimize it. There are no clear records. I also think that part of the resolution should be a statement on the non -conforming status of the parking lot sizes. Mr. Bitterlich: I agree with you but what are we going to do? Mr. Hirkala: You could make the statement that in the opinion of the board, as part of the resolution, is that the size of the parking spaces is legalized by non-conformance, prior to the 1980 Zoning Ordinance. That would make it legitimate. Mr. Bitterlich: I'll say that. Mr. Levenson: We'll just type another line that the 9' parking spaces are non -conforming and by this act ... DISCUSSION Mr. Lehigh: They got messed up by the original Planning Board. I don't think that we should .... Mr. Hirkala: I'll second. The original plan on this thing was not for that Wappinger Plaza as it is now. That plaza that you see now is suppose to be the parking lot. Mr. Levenson: Where the building is? cm Mr. Hirkala: You remember that, don't you? Mr. Prager: Yes. ,New Wappinger Zoning Board Minutes - March 22, 1994 Page 8 Mr. Hirkala: Do you know where the buildings are in that .... that whole section, that whole acreage was suppose to be only parking lot. The buildings were going to be in the village. That's how big the plaza was. The original plan, Primrose Farms, they were going to develop it. They were putting money up to do the long lines on Myers Corners Road. The County was going to straighten out the hook in the road. The whole section was suppose to be rebuilt, on the original plans. The original plans included all of the Marshall property, all the way around. DISCUSSION Mr. Hirkala: As a matter of fact, I think the fitting for the water line was $60,000. They were putting up $60,000 to put in a new water line. Mr. Lehigh: A motion was made and seconded. Roll call: Mr. Lehigh: Aye. Mr. Bitterlich: Aye. Mr. Lehigh: Motion to adjourn. Mr. Hirkala: Second. Vote: All ayes;. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:40 P.M. WIC NW Mr. Hirkala: Aye. Mr. Prager: Aye. Respectfully submitted, Dawn Idema, Secretary Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals on Naw GRAY, RAILING & HEINSMAN ENGINEERING & SURVEYING, P.C. l3,') Route 9 • Wappingers Falls, N.Y 12590-4453 • 914 297-9435 • FAX 297-0212 LMM February 24, 1994 REUE WED Mr. H. Levenson, Zoning Administrator Town of Wappinger 20 Middlebush Road MAP r Wappinger Falls, NY 12590 Re: Wappinger Plaza ZONING ADMINISTRATOR Route 9 / Myers Corner Road Dear Mr. Levenson: In an effort to clarify the parking situation at Wappinger Plaza, I have reviewed the various- site plans and zoning ordinances, as they relate to parking. First, the current parking requirement for the plaza is 736 spaces. The site plan prepared for Old Country Buffet indicates 803 spaces required, a typographical error. The maps amended to show required parking as 736 spaces are enclosed. The applicable zoning ordinances and their appropriate parking requirements are summarized as follows: Effective Dates Parking Requirements Parking Spc. Size 1963 - 1980 Restaurant: 1sp/50 sf Patron area None Retail 1sp/100 sf Retail Area specified Storage 1sp/2 Employees 1980 - 1991 Restaurant: isp/100 sf Gross Area and Retail : 1sp/150 sf Gross Area 1991 - current Storage : lsp/1000sf Gross Area The original site plan was approved in 1979. Since there was no specification for the size of parking spaces in the 1963 ordinance, the 9'x20' spaces approved by the Planning Board were legitimate, and become non -conforming when the 1980 ordinance was adopted. CONSULTING ENGINEERS • LAND SURVEYORS • ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS RESIDENTIAL \ COMMERCIAL BUILDING DESIGNERS • LAND PLANNERS 10 CM The original Site Plan (3 copies enclosed) with original date October 16, 1978 show the following: 106,200 sf Building Area 71,600 sf Retail Area 716 sp. required @ lsp/100sf 719 sp. provided. ,No distinction is made between retail and restaurant use. The second site plan that was found is dated July 6, 1981. copies enclosed) This plan shows the following: Existing Buildings & Arax (Approved) 100,374 sf @ lsp/150sf = 670 sp required. Storage Area (Channel) = 5,940 sf @ 1 sp/1000sf = 6 sp. required Proposed 8,000sf Building @ 1sp/150 sf = 54 sp required. (3 I"MW Therefore, 730 spaces were required and 716 were provided. (Note the site plan erroneously states 736 spaces required). Therefore a short fall at 14 spaces was apparently approved with no variance granted as far as I can tell. Again, there is no distinction between retail and restaurant use even though Roy Rogers is shown on the plan. The current plan (3 copies enclosed) shows 685 spaces provided, with 736 spaces required, which is a shortfall of 51 spaces. The variance request is therefore 51 spaces. This parking requirement accounts for the parking at restaurants and retail as specified in the current ordinance. Wappingers Plaza Parking Requirements Applebees: 5,040 sf. } Old Country: 10,000 +/- sf.} Roy Rogers: 2,600 sf } Channel: 25,000 sf } Retail Store: 14,000 sf } Waldbaums: 35,000 sf } Retail 8,000 sf } (satellite bldg.) Channel Storage: 17,640 sf @ lsp/100sf...... 177sp. 82,700 sf @ lsp/150sf...... 552sp. 6,300 sf @ lsp/100sf........ 7sp. Total ....... 736sp. t T2 \r We will make the necessary legal notices to the adjoining owners after your review of this letter. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Very Truly Yours, Robert J.Wng y, P.E. Gray, Rail & Hein a on **AV' Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals February/!r, 1994 Agenda - Workshop - 7:30 P.M. Approval of January 25, 1994 minutes. DISCUSSION NWO Town Hall 20 Middlebush Road Wappinger Falls, N.Y. Wappinger Associates - Discuss variance application, #1165, with regard to premises located on Route 9 & Myers Corners Road in conjunction with the Amended Site Plan for Old Country Buffet, Wappingers Plaza.