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2001-05-15 ~ \. ," \..- Page 1 Zoning Board of Appeals May 15, 200t Summarized Minutes Members Present Mr. Lehigh, Mr. Fanuele, Mr. Prager, Mr. diPiemo, Mr. Warren, Summarized Minutes TO~fNBf~appinger APPROVI!D MINUTES JUL 24 2001 Town of Wappinger Town Hall 20 Middlebush Road Wappinger Falls, NY Chairman Vice Chairman Member Member Member Others Present Mrs. Lukianoff, Zoning Administrator Mrs. Gale, Secretary, ZBA \ Discussions: SUMMARY Joseph M. Garnot Set PH for 6/19/01 Gasland Petroleum Set PH for 6/19/01 Mr. Lehigh: We're going to change the order of the agenda: Appeal No. 01-7094 Joseph M. Garnot - Seeking an area variance of 8 feet for minimum side yard setback of 10 feet from Section 240-37 for R20 Zoning District, thus requesting a 2-foot variance. The property is located on 22 Marlorville Rd. and is identified as Tax Grid No. 6157-01-111724 in the Town of Wappinger. . . Page 2 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger '-' Mr. Garnot: I built it in 1991, basically it was two projects that I did and I just looked into how many feet it was, in the Town - it was 10 ft., I thought it was 10' well within the 10' (a little over) as it turned out, it was a little under 10' - 8+ ft. something like that, as it turned out, it was a mistake on my part and it's a beautiful shed, it's well maintained and it's about 8Y2 ft. away from the line - no problem with the neighbors, it's very permanent - it fits right in beautifully. Mr. Lehigh: There's no foundation on it - right? Mr. Garnot: No - it's built on piers, plenty of piers. .. Mr. Lehigh: Concrete piers? Mr. Garnot: Concrete piers. Mr. Lehigh: It's going to be difficult to move, then? Mr. Prager: Do you have a permit for it? Mr. Garnot: I do - I do now I'm applying for the permit. Mr. Prager: OK - did you bring any pictures? \-. Mr. Garnot: Yes, I supplied about six pictures, with the application. Ms. Gale: They're probably with the Building Permit application. Mr. Lehigh: We don't have them. The next best thing is to go take a look at it. I think we'll come out Saturday take a look at it - see where it is. You could stake out the line for us show us where your building line is so we know how far away you are from the shed. Mr. Fanuele: Where is it - what's the address. Mrs. Gamot: Two minutes from here. Mr. Garnot: Jenny's Auto Body on 9D - that's Marlorville, 7th house down on the right. Mr. Lehigh: I'd like a motion for the Zoning Board of Appeals to be the Lead Agency? Mr. diPierno: So moved Mr. Prager: Second All present voted - Aye \...- Page 3 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger ~ Mr. Lehigh: We'll withhold our NEG DEe until we look at it. We'll be there Saturday, June 16th take a look at it. You don't need this right away - this variance? Mr. Gamot: No Mr. Lehigh: Because the shed is already there. Mr. Gamot: Yes Mr. Lehigh: We're having a little conflict with our meetings - June 19th wouldn't be a problem for you? Mr. Gamot: No Mr. Lehigh: Then we'll put you on for a Public Hearing on June 19th. Mr. Fanuele: How come you getting the variance now? Mr. Gamot: It's the right thing to do - have a building permit and everything above board, in case we ever decide to sell the property, we have no immediate plans to do that. I just thought, if there's going to be a problem, I'd rather know that now, take care of everything that needs to be taken care - rather than..... Mr. Lehigh: Alright, we'll see you Saturday at 9:00AM - and then June 19th. \. Mr. Lehigh: The next discussion will be: Appeal No. 00-7068 Gasland Petroleum - Seeking 4 area variances in order to have a gas station. The property is located at the comer of Route 9 & Old Hopewell Road is identified as Tax Grid No. 6157-02-610544 in the Town of Wappinger. Mr. Lehigh: Gentlemen ~ Page 4 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger '-' Mr. Siebert: Good evening Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, I'm Judson Siebert of Keane and Beane, PC - representative for the applicant, I'm joined by Eugene Ninni of Civil Technologies & Engineering, and Neil Wilson, Land Resource Consultants - we were last before the Board on January 9th at which time, the Board moved to issued its notice of intention to serve as Lead Agency, after conciliation with Dan Wery, that was prepared, circulated on February 9th with the Part I of the A - App. and the site plan to all involved agencies, there were no objections and therefore, in March the Board assumed Lead Agency status in connection with.. ... the application. Based on discussions with Dan we put together some additional application materials, which were, submitted a few weeks ago, in April - and those include first and most notably a report that was prepared by Land Resource Consultants who addressed the question that Dan posed regarding what are you looking at, what is this Board looking at in terms of potential presidential impact relative to grant of variance relief for this application now, it's our position that - that is not from a legal prospective, that is not a guiding standard for this Board, but we do feel that, that report only underscores what we've said from the outset that we have a very unique piece of property in terms of historical use and location and that because of the very particular and peculiarJacts of this application you are not (Neil is here and he can go through the details of the report) but you're not looking at a situation that other potential properties could step up down the road and claim that this case stands as a precedent for granting relief to us because the facts involving our piece of property are unique and stand out from other properties. Also, submitted a statement in support of the application just a legal statement, going through the test to be applied by the Board in terms of variance relief. The legal statement that I submitted only addressed in terms of discussion the two separation setbacks from the residential zone 1,000-foot residential zone and the 2,500-foot setback from another gas station use, it did not specifically address the lot size and lot depth variance request, technically those are still before the Board, however based on the conversation with Dan, we would also be asking the Board for an interpretation as to whether we move for purposes of obtaining a building permit relief from those two standards because we are, and always have been, the lot was created a long time ago it is of substandard size and to apply your code in such a fashion, we need relief to do anything on the property it compels a pretty harsh result, those requests are still before you, the same standards apply but again, we're making requests for interpretations as well that we don't need those two. The other two undoubtedly, we must make application for there's not question with respect to those. \...r \.- Page 5 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger ~ Mr. Siebert - Cont'd. Based on conversation with Dan as well we made some very minor modification to the site plan simply to, the key thing was to clean up some minor discrepancies we re-oriented a inlet for one of the gasoline underground storage tanks, to get it outside of the setback we. . ... by a couple of feet, so that's been done. We have those plans and we have not formally submitted them, but we will immediately following tonight's meeting. We're here prepared to address any questions you might have, we would like to get the application - one other thing, I'll let Neil address it, is Dan asked for an offset map utilizing the same database that Land Resource Consultants used for purposes of the report, that's a computerized database taken from the county and we, utilizing that database we've noted that the extent of the variances, in terms of the setback from the residential zone and from the 7-11, is less than we've noted on the plan, we'll make that modification on our plan as well. Mr. Wery: Do you have more of these - or do we make some copies, for members? (Copies were made for the others in attendance). \.... Mr. Siebert: In term of .. ..this would require basically change numbers in terms of what we've provided and what's required, but again there are no surprises to the extent that we've always known that we were bumped against a residential zone, like all other properties in an HB zone and the fact that we're across the street from the 7-11 that's also readily apparent, we've known about it from the outset. Mr. Lehigh: We submitted the last material for the county - we had not heard back with answers, as yet. Mr. Wery: OK Mr. Lehigh: So we're going to have to hear back from them - hopefully in another week or so - I would think. We're a little late with the material. Mr. Wery: The full application has been turned over to County Planning? Mr. Lehigh: Yes, as far I know - they've got everything up to date, they requested that you sent us - that's what we sent them, we haven't heard back from them yet, I think we should in another week or so, but what I hoped to do was to set a Public Hearing for you tonight and I would like to set it for June 19th when Dan will be available, if that's alright? \.... Page 6 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger '--' Mr. Seibert: That's fine. Mr. Lehigh: Dan one other question - do we need more material on this - a traffic study or anything like that? Mr. Wery: I thought since we had our discussion tonight in terms, we let them make a presentation - present your materials tonight and have the discussion - see where it's going to go - I didn't get a chance to speak to Mike. . . .(?) about the traffic.... Mr. Lehigh: Well it's a heavily traveled road ---heavy traffic comer with the 7-11 and through that gas station in there that's going to be...in my opinion, there might be a lot more people stopping there, going in and out, I realize it's going to cause any more traffic on 9, but it will, as far as I'm concerned cause a lot more traffic at that comer, I would like to have an idea how that's going to effect this whole situation. Is there any way of pulling some figures out - how many cars - do you have any idea's many people are going to be stopping there for gas, to make it viable? Mr. Siebert: I could obtain those for you - would you like them at the Public Hearing? \.. Mr. Lehigh: Yes - I think we should have them - definitely, it doesn't necessarily mean what's going up and down 9 - cause that's going up and down whether you're there or not, but the people that are pulling in are going to be pulling in to get gas and groceries or whatever, assuming you're going to want more than just gas at this location. Mr. Siebert: What you're probable looking at peak hour volumes in and out, turning movements and what impact it would have on that intersection. I know there are some fairly recent counts, turn movements at that intersection, we did it probably two years ago when we were looking at Alpine and we'll take your figures and apply that to what counts we had at that time, maybe we'll need to grow a little bit, get an idea whether it's going to impact the operation of that intersection. Mr. Lehigh: It's a tough intersection now - anybody else have any other questions? Mr. diPierno: You don't plan on doing any repairs here right? Mr. Siebert: No Mr. diPierno: This structure is just going to be a conveyance store.. ~ Page 7 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger ~ Mr. Ninni: A conveyance store, gasoline sales. Mr. Lehigh: The reason I was interested in the traffic, people are going to come in five minutes and back out on the road. Mr. Warren: I think the other thing they're going to have to consider is delivery times delivery of gasoline, delivery of groceries. Mr. Ninni: Gasoline deliveries - they have a site in Cold Springs, very very tight site similar problems - they've scheduled them late at night two o'clock in the morning, they have gasoline deliveries that are twenty-four hours a day they can schedule them to kind of conform to the site, so we can make it part of the application, if you wish. Mr. Lehigh: That's going to be a tight sight for you go get a tanker in there. Mr. Ninni: Did you see Cold Spring? Mr. Lehigh: No \...- Mr. Ninni: Take a ride down there - it's even worse - but they still fit it in. Mr. Warren: Where is it? Mr. Ninni: It's on 9D and Main Street - just down from Phillipstown Town Hall right as you cut. ... Mr. diPierno: Is that an old site? Mr. Ninni: Yes - quite a number of years, it's been there a while. Mr. Warren: Is that a Sunoco station? Mr. Ninni: It's a Sunoco brand - yes Mr. Fanuele: You haven't mentioned anything about a couple of variances - one is 2,500 feet from another gas station - and I think that's just as critical as anything else - or 1,000 feet from a residence, we mentioned that but the 2,500 feet from another gas station. . . Mr. Wilson: That is mentioned in my statement..it is ~ Page 8 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \..,.- . Mr. Fanuele: Are you going to address that further than what's in the statement? Mr. Lehigh: Did you get this? (Showing a document to the board - discussions continued) Mr. Fanuele: That's part of you addressing it - that's in here? Mr. Wery: The applicants could probably summarize their report. That would be a good idea - address why this site is .... For the record: Neil Wilson - President of Land Resource Consultants. \. Mr. Wilson: I'll pass these up for the board to see a little closer - the scale of the map is obviously a little small - this map database is actually one that is available from the County shows the entire town, they have it for all the towns in the County..what I have done was turn off they layer showing the village portion of the town and the study specifically concentrated on the five zoning districts - which gas stations are allowed by special permit. So what I have done is to highlight those in yellow and turn off all the other residential, shopping center and other commercial districts - so you can see just the labeled land, if you will, in terms of the specific question that you're planner has posed, where else are properties located that are similar to the one that we're dealing with here from Real Holding Company - the answer summarized in the report is - there is potentially one and it is located up near the intersection of 376 and Maloney Rd. - very close the LaGrange Town line. This map is actually reproduced in the report that we have provided, this map again is a further blow up if you will, of basically the three areas oftown that contain the relevant zoning districts, and further in answer to your question, we have identified, in this map here - this is the Highway Business district along Rt. 9 all the way to the Town of Fishkill, and we have scaled off the I,OOO-foot setback as well as the 2,500-foot setback, you will note with respect to the 2,500-foot setback, the only gas station that falls within that setback, as large as it is - roughly one-half mile, is the 7-11. This district actually falls somewhat short of the Mobile - which is on the comer of Middle bush and Rt. 9 (passing up to board - take a look). (Explaining to members where other gas station is located). \.. Mr. Lehigh: They were here not too long ago, looking for the same variances you were and we directed them to the Town Board, I don't know what they're doing now. Page 9 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \.... Mr. Wilson: There were a total of four sites - including the Hometown Motors Hometown Motors is the one that might be the most readily re-adaptable. The canopy is there,.... the two DD marks are located just..... .the one in Hughsonville and Steward's - their kind of the usage you might see a pump or two associated with it, which is why we had picked it up - can you physically get a pump to work on that particular sites, I don't know - and the suggestion is those sites might be a little bit small for those... ..more specifically the Hometown Motors. . .. Mr. Lehigh: I was wondering, I know Mr. Cappilliti wasn't the owner at the time, but the pollution, I was just curious if they had ever proved which gas station at the time was doing the polluting and was it from a spill, a tank leak or what is was - they've got these new additives in gas that really effecting the water supplies, I know being involved with underground tanks we had one at the firehouse that was removed and to keep it we would have to come in and..... .the system and everything else I wondered, I know they're very expensive - how good are they? ~ Mr. Cappilliti: When I got involved, the people that had it weren't able to do the clean up that's when I came into the picture and I deal directly with BEC and that's when ... the who Ie thing started when the 7-11 had the leaking tanks, they started checking to see how far the extent was, they started realizing everything.. .that gas station, Greer - when everything was built years ago, any gas station, anywhere was contaminated - it was happening, especially if they didn't repair it - years ago you had grease into the floor, you have all the drainage would go into a grease pit, separate the grease and the water go into just fields, but all the chemicals with the grease and the oil went out into the fields - all the drainage was contaminated - they thought they were separating it - that's why everybody was contaminated then. The original reason why that area was checked was because of 7 -11' s leak. 7-11 never did a dig out, what they did was - there was two ways to do it - either dig the soil take the tanks out take the soil out - or put in a aeration system and that's what 7-11 did - that's what that little building with the stack - that's the aeration system, put pipes in the ground........ H( continued to explain how the aeration system works). With my site - what I did was I took the tanks out of the ground all the tanks on the property - oil tanks, gasoline tanks, the BEC was on site when we took it out, they had testing while we were doing it - we dug out all the contaminated soil - as much as we could get out, that's all shale in that area, most of the tanks we put in there.. H we dug it all out, it was put on plastic and that's where it sat and the BEC \., Page lO Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \..- Mr. Cappilliti - Cont'd. We pulled out everything that was possible, we ground up the dirt that was sitting on the ground - we.... . . ..cleans itself same idea they have with this aeration system - I don't know how it all evaporates, but it evaporates. There came a time when I was there when they tested the soil - before the BEC tested them - the testing came out clean - the BEC then tested They came out clean - then we got the letter saying no more - all cleaning had been done. That's when I said OK I did the work for I don't mind putting money into the place.. ....... .(unable to translate what was said)... Mr. Lehigh: The only thing I was.. .what crossed my mind is leaking testing system is fine in the ground and it probable works well- I don't really know - I'm not really an authority on that - but I do know - from filling my vehicle with gas that the automatic nozzles are not perfect. It maybe only a few drops. . ..if that happens time and time again that you spill a little on the ground and I know most of it evaporates, but I wonder if the next rain comes in - takes it down to the people down hill. \., Mr. Cappilliti: I think that pretty much handles - in the old days, I'll tell you how most of it got contaminated, it wasn't so much by leaking tanks, the tanks weren't the problem - there we no leaks in the tanks, but a much worse problem than that - years ago they filled it with a tube, that tube just came from the tank straight up, the gravel was the same gravel that filled up that whole area - they filled it up with the tube from the tanker, whatever gas fell out when they were lifting up that tube, it would fall right into the gravel, so maybe it was a half of a gallon, one delivery a day, a little each day - seven days a week, fifty-two weeks and if you have gravel it doesn't move, you're digging out shale, the water table doesn't move that fast, in a sandy area it would disappear. Mr. Ninni: We could show the Board at the Public Hearing a break down schematic and and isometric diagram that we currently have in our office of the containment systems that are used presently, right now, pipe within a pipe - it's all regulated by the EP A, we can show that and demonstrate how the technology has changed from back when he was talking about - to what's happening now to describe the same conditions he talked about, the spillage most of the concerns, were when they were filling it with the large tanker, not with the automobiles. ~ Page 11 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger ~ Mr. Lehigh: I think it's appropriate to this situation, I would like to see it. You read everything in the paper about the new pollutant gasoline makes it bum better and can't do anything with it. Mr. Wery: I have a question, you guys have access to the representatives, what would be a problem is having is the MTBE which is the additive, fairly recent, I think it's only been 10 years that they have been using it, but it's everywhere, it's in old tanks and old systems as well as new systems, and it would be interesting to know, how many of the MTBE problems are coming out of the new systems? Everybody says, it's the current state of the art, MTBE is a new product, it's out there. Mr. Ninni: Use as a .. ...(oxygenated), burn cleaner, I mean basically any gas station previous, the way they were all built, I guess any gas station would have that same problem. Mr. Cappilliti: Actually.. ..the biggest problem was the oil separators every garage had an oil separator, everybody thought that was smart - separate the oil, it didn't go out into the garage, but all the chemicals went into the water. Mr. Lehigh: Vie, is your question answered? \., Mr. Fanuele: Is my question answered, no - what you're saying is that the 2,500 feet is - your request is the only place in town that would require this particular variance? Mr. Siebert: No - we're here because we've made an application for a special permit to the Planning Board for a gasoline filling station is - there are two standard (I'll call them standard) dimensional issues, lot size and the lot depth is required, we're going to ask for an interpretation, but our arguably are going to require variance - and there are the two provisions attached to the Special Permit - the 2,500 foot separation and the 1,000 foot separation, and we're here before this board seeking variance relief, and in that context we're asking the board to apply the standards it applies for area variances - which is - it's to consider the benefit to the applicant ofthe variances granted - weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant - and there are five factors that the Board is to consider and it's our position - in a nutshell that - you have a piece of property that has lied, basically unused and fallow for approximately ten years ifnot more, it was built in the 60's and used as a gasoline station it would probably still be a gasoline station, if it weren't \.., Page 12 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \-. Mr. Siebert - Cont'd.: for the problems that arose with respect to contamination on the site, which pre-date Mr. Cappilliti's ownership. Mr. Cappilliti has made other efforts in the past, to get other uses on the site, they haven't worked - it's small, it was built, again - historically it always was a gas station and we're looking to basically to restore it to that historical use, put the property to economic benefit, make it look better, to make it provide a service to the community, and we think that could be done without a consequent detrimental impact to the area, it's a Highway Business Use, granted we have the two dimensional requirements that we're running into, but in terms of the character of the area, it is a use from our perspective is perfectly appropriate for that location. That's the sum and substance of the argument for variances. Mr. Lehigh: Does anybody else have any questions? Mr. diPierno: Is eight pumps coming, how many islands do you have? - Four? two pumps on an island? ~ Mr. Ninni: Eight islands - and island per pump - they're called a "Dog Bone" island, it looks like a dog bone - they're individual, they're not all joined together like one island with two pumps on them - each pump has it's own island. Mr. Lehigh: They pump all four blends out of one pump, right? Mr. Ninni: That's correct Mr. Lehigh: Dan Mr. Wery: I think the key issues here, the extent of the variances, you're looking at, according to this map, 57 feet where 2,500 feet is required between gas stations that's obviously pretty significant and it looks like 95 feet is the nearest distance to a residence district, where 1,000 feet is required and I think there's about 300 properties within those 5 districts that would otherwise permit gas stations and I think the concern is - how do you again differentiate this site justify this site with the nature and extent of these variances, because effectively, you're almost - you're negating the effect of those separation requirements and how do you justify that? \..r Page 13 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger '-" Mr. Siebert: I don't think you're negating those requirements - I think you're looking at particularly and unique set of circumstances and unique set of facts with respect to this property, this is a property that was developed as a gas station it's location, it's size - it always supported that use. Mr. Cappilliti now has it, looking to put it to economic use, granted you have two requirements that we're running up against and trying to do that - and granted the extent of the variances we're seeking - they are what they are - but again, if you look at the criteria, can we do this in such a way, that you are not going to bring about undesirable change to the area that - is there going to be some kind of detrimental impact on the surrounding neighborhood and community - given the fact that it is on Route 9, given the fact that it always supported, historically supported this use, given the fact that - the residential separation, for example 1,000 foot separation, that is an incredibly erroneous standard for this standard for this type of use, if you consider the fact that, residential zones literally straddle the HB Zone up and down the Route 9 corridor, so that I think you would be hard pressed to find any property in the HB district that would not need some kind of relief from this provision, it is what it is. Our neighbors in terms what is around this, quite frankly are other automotive uses, we have a repair shop to the south, the repair shop actually comes back around our rear, we've got the 7-11 across the street this is a similar use, can be placed on the site - can be done in a way that will be blend and will be workable, with respect to adjoining properties. \r Mr. Roberts: I have a couple of comments - the 2,500-foot setback from the nearest gas station, I think really has to be addressed, you're effectively asking this Board to totally waive that provision, the 7-11 is literally across the street, I would imagine it's more than 75-80 feet away, but more importantly, I think you have brief the issue, whether or not, this Board has the authority to waive the specific setback requirements for the Special Use Permit. There have been amendments to the Zoning Law, but I believe its Sub-Division 3 and Sub-Division 5 that is somewhat (?). . . that has to be briefed for this Board, not only that. . . . Mr. Siebert: It's addressed in that statement Mr. Roberts: I read your statement... Mr. Siebert: It's addressed Mr. Roberts: I think it should be re-addressed, there is dialog in McKinny's about the ability of the Zoning Board to vary - to make variances for Special Use conditions, as opposed to a generic area variance, and the commentaries are inconstant with the position we've taken. '-" Page 14 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \...- Mr. Siebert: But the case law fits..... Mr. Roberts: One case.. Mr. Siebert: Two cases.. . Sunrise Associates and the Westchester County case. I'll be happy to review that.... Mr. Roberts: If you have anything further on it.. Mr. Lehigh: Would you like that material before we go to a Public Hearing? Mr. Roberts: We can submit after the Public Hearing.. .if you have it before I would appreciate it. '-" Mr. Wery: I think it's kind of the issue.. .the gas stations have this, it certainly has a dimensional requirement, separation from... use, it kind of begs the question - if we were looking at another use here, you wouldn't need these variances, it's only because it's a gas station use and so waiving that requirement to me kind of smacks of a Legislative act - changing the intent of the zoning power, by allowing these uses where maybe our founding fathers and mothers, didn't intend it .... Mr. Roberts: That's what this Board is created to do, provides a relief valve, that's.... Mr. Wery: That's the - the intention of this Board provide relief in certain circumstances from what the text of the code - the legislative act actually says. There are a couple of statements that kind of relate to to that - the site inability to sustain other commercial uses.. .I'm not sure if that's really the case....I know the Planning Board granted approval I think in 1996 - Retail Food store, but obviously there's other uses that are permitted in the HB district, maybe it would be helpful to demonstrate what efforts have been made to get other uses into the site, other than a gas station. You're in the business of gas stations, that's what you want to do, but seems to me that's not a part of your hardship, that you're looking for a very specific use. '-' Page 15 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \..,.. Mr. Cappilliti: I'm the property owner - how about the other gas stations, I have no use for that property for ten years - the closest we had, fell apart. I've had many, many people call- the property's too small, piece by itself is subdivided from the piece next door - that created this, because of that - I've got a piece of property that's substandard for most uses we've applied for. If it were water and sewer.. . we were talking, maybe that would be a case I could do something, without water and sewer, there are no uses. The size of the site, without water and sewer there would be no applicable use, pay me enough to. . .. forget about the taxes I'm still paying for the property, to put up a building to attract enough rent. That property was subdivided off the property next door to create a gas station - how did they create this property for a gas station, my use, that I bought the property for was car sales - years ago, that was my intended use for that property and I was turned down. . .I tried it twice, and I was turned down two times because the Town required five acres for a used car lot, then that went to three acres, that's why I bought that property in the first place, the size.. ...you could put anything, we had a hundred uses, I tried putting two pieces together for a drug store - the Eckart applied. . ..I was in contract \...- Mr. Roberts: Do you own the adjoining property? Mr. Cappilliti: No - I don't own the adjoining property, I tried to put together a deal with person who owned the adjoining property and it didn't work. Mr. Roberts: We recognize that this is a difficult piece, but the uses that he intended to put this property to, really were precluded by the ordinance, since he bought it - it went from five acres to three acres, but you're trying to eliminate the legislative action of the Town Board, in deciding what uses are appropriate for what site and in what areas. But your application here is for an area variance and when you apply the criteria, the statuary criteria, I think you have a very hard burden and maybe we could demonstrate that you know.. ..he can't get any other benefit but, that number two was a benefit by the applicant can be achieved by some method feasible for the applicant to pursue other than an area variance - it would seem to me that there a number of uses that you can put this property to, particularly now since sewers are going to '-' Page 16 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger ~ ~ Mr. Cappilliti: They have been talking about sewers for way too many years, it's not even something to be considered and I own many parcels of land I know I use my land - this one couldn't.. ...one of the nicest pieces ofland, not that I can't get uses, I have a hundred of people who want the land - nobody can afford to even take it off my hands, I'm backed to one of the nicest comers in the Town of Wappinger and I can't use it, it's too small, there's no water and there's no sewer, not your fault, my mistake in the first place, I should have left it dirty. The parcel he talks about on 376 - that's my parcel, I own that parcel I had to put a renter in there, I never not had a renter. I came before the Board and absolutely no reasonable, no justification for not letting a car sale use goes on that property, but I was turned down. Tried many uses, I dealt with many, many people on that property, just nothing there. Gas station, that's what works - they could afford to put up a building, they could afford to improve the property, most people who looked at that property can't even afford to go through this process, we've been doing this since last summer, we haven't even had a Public Hearing yet. The engineers, the lawyers, it's crazy - it's a piece of property, the place was a gas station for 25 years, there's a five point criteria, one point you can look at is - do I have any other uses for it, why would I hold on to it for 10 years, ifthere was other uses, then you come down to detrimental for the community - how could it be? Traffic study, the place operated as a gas station for 25 years, next to another gas station, that wasn't even a 7-11 that was a Shell station on the comer, years ago it operated for 25 years, trucks coming on and off, the road system has improved since then - traffic may have increased a little bit, this is Highway Business - this is not one of the commercial routes, Neighborhood Business - 376, I own the property - I can't put a gas station on that - Steward's wanted to buy it, contractor gave me money - all you need is Town approval- didn't get it, came back to you - Neighborhood Business - this is Highway Business - I can't understand it - why would you want to see that place the way it is, a guy could come in spend hundreds of thousands dollars, he's getting a great deal on the lease - that's why he's paying his engineer to be here, Ijust want to get rid of this problem, why wouldn't you want it - he's going to put up a brand new building, he's going to hire 4-5-6 people to run it - where have you seen two gas stations affect anything. Central Avenue, every comer there's four gas stations, Route 6 Mahopac there's four gas stations on four comers, where does affect? That means there's two people that need gas - one goes to 7-11, one goes to this one. \..,., Page 17 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \.... Mr. Roberts: Sir, you make a very good argument.... Mr. Cappilliti: That's the only argument..., it makes sense Mr. Roberts: But.. ...what sense did it make to the Town Board? \-- Mr. Cappilliti: These are the people that have the right to do it - look at it and say does it make sense - does it not make sense? There's five criteria they have to go by and they look at those five and sees how it affects - ifthey decided it's detrimental to the community, then you know what - the next step is for me to go to court and see if they say this, but I'd like to know if they do feel it's detrimental to the community - how could you arrive at that? It was a gas station for 25 years, how could it possible affect anybody - except positively. A nice piece of property, I'm paying 7-8 thousand dollars in taxes, it's going to go up to twenty thousand in taxes, if you put a gas station on that. I understand your job is to look at it - these are big variances I'm here for variances because there is no other choice. Those five criteria you have to go by - the benefit to me, there's no question - proven over 10 years of emptiness, the detriment to the community - I don't see where that could even come up - the other three... ..Last time I had a Public Hearing, not one person showed up from the public, not one person, nobody cared, I have a tire shop behind it - you're worrying about a beautiful gas station, when you put a tire shop in. All that property behind me, they were luoking to turn it commercial anyway, because BJ's wanted to enlarge their site, why wouldn't you do it? They wanted to enlarge the site - reverse the problem. Mr. Roberts: There were two Board members who voted against that. Mr. Cappilliti: I can't imagine why - unless they...., but.. ...all I know is I've been to many meetings, I'm a very reasonable person, I do a lot of business, in a lot of places, to sit there and any you to try. . .. It's a beautiful spot, great spot - for the first few years, I didn't even drive by that spot, I was so sick - I didn't mow the lawn, I got a fine - I had to keep sending guys to mow the lawn, I didn't even what to go there. I own property in Kent that I can't build on New York City stopped me from building there, I could understand that, they're trying to protect their water. '-" c Page 18 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \..,. Mr. Wery: When you bought the property, the gas station had already been discontinued? Mr. Cappilliti: They had stopped pumping gas....J could have started the gas station at time with Getty, had I not applied for this car sales use, here I am cleaning up the property, it looked much worse then it looks as an abandoned property, I did a total clean up on that - I got turned down - it was in shock - they had just changed the Zoning - I already owned a car lot - I know the size of every car lot in this Town, not one is more than three-quarters of an acre, and all of a sudden, they went up to five acres? That whole process, months - we went past the point of going back to grandfather. . . Mr. Wery: That's where I was going - why didn't they keep it as a gas station, you had another use - to me it seems like it was too small for.. ... \.. Mr. Cappilliti: We had it all laid out - site plan, easy, simple thing, at that point I didn't have the energy to go on, just say why I could live with it, there's not a problem, there's not a reason out there to say this won't work - it's impossible, unless a hundred people show up, and you know what guys I'll be the first one out the door if they show up...... Mr. Lehigh: Does anybody have any other questions - Mr. Roberts? Mr. Roberts: No Mr. Lehigh: Dan? Mr. Wery: The only thing I'm really struggling with it's how you differentiate this property from the other 300 that would otherwise meet these setback. Mr. Ninni: Put it in reverse - do you think they could come and hang their hat on the same argument we are, under our special cases and conditions. '-' Page 19 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger . \.... Mr. Wery: That's what you need to do -look at it both ways, look at it one way which is _ you're saying you're unique - how many people can.... were a gas station aren't any longer a gas station, remain vacant, etc. That's part of it - I think -look at it the other way around, maybe that would help flush out the argument of the Zoning Board, because somebody raises the question, you want to have an answer prepared. Maybe make a similar argument, maybe not exactly the same thing that you have, you have indicated that you are unique - property that was a gas station, are now vacant haven't been put to any other use, I'm not sure that's enough criteria to say nobody to come in make some other arguments. I guess there are other properties that haven't found a user, might be other properties that were vacant and haven't found use, I could think of one right across from Mobile at Myers and Rt. 9 that was vacant for years, eventually now it's an insurance company and kitchens, comparable site, terms of size and layout there's not any other properties that have the same setback issues, they'll make a hardship case. That's one thing that I trying to justify the extent of those setbacks, because effectively you're saying forget about them. Mr. Lehigh: They asking for such a big differences in the setbacks you're almost for a different use on that property, I realize it isn't - it's still an area vanance. \... Mr. Wery: I think that's the issue Al raised, as well. In the case log there seems to be some contradictions whether that type of requirement is appropriate for an area variance. Even if it is - the extent becomes significant. Mr. Siebert: My feeling is - we already addressed it in the context of our statement. Mr. Lehigh: Do we have anything else - we'll set a Public Hearing for June 19th. Mr. Roberts: Mr. Chairman, I believe you're going to reserve the SEQR determination until the conclusion of the Public Hearing? Mr. Lehigh: Yes Mr. Wery: I've asked the question before ifthere is any industry literature, something that points to the ground water contamination issues on new sites or sites with new tanks. Mr. Ninni: In relation to MTB's '-" . Page 20 Summarized Minutes Town of Wappinger \... Mr. Wery: That's a good indicator because it's a new chemical so if that's showing up in the ground water we know it already been there for 10 years. Mr. Roberts: That is an important issue in the Town because in the last couple of weeks 4 or 5 incidents ofMTB contamination. Mr. Ninni: In the Town here? Mr. Roberts: In the Town of Wappinger Mr. Ninni: Where about? Mr. Roberts: Osborne and I believe off of Myers Comers, 376, it's happened just recently, so it's a hot topic. Mr. Lehigh: I take a motion to adjourn? Mr. diPiemo: So moved ~ Mr. Warren: Second All in Favor - All: Aye Meeting ended at 8:35pm Respectfully Submitted, cftr /{!Lffi- 0. o(/~ Michelle D. Gale - Secretary Zoning Board of Appeals '-"