TOWN OF BALLSTON
PLANNING BOARD
June 4, 2007
PRESENT: Jeffrey Cwalinski, Vice-Chairman
Joan Eddy
John Van Vorst
Derek Hayden
Kathryn Cyr, Town Engineer
Thomas Johnson, Building Inspector
Members of the General Public
(Meeting called to order at 7:30 p.m.)
(Pledge of Allegiance recited)
MR. CWALINSKI: Welcome to the June 4th Town
of Ballston Planning Board meeting. Tonight
under old business, one item, New York
Development Group and Stonebridge. Under new
business, New York Development Group and
Cornerstone and Christ Savior Church on East Line
Road. And with that, we're going to rearrange
the agenda a little bit and call the Christ
Savior Church up first.
MR. BIANCHINE: Joe Bianchine, we represent
Christ Savior Church.
They own about seven and a half acres of land
on East Line Road, and you may have seen this or
remember this, it was about a year and a half ago
or so when they presented their concept plan and
also at that time got approval to build a
pavilion, which has been built in the back here.
Now they want to proceed with the rest of their
plan to build the church. It's a little over
7,500 square foot church that will set basically
in the middle of the site, sitting back from East
Line Road approximately 160 feet and roughly in
line with the existing family house to the north
at this location.
They'd like to have two curb cuts, one,
one-way in on the south side and then there is a
canopy here so the people could be dropped off at
the entrance of the church. The entrance to face
the back side here. See the nice facade on the
front. The main entrance back here, then one-way
out here and circulates around for parking in the
back of the church, so, basically hidden from the
roadway, and it will be parking for 52 spaces at
the present time.
The site has utilities now. Thank you.
There's water along the front and there is a
sewer line on the other side of the street. So,
they're tied in to both water and sewer and then
we'd be grading the site. It's mostly open
fields with trees. And the site grades generally
towards the back and we'll grade it so there
would be some storm water retention.
These plans are a little different from what
you've seen. We revised them from a couple weeks
ago. So, these plans are a little different and
we'll be coming back in with the final plans.
There are some renderings here of which the
church would look like. This is on the back
side. One-story building, siding, vinyl siding.
This would be looking at this side over in here.
That's this side over through here and only thing
that's missing on this is we'd like to have three
spires on the church, which would be two on the
front corners and one over the main entrance.
MR. CWALINSKI: Spire is the steeple?
MR. BIANCHINE: The steeple, yup. We will
have some site lighting, also, and have some site
lighting in the back parking lot and a couple at
the entrance to light up the entrance and then
probably a monument sign along East Line Road.
MR. CWALINSKI: What is that (indicating on
map)?
MR. BIANCHINE: That's the existing
pavilion.
MR. CWALINSKI: So, that's going to stay, and
one entrance in and one out.
MR. BIANCHINE: Correct.
MR. CWALINSKI: The steeples, Tom, are there
height restrictions? I seem to remember forty
feet.
MR. JOHNSON: Yeah, forty feet. And how high
is the steeple?
MR. BIANCHINE: Don't know yet. They'll be
less than 40 feet.
MR. CWALINSKI: You're going to need the
Right to Farm Law on here.
MR. BIANCHINE: As a standard note.
MR. CWALINSKI: Right. I've got some
questions on the controverse there. If you could
just explain them to me. Here I see 299.8.
MR. BIANCHINE: These are proposed.
Everything's going to be basically grading this
way.
MR. CWALINSKI: So everything flows down.
MR. BIANCHINE: Yes. We'll move this, bring
it back and have a ditch and swell going that
way. There will be final grading plans as we get
into the final plans.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right.
MR. HAYDEN: Where's this church now? Is it
somewhere else?
REVEREND: West Milton.
MR. HAYDEN: How many members of the church?
REVEREND: We have approximately 55 families.
MR. HAYDEN: And will someone be living here
at the church?
REVEREND: No. There is hope of possibly a
future rectory, but that's all.
MR. VAN VORST: What is the reason for the
church being set back so far from the road?
MR. BIANCHINE: Just aesthetics, the way it
was, trying to keep in character with the
existing house that's there.
MR. VAN VORST: If the church was to grow in
membership, is there a phase two building plan?
MR. BIANCHINE: Not at this time. I mean,
there's plans -- the building will be set up so
it could be extended, but there is no plan at
this time that they would need that.
MR. VAN VORST: I see.
MR. HAYDEN: What is the reason for having
the entrance face the rear of the property?
REVEREND: Our church, the alter must always
face east, so, towards East Line Road. That is
east. So the entrance is coming to the other the
side.
I should also mention, we have a general rule
within our Archdiocese that no parish exceed 200
members. If we do, we form another parish. We
don't believe in big churches; we don't believe
in the large expenses, upkeep and the like. As
it was said many years ago, we keep it fairly
efficient and also family-oriented and size is
very important for that.
MR. HAYDEN: When you say members, you mean
people or families?
REVEREND: People.
MR. CWALINSKI: I guess I didn't count your
parking places, but the only thing is, we have a
requirement for one parking place for three and a
half --
MR. HAYDEN: I count 75.
MR. BIANCHINE: Obviously, you can see we
have plenty of room to abide by the parking.
We'll meet that.
MR. CWALINSKI: Since this is a sketch plan
conference, there is no public comment at this
meeting. I don't have anything more to say.
MR. HAYDEN: How do you propose to keep the
entrance and exit one way; just signage?
MR. BIANCHINE: Signage.
MR. CWALINSKI: Joan, anything?
MS. EDDY: No.
Kathryn?
MS. CYR: No.
MR. JOHNSON: This will be a site plan review
on special use permit for the church. When they
do apply for site plan review, special use has
been required, as well.
MR. CWALINSKI: Well, we all spoke and have
nothing else to say. So, you're done.
MR. BIANCHINE: Okay. Thank you very much.
MR. CWALINSKI: Thank you.
Go ahead.
MR. LANSING: Good evening. My name is Scott
Lansing of Lansing Engineering. I'm also here
with Geoff Booth and Jeff Knox for the
Stonebridge mixed use residential units.
Brief history on the project. The project is
a planned unit development district. We have
been in front of the Town Board for the project.
I believe we received a positive reception at the
Town Board and they referred it to the Planning
Board. We presented it to the Planning Board and
I feel we received a positive reception as well
from the Planning Board.
Overall, it's a traditional neighborhood
design. North is to the top of the page. 74.1
acres Ballston Lake residential. Post
conditions, we are proposing to meet the
standards for the Ballston Lake residential zone.
There are more than 100 units. Approximately
63.64 acres for buildable unrestricted land on
the parcel; six units per acre for single-family
residential or 12 units per acre for multi-family
residential. Gives us a range of about 382
units, and there are 764 units that are permitted
on this parcel. We're proposing 226 units on an
overall 74 acres. This is slightly down from, I
believe, the last time. I believe last time it
was 242 units. And these units are proposed on
44 acres.
What we are proposing are single-family
residential in this area targeted towards young
professionals, families, empty-nesters, seniors,
and this approximately 15.57 acres in this area,
we're also proposing townhomes, which would be
three units, tri-plex units. We do have one
duplex unit in this area. Those are also
targeted towards young professionals,
empty-nesters and seniors. And that is located
on approximately 11.27 acres.
We're proposing 14 buildings or 41 units
overall on the tri-plex, and 59 units on the
single-family residential.
Condominium units, we are proposing a mix of
four and six unit buildings. That's slightly
different than the last time it was presented to
the Board. Last time it was presented as all
eight-unit buildings. We are proposing a mix of
those condominium buildings. These are targeted
toward young professionals, empty-nesters and
seniors, and it's proposed on about 12.65 acres
of the parcel. In that area, we're proposing 26
buildings. Again, a mix of four- and six-unit
buildings; 126 units overall.
Also part of the project proposing a
neighborhood business area in the central portion
of the project. At this time, we're estimating
about 16,000 square feet of space in that area
with associated parking. For the project we're
proposing about 9,200 linear feet of roadway that
would be built to town standards and would be
offered to the town for dedication. Public sewer
would be via the Saratoga County Sewer District.
We would propose to build gravity to a low point
on the site. There would be a pump station in
that area, would pump back up and through and go
down eventually to Saratoga County Sewer District
trunk line. That has been designed in accordance
with Ballston Lake Sewer Study, as well.
Public water for the project will be extended
from the adjacent Chapel Hill project.
Storm water will be managed on site, with the
storm water management locations.
The whole project was to try to obviously
meet the standards and I feel we've done that by
preserving vegetation along the roadway, and we
preserved vegetation between the individual uses
and to the adjoining property owner, as well.
The project does include a streetscape which
does include sidewalks on both sides of the
roadway, street trees on both sides of the
roadway, and also street lights on both sides of
the roadway.
Open space on the parcel, we're proposing
30.12 acres, or 41 percent for the overall
parcel, which is above and beyond the
requirements. We are proposing active and
passive open space areas. We would have passive
open space in this area (indicating on map). We
are proposing an area for an active open space
area for town parkland dedication and the
applicants are proposing to contribute 100,000
dollars to the Town of Ballston for the
assistance of securing federal and state matching
of funds, grant funds.
Again, overall, we feel the project is in
accordance with the TND purpose, and look to work
with the Board as we advance forward with the
project.
We're here tonight for questions and comments
from the Board. Since the last time, we did
submit and have made the minor changes that I did
review on the plan and we've also submitted a
model ordinance for the project.
In addition to that, we have received some
comments from C.T. Male. If I could, I'd like to
just quickly go through those. The first one was
relative to showing a utility plan for the
parcel. That is something we can do, and we'll
submit it to the Town for their review.
There was a concern regarding water pressure
to service the project. We are confident there
is adequate water pressure to service the
project.
Another was relative to construction phasing.
We will identify construction phasing for the
project, probably more down the road in the
preliminary design phase for the project. We are
anticipating two to four phases for the project.
And the last was relative to traffic impact
study. We have prepared a traffic impact study
and will submit that to the Town Board for their
review.
We feel the plan is relatively unchanged
since the last meeting we had with the Board, and
we're here tonight primarily to review the
ordinances and take comments on that. Thank you
very much.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. My first question
is, what's the difference between townhouse and
condominium?
MR. LANSING: Townhouse would be individual
ownership of land and the multiple stories would
be, there would be the ground floor and second
floor. There would be a zero lot line through
the structures and property associated with the
actual unit.
And the condominium type, you would own the
actual walls. So you could own the second floor
of a building, but you'd be joint owners of the
land around as part of the Homeowners'
Association.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. So, Homeowners'
Association would take care of the land for the
condominium.
MR. LANSING: Right.
MR. CWALINSKI: One would not be required for
a townhouse.
MR. LANSING: I believe the thought is a
maintenance agreement or --
MR. BOOTH: We're looking to do HOA, not a
condo association, but an HOA for maintenance of
the townhouse area.
MR. CWALINSKI: Does that include the gazebo
in there, also?
MR. BOOTH: No. The gazebo's separate and
that would be part of the land that gets
dedicated to the town.
MR. CWALINSKI: So, the town would take care
of that.
Storm water management areas, if I remember,
didn't we require fencing around that on some of
these projects?
MR. VAN VORST: And an access.
MR. CWALINSKI: And an access. So, I guess,
how would the town access them?
MR. LANSING: Bottom left. This would have
to provide a split between the condominium units.
MR. CWALINSKI: And is that one from Lake
Road?
MR. LANSING: This one, I would imagine,
would have an access from Lake Road and this
would be from an internal road.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. Good. Now, what makes
you confident there is sufficient water pressure?
MR. LANSING: We have performed water
pressure tests on the East Line Farms project and
it's in excess of 2,000 gallons.
MR. CWALINSKI: Does that satisfy the comment
made by Kathryn on April 17th and May 24 which
asks for information on available water pressure
and fire flows. Hydraulic modeling performed for
the Burnt Hills Ballston Lake Water District
Number 2 indicates low available fire flows in
the region of this project. It is recommended
that the applicant perform fire flow tests at a
location in the recently constructed Chapel Hill
subdivision.
MR. LANSING: That is where those tests were
performed. Right now, Chapel Hill, there are two
dead ends and we performed tests on each one, and
I believe static pressure was about 75 PSI,
residual was about 57 PSI and available fire flow
was 20 PSI.
MS. EDDY: Any particular reason why there
isn't a copy of that?
MR. LANSING: We have that data.
MS. EDDY: Pass it along.
MR. CWALINSKI: Kathryn would like that data.
MS. EDDY: And you have the traffic study?
MR. LANSING: We're in the process of
completing that.
MR. CWALINSKI: I believe someone also asked
me for the impact on the school district, also.
MR. BOOTH: We're working on that.
MR. HAYDEN: That was Ballston Spa, right, if
I remember correctly?
MR. KNOX: This is Ballston Spa.
MR. CWALINSKI: Anything else?
You're going to have a hydrant at the end
of --
(Indicated on map by Mr. Lansing)
MR. CWALINSKI: And it won't be necessary to
run a water line down to Outlet Road, is that
what your study's showing?
MR. LANSING: I don't see a need to run the
water line down.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. I've got nothing
more. Joan has nothing more. Derek, John,
Kathryn, Tom?
MR. BOOTH: Could we go through the model
ordinance and any issues that you have, questions
that you have, suggestions that you have, things
you like, things you don't like? Would it be
possible to do that, as well? The plan, in light
of the modifications, really the reason we're
here is to kind of go through this and get some
feedback from the Board about things they like,
don't like.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. Go ahead. You
want to talk about it?
MR. BOOTH: We like it the way it is, but if
you have comments on it...
MR. CWALINSKI: I don't have any comments on
it.
MR. BOOTH: It looks pretty good to you?
I'll be honest with you. We utilized the model
ordinance from Beacon Hill because we went
through great pains with the Town Board and
Planning Board several years ago in that process.
So, we used a lot of the same language. It was
tweaked to apply to this particular project and
we separated it into two sections, basically an A
and a B; A for residential and B for commercial
or mixed use flex space.
MR. JOHNSON: I have a question on the street
trees. You're looking for one every 50 feet;
that came out of the Beacon Hill ordinance,
correct?
MR. BOOTH: No. That actually came from the
comp plan. It said one every 50 feet, not
necessarily spaced exactly 50. It could be three
spaced over here and a 150 foot span, and that
came out of the comp plan. That was the
requirement, I believe, for the one every 50.
And that is going in the area between the
sidewalks and edge of pavement as you go down the
streets.
MR. CWALINSKI: I have no comments.
MR. HAYDEN: Shouldn't Peter be discussing
that more?
MR. CWALINSKI: Peter will definitely have to
give his input on this. This will have to go
through the same process as any town legislation
goes through, public comment, Town Board level,
Town Board review and attorney review, also.
MR. BOOTH: One of the things we'd like to
talk about, if possible, are the uses in the
mixed use flex space and see if those uses, it's
not the cover page, the third page, just above
section six you'll see some of the neighborhood
allowable uses. Starts out at the top of the
page, neighbor business live work flex space. It
says will allow buildings to be designed such as
space to be used to allow neighborhood business
and/or residential rental space. This would
encourage business owners to utilize the first
floor of the building for an allowed business and
then live in or rent the above floors. And then
we list some of the available uses that would be
allowed in that area. We've got professional
offices, such as attorney, medical, general
office, daycare facilities, which we thought
might be an interesting use for people who live
in this development and also the adjacent Chapel
Hill development, to have daycare right in the
area. They can pick up their kids, bring them
home or drop them off. Also, we thought about
possibly some type of a non-fast food restaurant,
a sit down restaurant, maybe pizza or possibly an
Italian place, something where you get the
neighborhood going, lunch or dinner, but
something that really serves the residents in
both this project and the adjacent project.
We talk about residential living, and I just
want to fine-tune a little what Scott said
earlier. He talked about 16,000 square feet and
we have 16,000 square foot footprint for those
two buildings. The idea was that the first floor
would be utilized for some of the neighborhood
flex businesses and the second floor, or possibly
second or third floor utilized for residential
living. And that was the idea. That's not
something that we have plans or we intend to
build right away, but may it's something we can
come back to the Town for a site plan at some
point down the road on. But it is important to
plan for that. And that, again, was one of the
uses that was specified in the comp plan for the
Traditional Neighborhood Design.
We also put in convenience store; not a gas
station, but something where you come home, grab
a newspaper, bread, milk. Nothing too large, but
something, again, that can be used for folks just
in this area on a scale that would actually match
the amount of both residents in both of these
projects.
So, we are looking for a little feedback on
those uses; are they good, are they not good, are
there other uses you might like to see?
MR. CWALINSKI: Well, let me give you some
feedback on the restaurant one. What I don't
want to see is a restaurant and then they come and
get a liquor license and they start serving
alcohol, because drinking and driving isn't the
right thing to do in this neighborhood. I also
don't want to see a restaurant in there and then
having entertain, because nothing irritates me
more than noise pollution, which I think would be
wrong for this neighborhood, also. You'll have
some families. Children and infants need more
sleep than adults. That's my opinion.
MR. BOOTH: Who knows what would happen down
the road, but would like acoustic entertainment
type of thing kept inside, would that work? Not
bands, you don't want bands. I get that.
MR. CWALINSKI: It all depends how much noise
leaks outside. I can't say yes or no without
someone going through and doing some kind of
analysis. Okay, we've got a person inside
generating this much noise, we have this much
insulation, we expect this much attenuation, and
the noise is negligible. I don't have numbers to
give you. I wish I did.
MR. BOOTH: So, maybe we'll put something
together, something that says not bands, maybe
some acoustic duo or trio, but with a DB limit,
something along those lines?
MR. CWALINSKI: We've got a 50 DB limit at
the property line now, which, in my opinion,
works.
MR. BOOTH: Okay. And we understand that
it's meant to be for the residents of this
neighborhood, a family place, not to have rock 'n
roll bands. That's certainly not the intent.
No liquor. Are we saying no beer and wine,
or no liquor at all?
MR. CWALINSKI: How do other people feel?
MR. HAYDEN: I'm more comfortable with
businesses like daycare centers and office space.
They're more compatible with the -- the hours are
-- they're open when people aren't normally home,
probably. They're not open on the weekends,
they're not open at night.
MR. BOOTH: There could be an hourly limit,
10 o'clock at night.
MR. HAYDEN: I'm not crazy about restaurants
and convenience stores right in the middle of
this thing.
MR. CWALINSKI: When I think of convenience
store, Bonfare comes to mind.
MR. BOOTH: We aren't looking for something
like that. More of a neighborhood country store,
like a Jonesville Market, along those lines,
where they serve sandwiches.
MR. CWALINSKI: Like the Ma and Pa stores of
the sixties.
MR. BOOTH: Exactly. A front porch, you got
a couple of rocking chairs, something that would
really be for the neighbors. This is not going
to be utilized -- people are not going to go here
like the Stewarts down on 67. There's not going
to be gas. It's not going to be large. It's
going to be a neighborhood scale type convenience
store, but again, that's why we're doing this.
MR. CWALINSKI: I do have a problem with
serving alcohol in a neighborhood as closed as
this.
MR. BOOTH: So, no alcohol?
MR. CWALINSKI: That would be my preference.
I don't know how everybody else feels.
MR. HAYDEN: I agree.
MS. EDDY: I don't think wine is a huge
problem. I think a lot of this is going to be
determined on how much parking there is, Geoff,
as far as people coming from the outside. I
think this is a walking to go get a glass of wine
and a fancy sandwich. Cheers; we're looking at
Cheers.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. I guess I can agree
with that.
MS. EDDY: And I don't think this is going to
be a 21-year-old hangout, either. I think this
is going to be upscale stuff, just based on the
cost.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. I can live with that.
MR. BOOTH: So, beer and wine, but no liquor;
is that fair?
MR. CWALINSKI: That's fair.
MR. VAN VORST: If it was me, I'd have
prohibition in the whole town.
MR. BOOTH: So, I shouldn't ask you.
MR. VAN VORST: You can ask me, and I'll give
you my opinion.
MR. BOOTH: All right. So, we agree to say
just beer and wine.
MR. JOHNSON: How does that work with the
state liquor authority? How do you tell somebody
they can have one type of liquor and not another?
MS. EDDY: It's the license they get.
MR. BOOTH: It's the license. There's two
different types of licenses, one for beer and
wine and another one for hard liquor, and the
requirements for insurance and other things are
much more stringent, where you get your money
from for liquor -- they're much more stringent
for the license for liquor.
So, we would be okay with something like a
neighborhood-style sit-down pizza, Italian, ice
cream, type of thing. We agree with that?
MR. CWALINSKI: Yes.
MS. EDDY: Like Scotti's on upper Union
Street.
MR. BOOTH: What about some sort of a
neighborhood gym, workout facility, something
like a Curves for women, or just some kind of a
local -- if somebody wanted to do it?
MR. CWALINSKI: That would be fine.
MR. KNOX: That's something we'd like to add.
MR. CWALINSKI: I really like the daycare. I
think that's a great idea.
MR. BOOTH: I think so, too.
MR. KNOX: How about like a banquet facility,
a meeting area? They have the condos, they want
to have a party, something like that, rent that
space. I think that could be a good use. You
have to forgive me. I've read through this, but
now I'm thinking through it, but if you're okay
with that, I'd like to add that.
MR. CWALINSKI: I don't see a problem with
that.
MS. EDDY: Only for inhabitants of the area.
MR. CWALINSKI: Right. Not for general
public.
MR. BOOTH: A meeting area just for the
residents of the development.
MR. CWALINSKI: Would maintenance, would that
come under the Homeowners' Association?
MR. BOOTH: I think they would end up taking
over that, whether they rent that space from the
owner of the property.
Something else we talked about doing, this
was actually suggested to me and I think Jeff,
also, and I'm not sure where we'd do it on the
project, but community garden, where people could
go and plant flowers. I don't know that
vegetables work, because you plant tomatoes and
somebody else eats them, you might not be real
happy, but flowers and things of that nature,
might be a nice way for the community to interact
with each other. I'm not sure where we could put
it, but it was an idea put out there by some
folks. I'd like some feedback.
MR. CWALINSKI: That's fine.
Joan, what about a dog park?
MS. EDDY: Well, you know where I am on that.
MR. BOOTH: What else?
MR. CWALINSKI: Dog park?
MR. BOOTH: You know, we talked about a dog
park and there are good points and there are bad
points. I'm not going to talk about it because
I've never really gone, but Jeff's just gone.
MR. KNOX: I have three dogs. I love dogs,
and we've been to the dog parks, and it gets a
little -- Joan, I'm sure you've been to the dog
parks and sometimes it gets a little aggressive.
You have all kinds of dogs coming to the park and
you don't know what you're going to get. There
was a time my Irish Setter was eyeball to eyeball
with a Pitbull. Nothing ended up happening, but
it was a little unsettling. Those are the kinds
of things I remember, so --
MS. EDDY: Well, you were unsettled,
obviously the dog was not.
I just think that if you're going to allow
people to have dogs, it's a community thing. Dog
people are community oriented, and it's one place
to leave stuff as opposed to all over the place.
You're going to have dog fights anywhere dogs
decide they want to fight. It's the people.
It's like a car, it's the idiot behind the wheel,
it's not the car's fault. So, a lot of that gets
worked out on its own. I have no idea what the
liability is to you all, and that's something
you'll have to work out on your own.
MR. BOOTH: Well, I think we can probably
keep it included in the ordinance. Whether it
happens or not is another story, but it's
certainly better to have it in there.
We also talked about possibly some sort of
community Christmas tree, or holiday tree, as
some people might call it. We had talked about
being able to do that somewhere within the
project, as well.
MR. CWALINSKI: That's a good idea.
MR. BOOTH: Something where the community
comes out to decorate it, light it. We are
looking to really foster that sense of community
within the project. We have sidewalks, street
lights, and I think that that's really the main
goal here is to try and foster that sense of
community, and I think these types of uses we're
talking about certainly can help foster that.
MR. CWALINSKI: I agree.
MR. BOOTH: One of the other things we wanted
to talk about was some of the uses for the
elevations for the fronts, and these are some of
the buildings that we picked out that we liked.
You'll see that everything has some sort of front
porch. Some are smaller than others, some are
larger than others. But you can see that
everything has kind of a little porch area in the
front. In the ordinance, we put in two garage
doors as opposed to -- and you'll see some on the
plans because that was how it was originally
rendered. This has a single garage door. What
we're really looking to do is do something like
this with two garage doors for each.
MR. CWALINSKI: So, wherever I see one
garage door, I should envision two.
MR. BOOTH: I think it breaks up that big,
long piece of white aluminum or painted metal,
whatever it is, and one of the things that we've
been doing with a lot of projects now is, we've
been doing kind of an arch over it, what we call
a Williamsburg trim. So, it kind of gives a
nice, soft effect to the garage. It breaks it up
and allows it to blend in with the house a little
bit more.
One of the other things that we've done is,
all of these designs, is, we kept the garages
close to the front of the house. In other words,
here's the porch, the garage is about five feet
beyond the edge of the mass. What we don't want
to do is have examples where the garages are
fifteen feet in front of the house. We put
together an example, and I just want to pass
these out and let you take a look at them. What
you'll notice as you look from one to two to
three, is that on number one, there is probably
18 feet from the front of the garage back to the
edge of the porch. Number two, that's probably
ten or eleven feet back and number three is
basically what we're looking at here. This being
the max, somewhere around five or six feet.
We're not looking for the garages on the
single-family homes to really extend a long ways
out.
MS. EDDY: None of these lots are going to be
able to take a side load, now?
MR. BOOTH: It wouldn't, but we have another
one I'm going to pass out. We looked at the
traditional side loads where you come along the
right side of the house or left side of the house
wouldn't work, but one of the ones we looked at,
we liked the flexibility of the house to
incorporate something where you use the side load
where it comes in from the front and it allows
you to still keep the smaller lots, but have that
garage kind of off to the side.
MS. EDDY: Geoff, when we went through this
the last time with Beacon Hill, you brought us
lovely renderings and none of the houses look
like that now. Are these houses that you're
really seriously doing, or are these just --
MR. BOOTH: These are, and these houses all
fit on the footprint of the house. We're looking
at plans that are somewhere in the 1,500 to
2,700, 2,800 square foot range. I think we have
one that was close to 29. You're right, Joan,
that the renderings are beautiful, because their
shown with landscaping --
MS. EDDY: Well, look at all these peaks. We
got a boatload of peaks. We got all kinds of
things that go cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.
I just -- this is a lot of money. I mean, what's
your base house talking about? All of these have
peaks. Look at all these roof lines. A lot of
fluff, for lack of another word. All these stone
fronts. Where are we starting?
MR. BOOTH: I think that the stone or brick
are going to be options on the houses. Certainly
the houses are not necessarily going to have them
on it. These are showing certain options.
You've got edge, you've got brick here, here and
here.
MS. EDDY: Are we doing vinyl?
MR. BOOTH: We are doing, possibly, vinyl or
stone or brick. It would be an option.
MS. EDDY: No cedar, it's all going to be --
MR. BOOTH: Could be, but I'd say more than
likely not.
MS. EDDY: They're beautiful.
MR. BOOTH: Also, the renderings we put on
here, these came from designed basics and they're
called "neighborhood in a box", and these are all
-- you've got them on your plans. These are all
plans that fit on these size lots that we've
incorporated. One of the changes from the
original design where we had 242 units, is that
we've gone from 50 foot to 60 foot. We've
widened the lots a little bit almost all the way
through. We have kept the minimum down to 50,
but really, if you go through and scale these
off, almost every one of these is 60 feet or so.
It gives you a little more flexibility with some
of these plans. At 50, we had plans that worked,
but it limited some of the nicer plans that we
liked, so we decided it was better to lose a few
lots and broaden the selection of houses that we
can incorporate. These are all new designs.
These are designed for these types of
developments, and they are designed to fit on
these lots.
The other thing that we've done, I just want
to show you a couple things about the townhouse
renderings that we've done. All tri-plexes --
this one's a little bit different. This has a
single-car garage for each one of the units, this
one's a little larger, it's got a two-car garage
for each one of the units.
MS. EDDY: Do we have those?
MR. BOOTH: This one is already on the plan.
This is a new one here.
We have gone through, and these are plans
that are buildable, they are affordable. This, I
think, is a beautiful plan. We talked about
peaks; this is not a super-expensive plan to
build. If you look at it, you've got a couple
gables, you got a couple of dormers, but it's not
over-the-top expensive.
As we go through the process, we have to
balance site cost with sidewalks and trees, the
lights, the roads and the houses so we get the
market. If you do every single house on here
with brick or stone, more than likely you're
going to push yourself way out of the market, and
we're not looking to do that. Scott, through his
presentation, talked about young professionals,
empty-nesters, seniors. Those people need to be
able to afford to buy, as well.
The other thing we put in the model ordinance
is no two houses the same color next to each
other.
MS. EDDY: Thank you, God.
MR. BOOTH: It just doesn't work. We know it
doesn't work and it's in the ordinance and can't
be done, and I think it's a -- I think you'll
agree with me, it's a good move. So, the first
one in, they pick. They pick a blue house, they
get blue. Nobody can do blue on the left or
right side. The next person has to do something
different. And I think it breaks it up as you
drive down the street. You're not going to have
three blue houses.
And these are some of the things we're trying
to go through, and also looking for feedback. If
I say something and you say, well, that's not
going to work, let me know. We're really trying
to put a lot of thought into the design and
making this, again, a neighborhood place, a place
people can be proud of their homes and say they
live in Stonebridge. I think we're on the right
track. Again, any feedback that you have, we're
more than willing to listen to.
MR. HAYDEN: When you say this neighborhood
place, you mean this neighborhood. What about
the Chapel Hill people; how are you going to talk
about flower gardens, Christmas trees?
MR. BOOTH: Well, unfortunately, that's not
part of that project.
MR. HAYDEN: It's going to be connected,
isn't it, though?
MR. BOOTH: It is going to be connected,
that's true. What this does offer that Chapel
Hill doesn't offer are the street lights and the
trees, Joan, the sidewalks, but what you got in
Chapel Hill are larger lots. You got 125-foot
lots, 130, 140, 150-foot lots. You've got larger
estate-type lots. In here, nobody gets a lot
bigger than 60, 70 feet. It's a different feel.
MS. EDDY: I promised these men I was not
going to talk tonight because I feel like --
awful, but I can't stop myself.
Are you going to do similar designs on Chapel
Hill to this, or is it going to look more like
Beacon Hill?
MR. BOOTH: More like Beacon Hill.
MR. JOHNSON: Will this subdivision be sold
to a builder like Beacon Hill was and Chapel
Hill, same situation?
MR. BOOTH: Yes.
MR. JOHNSON: So, it's really going to be up
to that builder.
MR. BOOTH: That's why we're going through
this process now.
MS. EDDY: So, am I to understand that what
we put in here is what we can hold his feet to
the fire on?
MR. BOOTH: Yes.
MS. EDDY: Let's design houses, boys.
If you're going to do this kind of thing, if
this truly is your concept, if those truly are
your concepts and you're willing to follow
through with whoever the developer is, I think
it's terrific. If the facade of the one on the
right is going to go away because it all of a
sudden isn't going to fit them, I don't
understand why we're going through all this. I
think Tom's point I will probably take a little
bit harder than he was going to do. Find
somebody who will do it this way.
MR. BOOTH: Does that work for you?
MS. EDDY: Well, yeah. I'm only one person.
I think these are great, because they don't look
like ticky-tacky little houses. They're all
different. I'm just concerned about the cost.
MR. KNOX: I'm concerned about the cost, too.
These also have to be affordable for the audience
we're --
MS. EDDY: Well, your single family's what is
your market. I'm not sure your market is what is
up in Chapel Hill. You might get a more --
overly used term, but a boutique market, if you
will, down in this less farm field type of area
than Chapel Hill is, which is just an extension
of Beacon Hill. If you can find a way to pull
this off, I think this would be terrific, but
when you're looking at the double porches and
that kind of thing, I guess, if you just put
stone -- I'm sitting here trying to figure out
how to make -- it depends on what you put on the
inside. If hardwood becomes an upgrade, fine.
It depends on what you guys -- well, it's not
you, it's whoever you sell it to.
MR. CWALINSKI: How do we hold -- you know, I
look at these designs and they are really nice.
It's definitely an upscale crowd in there and I
think a neighborhood, if built with these houses,
would be extremely --
MS. EDDY: Were you around for Beacon Hill?
MR. CWALINSKI: I just started with Beacon
Hill.
MS. EDDY: Do you remember the pictures
that --
MR. CWALINSKI: Yes.
MS. EDDY: Because I asked for it, and not a
single thing in there is like it. It's like
Rotterdam and everything else.
MR. CWALINSKI: So, how do we make sure this
is what gets built, is my question?
MR. BOOTH: First of all, I have to say, I
think if you were to go back and look at some of
those homes, some of those designs are the same,
Joan. I know they -- listen, the reality is --
MS. EDDY: It's the overall picture.
MR. BOOTH: The reality is, when you look at
these pictures with the white fences and the
trees, and this -- it's never going to look like
this. It's never going to look exactly like
that --
MS. EDDY: Well, it wouldn't in my lifetime,
but if somebody plants and that kind of thing, it
certainly may.
MR. BOOTH: One of the things that's
different here is that we are going to have trees
all along the road. Beacon Hill doesn't have
trees.
MS. EDDY: Well, you didn't just start out
with them.
MR. BOOTH: But here you got trees all around
the outside of the site, here we try to keep
green spaces between the uses in here. This will
be green all the way around. Walk through this
property now and it's amazing. But you will have
trees all the way along all of the roads, and
there will be street lights. We are looking
similar to the village of Saratoga on Crescent
Street. If you walk through that project, that's
a similar project to what we're going to do here
with the single-family houses.
MR. CWALINSKI: How do we insure this gets
gets built? Can we set house designs into an
ordinance?
MR. BOOTH: I don't think so. I think you
need the flexibility for the houses when you're
going to start tweaking things out a little more,
a little wider, not quite as deep. I think you
need flexibility. You have a house that's not
selling, you need the flexibility to alter that
house. Nobody is going to put the kind of money
into the streets, the sidewalks, the lights, all
the other things in here, and then --
MS. EDDY: All right. Did I understand
correctly that you're going to put a front porch
on everything?
MR. BOOTH: Some sort of a front porch.
MR. KNOX: I think the streetscape is going
to lend itself to something very unique between
the sidewalks, the land and the trees. I am
concerned about saying we are definitely going to
build these. This is what we desire to build.
This is what we want to build, and this is what
we're going to be marketing. The buyer's going
to have to pick and it's going to be cost. And
Joan, you know the business.
MS. EDDY: Yeah, I know the business, and
that is exactly why I'm concerned, because we had
this conversation when we did Beacon Hill. I
kept bothering you for what was going to be your
base, what your entry level, whatever, and the
market took it a lot higher than you thought it
was going to. So, if I could predict what the
market was going to be, I would not be sitting
here.
That having been said, I move we table this
and we have maybe a workshop or something and
figure out how to deal with this.
MR. CWALINSKI: I agree.
MS. EDDY: And maybe you guys come up with
something that you think is attractive that's
feasible in today's market and then we can go
from there. What kinds of things do you really
want to see in your development, because I
especially like these two, because I haven't seen
them anywhere else, but something vaguely
similar.
MR. BOOTH: I still think we need the
flexibility.
MS. EDDY: I know you need flexibility, but
what you're also saying on the other hand, help
us help you figure out how to keep it more like
this than more like Beacon Hill, and you're going
to drive that bus by who you hire to build these
houses, but if you can choose some things that
you want to have as a theme, whether everybody
has a little monument jobby and 10 feet of picket
fence out in front, every other house, or if one
style specifically has it. I don't know. Grab a
couple of design things that you'd like to see
through there, and let us know what they are.
MR. KNOX: Joan, we'll look at a certain
vernacular that runs through the community that
ties things together which hopefully will be cost
effective and will work --
MS. EDDY: Well, tell us what it is, because
you're showing us that and we assume that's what
it is, but you're saying you're not sure you can
build that and hit the market. I agree.
MR. BOOTH: I think a lot of these plans will
work. It's a matter of, is it going to have all
brick in it. Chances are --
MS. EDDY: Probably not.
MR. BOOTH: Brick is very expensive up here.
South Carolina they got very cheap labor.
Completely different. When was the last time you
saw an all brick house for less than 800,000
dollars? It's been a long time.
When we initially started this, we put these
four plans on there. These are plans that we
looked at and said we can build these plans.
These are very similar.
MS. EDDY: Are there any ranches anywhere in
this?
MR. BOOTH: Here is a one and-a-half story.
We do have some ranches. I don't have them here.
I think there is one here, but there are ranches.
I've got ranches. We could put seven or eight
plans on here, but I've got ranch plans --
MS. EDDY: Well, again, that's what the
market's going for. So, if we're going to do
that, then figure out --
Does this make sense to you?
MR. CWALINSKI: It does.
MS. EDDY: I think we need to tweak this, to
be fair to you and the town, because I like this
concept just in general, a lot --
MR. CWALINSKI: It's upscale and it looks
nice.
MS. EDDY: But I think it ought to be done
right the first time out of the shoot so it can
be done again somewhere else. That's all.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. So, we want to
table this application, unless you have something
more to say.
MS. EDDY: No, I am done.
MR. VAN VORST: Seeing as how it's called
Stonebridge, there ought to be a lot of stone in
there, huh?
MR. BOOTH: We'll call it Vinylbridge.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. So, we'll table
this application.
That water flow data, Scott, can you get that
to Kathryn?
MR. BOOTH: With the rest of the model
ordinance.
MR. JOHNSON: I had one question on the one
section, Page 8 C3, sidewalks. Have you had
discussions at all with the highway
superintendent about the clearing of the
sidewalks --
MR. BOOTH: Yes. Yes.
MR. JOHNSON: Does he seem to be okay with
that?
MR. BOOTH: We had a lengthy discussion with
him, and basically the idea was that sidewalks
would be the responsibility of either the HOA or
individual homeowner. If they do not clear, and
I forget what we put in here, I think 72 hours --
MR. JOHNSON: Then the highway department has
to do it.
MR. BOOTH: Right, and then they would be
assessed at cost back to the homeowner, and Joe
was fine with that. He said he's had enough time
for his guys to clear around town and if they had
to go out there and clean this up, that was okay
we did this.
MS. EDDY: Geoff, is there anything in here
about post boxes?
MR. CWALINSKI: Those are dictated by the
Post Office. They have to put them up as
specified by the Post Office. They have their
own rules.
MS. EDDY: Well, they're looking for
uniformity, height, size, that kind of thing,
yes, but do you want to have anything in here
that says you can't have anything, or do you want
something --
MR. BOOTH: I'm sorry. Can you say that
again?
MS. EDDY: Well, if we're going to tighten
this up, do you want anything in here that says
you can't have a fire truck as your mailbox or --
MR. CWALINSKI: Aesthetics.
MS. EDDY: Yeah, that's where I'm headed.
MR. BOOTH: You're looking for consistency --
MS. EDDY: Yeah. Is that something you want?
It's not here, but again, it's one of those
things, as people are driving through --
MR. BOOTH: I think that's a good idea.
MS. EDDY: So, tweak that, figure out how you
want to deal with that one.
MR. CWALINSKI: There's one person on my road
that has a quarter-keg for a mailbox.
MR. BOOTH: As Jeff said, the Postal
Authority is going to dictate some of this. For
instance, where the condos are, there are going
to be gang boxes.
MS. EDDY: But where the single-families are,
you have streetscape, is what is your big thing,
then follow through on your streetscape idea.
MR. BOOTH: Absolutely.
MS. EDDY: I'm assuming everybody will have
blacktop driveway.
MR. BOOTH: Absolutely.
MS. EDDY: And a street light, light post?
MR. BOOTH: We're doing the houses closer and
you got street lights every fifty feet.
MS. EDDY: So, we don't need post lights.
MR. BOOTH: I'm not sure that you need -- I
can have post lights out there, but the houses
are going to be closer. There will be lights,
obviously, on the houses.
MS. EDDY: Where do identifying numbers have
to go for 911?
MR. BOOTH: We should have that in here. Six
inches -- it's in here about the numbers.
MS. EDDY: Do they have to be lit?
MR. BOOTH: I don't believe so, but easily
visible.
What is it, six inch letters?
MR. JOHNSON: Yes, six inches, and if you put
them both on the mailbox and on the house.
MS. EDDY: Uniformity on the mailbox, by the
way, letters.
MR. BOOTH: Is it a requirement to have them
on the mailboxes?
MR. JOHNSON: The newer houses, I push to get
people to put them on the mailbox and on the
house. That's the way it's gone on in Beacon
Hill and they've been very cooperative with that.
MR. CWALINSKI: Derek, you asked about
traffic.
MR. HAYDEN: Yeah, I think you're doing a
traffic analysis?
MR. BOOTH: We're just finishing it up and it
will be submitted.
MS. CYR: Is that something to send out for
the Board? We had a resolution on that for the
car wash project, and I want to be consistent on
that. When we receive traffic studies, that it
goes to the --
MR. CWALINSKI: That is correct. Yes.
MR. BOOTH: It's going to the new traffic
consultant for the town?
MS. CYR: All you have to do is get it to me
and I'm in contact with them.
MR. BOOTH: Okay. So, we'll get that to you
this week.
Just go back, I'm just curious, again, you're
looking for consistency among -- I think it's
safe to say we're going do put these 10 house
plans in there. I just want to make sure I
understand so when we come back together, we have
something that's going to be substantive here. I
think it's very difficult, there are as many
people out there as there are designs for houses.
If you look online for house designs, there are
thousands, and I think to try to limit us to ten
plans or twelve plans, it's going to be very
difficult. That's why some of the things we try
to do here was two garages as opposed to one
garage, things like that, where you have
consistency going down the road.
MS. EDDY: And you were going to shorten the
distance from the front to where the garage is to
where the front door is.
MR. BOOTH: That's right.
MS. EDDY: That kind of thing, doing what you
refer to as the Williamsburg whatever over the
garage door, and two garage doors, which is also
going to be more costly. People don't like that,
but that's all right, because it puts a post in
the middle. Whatever is important to you about
those plans. Figure out what you think, porches.
MR. CWALINSKI: Porches, peaks, roof lines;
that makes the house, in my opinion, two garage
doors.
MR. BOOTH: I guess I'll be struggling with
how you incorporate peaks on the house. For
instance, you talk about this is not a real
difficult or expensive plan to build here. You
got a couple of dormers here --
MS. EDDY: And you could take that second
peak out and make it just straight across and it
would look fine to me. I'd be happy with that.
It has a cape look and the whole nine yards. And
again, this is a perfect example of what's
important to people. I don't like a whole lot of
peaks. I think it's way too busy and it's a
waste of money. I'd rather put it some place
else, but that's my thought. What do you want to
see? Do you want to see -- and Peter's not here
-- can you attach "similar to", to this? Well,
can you attach to the legislation?
MR. HAYDEN: Not my specialty.
MR. KNOX: I think it's going to be too
difficult to do that. We can incorporate some of
the trim detail, setting the garages back --
MS. EDDY: Well, do that and come back. I
think what we're also trying to do for future
reference is not build this for you. You go do
what you think you figured out and we have asked
you for and come back, and if it's not quite
right yet, we'll continue to tweak. I don't want
to build your project for you. We don't want to
and you don't want us to.
MR. KNOX: And we don't want to restrict this
to --
MS. EDDY: I understand that, but I don't
want to see another Beacon Hill, plain and
simple.
MR. BOOTH: And I don't think you're going
to. I think already with the lights, the trees,
the sidewalks, I don't think you're going to.
We're so far ahead of Beacon Hill at this point.
MS. EDDY: Very honestly, it depends entirely
on who you sell the project to, because you know
as well as I do, somebody can take a perfectly
fine Bentley and make it look like a Chevy.
MR. BOOTH: I got to say, Joan, with the
sidewalks, street lights, trees, you can't screw
that up, but we are looking at house designs.
So, do I understand that the townhouse designs,
you guys are pretty comfortable with those
designs?
MR. CWALINSKI: Yes.
MS. EDDY: Yes.
MR. BOOTH: And the condo design, the same
condos we've been using; so, those are
comfortable, also?
MR. CWALINSKI: Yes.
MR. BOOTH: So, really, we're looking to just
try to fine tune the houses, some of the details
we'd like to keep consistent throughout, as Jeff
said, the vernacular of the designs. Is there
anything else, as you read through this, that
jumped out at you that you said, wow, that's a
real problem for me?
Tom, did you have anything as you read
through this?
MR. JOHNSON: Just a couple of items I
brought up.
MR. BOOTH: Anything else, guys? Did you get
any feedback from Don or Josephine prior to the
meeting?
MS. EDDY: No.
MR. BOOTH: Do you want us to set up a
workshop meeting so we can sit down and go
through this stuff sometime in the next couple
weeks? Because if that's where you want to go,
I'd like --
MR. CWALINSKI: We can, but I'd wanted the
other people who are not here on the board, also.
MR. BOOTH: On a time frame?
MR. CWALINSKI: On a time frame, and exactly
what are we going to discuss. I'm not going to
discuss, okay, build plan A or build plan B --
MS. EDDY: No, but to get the continuity,
some sort of visual continuity going. That's
all.
MR. CWALINSKI: So, discuss aesthetic issues
that are important to us that we think we should
incorporate --
MS. EDDY: I think we need to control it as
much as we possibly can.
MR. BOOTH: Without building it.
MS. EDDY: Oh, I'll build it. Give me the
money.
MR. BOOTH: All right. Thank you very much.
Appreciate your time.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right.
Go ahead.
MR. LANCING: Again, for the record, my name
is Scott Lansing of Lansing Engineering. I'm
here tonight with Jeff Knox and Geoff Booth of
New York Development Group for the Cornerstone
Condominiums project.
Just to refresh the Board's memory, this
project was before the Board a couple months ago
for conceptual sketch plan review. It was
received well by the Board and we were directed
to advance to the preliminary design phase of the
project.
The overall site area is approximately 7.7
acres and we are proposing to develop the back
portion of the parcel, approximately 6.65 acres
of the parcel, into condominiums. The current
zoning for the parcel is Mixed Use North. We are
proposing to follow the zoning in the Mixed Use
North district. The number of lots for
verification purposes, we are proposing a
subdivision on this parcel as well as something
we will add to the plans, dividing out the front
portion of the parcel that has the existing
commercial use, a potential future use if that is
modified, that would be 1.05 acres. Again, the
back portion of the parcel is 6.65 acres for
condominiums under a special use in the Mixed Use
North district.
We are proposing 14 condominium buildings,
four units per building for a total of 56 units,
and this has gone down since the last time the
Board has seen this. It was previously 60 units.
Set-backs, we are proposing a side yard set-back,
rear yard set-back of 10 feet, front yard
set-back from property line we'll be proposing 10
feet, as well.
Parking would be two parking spaces per unit
for total of 112 proposed spaces in the project.
Site coverage, as far as green space provided, we
are providing 3.65 acres of green space, or
approximately 55 percent of the parcel, and that
would be just on the back section.
Condominium site coverage would be 3 acres,
or 45 percent. Water supply would be from the
Town of Ballston and sanitary sewer would be
through the Saratoga County Sewer District.
We have received comments from C.T. Male.
They are in a technical nature. We are in the
process now of addressing those comments. We'll
be submitting the responses on that on Wednesday
of this week for C.T. Male to review.
We're here tonight for questions and comments
from the Board and requesting the Board's
consideration to set a public hearing for the
subdivision and site plan for comments and we
will incorporate that into the plans.
Thank you very much.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. I didn't see a
landscaping plan on this. Is it too early in the
process?
MR. LANSING: I believe we have one --
MS. CYR: This is one in the packet.
MR. LANSING: And a lighting plan, as well.
Sheets 8 and 9 of the drawing set.
MR. CWALINSKI: This is going to be a private
road, not turned over to the Town?
MR. BOOTH: That's correct.
MR. CWALINSKI: So it would be maintained by
a Homeowners' Association which also maintains
the green space?
MR. LANSING: Yes.
MR. HAYDEN: The other project that was
supposed to be on the agenda tonight, that's not
happening?
MR. BOOTH: We withdrew that application.
MR. VAN VORST: On the previous plans you
showed that the existing buildings in the front
were going to remain; is that changing?
MR. LANSING: The primary building would
remain. There is an existing structure in the
back; that's coming out.
MR. VAN VORST: When you brought the proposal
last time, one of the things we asked was that
you provide for us the entrance into Mangino's on
the map. I don't see that here.
MR. BOOTH: Right above the word
"construction".
MR. VAN VORST: Is that on one of our
pictures?
MR. LANSING: No, it's not.
MR. CWALINSKI: You'd like to see that on
drawing?
MR. VAN VORST: Yes.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. We'd like to see
that on drawing.
MR. LANSING: Okay.
MR. CWALINSKI: Is there enough room for any
meaningful screening behind the buildings at the
south?
MR. LANSING: Scale on this is probably about
20, 25 feet. 20 feet there, 25 feet there. The
buildings are staggered.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. Because I was
looking just to screen them along the border
there, but 20 feet's not enough room to put
anything --
MR. BOOTH: That's all green now, Jeff.
That's all trees. It's actually a nice forest
area there.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. I'm satisfied.
MR. FORSHEY: I have a question, please.
MR. CWALINSKI: We're not taking public
comment yet.
MR. FORSHEY: I just have a question.
MR. CWALINSKI: Go ahead. Ask it.
MR. FORSHEY: I have a property next door
where the curb cut's coming out. How far is that
from the property now?
MR. LANSING: The curb cut right here?
MR. FORSHEY: Yes.
MR. LANSING: There was a hypothetical
projection from the property line to the edge of
the pavement would be a minimum of five feet from
that hypothetical projection. That is a DOT
requirement.
MR. FORSHEY: My next question is, I have a
driveway right on that property line. If I were
wanting to put a business next door, how would
that affect my ingress and egress in relation to
having a curb cut here and a curb cut --
MS. CYR: Is the curb cut for a residence?
MR. FORSHEY: Yes. I have always --
MS. CYR: When they perform the traffic
study, because your driveway's there, they need
to accommodate your direct driveway, your future
use of the property.
MR. FORSHEY: If I were to go commercial,
which it is commercial, what affect would this
have on my --having a driveway on the same
property line?
MS. CYR: It would probably be up to DOT.
I'm not DOT. I can't speak for them. But
because you have an existing driveway there and
they want to put another driveway almost right
next to it, their application for a curb cut with
DOT would take into consideration your property
and how it impacts your property there. If they
intend to develop fully, they need to apply for
curb cuts because you'll need to widen it.
Generally, DOT doesn't like to see
residential roads with property with two large
entrances next to each other. You connect to
their existing road, that kind of thing.
MR. FORSHEY: That is my question, because
where the curb cut is now, would not affect my
property, but if this moved over to the edge of
my property what affect could the development of
my property be? That's my question and my
concern, as well.
MR. CWALINSKI: Okay. Anybody else?
MR. HAYDEN: What's the plan for the center
of that circular area, and also triangular area?
MR. LANSING: Just an open space area.
MR. HAYDEN: And what about inside the circle
at the top? Same thing?
MR. LANSING: Open space area, as well.
MS. CYR: I have a question about the
backyard of these buildings. Is there intended
to be decks and patios? My biggest concern would
be buildings 10 and 11. They are right on top of
the detention basin. Obviously the detention
basin will be owned and operated by the
Homeowners' Association, so the Town has no
maintenance and rights to this, however someone's
-- the corner of the building -- I've already
commented you need a 25-foot buffer. However,
some buildings may be outside that 25-foot
buffer. It leaves them no option for building a
patio or option for a backyard because it is so
close to the feature that is, frankly, dangerous
for children.
MR. LANSING: There are areas where those
set-back lots are closer to those structures,
closer than others. If there is room for a deck,
I would imagine they can apply for a permit and
build it on a case-by-case basis.
MR. BOOTH: Actually, these building designs,
there is a patio area for the lower two units
built within the footprint of the building. So,
as you see this area here, there is actually a
patio area underneath here.
MS. CYR: That actually wasn't what I was
seeing. You're saying there is going to be
a patio area beneath?
MR. BOOTH: That's right. That's right.
MR. CWALINSKI: Anything else?
You're asking to us put you on the agenda for
a site plan review next month?
MR. LANSING: It's my understanding this
would require a public hearing both for the site
plan and subdivision and we were hoping to get
that on for public hearing and obtain comments
and make that part of the plan. So, we're asking
the Board to consider that.
MR. CWALINSKI: Tom, can we do that, put them
on the site plan review?
MR. JOHNSON: They're on for concept right
now. If the Board has anymore concerns they'd
like to see before the site plan review, they
could probably state them now and we can put them
on for a public hearing.
MS. CYR: Would your traffic study be
complete by then?
MR. BOOTH: Yes.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right.
MR. JOHNSON: I'm not clear on the
subdivision portion. Can you explain that?
MR. LANSING: The front portion of the parcel
is approximately 1.05 acres. We're proposing to
subdivide for the existing and future commercial
use in that area.
MS. EDDY: So, it would be another curb cut?
MR. LANSING: The cut would actually be
modified so they're coming in off the proposed
road. So, there would be only one curb cut for
the entire site.
MR. JOHNSON: I assume the dotted line on
page one is a set-back line.
MR. LANSING: That is prior to us adding in a
line for the subdivision. We would have a
property line now proposed 10 feet away from that
dash line on the LL1 plan.
MR. JOHNSON: Now, are you looking to have the
subdivision included in the public hearing, as
well?
MR. LANSING: If we could.
MR. JOHNSON: If that's the case, then we
should have the map showing --
MR. LANSING: We will submit that Wednesday.
MR. JOHNSON: Now, the existing cornerstone
building, on page L1 it says the existing building
will be removed, that's the general area where the
existing cornerstone building is?
MR. LANSING: On LL1 that is a plan that
actually says existing building.
MR. JOHNSON: Do the other maps that they
have, have that on there? I don't think so,
because I have the same one.
MR. LANSING: No, it's not. We'll add it.
MR. VAN VORST: Do you have any pictures of
what these units are going to look like?
MR. BOOTH: Yeah, the same ones we used
before.
MR. CWALINSKI: Those are four units, one
garage per unit?
MR. LANSING: Correct.
MR. CWALINSKI: How do they access the top
and bottom units? Through one common door?
MR. BOOTH: This door here goes up to the
upper unit and this goes to the lower unit.
MR. HAYDEN: So, this is the same design as
the Stonebridge ones?
MR. BOOTH: Yes.
MS. CYR: Same as Beacon Hill, also?
MR. BOOTH: Yes.
MR. CWALINSKI: Any other comments?
MS. EDDY: Same old, same old. You're going
to vary colors?
MR. LANSING: Yes.
MR. CWALINSKI: All right. So, I'd like to
put you on the agenda for next month for
subdivision.
MS. EDDY: This month.
MR. CWALINSKI: That's right. This month.
For subdivision and site plan review.
MR. BOOTH: Great. Thank you.
MR. KNOX: Appreciate you coming out on an
off night.
MR. CWALINSKI: Motion to adjourn?
MR. VAN VORST: Motion to adjourn.
MR. HAYDEN: Second.
MR. CWALINSKI: All in favor?
(Whereupon the motion to adjourn was passed
and the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.)