TOWN OF NIAGARA COUNTY OF NIAGARA, STATE OF NEW YORK NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.

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1 TOWN OF NIAGARA COUNTY OF NIAGARA, STATE OF NEW YORK NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y Lockport Road PHONE: Niagara Falls, New York FAX: TOWN OF NIAGARA PLANNING BOARD WORK SESSION MINUTES- September 5, 2017 PRESENT: Barbara Hathaway/Chairman Renee Granto/Board Member Ed Herman/Board Member Mike Murawski/Board Member John Polka/Board Member IN ATTENDANCE: Daniel Boland/Resident/7110 Colonial Drive Deborah Chadsey/Attorney/Kavinoky Cook LLP/726 Exchange Street, Suite 800, Buffalo Russell Daniels/Resident/7105 Colonial Drive Charles Haseley/Town of Niagara Building Inspector Gerard Hathaway/Resident/7030 Colonial Drive Dan Hosie/Fire Chief Christina Kramp/Resident/4718 Hermitage Road Michael Metzger, P.E./Metzger Civil Engineering PLLC/8245 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville Anita Muzzi/1072 Sweet Home Road John Ormsby/Resident/7020 Colonial Drive Rich Reese/Architect Suzanne Rizzo/Resident/7310 Colonial Drive Richard Sirianni/Town of Niagara Board Member/Resident Robert Sobczyk/Resident/7115 Colonial Drive Peter Sorgi/Attorney/Hopkins, Sorgi and Romanowski PLLC/26 Mississippi Street, Buffalo Jane Torrey/Resident/7320 Colonial Drive Paul Torrey/Resident/7320 Colonial Drive 1

2 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mr. Polka agreed to chair the meeting. Presentation #1-Drive Star Properties, Deborah Chadsey, Esq., Agent/Kavinoky Cook LLP Re: Drive Star Properties Special Use Permit 4660 Witmer Road Tax Map No Town of Niagara SEQR Deborah Chadsey, Agent from Kavinoky Cook LLP, is requesting land use authorization of property located at 4660 Witmer Road. The property is located on the west side of Witmer Road at the corner of Witmer Road and Pennsylvania Avenue. Tax Map No.: Ms. Chadsey submitted an application to allow Drive Star to be able to continue its existing use for the entire parcel and be allowed to lease part of that parcel to a company that does exactly what they do. Drive Star currently owns 2 parcels, 4220 and 4660 Witmer Road. They also own a number of properties along Pennsylvania Avenue. Ms. Chadsey stated that earlier this year they acquired the 2 remaining Pennsylvania Avenue properties from the town and then subdivided 4660 so that there would be 1 larger parcel which is now She said sometime in the future they will use the rest of 4660 in business operations. Once the subdivision of 4660 occurs their existing use will be limited. They are requesting permission for the new 4660 parcel to be allowed the same use as the rest of the parcels, so they will be allowed to lease it in the immediate future to another company that does exactly what they do. Ms. Chadsey was told that Drive Star should acquire the permit to allow the use and then the lessee would have to come back and get a business permit. Mr. Polka asked Mr. Haseley if the Special Use Permit is assignable. Mr. Haseley said it usually is not transferable. The owner of Drive Star had become concerned that his operation wasn t permitted on a piece of the property. Ms. Chadsey said they understood that they should get the Use Permit for the whole piece of the property and then if the lessee was still interested the lessee would file a Business Use Permit. Mr. Polka wanted clarification that the application for Drive Star is for a Special Use Permit for 4660 Witmer. Ms. Chadsey said it was. No further comments. 2

3 Mr. Polka made a motion recommending: Approval of a Special Use Permit Negative Declaration on the SEQR Mrs. Hathaway approved to move the motion. Mr. Murawski seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: YES- (5) Mrs. Granto, Mr. Herman, Mr. Murawski, Mr. Polka, Mrs. Hathaway NO- (0) ABSTAIN- (0) MOTION CARRIES Presentation #2- Peter Sorgi/Hopkins Sorgi & Romanowski PLLC/26 Mississippi Street, Buffalo (representing George Churakos) *George Churakos, Double C Reality Re: Bri Estates Updated Preliminary Plat Submission Review Tax Map No.: SEQR Peter Sorgi, representing George Churakos of Double C Realty of NY, is requesting review of his updated Preliminary Plat Submission for property on Kay Ellen Drive located on the north side of Colonial Drive between Hermitage Road and Miller Road. Tax Map No.: Mr. Metzger, Engineer from Metzger Civil Engineering, PLLC, introduced Rich Reese, Project Architect, and Peter Sorgi, Attorney from Hopkins, Sorgi and Romanowski PLLC, legal firm representing the applicant. Mr. Metzger presented a new plan to the Planning Board. He stated that many changes have been made since last presented in April Mr. Metzger gave some background information about the project prior to stating the changes. He said there is a fairly substantial ditch that runs across the property and it drains from Miller Road and then goes off to property into Lewiston. The original proposal was to rework the ditch and run it along the property line. The US Army Corp of Engineers determined it was navigable water of the United States and regulated by them and that they could not impact any more than 300 feet of just over a thousand feet of ditch on the property. The major change in the plan was avoiding that ditch. He said with the new plan the ditch stays in place and there is a section where there is a road crossing where we will install pipe and the balance of it will remain open as it is now. He said they eliminated some lots and extended a cul-de-sac towards the north with the crossing of the ditch. Mr. Metzger said the Sketch Plan indicated 139 lots which was reduced to 136 lots and now the present plan is at 119 lots. 3

4 Mr. Metzger said some of the other changes involved the emergency access. He said initially they did not have a secondary emergency access which is required. He said the department heads and the Town Engineer felt that the Town would prefer to have a full access 24/7 town road. The plan now represents that in the area where they were proposing to have a sanitary sewer and a water main run through, only the water main will be installed. The emergency access will now be a full road giving the project access points. This new road will be part of phase 2. Mr. Metzger said they have looped the water line which was strongly recommended by the Water and Sewer Superintendent and the Town Engineer. Another change was with the road width. They were originally proposing 26 feet of pavement and now they are at 28 feet. Mr. Metzger restated one of the larger changes that was made at the last presentation which resulted from concerns the immediate neighbors and the town had regarding the elevations of the site. He said originally they were set fairly high so they could drain the sanitary sewer all by gravity from the site without having to put in a pump station, but it was felt it would be best to lower the site and not put in as much fill and have a pump station. Mr. Metzger stated that they sent out a notice and had a meeting with neighbors at the Town Hall. They want to make sure the neighbors are up to speed on all the information, they answered questions and brought back information to the clients and felt it was a productive meeting. Mr. Metzger stated that they are presenting a brand new set of plans, new engineer s report, and Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan. The Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan shows that the design as being presented is in conformance with the latest and most stringent NYS storm water regulations. The storm water management facility and the storm sewers on the project are in compliance. A downstream capacity analysis was done to determine the capacity of the sanitary sewer from the point of connection all the way down to the sewage treatment plant. Mr. Metzger said the DEC has control over the final approval of the sanitary sewers. He said they have a policy in place and whenever a new project goes in of a certain size, they are obligated to show to them how there will be a reduction in the amount of flows in the sewer system. He said if needed our clients would be willing to contribute towards making modifications to the existing sanitary sewer system within the town that will tighten it up and take out some of the excess ground water and surface water that makes its way in there and over burdens the system. As part of the plan to tighten up the existing system they will take 4 gallons of water out of the sewer for every gallon that goes into the sewer. Mr. Metzger said they have a certified wetland biologist for the wetland delineation. He said back in July they were able to receive a jurisdiction of determination from the US Army Corp of Engineers which confirms wetland delineation. The only jurisdictional water on the property is the ditch that the US Army Corp of Engineers decided they will take jurisdiction over. Mr. Metzger stated that the area is in an archeological sensitive area so they hired an archeologist to do a Phase 1 A and Phase 1 B study. Since then they sent it to the NYS Office of Parks and Historic Preservation and they reviewed it and ruled that there will not be any adverse impacts to historical features brought on if the project should advance. 4

5 Mr. Metzger stated that a Geotechnical report was provided in the binder given for the presentation and was done so that they could see what type of soils there were, the ground water levels and bedrock. Mr. Metzger stated that they had a traffic analysis done by a well-respected local engineering firm (traffic consultants) to analyze the project and the existing road system and provide input and opinion if there will be any impacts to the system. He said they have concluded that it will not bring on an adverse impact. There will be more traffic, but will not degrade the level of service. He said the report is also included in the binder provided. Mr. Metzger said the State Environmental Quality Review Act Environmental Assessment form was amended to reflect the plan changes and is also in the binder. Mr. Metzger stated the results of the study the impacts to what they have found to be a regulated ditch went from 1000 feet of impact to 155 feet. Mr. Metzger said a water analysis was done on the town s existing water system in the immediate area to see what type of an impact there might be to the whole system both for domestic and fire flow and have concluded that this project will not have any adverse impact on the town s water system. Mr. Metzger said they will continue to work with Mr. Haseley to get the notifications out for the SEQR review and also over to Niagara County Planning Boards so they can conduct their review and provide some input. Mr. Polka asked what happened to the Kay Ellen extension. He asked how the decision was made to not extend Kay Ellen Drive and instead add the additional road. Mr. Metzger said there was never a proposal to extend Kay Ellen Drive. He said they do not have control over that property and their clients do not own the property. They conducted several inquiries with several property owners along that route that actually own the property and they have no interest. The street was never dedicated to the town. Mr. Herman asked if there would be other public forums. Mr. Sorgi said that the town will have to hold an official public hearing for the preliminary plat and they have an option to hold a public hearing. Mr. Herman asked what the charge would be for the lots. He also said the 60 foot houses so close together gives the perception of looking like city lots. He thought that if the size increased to 70 feet and the cost raised a few thousand dollars it might pacify people as far as the size. He felt that a 60 foot lot would limit the type homes that can be built. He said by increasing the lot size it would give more variety of housing and give people the option if they want a bigger house. Mr. Metzger said that 60 feet is the minimum and not all the lots are 60 feet. He said 2/3 to 3/4 of them are, but 1/3 to 1/4 are larger than that. He said people are now gravitating towards smaller lots since they want to spend less time maintaining their yards and more time doing other things. 5

6 Mrs. Granto asked if the people buying the lots will have the option of buying 2 lots to make their property bigger. Mr. Metzger said yes, but he said it s not our client s intent to sell lots. He said what they will probably do is work with a builder for an arrangement. Mr. Murawski stated that no one is happy about having a second entrance on Colonial Drive and he thinks it will be a stumbling block. He said he understands that there was a traffic study, but a majority of traffic will be heading towards Military Road on Colonial Drive and Grauer. Mr. Metzger stated that he understands the concern there will be more traffic, but it is not to the point where it brings on a real concern from a traffic standpoint for the level of safety. Mr. Metzger concluded that they will be open for other options, but there are none. Public Comments: Mr. Bordonaro/Colonial Drive: Mr. Bordonaro stated that there is nothing the town can do, but he feels that there is no intention by the applicant to make the lots larger than 60 feet. He asked if the town can fight it. He is aware it does state 60 foot lots are acceptable in the charter. Mr. Polka said the Planning Board is a recommending body and at some point they will get the department heads and town engineer s comments and will look at those and make sure they will be addressed and the Planning Board will put in their recommendation to approve as subject to specific conditions that can include lot size and move the project to the Town Board. He said it then becomes an issue with the Town Board and the public hearings that are held and the sentiment that comes out of the property owners. Suzanne Rizzo/Resident/7310 Colonial Drive: Ms. Rizzo asked if there is any way the public can look at the traffic study. Mr. Polka said Mr. Haseley, Building Inspector can provide this. Ms. Rizzo asked what the square footage of the houses would be. Mr. Metzger said they do not have any contracts with a builder yet, but they are anticipating in the neighborhood of 1600 to 2200 square feet. Ms. Rizzo said that there are 4 houses available on Kay Ellen Drive and one is 6215 Kay Ellen Drive, 2100 square feet and is selling for $173,600. She said 6205 Kay Ellen Drive is 1648 feet and is selling for $141,000. Mr. Polka understood that Ms. Rizzo is concerned about the market risk and Ms. Rizzo agreed. Mr. Polka said the market risk would be assumed by the developer and most likely will be bonded to verify that everything is done properly. She said there is fairly new homes in the same vicinity that sell for much less money. She is concerned about the marketability. Ms. Rizzo stated she believes that there should be sidewalks for the safety of children due to the nearby playgrounds at the school, Veterans Park and at the end of Colonial Drive. She would like to have the sidewalks on both sides of the street on Colonial Drive and Grauer Road. 6

7 Paul Torrey/Resident/7320 Colonial Drive: Mr. Torrey stated that in one of the statements it was said that the developer looked at the plans. Mr. Torrey asked who it was. Mr. Sorgi said the developer is not the builder. Mr. Torrey asked if there was a bill of sale for the second potential entrance and exit on Colonial Drive. He said they did get approval and it is in contract that the people agreed to sell. Mr. Torrey asked if the Town Board is prepared to have a bond so that all 4 phases of the project is completed. Mr. Sorgi said there is a performance bond meaning that if for some reason it is not done after the road is done the bond kicks in and the town does not have to pay. The bond will take care of it being built. After it is built there is a maintenance bond as well to make sure that for a period of years it will cover any defects. Construction cannot occur until the bonds are approved. Mr. Torrey asked if all storm drainage will go into the pond. Mr. Metzger said yes. Mr. Torrey asked who is going to clean all the cups, garbage, plastic bags, waste and oil and everything that comes from the streets and neighborhoods that will end up in that pond. Mr. Metzger said the town has a couple of options. He said they were asked to establish a homeowners association where the people that live in the development would take part in getting money together to hire people to take care of it. Another option would be to establish a drainage district. The area that is bounded by the development would be part of a district that is taxed by the town so that the storm water facility can be maintained. Mr. Torrey said it seems that it falls back to the town because if there are not enough residents there to pay for this. Mr. Metzger said that it will still be the people that own the property whether it is the developer or the individual property owners that will pay for the special district. Mr. Torrey asked if the town really needs this project. He said it will change the whole dynamic of their town. He said the lots will be so close together and size will not allow for sheds or pools. He feels 60 feet is very narrow. Mr. Torrey asked if there is another ditch that runs behind the houses on Colonial Drive. Mr. Metzger said that right now there is not much of a rear yard drainage along Colonial. He said some of the people living there experience drainage problems now. He said that they will be putting in a rear drainage system behind the back of the new lots. He said that all the water not collected now will get into the combination of swales, yard drains, catch basins and pipes and will carry the water out. Mr. Torrey asked if anything will be covered. Mr. Metzger said the pipes would be. Mr. Metzger said the water will get collected a few lots at a time and will be transferred to a yard drain and then that will go to a collection point where there is a concrete catch basin with a larger diameter pipe that takes the water into the storm sewer and then into the pond and then discharged to the existing ditch to the north. Mr. Torrey was concerned about an increase in mosquitoes which bring disease because of the open water system. Mr. Metzger said that when it comes to storm water detention ponds it s not like the farm ponds that you would see where the water is in contact with the ground water and 7

8 just sits there. He said the detention ponds are designed specifically so that there is a flow through. The inlet is on the opposite side of the outlet. He said any time there is a rain event that puts water in the pond it pushes it out. Mr. Torrey asked how many months a year will there not be water in the pond. Mr. Metzger said there will be a wet component to it all year round. Mr. Torrey stated again that he doesn t want more mosquitoes especially if they carry disease. Mr. Torrey asked where the pump station will be located. Mr. Metzger pointed out on the plans where the sanitary sewer pump station will be. He explained that it is an enclosed structure underground and is sealed. It is a tank and the sewers bring the waste to that location. There is a pump that is in there and lifts it up and carries it out to a gravity sewer that moves it elsewhere. Mr. Torrey asked if it is an electric pump and Mr. Metzger said it was. Mr. Torrey asked who is responsible for the pump. Mr. Metzger said it will be dedicated to the town and will become part of the town sewer system. Mr. Torrey wanted the Planning Board to really look into what it is going to cost versus what we are going to bring in as far as taxes. He asked how much it will improve the town from a monetary standpoint. Anita Muzzi/Resident/1072 Sweet Home Road: Mrs. Muzzi said she is concerned as a Lewiston resident because of the 7 foot moat that is going on the back property line. She said she has not heard of any numbers yet with regard to the elevation on the Lewiston side. She said if the 7 feet on the Town of Niagara side does not match up to the Town of Lewiston side then water goes in and floods behind it. She said there is real danger and safety issue with having an open 7 foot ditch. There could be standing water. Mr. Metzger stated that there was a misconception early on in the project that the slope on the Town of Niagara side was going to be matched by a slope on the Town of Lewiston side. Mr. Metzger said there is a swale at the bottom of the slope and they cannot do anything on the Lewiston side since that elevation stays the same. Mr. Metzger said the swale is not 7 feet deep, but will be a couple feet. Mrs. Muzzi said on the plan in some spots it was almost 7 feet elevation and then on the Lewiston side it states current elevation. She is questioning where the elevations are at. Mr. Metzger said the Town of Niagara engineer will look at the plans to ensure that there will not be any problems for anyone in the Town of Niagara and the Town of Lewiston. Mrs. Muzzi expressed concern over the safety issues with open ditch areas, the open pond that may or may not freeze, and no green space for the kids. She feels they are going to be attracted to build ramps over the ditch with their bikes and want to go ice skating on the pond. Mrs. Muzzi said she noticed an island at the entrance going toward Miller Road. She asked if the entrance was wide enough for an emergency vehicle or ladder truck especially in the winter with the snow banks. Mr. Metzger said he worked with the code enforcement officer on that and looked at that in relationship to the fire code and everything is compliant. Mr. Metzger stated the ponds are built in compliance with State regulations. There is a safety bench around the outside of the pond which makes it very flat around the edges and if someone were to go in it is easy to walk out. 8

9 Mrs. Muzzi stated that she would like to see the deep ditches in the back covered. Mr. Polka asked if a profile can be put in for the north side on what the swale will look like. Mr. Metzger agreed to that request. Mrs. Muzzi asked if the green space can be used for a play area. Mr. Metzger stated that the town would have to decide if they want a park on the property. Mrs. Muzzi asked if the middle section required a waiver or variance or if it is considered a compliance of a block. Mr. Metzger stated the block does exceed the maximum of 1200 feet, so they are asking for a waiver on that. He said for that the code does stipulate that the Planning Board or Town Board has the ability to grant that waiver. He said if it doesn t make sense to put another road in there, which he said it wouldn t make sense to do so, as long as there is access for pedestrians then it is something the Planning Board and Town Board can grant waiver to. Mrs. Muzzi asked if that will be next to the pond and Mr. Metzger said it would. Mrs. Muzzi asked the contract end date for the Colonial Drive property. She asked if that is not considered outside the realm of the original site plan that was originally presented making it part of the subdivision moratorium that is on now. She said it is outside the perimeter of the original scope of the project that was purchased. She asked if that makes that property subject to the moratorium. Mr. Sorgi said no it would not because there is a case law that states access roads do not need to be part of the original site plan. Mrs. Muzzi said if you want approval on this as is you don t own the house yet as its conditional. Mr. Polka stated that it is outside the scope of planning and its getting into legal analysis by questioning whether they have an option to purchase and whether it s valid. Mrs. Torrey said that they can purchase, but questioned if they can add this to the subdivision because it wasn t part of the original plan and would it fall under the 6 month moratorium where the Town of Niagara is looking at the size of the lot. Mr. Polka said he will have the Town Council look at that. Don Boland/Resident/7110 Colonial Drive: Mr. Boland said that he has a concern about the amount of traffic coming down Colonial Drive. He estimates that there will be an extra 952 additional cars driving down the street in one day and that includes only the residents, not the extra service vehicles. Another concern he has is that he will have a corner lot with the road going in. He said he will have more road noise and now questions if the proposed road would now make his home noncompliant with the zoning. Mr. Metzger said the corner lot side yard should be greater than the standard side yard. He said in this particular case it is 7 feet. Fran Rosati/Resident/7500 Colonial Drive: Mrs. Rosati asked how the land is checked being that they are on rock and clay. She asked how far down they will go into the ground when putting the sewers in and questioned about hitting rock. Mr. Metzger said that he mentioned that there is a report in the binder that was presented to the town and it shows the bedrock ranges feet below the surface. 9

10 Richard Sirianni/Town of Niagara Board Member/Resident: Mr. Sirianni requested that the waivers be put in exhibit form on a separate piece of paper stating why a waiver is needed, and what the current town policy is in order to avoid having to go through several pages to find them. Russ Daniels/Resident/ 7105 Colonial Drive): Mr. Daniels stated his concern if something happened on Colonial Drive and no one would be able to exit out of the two streets from the development. Mr. Polka said that this can be true in any of the neighborhoods. Mr. Daniels also expressed his concern with headlights, noise from traffic and snow plows since he is directly across from the proposed new exit/entrance onto Colonial Drive. He feels this will depreciate home value. Dan Hosie/Town of Niagara Fire Chief: Mr. Hosie is concerned about the roads that are being put in the subdivision and does not feel there is not enough egress for that neighborhood. He feels with all the extra traffic there is going to be bottlenecks. He is also concerned with the size of the lot width and the side setbacks. Mr. Polka said the 14 feet side setback is part of the zoning law. Mr. Hosie would like there to be a higher standard. He is concerned about the houses being so close in the event of a fire. Residents expressed concern of only having one road exit and entrance close to Miller Road during Phase 1 of the project. Mrs. Muzzi asked if there would be a turnaround for Phase 1 for school busses and emergency vehicles. Mr. Metzger said that they are required to put in a temporary turnaround with the proper dimensions at the end of each phase for emergency vehicles and busses. Jane Torrey/Resident/7320 Colonial Drive: Ms. Torrey asked why the residents weren t notified about the property being sold for the subdivision. Mr. Polka said it was a sale of private property. Mr. Sorgi said the property has not been sold and that it is part of a contract. Mr. Metzger said his client has owned the property from years ago. The deed that was recorded is recorded in Lockport. Mr. Polka and the representatives from Bri-Estate agreed to table the applicant s request and to wait for the department heads and engineer comments with regard to the revisions made. No further comments. Mr. Polka recommended a motion for approval to table the applicant s request and Mrs. Hathaway moved to accept the motion. Mr. Murawski seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: YES- (5) Mrs. Granto, Mr. Herman, Mr. Murawski, Mr. Polka, Mrs. Hathaway NO- (0) 10

11 ABSTAIN- (0) MOTION CARRIES Mr. Polka recommended a motion for approval of the minutes from the August 1, 2017 Planning Board meeting and Mrs. Hathaway moved to accept the motion. Mr. Murawski seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: YES- (4) Mr. Herman, Mr. Murawski, Mr. Polka, Mrs. Hathaway NO- (0) ABSTAIN- (1) Mrs. Granto MOTION CARRIES Mr. Polka recommended a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 pm and Mrs. Hathaway moved to accept the motion. Mr. Murawski seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: YES- (5) Mrs. Granto, Mr. Herman, Mr. Murawski, Mr. Polka, Mrs. Hathaway NO- (0) ABSTAIN- (0) MOTION CARRIES NEXT MEETING: October 3, 2017 Respectfully submitted, Kimberly Meisenburg Planning Board Secretary 11