Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Okay, welcome everyone. I apologize for the delay. A little bit of a premeating or a meeting prior. So, um it is November 5th. It's a little after 7. The Town of Chester Planning Board is now in session. If we could do a roll call to make sure we're all in attendance. Uh Chris present. Mike present. Myself present. Present. Laura present. Okay, we are all here. If we could please rise and say the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So, um, everybody was sent out the minutes from the October 1st meeting. Did everybody get a chance to review them for the October 1st meeting? Uh, if someone would like to make a motion to adopt the minutes from the meeting of the October motion by Mark, second by second by Mike. All in favor?

I Okay, so before we start, um, we would first like to congratulate Jeppi on his talent award. We'll be losing a planning board member, but they're gaining a great member to the board. And we would like to welcome Laura to our planning board. [applause] Hello.

Laura brings experience and excitement and a fresh set of eyes. So, we're appreciative of her time and for us her joining us. Okay. So, on the agenda tonight is Bell Station Court, which is in the GC zone. It's a warehouse office space on Pond Road and Ruru. They came back before us in March after they went to the town board allowing them to move forward with the project with a moratorum waiver. So is an allowable use with a site plan approval. Before we turn it over to Brian, we would like to address uh lead agency. So if uh for town of Chester planning board to be lead agency. So if I could get a motion to declare us lead agency.

I'll make a motion. Chris second by How about second Mark? All in favor? I Okay. And also in the updated package uh the DEC letter providing jurisdictional determination of the freshwater wetlands was received. Some of the now adjacent area will be affected. So a New York State DC freshwater wetlands permit will be required. So Brian, if you'd like to come up at this point and kind of bring us all up to speed. So yeah, we did um notify the DEC. Can you go on the side behind? Yes,

we did go to DEC uh spoke with someone. We're hoping to have a site visit there and um the lot of the lot was previously disturbed. So we're going to hopefully have no issues with that. So, okay. Um, I was just noting it because you sent it with the package, so you know, you did your work leading up to this. So, if you want to just review the project because we have two new board members and so

good. So, um, the project is on about three and a half acres. Uh, we're going to be building a 8,500 square foot building. It's shows it's in five units or six units right there. Um if we get a someone who wants to rent say a smaller space or a larger space, we would be able to divide it. Um if anybody's been on LK Drive, if you're familiar with that, those kind of buildings, that's kind of the use and u uh square footage kind of size that we would be having there. Um the driveway comes in off a pond road and goes in front of the building and then there's some turnaround parking in the back and uh nose in parking in the front to get into the garage base. So, it' be garage and office uh kind of storage for either a uh just just storage for someone if they wanted to use it as that or they could have uh plumbing or you know a landscaper have you know his equipment in there and things like that.

Okay. So, um, if that if that's all then we can, uh, John Queen sent out his review letter, so we can go over the review letter. If you're finished with what you want us that cover. Okay. Yep. Um, basically just a summary of the project, which I think already we just listed the potential outside agency permits required. One is obviously the New York State BC with that freshwater wetland termination. get a permit for disturbance either in the wetland or the adjacent area. how that works out between applicant and the state. Uh potentially they may need um DO approval for the well depending on how many anticipated employees are the building, right?

We'll go over that. Yeah. Yeah. A lot. Yeah. A lot of the issues on the letter I did read the letter and go over it with Brad and he said that he would be addressing most of the issues as you would Okay. see. Yeah. Uh just listening in the basin that we're closing a new sewer connection. uh town highway department for the for the new entrance and utility connections across pond road will have to go to county planning under the 239 and I put county BPW I think it's optional surrounded by Kings Highway and road there is no proposed work or improvements on those roads but or you can send it as a courtesy that department so choose so that

I would recommend that you do you know that you may advisory comments from DPW, you know, in connection with it. And it's always good thing to make sure that they know what's what's happening in the town.

Then some just some general housekeeping on the plans. Um they did get a hardship waiver from the town board. So I just note that that's why they referred tonight to the board. Um again general housekeeping sheet one should have a location plan or location plan uh for clarity of of the setbacks technically the definition the town code is the front yard is the narrowest setback on the public street so that would really be the pond road side um which would then make the king's highway side the rear and then you're allowed one sideyard so it's just a clarity thing on the plan that that cleared up um doesn't affect anything it's just I don't want set in the future for another. So we just stay we'll just stay standard with the code. Uh the B table should be revised to revise for the actual building height. Right now it just says to be determined should they should list the height. Um there should be a note placed on the plan that that's indicating that there's no outdoor storage proposed with the application and that none is being approved at this time as part of this. Um it is an option in the code. It is permitted but nothing shown. I just want to be clear that because we're getting office warehouse and storage that outdoor storage doesn't come along with that. Uh monument signs are proposed a location should be provided on the plan. Comment seven town code requires ADA spaces to be 10 foot in width and a standard parking space detail should be provided. Um the parking spaces delineated in the front of the building where you have garage door man. seem to line up exactly with the doors as you get farther down.

We're gonna address that. Yeah. To just make sure they want to know. Um, comment nine, we spoke about the wetlands. Comment 10, there should be a a drainage analysis provided at least demonstrating, you know, zero net increase in runoff, where [clears throat] is it going? How are we conveying it to the stream? I was going to ask you about that, John. you know, in my experience, sometimes the county uh planning department wants to see uh you know, drainage issues as part of like their referral. And so I was wondering if you would recommend the 239 referral now or perhaps like once a revised plan set comes in.

I don't mind sending it to the county. It doesn't require a full slip. It's under that threshold, right? And so really, it's just it's a localized drainage analysis just proving out quantities. If if you're comfortable with sending it to the county, I'm just trying to avoid like the county coming back with comments on saying, "Please provide this." So, no, I'm comfortable because they don't need that full switch. Yeah. They don't need a state permit for Yeah. Understood. No objection. Thank you. Um, comment 11, the sewer service is required to be a force man as you're connecting force across the street. Right. Right.

Also, you should have an analysis completed connection. Uh, the proposed retaining wall at the entrance should be relocated to outside of the town's driveway. Comment 13 provide the sight distance for the driveway at least in the southern direction. I know you're very close to the intersection so you're not going to get that distance but the other direction you should provide what it is comment 14 ties into the well providing the anticipated number of employees for the building and ultimately what sewer usage numbers will be provided to the board the well detail should just be revised to reflect the actual well construction on site use existing well there is an existing yes yeah that that's one you're going to use Yeah.

Yeah. So, what I would do is if you have the old drillers log Yeah. I gotta find that. Yes, you can because we got to just make sure you have you have the right amount of casing. Okay. Okay. The grading plan doesn't seem to indicate any proposed contour elevations and the contours don't seem to correspond to the actual building elevation. Just have just have a check. We'll get that all set too for you. Um on the West side of the building, you have the loading docks. Yes. Going to be docks. No, whatever the elevation will supply for sheet drainage out of that area is what we're going to do.

Okay. The elevation of the um building itself will probably be four uh 492 I think is where we're at. Yeah. Instead of I don't know what it says there, 490. You Well, it was unclear, but I look like 490, but yeah, your rendering is showing me a typical 4 foot high. Yeah. No, that's coordination with the architect and yeah, engineer.

Uh ADH signage should be put on the plan and the height of the signage needs to be 17 sign. Uh any proposed ballards along the front should be shown on the site plan. The sidewalk across the front of the building should be clarified if it's going to be raised or flush for the entirety. If it's raised, ADA will be required in the ADA spaces. Um, comment 21 relates to that loading dock, the turning movements because there was a wall on the render rate coming out. Yeah. And so the turning radius would be that. Okay. So those are going to be at grade. You won't need the the dock wall and so then the truck can make the turn. But double check that satisfy that.

It also showed a manoring staircase. So do you coordinate that with your architectural uh landscaping plan should be provided. The lighting plan was provided but it has a note that it does not comply with parking and pedestrian safety level. Oh really? Okay. Yeah. [laughter] Yeah. I'll check that too. Yeah.

Also on the lighting plan it should be noted that all the lighting is wall mounts. There's no parking lot pole lighting which is good. Uh just note that the proposed light should be dark sky compliant and there should be note that it can be adjusted at the request of the town. If the lighting is found to be objection again you'll coordinate with the architectural rendering did show the second building and then just now keeping on details proposed water and sewer service

covered covered everything I think. Okay. So now for our comments um first from my my perspective the rendering is good the color choice is good the design is good and is like John said it's not showing the both of the dock bays I noticed and the retaining wall um it's a pre-cast right it's the ready rock wall so it's going to need um engineering and then submitted to the building inspector prior but those ready rock walls come with a face like a surface or a color. I just think that it's a big part of the building. So, aesthetically, you might want to show us something that it is or what you're leaning towards, right? Because they're already they're a pre-cast wall.

So, they can either have a pattern on them, they have a color to them. So, that's something that I just think the whole aesthetic of the building. In the next um ren drawings, we'll make sure we nail down all those details. Right now, we're trying to get through all of the other items that we had the moratorium. just thing to keep in the back of your mind so that it all comes together. Yeah. Um and I did the same I did notice the drainage on the right like John said that there's not on the right hand side now showing the drainage and the swale to the left and then it's jumping into the um the lead drums down into the yard drain. So just like the drain analysis for what that's going to be how much it created the back of the building is the retaining wall,

right? Potentially. Right. Yes, it is. And we don't know how far out of the ground the building is going to be right from it's probably going to be about uh 16 ft back there. That's just so it might be something detail-wise to include. Um the trucks, the type of trucks are there going to be you think tractor trailers trying to get in there? No. No. It's like straight trucks and Yeah. Yeah. Right. trucks with a trailer or box trucks like for the loading dock so that there's enough turnaround for them. Just in my experience with like the castle, you got to have something for some of the trucks to back up to just for ease of getting things in and out

because even coming out onto Pond Road, that's going to be a difficult turn for a tractor trailer. Yeah. To make that left and then the right, you end up at Kings Highway. So we just thought for what type of trucks and what's going to it's going to handle with number of people hours of operation and the clearing for the grading like it shows one tree with a ribbon if that tree is being retained. I'm not sure. Say that again like the trees and clearing the property. Do you have a concept of what is going to be cleared and taken away? Okay.

Because there is no landscape plan. So, as far as retention and then for the landscape, you know, because there is such a grade like what the thoughts are for a landscape plan for it and um the lighting most of it John already went over everything so just like kind of reiterating it. Um Chris, do you have any comments? I was going to ask several questions regarding to the drainage plan and um is there existing imperous surface at the location or this is going to be all new impervious surface?

Um a lot of it was previously disturbed but yes it's a vacant lot lot right now. Um the person before was storing stuff when I bought it. There was a lot of garbage to clean up and things um piles of debris and things like that. So I did some leveling on that just to clean up so I could get in there. Then I also um was uh digging out the castle and we hit shale on that job site and I needed to store the shale. So I put it against the back bank there where the building's going to go. So I'll be moving that out or utilizing it for the underllayment of the parking lot and the building.

And also I had same questions about the elevation of the building and such, but that's going to be addressed when the the plans are submitted. Um and also the the tree removal, what that's going to look like in the landscape. There won't be any trees removed in the front um of the building facing um Laroo Road. It's pretty cloaked with even even now um with all the leaves off if you'd ride by. It is it's a nice screen right now. Even through the winter, it will be a nice screening. But

yeah, so so it's even screening with just the trees itself and the bushes and everything like they're all going to remain. Um, and then there's a few trees on the site that are actually growing out of the there's a couple dirt piles there. They're going to go, but they're just like weed trees. Trees. Yeah. And then when it goes gets built into the hill, there are some uh a couple oak trees and stuff like that. Um, most of them are like have rot or split. There's one there that I want to bring to my sawmill and cut. Other than that, yeah, there's not many there. So,

I mean, but there's a lot of vegetation and tree saplings and things going up that whole grade like from the front to the left side. So, I don't know what you're um anticipating doing with or you're not touching any of that and you're just going to touch for where the building Oh, you mean where the driveway comes in? Where the driveway comes in? Yeah, that's going to have for the retaining wall. We're going to have to do whatever minimal excavation we need to do there to get the footings in. if I'm going to do a concrete wall or if I'm going to do um the Gabian wall or some kind of other wall there. So, we'll get that down on the plan for sure. So, everything's so we can build it. So, yeah.

And yeah, I don't know if we asked this question here um regarding fire department access and stuff. Is that addressed through the building planning process or through this process? Through this process like and there is a concern that there's no ring road. Yeah. That's what I saw. It's not for this size building ring would not be required. What is proposed doesn't require It's based on the It's based on square foot. I think I think once you cross the 20,000 foot threshold, there's a lot of more regulatory items that you can for

um I think I think you and Chris hit most of what I was looking at. I just wanted to mention one thing coming out of the last last meeting in the summer. A couple people raised the just the question is is this uh zone for for it and um I looked at the the old schedule of use the new version um and I think it's just the use of the warehouse and as we're talking amongst ourselves the word warehouse when this is is not I I don't see this as being called a warehouse. So I I just wanted to bring that up because I'd heard that as a concern from some people who must have been.

So the accepted use right is the contractor the accepted uses of office accessory call warehouse but it's accessory storage that's currently right now both office and warehouse are permitted in the zone. So the office would be your primary whether that that may change with zoning zoning it would be primary office with storage as accessory. Yeah, I was I was looking at the wholesale retail operations of the light industry nature self-service storage per 9829 builder contractor's office and equipment yards,

you know. But I just think that the concern came up because we're referring to it or it's we've seen it in the letters as a uh as a warehouse and it's it's really not a warehouse. So I don't this application office. Yeah. No, I'm I'm good. Yeah, thank you. Mark, I guess it's more general question than comment. Uh kind of alluding to outdoor storage. There's also going to be some sort of dumpster there. Um location, size, things like that because you're going to have multiple uses with I'm sure shared. Yeah. So,

not sure where how that falls in if that's I like how the sit how it's situated on the property because that whole hill on Kings Highway going down towards a red light. I I struggle to see what I I've stored down there for temporary now. Sure. And you can't even hardly see it. So, yeah, it it does work very well. So, the dumpster's going to probably go on that end of the building. Got it. Okay. Thank you. But we'll get it on the site. I did that loop many times trying to see what I could see. So people probably as I kept going around are like who is this crazy person? [laughter] Yeah. No, that's what I did too. I have no comment from Laura. I'm not throwing you in. So

yeah. No, throw me in. I mean I I have the I have the comments. I wrote some stuff on here. Um almost all of what I would consider my substantial comments were picked up by John as they should be because engineer. Um, I was curious about the yard drain and if that means there's going to be a point source discharge into the wetland buffer area or adjacent area and then about the grading in front of the building because I saw the profile shows that the the profile of the drive that as it goes in front of the building is at zero. So, it's essentially flat. I I do hope that the cross-section is going to be tipped away from the building. So, you're you're draining, right? So, I was just curious about that. Um and the the yard drain and what that was doing. Um John's comment about sighteline brought me to think about will there be enough um cleared area because as you say there's a lot of trees that screen the site from Laroo and will there be enough of an area here in a scenario if somebody is is leaving Kings Highway and driving towards Monroe on Laroo and they instead make a right onto Pond will there be enough sight distance for anybody coming out of your driveway to see someone making that move before they get out there. I I just was curious about that and that's just a thought. So I I don't know it it it would be affected I think only by the vegetation there,

right? So I don't know what's there specifically. So if you do an inventory and you take a look at that. Um and then I had a question about the dock but that's already been answered and so I think that's it. Thanks. So, [cough and clears throat] um, we addressed the 239 that you're comfortable with it going. So, we can take that, um, the lead agency, we can have that drawn up, right? Look, look, your office handle that the circulation. Thank you.

So, um, Brian, I think it falls back to you if you're comfortable coming back in December to address what's been stated tonight that we can definitely put you on for the December meeting and then we can you or you can let you don't have to let us know tonight. Yeah, I I would like to um we were hoping maybe to do a public hearing first. I don't know if there's much more that the public would need to know from this um with the renderings. uh we'll correct the loading dock and things like that, but that way we could have the public comment and then um then the following month have a meeting with the plans changed if that's possible. I don't know.

The only difference that would be would be the county, right? There might not be enough along be a long enough time span if we submit tomorrow. The meeting is the third, right? Yeah. You wouldn't have the Oh, and you need to have the right the county before a public hearing, right? like to have that quite honing and the board's comments out those okay okay the benefit of having county comments the next meeting will be December 3rd December 3rd yes okay

and then with at December 3rd at that moment then we and plan for the public hearing the following month so that it's okay. Do you know when the following months? Uh when is January? January 7th. Okay. [laughter] Yep. The seven it doesn't exist potentially. So that we could potentially have it for the seventh. Okay. So, if you want the third and like I said, you don't have to decide. More than likely, yes. And I'll I'll get the whip out on on Brad. Get them going.

When would you need to resubmit to be on December 3rd? Um I have my calendar up. Um so December by November 26. Okay. Thanksgiving is when what the date of Thanksgiving? 27 to submit one week in advance of the week. Two weeks. Oh, so that would be the 19th. 19th. Oh, the 19th. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's tight. That's tight. 19th. Well, I hope I can get it together. Let us know. I'd like to have a complete plan. So, keep moving along. Yeah. Yeah.

If that doesn't work, then you would need to submit by December 24th for the January 7. Okay. Good. That gives you more time. Y. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not doing this thing tomorrow either. So, yeah. Whatever works for you, we're here. So, let us know. All right. Thank you all for the time. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yep. Okay. Um, so I think that covers all of our agenda items, right? Yep. The business is done. Thank you everyone. I have a motion to close the meeting. I'll make that motion.

Second by Mike. All in favor? Thanks again for coming out for just