Bartosch Subdivision



Sec 59.10 Blk 1 Lot 47
Sec 59.10 Blk 2 Lots 3-10 & 16-27
Location: Croton Heights
Contact: Joseph C. Riina, PE
Description: Proposed 2 lot subdivision in the R1-80 zone.

April 7, 2008 (work session)
Pre-Preliminary Application

This is a 4.5 ac. property between Vine and Prospect Sts, which are paper roads off the Birdsall Dr. The owner lives on an adjacent lot and wants to build two houses for his daughters. The Planning Board recommended seeking a variance for the amount of frontage in order to avoid having to make a cul-de-sac on a town road. Mr. Flynn questioned the odd configuration of the lots. Mr. Riina explained that this was necessary in order to balance the nicer areas between the two lots and still allow suitable areas for both septic systems and wells. There is a 1909-1920 era house on the site, but according to the owner, it has no historical significance. Mr. Flynn said that the Planning Board had a "good first look".


June 9, 2008, work session
Mr. Riina showed a revised site plan that will eliminate the cul–de-sac and instead have two parallel driveways coming off Vine St. Mr. Tegeder asked that one of the houses be brought forward about 20 feet which was acceptable to Mr. Riina. He also requested that the site plan indicate all trees in excess of 8", including the species. The applicant has not been able to locate proof of ownership for Prospect St, a paper road adjoining the rear of the property.

The applicant will go before the ZBA for a frontage variance.


June 23, 2008 work session
Mr. Riina showed the location of the tree line on the plans and said that the residences had been moved away from the property lines as per the Board's request.  The plans show that only one of the lots will require a variance for insufficient frontage.  Mr. Klaus thought it would look more balanced to have the frontage evenly divided between the two lots, which would require two variances.   Attorney Wagner asked about the status of the paper roads shown on the plans.  These will remain private roads, but the Town will be allowed access.  Mr. Capellini will provide information about the roads' ownership.  The project will be scheduled for a public hearing at the July meeting.  Meanwhile the applicant will proceed with getting the variances from the ZBA and will provide the required tree survey.
 


August 18, 20080
Public Informational Hearing
Contact: Site Design Consultants, Joe Cermele, engineer, Al Capellini, attorney

The project has ZBA variances for road frontage shortages. Mr. Cermele described the project's two driveway alternatives. One possibility is to have two short driveways off a cul-de-sac off Vine Rd. The other is to have two longer driveways directly off of Vine Rd. In either case, an existing driveway would be reused. The second alternative would yield the least impervious surface and save the most trees. Laura and Thomas Trainor, who live on Vine Rd. across from the proposed subdivision, used the question and answer period to express their preference for the two driveway alternative as the least disruptive and most consistent with other homes in the area. John Schroeder, another area resident, expressed the same opinion. Mr. Schroeder also asked if now would be an appropriate time to remove the names of numerous paper roads in the area from town maps. He pointed out this would make mapping and things like mapquest more accurate and less confusing. The Planning Board will look into this. Mr. Flynn reminded the public that applications before the Planning Board, including maps, are available for public perusal in the Planning Department office.


November 23, 2009, work session

As requested, a tree survey was done, but Mr. Riina said some species identification was problematical without leaves on the trees.  The driveways were relocated to existing open areas (probably remnants of old farming activity) to avoid concentrations of trees.  The septic fields will also be located in these open areas.

 

Mr. Flynn asked if the applicant has a clear title to the land, given the presence of so many old, paper roads.  He does. 

 

Septic testing has been done and a formal application to the Department of Health for septic system approval will be made once the project has received an approval resolution.

 

Mr. Flynn said the plan meets all the requests made by the Planning Board and other advisory boards and that it does a pretty good job at tree preservation, considering the previous disturbances on the site.

 

The project is scheduled for a Public Hearing on December 14, 2009.  

 


December 14, 2009

Public Information Hearing

Mr. Capellini summarized the history of the site. Originally, before municipal Planning Boards existed, the property was subdivided into 62 lots, filed with the County Clerk as “Manhattan Park”. The current proposal calls for combining all 62 “paper lots” into two lots with two houses in a R1-80 zone. The two lots will have insufficient frontage on a town road, so that the Town does not need to extend Vine Rd., which would have caused a greater disturbance to the area. The proposed lots needed, and received a zoning variance for the insufficient frontage. The owner will cede two strips of property along Vine Rd. to the Town to give the Town a right-of-way where Vine Rd. veers onto the applicant’s property.

The plans show the existing tree line which will be moved back in two locations for a driveway and a septic system, amounting to a loss of 10,000 sq ft of wooded area. Additional large trees in the center of the lots are indicated on the site plans.

After a site visit, the Conservation Board had no environmental concerns about the proposed plan.

Mr. Flynn asked about the distances between the site’s septic systems and the wells on adjacent properties. Mr. Riina said the distances are greater than the required separation.

The Fire Marshal requested that the driveways be widened from 12 ft to 15 ft. Mr. Riina said it would be better to accomplish this by compacting the driveway shoulder, rather than by extra paving. The Planning Board agreed with this.

Mr. Klaus reiterated that the applicant and the Planning Board had worked hard to develop a plan with minimal impact on the area, to avoid extending Vine Rd. He also said the plans did a good job of tree preservation.

There being no public comment, the Pubic Hearing was closed.

 

 

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