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Marrico
Subdivision
Sec 5.20 Blk 1 Lot 9
Location: 3880 Indian Hill Road, Shrub Oak
Contact: Joseph C. Riina, PE
Description: Proposed 2 lot re-subdivision separating 2 residences which are
currently on the same parcel in the R1-160 zone.
April 7, 2008 (work session)
Pre-Preliminary Application
This is two houses on 9 ac. on septics and wells.
The Marrico brothers want to subdivide the
property, demolish and rebuild one house and enlarge the other for their own
use. The Planning Board will support an application to the Zoning Board for a
lot with insufficient frontage. Mr. Tegeder
suggests the applicants get county Board of Health approval for the septic
systems before going to the Zoning Board, in case the constraints of the
septic systems alter the proposed house/driveway locations. The Planning
Board conceptually approves the plans because there will be no increase in
housing density. An interesting side note: the property is formerly Rudy Vallee's estate dating from 1926.
June
9, 2008, work session
The applicant has received the green light from the Department of Health
regarding septic systems on the site for two houses. The two lots will share
a common driveway coming off Indian Hill Road.
The board's main concern was the odd shape of the proposed two lots and
Messrs. Klaus and Flynn asked the applicant if one or both houses could be
relocated in order to make more standard shaped lots. They also advised the
applicant that he might want to ask a real estate appraiser for an opinion
regarding the future value of the two lots based on the current plan; it was
the board's thinking that while it was acceptable for the two houses to be
close to each other when owned by brothers, in the future, if either of the
houses is put up for sale, potential buyers of a 4 acre parcel might have
other expectations of privacy. "We're looking out for your
interests," they told the applicant. The applicant explained that
although his wife liked the proposed location of what would be the new house,
he might consider revising the plan in order to expedite the processing. The
applicant must go before the Zoning Board for a frontage variance. He will be
doing a long EAF form prior to the ZBA meeting.
Contrary to what the Building Department told the applicant, Al Capellini, the applicant's attorney, explained that if
the applicant wanted to expand the existing house on the site rather than
build a new one and tear down the old one, he would still have to get ZBA
approval for changes to a non conforming use.
The applicant will take another look at the site plan and return to the
planning board.
July
14, 2008, work session
Previously, the Planning Board asked the applicant to redrawn the subdivision
lines to make the two proposed lots more balanced. Mr. Riina
reported back that this was not feasible because of the position of an
existing house and because any other subdivision line would require extensive
zoning variances. The project has Department of Health approval for a new
septic system, but still needs a variance for insufficient frontage and lot
size for one of the lots. The Planning Board agreed to recommend to the ZBA
that the variances be granted. The project is scheduled for a public
information hearing on August 11th.
August
18, 2008
Public Informational Hearing
Contact: Site Design Consultants, Ed Cermele,
engineer, Al Capellini, attorney
Mr. Cermele briefly described the project, as a
subdivision to create a 5 ac and a 4.5 ac lot, demolish and rebuild one
house, keep an existing house, both served by one driveway off Indian Hill
Rd. The applicants are before the ZBA for variance for the amount of road
frontage and lot width. The ZBA has adjourned the application for discussion.
The project has Department of Health approval to relocate the septic systems.
Robert Buchanan, a neighbor on Indian Hill Rd., maintained the applicants
caused severe flooding and icing conditions on Indian Hill Rd. by cutting
trees on their property. According to Mr. Buchanan, the applicants had a
permit to cut the trees, but “over cut”, exacerbating drainage
problems on the road. Mark Marricco, one of the
applicants, responded that the drainage problems pre-existed the tree cutting
and that the increased severity is due to heavier than normal rains, not the
tree-cutting. The Planning Board said it would take a look at the drainage
issues since they needed to consider run off from a site in the planning
process.
October
20, 2008, work session
Mr. Riina informed the board that the ZBA had
granted the frontage and lot width variances and that the application was now
ready to go to public hearing. Mr. Flynn asked if additional curtain drains
could be installed on the site as at the earlier public informational hearing
some residents who live downhill from the site had expressed concerns about
runoff. Mr. Riina said he would look into the
issue. Although he had only just gotten the town engineer's comments on the
site plan, Mr. Riina told the board that it looked
as if all the engineer's issues had already been dealt with. Mr. Klaus
advised him to touch base with the town engineer. Mr. Klaus also raised the
issue of how soon after the new house is constructed will the old house on
the site be demolished. Mr. Riina suggested the
certificate of occupancy for the new house be tied to the demolition of the
old one. The applicant plans to live in the old house while the new one is
being built.
The application will probably be set for a public hearing on November
10th. If some issues remain unresolved by then, then the hearing will be
adjourned
November 10, 2008
Public Hearing
In this two lot subdivision, one existing house will remain. The other
will be replaced with a new dwelling. The houses are currently reached
by one common driveway off Indian Hill Rd., but the new plans call for the
common driveway to branch so that each dwelling has its own driveway
spur. The curved portion of the existing driveway will be widened to
accommodate fire trucks. Even though the plans call for a 500 sq ft
decrease in impervious surfaces, a drainage swale will be installed along the
downhill side of the existing driveway to catch run off and hold it until it
infiltrates into the ground. This will be adequate since the soils on
the site are very well drained. Health Department approval has been
obtained for the new house's septic system and for replacement fields
should they be needed for the remaining house. Both houses will be
connected to town water. ZBA variances for insufficient frontages have
been obtained.
There was some discussion about the trees on the site. Mr. Riina asked that the requirement for a full tree survey
be waived and that marking significant trees on the site be allowed
instead. Mr. Flynn questioned the rationale for this request, pointing
out that in the past neighbors had complained that tree cutting on the site
had caused increased run off onto Indian Hill Rd and downhill
properties. Mr. Riina said that a full tree
survey would be expensive and unnecessary since few trees would be removed
for the planned development. He also said that tree cutting had
occurred far uphill on the site and that the Indian Hill Rd drainage problems
far pre-dated any activity on the Marricco site. Mr. Marricco
said he had removed less than 12 trees with a permit from around his house
for safety reasons.
The Planning Board directed Mr. Riina to locate
trees 8” or more dbh and to mark them in the
field, that a full tree survey would not be necessary.
Mr. Riina also questioned why the Town Engineer was
requiring a sight distance study since the driveway cut onto Indian Hill Rd
and the site's traffic usage was not being changed. He will consult
with the Town Engineer about this question.
There were no comments from the public.
The Public Hearing was closed, with a two week period for written comments.
January
26, 2009, work session
The project has obtained the necessary zoning variances. It still
requires the language for driveway and utility easements. An
infiltration swale has been added on the downhill side of the driveway to
catch water before it reaches the street and the downhill neighbors.
This was added in response to neighbors' complaints about increased run off
from the Marricco property. There was
discussion about the extent of tree cutting the applicants had done on the
slope leading to Indian Hill Rd. Mr. Tegeder
thought it was more extensive than the applicants admitted, and suggested the
infiltration swale be located further down the slope to catch this increased
run off. Mr. Riina said this was possible,
but it would mean even more disturbance on the slope. He agreed to
discuss this option with his client and also the option of plantings along a
specified contour of the slope.
February
9, 2009
The decision statement was postponed pending the submission of a final plat.
Mr. Riina said that the applicant was amenable to
the board's earlier request that there be some additional plantings and a
swale to mitigate run off and that these changes would be reflected on the
final plat.
March 9, 2009
The board approved a “negative declaration” for SEQRA compliance
and approved the subdivision. When the lots come in for site plan review,
they will have to submit plans for tree removal on the site.
September
14, 2009
The board approved a 90 day extension in order to give the
applicant time to comply with all the conditions of the approving resolution
dated march 9, 2009. The project is a 2-lot subdivision on 9.31 acres in the
R1-160 zone.
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