BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS (BZA)

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1 CITY OF ITHACA 108 E. Green Street 3rd Floor Ithaca, NY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, BUILDING, ZONING, & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Gino Leonardi, Secretary to the Board of Zoning Appeals Telephone: Fax: BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS (BZA) AGENDA & LEGAL NOTICE CITY OF ITHACA BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS (BZA): Notice is hereby given, pursuant to Section B. (2) (g) of City of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance, Public Hearings will be held Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 6:00 PM in Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 E. Green St., Ithaca, NY, to consider the following appeals: APPEAL # ELMIRA ROAD Appeal of Steve Wilson of Bohler Engineering on behalf of the owner McDonald s USA, LLC for an area variance from the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance for Section 325-8, Column 7, Width at Street, Column 11, Front Yard and Section B (2), which allows one-third of the building frontage requirement to be substituted for an architectural wall. The applicant proposes to demolish the existing building known as McDonald s and construct a new 4,552 SF building at the property located at 372 Elmira Road. The new McDonald s building will be positioned to accommodate a new two lane drive thru, outdoor seating area, and provide adequate queuing for vehicles waiting to turn onto Elmira Road. The property located at 372 Elmira Road is in the SW-2 Zone, which requires 35% of the property s street frontage must be occupied by buildings that are located between feet from the front yard street curb. The applicant proposes to construct the building, having a building frontage width of 46.7, which is 21.4 % of the 35% street frontage required by the ordinance. In addition, the building front will be setback 56 feet from the Elmira Street curb. The zoning ordinance requires building setbacks to be a minimum of 15 to 34 from the street curb. The applicant proposes to provide 73 of architectural wall that will be setback approximately 29 from the street curb. The zoning ordinance, Section B (2), allows up to one-third of the 35% building frontage requirement, to be satisfied by an integrated architectural wall. The one-third allowance is permitted for buildings that meet the setback requirements, but fall short of the 35% of street frontage by building. The applicant proposes to construct the architectural wall as mitigation for these deficiencies. The property is located in an SW-2 use district in which the proposed use is permitted. However, Section requires that a variance be granted before a building permit is issued. APPEAL # ELMIRA ROAD Appeal of Steve Wilson of Bohler Engineering on behalf of the owner McDonald s USA, LLC for a sign variance from Section 272-7A, size requirements of permitted signs. The applicant proposes to demolish the existing McDonald s building and construct a new building at the property located at 372 Elmira Road. The applicant proposes to install 5 new wall signs on the new McDonald s building. The signs include 3 wall arch signs and 2 McDonald s wordmark signs. The property is located in the SW-2 zone district where the allowable area of building signage is limited to 1.5 SF of sign area per 1 linear foot of the building frontage. The proposed building has 46.7 of building frontage which would allow a total sign area of SF. The total square

2 footage of the 5 proposed signs is 108 SF. There is an existing pole sign on the property that was granted a variance on July 6, 2010 for size of permitted signs and setback requirements of the zoning ordinance. The freestanding pole sign will remain the same and not be exacerbated by the proposed project. The property is located in an SW-2 use district in which the proposed use is permitted. However, the Sign Ordinance, Section requires that variances be granted before a sign permit is issued. APPEAL # WARREN PLACE Appeal of Irina and Alexey Chernyakov for a Special Temporary Permit for an Accessory Apartment as required by Section of the Zoning Ordinance. The applicant would like use the existing accessory apartment that is in their home located at 627 Warren Place. The previous owner Daniel Benedict constructed the accessory apartment and on April 4, 1994, was issued a special temporary permit by the Board of Zoning Appeal. Special permits are issued for a three-year period and must be renewed for an additional three-years by periodic housing inspections. The property files indicate that Mr. Benedict did not have the housing inspections that were required to renew the special permit. Therefore, the special permit is not valid and the current owners would like to have a temporary special permit issued to use the accessory apartment. The accessory apartment is located in the basement level of the home and has a separate entrance that faces the rear yard. The apartment consists of a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and one bedroom for a total of S.F. of habitable living space. Section D (4) requires accessory apartment to not exceed 33 ⅓ of the total habitable space within the primary dwelling. The apartment contains approximately 27% of the total habitable space, meeting the requirement of the zoning ordinance. The property at 627 Warren Place is located in an R-1a zoning district where the installation of an accessory apartment is an allowed accessory use. However, Section requires that the Board of Zoning Appeals grant a Special Temporary Permit for the accessory use prior occupancy. APPEAL # WEST LINCOLN STREET Appeal of Nancy Wells on behalf of the owner James W. Carroll Estate for an area variance from Section 325-8, Column 4, Off-street Parking, Column 10, Lot Coverage, Column 11, Front Yard, Column 12, Side Yard, and Column 13, other Side Yard requirements of the zoning ordinance. The applicant requested a Lot Line Adjustment for the two contiguous properties located at 221 W. Lincoln Street and 108 Short Street. The parcel at 221 W. Lincoln Street has SF of lot area and the applicant would like to consolidate the rear portion of the lot, approximately SF into the neighboring lands at 108 Short Street. The ordinance requires lot line adjustments cannot be adjusted if it creates a zoning deficiency in either lot. The proposed Lot Line Adjustment will create a new deficiency for the property located at 221 W. Lincoln Street. The percentage of lot coverage by building for 221 W. Lincoln Street will be increased from 37.7% to 39.5% of the 35% lot coverage required by the ordinance. The parcel at 221 W. Lincoln Street has a number of existing deficiencies in off-street parking, front yard, side yard and other side yard, that will not be exacerbated by the proposed Lot Line Adjustment. The property is located in an R-2b residential use district in which the proposed use is permitted. However, Section 290-6, requires a variance be granted before a Lot Line Adjustment is issued. 2

3 APPEAL # NORTH MEADOW STREET Appeal of Chrys Gardener on behalf of the owner Cornell Federal Credit Union, for a Community Garden Special Permit as required by Section 325-9C (4) (e) of the Zoning Ordinance. The applicant proposes to install a community garden at the Cornell Federal Credit Union property located at 409 N. Meadow Street. The community garden will be located on the portion of the property that fronts Esty Street and will contain 7 garden plots for neighbors. The applicant proposes to maintain the existing buffer landscape and install a fence along the Esty Street sidewalk portion of the property. In addition, the applicant requests a variance for the required parking space due to the bank s need for customer parking and the lack of available spaces on site. Section 325-9C (4) (e) [6] [d], requires the applicant to provide at least one off-street parking space for the use of the gardeners. The property is located in two zone districts, WEDZ-1b and R-2b use districts in which the proposed accessory use is permitted. However, Section 325-9C (4) (e) requires that Community Gardens be permitted only by special permit granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals. APPEAL # SOUTH GENEVA STREET Appeal of Noah Demarest on behalf of the owner John Barber for an area variance from Section 325-8, Column 4, Off-street parking, Column 6, Lot Area, Column 11, Front Yard, Column 12, Other Front Yard, Column 13, Side Yard, and Column 14/15, Rear Yard requirements of the ordinance. The applicant proposes to convert an existing garage into a single family home at the property located at 339 S. Geneva Street. The zoning ordinance requires that properties with more than one primary structure comply with the minimum lot area for each permitted primary use. The existing 3 unit dwelling requires 7,000 SF in lot area and the proposed single family home requires 5,000 SF of lot area. The existing parcel has 7, SF of the 12,000 SF of lot area required for both buildings. The conversion of the garage to an apartment will also require one additional parking space to meet the requirement of the zoning ordinance. The property currently has 4 parking space on site. As part of the proposal, the 2 spaces in the garage will be eliminated, leaving 2 of the 5 parking spaces required by the ordinance. The garage structure will also be deficient in the required side and rear yard dimensions. The garage is positioned.1 from the side lot line, a 5 side yard is required. The rear lot line is 3 from the structure, the ordinance requires a 20 rear yard. The property has existing deficiencies in both front yards that will not be exacerbated by the proposal. The property is located in an R-3aa residential use district in which the proposed use is permitted. However, Section requires that a variance be granted before a building permit is issued. ACCESSIBILITY: If you have a disability and would like specific accommodation to participate, please contact the City Clerk s Office at by 12:00 p.m., 2-3 business days (not including weekends/holidays) before the meeting. Gino Leonardi Secretary to the Board of Zoning Appeals Publication Dates: June 21, 2017 and June 23,

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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS. August 2, 2018

A. Call to Order 7:00 p.m. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS August 2, 2018 1. Roll Call - the following members were present: M. Coulter; L. Reibel; D. Falcoski; and C. Crane; and