Minutes Red Hook Zoning Board of Appeals
May 11, 2005

May 11, 2005 meeting called to order by Timothy Ross, Chairman

Roll call: Members present: Jeanne Douglas, Michael Mosher, Kenneth Anderson, Gordon Denegar, Robert Latimer
Absent: Corinne Weber
Town Board Liaison: James Ross

The minutes of April 13, 2005 were reviewed. There were no additions/corrections. Upon motion by Kenneth Anderson and seconded by Gordon Denegar, the minutes were accepted 6-0 upon roll call vote.

Planning Board minutes: The secretary reported that there has yet been no response to the memo sent to the Chair of the Planning Board regarding the qualifications of Michelle Grieg.

ZEO memos: There were no comments as the Zoning Enforcement Officer was not yet present.

Building permits were reviewed with no remarks.

Public Hearing Appeal 05-04 Jacqueline Holsapple request for a lot line alteration by conveying 0.097 acre to Glen Coon which would reduce the applicant’s non-conforming lot of 0.800 acre to a more nonconforming lot of 0.702 of an acre. Mr. Coon obtained a survey which showed that an addition to Mr. Coons home was on property owned by Mrs. Holsapple. The mistake was made by both parties thinking that a monument marked the property line. In actuality, this monument was well on Mrs. Holsapple’s property. Moving of the line is necessary to place the residence on lands owned by Mr. Coons. The Chairman, at Mrs. Holsapple’s request, gave an overview of the situation to the audience. He then opened the Public Hearing. William Stanton, Esq., on behalf of Rosemarie Zengen, asked the Board if this matter should not have gone to the Planning Board first for minor sub-division approval, prior to coming to the ZBA for a variance. It was his determination from reading the zoning law that a variance could not be considered prior to subdivision application to the Planning Board. Rob Latimer stated that once a decision had been made by the ZBA it would be handled by the Planning Board. The Chairman stated that the Planning Board would have requested Mrs. Holsapple to request a variance regardless of the sequence of events. After much discussion, the Chairman closed the Public Hearing. Rob Latimer made a motion that the lot line adjustment of 0.097 acre from Jacqueline Holsapple to Glen Coon be granted to the place where both parties had always thought it had been, this line is thought to be true and accurate and is not a substantial move of a line. This was seconded by Kenneth Anderson and unanimously passed by a 6-0 vote as follows:

Rob Latimer Yes
Gordon Denegar Yes
Timothy Ross Yes
Jeanne Douglas Yes
Kenneth Anderson Yes
Michael Mosher Yes

Mrs. Holsapple was told that she would have to now go to the Planning Board for subdivision approval of a minor subdivision.

Continuation of Public Hearing Appeal 05-03 David Podolsky application for an area variance to construct a 36’ x 36’ building to be occupied by a home occupation for motorcycle accessories, the storage of samples for shows and exhibitions and the sewing of racing tire warmers. The applicant withdrew his application.

Public Hearing Appeal 05-05 TKB LLC Keith Lore, Brad Keil and Steve Tinkelman, architect for the project were present. Mr. Tinkelman made a slide presentation of the proposal for a project aimed for traditional/development, new/urbanism. The project will extend in 6 acres in the Village and 5 or 6 acres in the Town. The Village will be lead agency. 5 variances from the Town Zoning Board of Appeals will be needed. There will be a Home Association with 39 dwelling units in the Town with 14 dwellings in the Village. Most of the homes will have two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The project will offer more clustered living, more open space, pedestrian friendly community, service roads behind the homes. The lot size is smaller than that permitted in the zoning code which requires variances for lot size, set back requirements and coverage. The Chairman opened the Public Hearing. A concern of
several neighbors on Baxter Road was the tree line on Baxter Road. Both Mr. Tinkelman and Keith Lore advised that they were sensitive to this matter and as few trees as possible would be disturbed along this road. A full discussion of the variances required followed. The variances needed include lot area, lot width, setback for front, back and side yards, bldg. height and coverage and separation between multifamily dwellings. The Chairman continued the Public Hearing to the June 8th meeting at 7:20. The Village is the lead agency in this proposal and the ZBA must wait for a SEQRA determination before making a decision on this application.

Continuation of Public Hearing Appeal 04-15 John Wilson request for a variance to the side yard set back requirements to erect a 20 x 24 garage within one foot from the
side yard lot line. Mr. Wilson reviewed his proposal and explained that because of its size, there is a wall in the middle of the garage and one door for both garage spaces is not possible. No maintenance of the outside of the garage will be necessary and his neighbor has no objection to the placement of the garage. The Chairman opened the Public Hearing and as there were no comments from the audience, closed the hearing. Jeanne Douglas made a motion to grant the request for a variance as there were no objections from the neighbors, this was a small lot, other residences in the neighborhood had garages on similar lots, there would be no change to the neighborhood, it would benefit the applicant without harm to the community. This was seconded by Kenneth Anderson and passed unanimously by a 6-0 vote as follows:

Rob Latimer Yes
Gordon Denegar Yes
Timothy Ross Yes
Jeanne Douglas Yes
Kenneth Anderson Yes
Michael Mosher Yes

Review Appeal 05-06 Henry Ruella for a variance to subdivide a flag lot into two lots with only 50’ frontage. Mr. Ruella has a lot of 20.986 acres which he wishes to subdivide into two parcels. There is only 54.94 foot frontage. It is his intention to divide this into two driveways, each 27.47 feet. This would require a variance of 22.53 feet for each lot. He states that he had contacted both neighbors, neither of whom are interested in selling him another 50 foot of land. The Chairman has scheduled a Public Hearing for this matter for June 8th at 7:30.

Review Appeal 05-07 Joseph O’Han application for a variance to the District Schedule of Area and Bulk Regulations pertaining to side yard setback requirements. The applicant wants to install a 448 sq. ft. inground pool twelve feet from the side yard property line. He was requested to submit a sketch plan showing the exact dimensions involved in the proposal. The Chairman scheduled a Public Hearing for this matter for June 8th at 7:50.

Review Appeal 05-08 Carolyn Dewald application for a variance to the District Schedule of Area and Bulk Regulations pertaining to side yard setback requirements. The applicant wants to construct a garage 10 feet from the side yard. Tom Schad was present representing Ms. Dewald. There had been a garage and the footprint remains according to Ms. Dewald, but she wants a new garage closer to the road.as there is a deep down slope to the rear of the property. The Chairman scheduled a Public Hearing for June 8th at 8:10.

An informal discussion followed on the lighting needs of Bard college for its soccer field. The members of the ZBA agree that no variance is needed as this soccer field is deep within the confines of the institution, its needs are similar to the public Recreational Park of Red Hook, that there are no neighbors which this lighting could affect and would have no affect upon the community. Further, §143 (H) of the zoning code makes specific reference to the Planning Board’s approval. The secretary was instructed to write to the Planning Board and inform them of this opinion.

As there was no further business to come before the Board, upon motion by Timothy Ross seconded by Gordon Denegar, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned