Minutes for the Meeting of the Page 7 of 7

City of Syracuse Planning Commission

September 21, 2015

Minutes of the Meeting of the

City of Syracuse Planning Commission

City Hall, Syracuse, New York

September 21, 2015

I.  Summary of cases discussed herein

SP-15-12 / SR-12-17 M4 / SP-15-15 / SP-15-16 / SP-15-18
PR-15-25 / SP-94-41 M1 / SP-00-35 M3 / SP-04-33 M4 / SP-15-19
Z-2349 M3 / CS-15-46 / SP-77-03 M1

II.  Attendance

Members Present Staff Present

Mr. Steve Kulick Ms. Heather Lamendola

Ms. Rebecca Livengood Ms. Meghan Ryan

Ms. Linda Henley Mr. Jeff Harrop

Ms. Christine Capella-Peters

III.  Meeting called to order at 6:08 p.m.

IV.  Approval of Minutes

Ms. Rebecca Livengood made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 31, 2015, Regular Meeting of the City Planning Commission. Ms. Linda Henley seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

V.  Public Hearings

1)  SP-15-12 (Continuation)

Special Permit-Restaurant

847-849 North Salina Street

Tai Nguyen (owner/applicant)

Commercial, Class A

Ms. Tai Nguyen, at 113 Lorian Drive, spoke to the Commission about the proposal, which consists of establishing a Restaurant on property situated at 847-849 North Salina Street.

No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the proposal.

After further discussion and review, during which the Commission reviewed comments submitted by the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board, Ms. Linda Henley made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration and with the condition that the applicant comply with the comments from the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board, and granting four waivers from the City of Syracuse Zoning Rules and Regulations, as amended, with regard to the required parking, arterial setback, frontage, and lot area requirements. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2)  SR-12-17 M4 (Continuation)

Site Plan Review Modification

Install a Wall Sign

522 and 526 Liberty Street

Salt City Enterprises, LLC (owner/applicant)

Lakefront, T5

Mr. Robert Podfigurny, representing the business, Lerentech Solutions at 522 Liberty Street, spoke to the Commission about the proposal, which includes installing two additional wall signs and maintaining the existing site condition on property situated at 522 Liberty Street.

No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the proposal.

After further discussion and review, during which the Commission reviewed the sign requirements for the Lakefront, T5 zoning district and noted the differences between the existing site conditions and the last site plan approved by the Zoning Administrator (SR-12-17) on August 2, 2012, Ms. Christine Capella-Peters made a motion to deny the request without prejudice with a request to staff to notify the Code Enforcement Office of the lack of screening of the dumpsters. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously

3)  SP-15-15

Site Plan Review-New Construction, Building Relocation, and Site Improvements

300 West Kirkpatrick Street (aka 415 Solar Street)

City of Syracuse (owner)

COR Solar Street Company IV, LLC (applicant)

Lakefront, T-5[1]

Ms. Catherine Johnson and Ms. Carlie Hanson, of COR Solar Street Company IV, LLC, at 540 Towne Drive, Fayetteville, New York, spoke to the Commission about the proposal, which consists of establishing a Civic Use to construct an educational and research science center with an accessory boat house, and to relocate a freight house from an adjacent property, on property situated at 300 West Kirkpatrick Street (aka 415 Solar Street).

No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the proposal.

After further discussion and review, during which the Commission expressed concerns regarding the number of parking spaces as well as the use of gravel as a parking surface, Ms. Christine Capella-Peters made a motion to approve the request in part with a negative SEQRA declaration in that the gravel parking lot be removed from the site plan and that the site plan be revised to show adequate screening of the loading area from Solar Street, and granting seven waivers from the City of Syracuse Zoning Rules and Regulations, as amended, with regard to the retail frontage, building number, acceptable tree, light source, building disposition, finish material, and sign requirements. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously

4)  SP-15-16

Site Plan Review-Site Improvements

425 Solar Street, Rear

State of New York (owner)

COR Solar Street Company IV, LLC (applicant)

Lakefront, T-5[1]

Ms. Catherine Johnson and Ms. Carlie Hanson, of COR Solar Street Company IV, LLC, at 540 Towne Drive, Fayetteville, New York, spoke to the Commission about the proposal, which consists of establishing a Civic Use to facilitate hard-scape site improvements and the construction of a dock to the northern-most pier of the inner harbor, on property situated at 300 West Kirkpatrick Street (aka 425 Solar Street, Rear).

No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the proposal.

After further discussion and review, Ms. Christine Capella-Peters made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration, and granting two waivers from the City of Syracuse Zoning Rules and Regulations, as amended, with regard to the acceptable tree and light source requirements. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously

5)  SP-15-18

Special Permit-Indoor Amusement and Recreation

1025, 1035, 1047 and 1055 West Genesee Street, 328, 332 and 712-716 Park Avenue

1001 W. Genesee St., LLC (owner/applicant)

Business, Class A

Mr. James Trasher, of Clough, Harbor Associates at 441 South Salina Street, spoke to the Commission about the proposal, which consists of establishing an indoor fitness facility on property situated at 1025, 1035, 1047 and 1055 West Genesee Street, 328, 332 and 712-716 Park Avenue.

No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the proposal.

After further discussion and review, Ms. Linda Henley made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

6)  PR-15-25

Project Site Review

Façade and Site Alterations

1704-1708 West Genesee Street and 611 Milton Avenue

The Geddes, LLC (owner/applicant)

Residential, Class B-1T and Residential, Class A

Mr. James Trasher, of Clough, Harbor Associates at 441 South Salina Street, spoke to the Commission about the proposal, which consists of facade and site improvements in order to repurpose an existing church into 24 studio and one and two-bedroom apartments and associated parking on property situated at 1704-1708 West Genesee Street and 611 Milton Avenue.

One person spoke in favor of the proposal. One person spoke in opposition to the proposal.

After further discussion and review, Ms. Rebecca Livengood made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration, and granting two waivers from the City of Syracuse Zoning Rules and Regulations, as amended, with regard to density and parking requirements. Ms. Linda Henley seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

II.  Minor Modifications

1)  SP-94-41 M1

Special Permit Modification-Restaurant

Floor Plan Modification

801 South Geddes Street

Page West, Inc. (owner)

Ibrahim Abedrabbah and Amin Assabahi (applicants)

Business, Class A

Ms. Heather Lamendola, City of Syracuse Zoning Administrator, spoke to the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Rebecca Livengood made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Christine Capella-Peters seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2)  SP-00-35 M3

Special Permit Modification-Restaurant

Modify Floor Plan

721-723 South Crouse Avenue

Jerry Dellas (owner/applicant)

Business, Class A

Ms. Heather Lamendola, City of Syracuse Zoning Administrator, spoke to the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Christine Capella-Peters made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Linda Henley seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

III.  Modification Consideration

1)  SP-04-33 M4

Special Permit Modification-Restaurant

Modify Floor Plan

123 Marshall Street

Dave and Sandra Jacobs (owner)

Allan and Angelina Bae (applicant)

Business, Class A

Ms. Heather Lamendola, City of Syracuse Zoning Administrator, spoke to the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Rebecca Livengood made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Christine Capella-Peters seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

IV.  New Business

1)  SP-15-19

Special Permit-Restaurant

440 (aka 432-446) South Avenue

Irvin Hanslip (owner/applicant)

Business, Class A

Ms. Heather Lamendola, City of Syracuse Zoning Administrator, spoke to the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Christine Capella-Peters made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2)  Z-2349 M3

Multi Building Review Modification

Building and Site Modifications

184 Remington Avenue

Remington Gardens, LLC (owner/applicant)

Residential, Class B

Ms. Heather Lamendola, City of Syracuse Zoning Administrator, spoke to the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Linda Henley made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

3)  CS-15-46

Certificate of Suitability

New Construction-Two Family Dwelling

855 Sumner Avenue

William Osuchowski (owner/applicant)

Residential, Class A

Mr. William Osuchowski, at 300 Euclid Avenue, Suite 12, answered questions from the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Rebecca Livengood made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Mr. Steve Kulick seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

V.  Old Business

1)  SP-77-03 M1

Special Permit Modification-Community Residence for the Elderly

Modify Site Plan

1660 (aka 1700) West Onondaga Street

Onondaga Housing Development Fund Company, Inc. (owner/applicant)

Residential, Class B

Ms. Heather Lamendola, City of Syracuse Zoning Administrator, spoke to the Commission about the proposal.

After discussion and review, Ms. Linda Henley made a motion to approve the request with a negative SEQRA declaration. Ms. Christine Capella-Peters seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

VI.  Authorizations

Ms. Linda Henley made a motion to authorize those cases listed for Public Hearings on Tuesday, October 13, 2015. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

VII.  Ms. Christine Capella-Peters made a motion to adjourn at 8:15 p.m. Ms. Rebecca Livengood seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.