Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-11-26 - Planning Board Meeting Minutes Approved:9/19/13 VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK PLANNING BOARD REGULAR MEETING VILLAGE HALL, 938 KING STREET Monday, November 26, 2012— 8:00 PM ROLL CALL MINUTES PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 1. Review of an application by Reckson Operating Partnership, L.P. for an Amended Site Plan and Special Permit on property located at 1100 King Street, Rye Brook, NY, Parcel ID 129.25-1-1 ACTION ON NON-AGENDA MATTERS Subject to consent of Planning Board Members present at the meeting. THE NEXT PLANNING BOARD MEETING December 13, 2012 PRESENT BOARD Mr. Rob Goodman Mr. John Grzan Mr. Bill Laufer Mr. Dan Tartaglia Chairman Gary Zuckerman EXCUSED Mr. Domenic Accurso Mrs. Amy Schoen STAFF Mr. Nick Ward-Willis, Village Counsel Mrs. Marilyn Timpone-Mohamed, Village Planning Consultant Mr. Mike Nowak, Jr., Acting Village Engineer Ms. Shari Melillo, Planning Board Secretary Chairman Zuckerman opened the meeting by asking everyone to join him in the 1 of 4 Approved:9/19/13 Pledge of Allegiance. He then introduced the Board members and the Village Staff to the audience and explained the rules of procedure for the meeting. Additionally, Chairman Zuckerman made note for the public that the complete Planning Board Rules of Procedure can be found on the Village website, where the public can also view the Planning Board meetings on streaming video. NEW BUSINESS 1. Review of an application by Reckson Operating Partnership, L.P. for an Amended Site Plan and Special Permit on property located at 1100 King Street, Rye Brook, NY, Parcel ID 129.25-1-1 Chairman Zuckerman stated that the Applicant requested the Planning Board hold a special meeting to expedite review of the application.. The application was referred to the Planning Board by the Board of Trustees and also may need to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance. The Village will try to accommodate the applicant's development schedule; however, the Planning Board will thoroughly review the application. Chairman Zuckerman also stated, for the record, that his son, a law student, had been an intern with Cuddy and Feder, the firm representing Reckson. The Chairman then went on to say that the Reckson office park has been developed over a period of time and there have been several applications for various modifications of the original site plan. In his reading of all the memos from F.P. Clark Associates and Mr. Rotfeld, there are several elements of the proposed hockey facility that are not clear that he would like the applicant to elaborate on tonight. Mr. William Null of Cuddy and Feder, attorney for Reckson, addressed the Board stating there are currently 6 office buildings on the site that were built over the course of 30 years. The parcel of the property before the Board is the part known as Phase 3. As there has not been much interest in the 280,000 square-foot office building that was approved for Phase 3, they propose, instead, a 140,000 square-foot ice hockey facility that would be added to the proposed development approved for Phase 3. The new proposal is 140,000 square feet of ice hockey facility and 140,000 square feet of office building. Mr. Null then made a Power Point presentation that showed a site plan for the newly proposed 140,000 square- foot ice hockey facility. Discussion was made of a request for waivers and the Chairman advised the applicant to put the request in writing. Also, the inclusion of a jogging track was questioned and the applicant said that it would be removed from the plan. Chairman Zuckerman also explained that an as built survey would also be required if the facility is built. Chairman Zuckerman asked about the required public notification that went out to only 8 residents of Bellefair. The response from the applicant indicated that there are only 8 Bellefair residents within 250 feet of the site property line, which was confirmed by the Village Counsel. 2 of 4 Approved:9/19/13 Mr. Laufer asked about the 950 parking spaces for Reckson Phase 1 and the 1,050 parking spaces for Phase 2. He is concerned there would not be enough parking for the proposed new development. The Applicant explained that the new parking proposed is based on sharing parking spaces with the existing development in Phases 1 and 2. Mr. Ward-Willis advised the applicant to review the parking proposal with the Building Inspector to determine the number of new spaces required and the permissibility of shared parking on the site. Mr. Eli Williams, who represents the sports facility, advised the Board that during peak hours during the week it is anticipated that 10— 15 cars would arrive at the site every 20 minutes because the play schedules for the rinks are staggered by 15 minutes. As for tournament traffic, it is the Applicant's opinion that most teams will use shuttle bus service from hotels to the rink. Mr. Tartaglia would like a condition added to the approval resolution that the buses shall not idle their engines while waiting for passengers. Mr. Grzan asked about the mechanical equipment that would be necessary for the building. The Applicant explained that there would be two cooling towers located at the rear of the building at grade level and there would be approximately 10 chillers mounted on the roof of the building. Mr. Grzan asked about traffic and requested that Michael Galante of FP Clark Associates, the Village's traffic consultant, address potential traffic impacts. Mr. Galante addressed the Board, summarizing his memo regarding traffic and parking. Chairman Zuckerman asked Mr. Galante if he was suggesting that King Street and the site driveway should be widened to accommodate the additional traffic from the development, to which Mr. Galante responded that he was not, based on the current information submitted by the Applicant. Mrs. Marilyn Timpone-Mohamed addressed the Board and summarized her planning memo regarding the Z1 airport zone height restrictions, a request for clarification of the Applicant's development proposal for a 140,000 square-foot of hockey facility, and the SEQRA process and requirements for review of the proposal. She added that the current wetlands permit is valid until 2015 for construction of the approved stormwater management facilities, and voiced concerns regarding the amount of grading proposed on the Phase 3 lot that appears not to be necessary for the proposed hockey facility. She went on to add concern regarding the grading plan, which would create large areas of steep slopes and remove large areas of existing vegetation. The steep slopes created would be greater than 3 to 1 and would need to be mechanically stabilized to ensure the slopes would not erode. She recommended that the grading plan be revised to minimize the amount of disturbance to the site. Finally, she asked that the landscape plan be revised to specify seed mixes that do not include invasive species, and that the Applicant provide a monitoring and maintenance plan for the stormwater basins and the new meadow areas proposed. Other environmental impacts that should be looked at are noise from equipment, traffic and use of outdoor spaces, and traffic in the surrounding area that may be generated by the project and parking capacity on the site. There may also be air quality issues related to heating and cooling equipment and increased traffic. Mrs. Mohamed continued that there are 3 off-site receptors that will have views into the site if the proposal is built—residences in Doral Green, residences in Bellefair, and guests at the Hotel at Arrowwood, so the visual 3 of 4 Approved:9/19/13 impacts of the new project need to be looked at as well. The Applicant should provide before and after photo simulations of the critical views into the site so affected residents can see what the characteristic views would be. Site lighting is also an area of concern that needs to be addressed. Mr. Null noted that the new application would not create any additional encroachment into the wetland buffer than what was approved for the office building. In his opinion, the plantings and the grading were approved when the office building was approved so the Applicant does not want to change these aspects of the plan. Grading will require importation of fill. He also noted that to make this a feasible project the Applicant must start construction by January and open the facility next September. Chairman Zuckerman asked how the facility is going to handle emergency services and what the plan is for providing emergency medical services on-site during games. The response indicated that an ambulance would be on stand by during games and the trainer's rooms would be equipped with emergency equipment as well. Generally, during practice sessions there is no requirement for stand—by emergency services. Chairman Zuckerman added that some of the issues raised have been addressed. He suggested that the applicant meet with the Village consultants to discuss the recommended revisions so that at the next meeting on December 13th the Board will have the information necessary to consider issuing a report and recommendations to the Board of Trustees. He added that while there is no guarantee that the report would be issued at the next meeting, it is incumbent on the Applicant that all remaining outstanding issues and items are addressed. Mr. Nick Lyras, President of Doral Green Homeowners Association asked about the seating capacity of the facility and the one set of bleachers for only one of the rinks. The Applicant responded that there would be only one rink with bleacher seating. He explained that the bleacher seating would be used for college games. Tournaments would not need the amount of seating in the bleachers. Mr. Lyras advised the Board that he was promised that views from Doral Green would be protected. He asked for extra buffer plantings or whatever would be necessary to accomplish that goal. He added that, although the proposed facility is exciting for Rye Brook, his group is particularly worried about increased traffic, and is also concerned regarding buses and noise. Adam Vickers, President of the Bellefair HOA, stated that he became aware of the proposed project from an article in the Westmore News. He further familiarized himself with it on the Village's website. He believes that environmental impacts from the project would be significant, and that noise and air quality impacts are concerns, particularly noise during construction. Chairman Zuckerman responded that a construction management plan would be required. Mr. Vickers added that air quality is a concern because buses would be on the site, and that visual impacts are also a concern so his group would like to see the photo simulations. He believes the project could be good for the community, but would like to see it designed and built to minimize impacts. On a motion by Mr. Grzan and seconded by Mr. Tartaglia, the meeting was adjourned at 10:06 pm by a unanimous voice vote. 4 of 4