HomeMy WebLinkAbout20210391 Just Cats Special Use Sustainable Saratoga Letter Sustainable Educate.
Advocate.
Act.
May 13, 2021
Board of Directors Mr. Mark Torpey, Chair
Robin Ambrosino Saratoga Springs Planning Board
City Hall
Whitney Davis 474 Broadway
Amy Durland Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Anne Ernst RE:#20210025 JUST CATS—1 DRISCOLL ROAD
Laura Faulk
Louise Golub Dear Mr. Torpey and Members of the Planning Board,
Dianna Goodwin Sustainable Saratoga has reviewed the Just Cats application for a special use permit and
Laura Rappaport site plan review, and we have several concerns with the proposed project.
Richard Romano
Ann Samuelson The site is a long thin 5.95-acre vacant wooded lot that lies in two zoning districts.The
easternmost 25o-foot section of the lot is zoned "Tourist Related Business District"(TRBD)
Rachelle Thomas and is within Zone A of the Gateway District#1 design standards.The western portion of
the lot is zoned Rural Residential (RR).
It is important to note that the entire property is within the City's Country Overlay area, or
the Greenbelt".This requires that any development on the property have a rural character.
9 We have the following concerns with this proposed development:
1. The lot encompasses two zoning districts and would allow a commercial development
�oio,VN to encroach nearly 24o feet into the Rural Residential (RR)zoning district. Our
111V��100
understanding of the zoning rules say that the developer can move the zoning
�CO)��;/1i) boundary loo ft into the low-density RR district and still be legal. However, it looks like
� ‘ Vit* the site disturbance encroaches 24o feet into the RR district. Twenty-three parking
owV. spaces and the storm water management system are beyond the loo-foot allowable
limit.This appears to be a zoning violation and a significant infringement on the rural
low-density character requirement of the RR zoning. We understand that the Planning
Board has asked the Building Inspector to rule whether this encroachment is a zoning
413 oo • — violation, but that decision is not part of the applicant's record.
GO r
0
i 2. The proposed project driveway is about 300 feet from Route 9 on Driscoll Road. This
bc-6), City-owned public road is currently a gravel road that does not meet any of the City's
road standards. The applicant would normally be required to pave Driscoll Road along
APA<Trakk,
its project frontage and bring it up to City standards.The applicant has not proposed to
make any improvements to the road. It seems very unusual for a commercial
development within the city to have a substandard entrance. Also, seven residential
units are proposed for this development and there are no pedestrian sidewalks, paths
or linkages.
Sustainable Saratoga I PO Box 454,Saratoga Springs,NY 12866 I www.sustainablesaratoga.org
3. The development does not comply with the City's rural design standards in several ways.The
project site is within Zone A of the Gateway Overlay District. The standards for development in
Zone A are found in Article 3.2 of the existing zoning ordinance.
- The development will probably violate Article 3.2.4,which states that any disturbance of the
landform should be minimal.There is no grading plan shown in the Planning Board materials,
but it looks likely that they would do a lot of grading.
- Only 13 trees are shown on the sketch plan to shield the 350-foot-long parking lot along Driscoll
Road, so it appears they are not adequately screening the building and the parking from the
street. These 13 trees do not create rural character. In addition, more than 7o%of the parking
spaces are within the front-line setback line of the building, when the standards call for less
than 20%.These two standards are in violation of Article 3.2.5.
- Article 3.2.6 states that the building should appear as clustered. Large buildings should be
broken up.The current proposal calls for one large building.
- The building height and design should be rural in character.With the steep roof and cupola,the
building stands about 56 feet tall.While the 2-story building may technically meet the 40 ft
height requirement,the true height does not make it"rural" in character.
4. The density and intensity of the project are a concern.The 7 residential units on the second floor of
the building require a special use permit. Due to the proposed density, we view this multi-family use
as inappropriate in the Greenbelt. This gateway district and the TRBD zoning are in the Greenbelt
as defined in the 2015 Comprehensive Plan. The existing zoning allows residential uses with a
special use permit on the second floor but has no density cap.Thus,the existing zoning appears to
not be in conformance with the 2015 Comprehensive Plan.The City probably should have imposed
a moratorium on development in this area until the zoning is brought into compliance with the 2015
Comprehensive Plan.We hope the new UDO's new Gateway Rural district will prohibit such
intensive uses.
- Depending on the uses,the other two unnamed commercial spaces on the first floor may also
require a special use permit. The"Just Cats"animal clinic is a principle permitted use in the
TRBD.
- We appreciate that the Planning Board did ask the applicant to rethink the intensiveness of
both residential and commercial uses on the property. However,the applicant kept saying that
the proposed purchase price for the property was so high that she had to have such density or
intensity to get a return of the investment. That argument is not a legitimate criterion for any
Planning Board decision.
I Sustainable Saratoga I PO Box 454,Saratoga Springs,NY 12866 I www.sustainablesaratoga.org 2
We believe the Planning Board should reject the current development intensity and require any project
on this site to meet the rural design guidelines in Article 3.2 of the existing zoning ordinance. Thank you
for your consideration of our concerns with this project.
Sincerely,
Wendy Mahaney, Executive Director
Sustainable Saratoga
cc: Principal Planner Susan Barden
I Sustainable Saratoga I PO Box 454,Saratoga Springs,NY 12866 I www.sustainablesaratoga.org 3