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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20220043 199 W.Circular Area Variance Public Comment Zimbra susanna.combs@saratoga-springs.org 199 W Circular drainage From : Robert Krygowski Mon, Mar 07, 2022 07:35 AM <RKrygowski@amsterd amfd.com> Subject : 199 W Circular drainage To : AI flick <Al.flick@saratoga- springs.org> Cc : susan barden <susan.barden@sarato ga-springs.org>, susanna combs <susanna.combs@sara toga-springs.org>, Kathleen Farone <Kathleen.Farone@sar atoga-springs.org>, hilary oreschnick <hilary.oreschnick@sar atoga-springs.org> CAUTION: This email originated outside of the City network. Please contact IT Support if you need assistance determining if it's a threat before opening attachments or clicking any links. Good Morning, I was directed to reach out to you in reference to an ongoing issue at 199 W Circular that is negatively impacting my property. My wife and I live at 9 Hyde St, directly adjacent to 199 W Circular and we are currently experiencing on-going property damage to our home due to water drainage issues being caused by changes that were made within the last five years to the property at 199 W Circular. When the property at 199 W. Circular was subdivided a number of years ago and it became a substandard lot (5500 sq ft), there was a stipulation in the property division plans to add proper drainage to 199 W. Circular to account for the increase of the elevation planned for the newly created lot at 201 W Circular. The required drainage was not completed and I believe that the elevation of land that occurred at 199 W Circular was not in any approved plan. Further adding to the water drainage problem, gutters were added to the house at 199 W Circular just prior to the house being listed for sale in 2020. Now, all the water from the west side of the house is shedding through these gutters and directed, via 4 inch corrugated pipe, toward the end driveway, which itself has a downward slope from street level. Whenever there is significant rain in the summer, water pools at the end of the driveway and, with nowhere else to go, it drains onto our side yard and has been rapidly deteriorating the foundation of our house. While already a severe matter in the summer, the problem increases exponentially in the winter when the ground is frozen and none of the water can seep into it. In 2018, after I first noticed what I thought to be mortar dust in the basement, I mentioned to the previous owner that the elevation of the land was creating an issue for my property. Nothing was done and the problem has continued to worsen. This winter, I have spent hours with a shop Vac removing hundreds of gallons of water from the area of flooding just to stop the water from flowing like a faucet directly into my basement and to keep it from damaging our furnace. I have lived at this location for more than 20 years and have never had to deal with any water in the basement until the property at 199 W Circular was altered so drastically as to give rise to the problems that I have articulated in this comment. I am in opposition to any variance or other changes being approved for the property at 199 W Circular prior to the remediation of the issues that were created by previous changes to the property that were approved by the Zoning Board. I am not sure that the elevation of the land, as can be observed by the stone wall adjacent to my property, was actually permitted by the Zoning Board but this has all contributed to damage and flooding to my property. Thank you for your time.