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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20230069 200 East Garage Renovatioin Public Comment3/27/23, 10:33 AM Zimbra https://m.saratoga-springs.org/h/printmessage?id=11059&tz=America/New_York 1/2 From :noreply@civicplus.com Subject :Online Form Submittal: Land Use Board Agenda Public Comment To :julia destino <julia.destino@saratoga-springs.org>, aneisha samuels <aneisha.samuels@saratoga- springs.org>, susanna combs <susanna.combs@saratoga-springs.org> Zimbra julia.destino@saratoga-springs.org Online Form Submittal: Land Use Board Agenda Public Comment Thu, Mar 23, 2023 10:39 PM 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. Land Use Board Agenda Public Comment SUBMIT COMMENTS REGARDING CITY PROJECTS Thank you for submitting your comments. Your feedback will be forwarded to the City's Planning Department and Land Use Board members. NOTE: Comments submitted later than 12:00 noon on the day before the Land Use Board meeting may not be reviewed prior to their meeting. All comments will be added to the project file in the Planning Department. Land Use Board Zoning Board of Appeals Name Reginald Lilly Email Address reg.lilly@gmail.com Business Name Field not completed. Address 15 Granger Ave City Saratoga Springs State NY Zip Code 12866 Phone Number 5185817700 Project Name 200 East Ave Garage Project Number Field not completed. 3/27/23, 10:33 AM Zimbra https://m.saratoga-springs.org/h/printmessage?id=11059&tz=America/New_York 2/2 Project Address 200 East Ave Comments I am attaching a statement. Attach Photo (optional)200 East Ave Garage.docx Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. We own homeowners of property that is adjacent to the property at 200 East Ave. The owners of 200 East Ave a few years ago came by our house asking us to sign a petition to the Zoning Board to allow them to build a garage. He said the city was not allowing them to do so. He said he just wanted a garage and “a little storage space.” It seemed odd that he was asking for a variance for a project that didn’t seem to require a variance – and I was given no drawings or descriptions of proposed garage. I didn’t sign it. I later found that he had sought a variance to build a two story garage and put it in the back corner of his lot right next to our property at 15 Granger Ave. Thankfully they were not allowed to do that. Approximately two years ago, the owners of 200 Lake began construction a garage. My wife and I, and our neighbors, were aghast at how large the garage was; it had large, even picture windows on all sides of a full second story and looked not like a garage, but like a living space, an apartment building, and certainly not storage space. When I saw a sewage line installed from the garage to the house, red Pex plumbing being pulled up into the second floor and a heating system put it, I spoke with an inspector in the Building Department expressing my concern that the building looked like an apartment. He said that he or someone else would have someone stop by the worksite and check out what was happening, but he assured me that it was zoned for cold storage, that they shouldn’t insulate it, and that if they proceeded to improve the property in a manner that was not permitted, that they would have to ‘take it out.’ He explicitly said ‘If you see a bath tub going in the building, call us.” I haven’t seen one, but I can’t say there isn’t one in there. I and our neighbors have been expecting something like this permit application. It’s clear that the owners originally planned on this being a residential space from the beginning, hence it’s architecture, plumbing, etc., and the application for “a ½ bath for a gym” seems to me disingenuous. The half bath eventually will creep into a full bath, with kitchen appliances, just as, with the present application, “the garage with some cold storage” is creeping into “a gym with a half-bath.” And if this permit application is approved, I have zero confidence that the City has the enforcement mechanisms to enforce its codes if the owners are determined to build out their property as DIYers or with hired contractors. And even if this permit is not approved, I fear the owners will proceed as they wish. All the neighbors who live behind 200 East Ave have been upset this enormous structure looming over all our fences, with very large windows that look down into back yard space, and now there is a proposal that will lead to it being on the inside what it looks like on the outside: a residential apartment. My wife and I very, very strongly oppose this project and exhort the Zoning Appeals Board to reject this permit application. I only received notice of this project on Wednesday, March 22, announcing a Zoning Board Meeting on Monday, March 27. This leaves me little time to make necessary arrangements to attend the meeting. Reginald Lilly Lyndell Falconer 15 Granger Ave.