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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA-03/18/1993 HEARINGPUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MARCH 18, 1993 (7:30 p.m. Hearing) Pre s e n t : HON. GERARD F. GOEHRINGER, Chairman JAMES DINIZIO, JR. SERGE DOYEN ROBERT A. VILLA RICHARD C. WILTON LINDA KOWALSKI, Secretary-Clerk to Board RECEIVED AND FILED BY ~ SOUTt4OLD TOWN ~T~wn Cler~ %O~ 9~ Sou~, ZBA Hearings 2 March 18, 1993 APPLICATION NO. 4158 of STEVE DONADIC for a Variance to the Zoning Ordinance, Article IIIA, Section 100-30A.3 for permission to construct dining room addition with a reduced side yard setback at less than the required ten (10) feet. Location of Property: 200 Willow Point Road, at Arshamomaque, Southold, NY; Willow Point Subdivision Lot No. 28; County Tax Map Parcel ID No. 1000-56-5-32. 7:40 p.m. (The Chairman opened the hearing and read the Legal Notice and application for the record. THE CHAIR~4AN: I have (not on tape) from Young & Young dated October 26, 1978, which does not include all of the improvements which exist on this piece of property. However, there .is a sketch in the file concerning the elongation of the greenhouse into a dining room area. On a separate map, it indicates approximately a 14 by 21-foot addition to the northeasterly side of the house, leaving a Side yard of 7 feet. Is there somebody who would like to be heard on behalf of this application? Is there something you would like to say for the record? Could I ask you to stand up and use the mike? Tell us who you are, okay? MR. DONADIC: more eloquent. THE CHAIRMAN: Donadic? MRo DONADIC: the place where Inaudible phrase) pictures which are Thank you. You, I take it are Mr. This (indicating). is actually our house and that is ZBA Hearings 3 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN: Great pictures. Thank you~ Is there any particular reason you want to encroach into the side yard, rather than moving back to the rear of the house? MR. DONADIC: Well, we already have the greenhouse on the side there; and it is kind of falling apart, the glass got to be changed-- since we take this down (indicating) we think to increase with a different structure (phrase inaudible) so we went to the Building Inspector. And we have like 16 by 10 and a half something, but that really didn't get us enough space to achieve what we want in the dining room and that is why we are asking another four feet. Then on the back side, what we have, kind of the roof is pitching down to a point that it is coming just above the sliding door. That means if I want to increase with that, I have to do quite a bit of improving on the roof a~d everything else. And we have to improve that side whatever because the greenhouse right now it is-- THE CHAIRMAN (interposing): --falling apart. MR. DONADIC: It is in bad condition. So that is the only reason. We find out when we lay out, we already have someone who will give us the probation (sic, phonetic) on that. I line up ~eople to do the job; but then when find out that that, we have a limit to the property, so 10 foot is really too small to do anything, what we want to do. It is a dining room, 'and you have table, Chairs on both sides~ and you could hardly pass around. ZBA Hearings 4 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN: rather than a greenhouse construction? MR. DONADIC: the rest of the house. THE CHAIRMAN: MEMBER WILTON: It is going to be a frame construction That's right. It will be exactly like I see. Okay. Is there a reason why you can't go towards the back of the house where you have that glassed-in room, perhaps make that larger to suit your purpose? MR. DONADIC: Well, that one already is a room by itself. It is kind of done, with put heat on the bottom, and it is a glass enclosure. That is, it is already there; but it is really like a greenhouse; it is not (noise on tape, indistinguishable) because you don't have even the heat that is (again undecipherable noise & coughs on tape) solid foundation on the bottom, and almost the entire thing in glass. The place where we want to put it is much more convenient. The kitchen is right there,and it would be much more convenient than the one going on the other side because we want to enclose that one and then change it there. Structurally we got to go with a ro6f in a different way and I think the back the way it is looks good for us. The side we had to do something, no matter what, because the greenhouse is not usable the way it is right now. And it is constantly leaking, the plastic we had to put. So since we are doing the job, that is why we want to gain some space. ZBA Eearings 5 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN: -- there would be either a crawl space or a slab? MR. DONADIC: There would be a crawl space. a crawl space already, but we put regular heat in. 14 feet, 14 by 18. There would be no basement under this There is THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. MRo WILTON: What will be the size of the new room? MR. DONADIC: The size of the new room would be like the depth~ and 18 feet lengthwise sideway of the house, That is what they put down on the drawing. (Inaudible) THE CHAIRMAN: another four feet? MR. DONADIC: THE CHAIRMAN: approved already was 10 feet by 16. What you are looking for basically is Thank you0 What you had seen here tonight prior to the start of your hearing was an agreement by the Board on side yards on another application. Assuming the Board is not willing to give you 14 feet, would you consider alternate relief from this Board? If there was a figure that we could agree to? I mean I would hate to see you --my question is, if we are not going to give you 14 feet, and you say that's it, then we would just deny the application. I personally like to come up with a unanimous agreement, all right, and we refer to that as alternate relief. Do you have any objection to that if we don't agree on the 14 feet? MR. DONADIC: Then really we can't accomplish what we want. Actually this won't be a dining room anymore, and back ZBA Hearings 6 March 18, 1993 the same thing as before because the room needs the size and I really think maybe this is not that (indistinguishable) that you or somebody because this garage next door, and it is not something like we have the front, and we have the road on the back of our property. So it is the question how to get the back of the house, with the (inaudible) there is no problem there because front and on the back. or the front of the house there is a road that passes in THE CHAIRMAN: I just didn't know. We will kick it around, and we will do the best we possibly can, and we will see what develops here. I am not positive we will get to it tonight. We may get to it tonight. It is entirely up to you. We have only four hearings on tonight. I have no idea how long the hearings are going to go; so you are welcome to stay, or you are welcome to give us a call tomorrow. MR. DONADIC: We will definitely stay° THE CHAIRMAN: Bob, do you have any questions of these people, while they are standing here? (No response from the Board.) THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody else, sir? All right. Is there anybody else who would like to speak in favor of the application? (There was no responseo THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody who would like to speak against the application? Seeing no hands, I make a motion closing the hearing and reserving decision for later. ZBA Hearings 7 March 18, 1993 (Seconded and carried; see Clerk's record.) ZBA Hearings 8 March 18, 1993 APPLICATION NO. 4157 - DEPOT ENTERPRISES, INC., for a Variance to the Zoning Ordinance, Article VII, Section 100-71C (which refers to 100-31C-4, 100-33) of the residential accessory use provisions), for permission to establish and locate accessory outdoor recreational area with outdoor lighting incidental to the main use of the premises. Location of Property: 320 Depot Lane, and 29325 Main Road, Cutchogue, NY; County Tax Map Parcel ID Noo 1000-102-2-12.1. Subject premises is zoned Residential-Office (RO) and contains a total lot area of 1.6+- acres. 7:46 p.m. (The Chairman opened the hearing and read the Legal Notice and application for the record.) THE CHAIRMAN: I have a copy of the Suffolk County Tax Map indicating this and surrounding properties in the area. Let me see what we have here. The survey is in four pieces. All right, we will go with what we have. Dr. Lizewski, would you like to be heard? DR. LIZEWSKI: Yes. Appearance: Dr. Joseph Lizewski, Applicant Pro Se. THE CHAIRMAN: How are you after fighting the fire today? DR. LIZEWSKI: It is still not over. I have to go back. We would--did not consider screening the entrance to this area and that has been done because the berms were just built in the fall. By the time we got the berms done, and the parking ZBA Hearings 9 March 18, 1993 lot in, there really wasn't enough time to really plan anything; but there will be a screening on each side of this, this parking lot~ There will also be -- the use of these lights will not be used probably heavily in the months of December, january~ February, and March and probably April. I mean there will just be accessory use to the outdoor use of the volleyball courts and the club usually closes in the area of ten o'clock, so I don't see that these four lights will have much use after, probably after ten-thirty. When they are in use, they probably will not be in use more than two or three months of the year, simply as an accessory to the volleyball tournaments which we hold inside the building all winter long, and then bring out in the summer. Most of the summertime they don't have much use either, with the summer days° But they are simply an accessory use to what is already there. I have basically only two real neighbors: One is the school, and the other behind me Mr. Dunn and Mr. Fogarty. One is an empty lot, and the school district has their own lights on their own building, so all night long, and these lights will be used like I said --not, they are not structures that, these lights have not been on since, I guess, October, so I don't expect a lot of use out of them. I don't think they'll be abused, and they are simply to help run tournaments if --as the days get shorter in September and October, and maybe a little bit in the spring. THE CHAIRMAN: What game would go on until? is the maximum lateness that a ZBA Hearings 10 March 18, 1993 DR. LIZEWSKI: We close at ten o'clock, but I could envision a game going on until ten-fifteen or ten-thirty, you know, in a tournament play or something like that. I doubt very much if the lights will ever be on after that. I don't see a reason for them ever being on; they are expensive to keep on. That is about the latest I would say. There may be an occasion, say~ just to have a wild idea-- that the school wanted to run a marathon at that place for Multiple Sclerosis and play volleyball for 24 hours straight-- that would be an instance when they would be on longer than that. But under the normal circumstances, ten-thirty, eleven o'clock would be absolutely max. Most of the time they would be off at ten. Like I said, I wouldn't want to tell you that there wouldn't be one time or two times in the year when they may be on until eleven o'clock. THE CHAIRMAN: Right. DR. LIZEWSKI: It would be an exception certainly, not the norm. THE CHAIRMAN: On the berm areas that you are referring to, could you kind of sketch those on the site plan for us for the next meeting, so that we have it all there? DR. LIZEWSKI: Sure. THE CHAIRMAN: I'd appreciate that. And I just want to ask the Board: Does anybody on the Board want to go down and look at this lighting and have Dr. Lizewski actually turn it on for us? Why don't we contact you between now and the next ZBA Hearings 11 March 18, 1993 meeting and we will get a specific date at night, you know~ right after it gets dark. DR. LIZEWSKI: THE CHAIRMAN: DR. LIZEWSKI: like No problem. And they are operable? They are operable right now, and there are people in the club that will turn them on for you. THE CHAIRMAN: Setbacks of the volleyball court. Maybe you could just again also sketch in the specific area on the site plan so that we could have that, if you wouldn't mind. DR. LIZEWSKI: Where the volleyball courts are, okay. THE CLERK: The setback. THE CHAIRMAN: Which includes the setback from the property lines on those two corners back thereo In other words, the rear yard, and then the northeasterly side there. DR. LIZEWSKI: THE CHAIRMAN: DRo LIZEWSKI: have it drawn Upo THE CHAIRMAN: Okay, they are over 25 feet now. From the sideyard? Yes, if that is what you want~ I'll Great. Thank you very much. As you know, we are going to postpone this hearing until the next regularly scheduled meeting. That is not to stop anybody tonight who wants to speak; but because of one of the neighbors-- he is away at this time, Mr. Jacobs. DR. LIZEWSKI: Okay. THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, sir. Is there anybody else who would like to speak in favor of this particular application? ZBA Hearings 12 March 18, 1993 (There was no response.) THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody who would like to speak against this particular application? (There was no response.) THE CHAIRMAN: Hearing no further comment, I will make a motion recessing this hearing to the next regularly scheduled meeting, so that Mr. Jacobs has time to speak and comment on this application° That will be on April 22nd. Seconded and carried; see Clerk's minutes.) ZBA Hearings 13 March 18, 1993 APPLICATION NO. 4078 - JOHN PHILLIPIDES & OTHERS (Owners) by Theodore Petikas (Contract Vendee) for Variances to the Zoning Ordinance, Article XXIV, Section 100-244B for permission to locate new dwelling structure with side yards at less than the required 10 feet and less than the required total sideyards at 25 feet. Location of Property: North side of Soundview Avenue, Southold, NY; County Tax Map Parcel ID No. 1000-135-1-27. This parcel is located in the R-40 Low-Residential Zone District is nonconforming as to total lot area at 11,000+- Sq. ft. 7:55 p.mo (The Chairman opened the hearing and read the Legal Notice and application for the record°) THE CHAIRMAN: I have copy of a survey by Robert VanTuyl dated October 25, 1991, with about ten amendments on it; the most recent amendment was January 8, 1993. The nature of this application is side yards, and I have a copy of the Suffolk County Tax Map indicating this and surrounding properties in the area. Is there somebody who would lik~ to be heard on this application? Appearance: MR. HAJE: Roy Haje, EN-Consultants,Inco, North Sea Rd., Southampton, NY, for the Applicant Good evening. My name is Roy Haje, EN-Consultants, 1329 North Sea Rd., Southampton, NY, on behalf of M~. Petikas, who is the contract-vendee. The parcel consists of 11,000 square feet. It is located on the north side of CR ZBA Hearings 14 March 18, 1993 48, Arshamomaque. It is bounded on the north by Long Island Sound, on the east by a Town park, on the south by CR 48, and on the west by an improved residential parcel now or formerly Dugan. It is and has been in single and separate ownership since prior to Town zoning. The shape of the lot is irregular and pie-shape with the narrow end near the road. As it is located on Long Island Sound, both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has jurisdiction under the Tidal Wetlands Act and the Southold Town Board of Trustees has jurisdiction under the Coastal Erosion Statute. In order to comply with the requirements of the DEC and the Trust~es, it was necessary to locate the proposed house near the road to maximize the distance from the water. This and the irregular shape combined to create the need for seeking variance from the side yard, the total side yard requirements. As shown on the site plan of Van Tuyl last revised January 8, 1993., the proposed 30-foot by 26-foot house will be 5 feet off each property line. The applicant contends that the request for variance is reasonable and necessary. The size of the house requested is not excessive. It will be a two-story structure on pilings, with an area of 780 square feet per floor. Any further reduction would result in a dwelling of limited use to my clients and limited value for resale in the future. (Noise on tape drowns out a few words) side lines will result in no hardship to the abutting properties, certainly to the east, the parking lot and boat ramp are located on the Town property, and ZBA Hearings 15 March 18, 1993 this will be no diminution in value or intrusion. To the west, the existing house lies some 65 feet west of the mutual property line. The proposed house will not be close to the existing one. The project will be in keeping with the character of the neighborhood, in that it will be a one-family dwelling with front yard setback of 48 feet and complies with the average of other homos -~there are two within' 300 feet-- that average is 44 feet. If the variance were denied and other regulations remain in effect, the property would-be worth is valueless. This would be a significant financial hardship, as the property is valued at approximately $90,000. For these reasons we request the relief in our. application~ THE CHAIRMAN: Can you tell me how we arrived at this present position that you are replacing this proposed house? MR. HAJE: Yes, it was as the result of requests --combined requests-- separate requests-- from tho New York State DEC and a further request by tho Southold Trustees to push the house even closer to CR 48 than the DEC had wanted us. If you will notice the indication of tho low bank on the survey, the structure is now 100 feet back from that in a complying location. The Trustees felt that this was a necessary location to satisfy their concerns about the potential for erosion and flooding, and so forth. THE CHAIRMAN: Is there any letter you have from them? Because I just didn't see anything. ZBA Hearings March 18, 1993 MR. HAJE~ They have approved the project, and there should be a copy of the permit in their file or at least-- THE CLERK (interposing): When was that done? How recent? A week or two? Because we have an old approval for a different location, from the Trustees. MR. HAJE: Yes, I spoke to them perhaps a month ago, and they said that they would bring up to you. I haven't received my final copy either. THE CHAIRMAN: You can just get us ones and we would appreciate that if you would, okay? MR. HAJE: Yes, I will do that. THE CHAIRMAN: Secondly, the DEC has asked for a position about 100 feet from the bay? MR. HAJE: They would have allowed it to go closer to the Sound, because their regulation is 75 feet from high water, so they would have allowed it; but, again, the Trustees would not have allowed it. And we have DEC approval, I believe. THE CHAIRMAN: Okay, so we are dealing with a house that is 26 by 30, and it is going to be two-story. The pilings are going to be driven how deep? Just a guesstimate. MR. HAJE: The pilings into the ground? THE CHAIRMAN: Yes. How far will your elevation be above grade? MR. HAJE: Well, the first-floor elevation is proposed to be eleven. THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. ZBA Hearings 17 March 18, 1993 MR. HAJE (continuing): --in order to meet flood-plain regs. We have existing contours, let's see-- between six and ~ive in that area, so say maybe 6 feet above. THE CHAIRMAN: What about the actual elevation of the house? Of course it is going to be two-story because it is a fairly small footprint. MR. HAJE: Yes. THE CHAIR/~AN: Is it going to be any more than two-story? MR. HAJE: No, it would comply with the regulation which I believe is 35 feet. THE~ CHAIRMAN: From grade, or from first-floor elevation? MR. HAJE: How does the regulation read? How is it calculated? THE CHAIRMAN: That is an interesting point --when we discussed the federal-- THE CLERK (interposing): From grade, THE CHAIRMAN: So if we were talking, MRo HAJE (continuing): Six feet to the first floor --35 maximum elevation is in the ordinance? THE CHAIRMAN: Yes. MR~ HAJE: Yes, we comply with that. THE CHAIRMAN: Then all you are really looking for us then is the side yard? MR. HAJE: And total sides° it is from grade. you know, -- ZBA Hearings 18 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN: Turning this around, on the Town Beach side we will refer to it-- what is the actual side yard over there that you are asking for? I know it is five on the west side. MR. HAJE: The minimum on the east side is five, and that is at the southeastern corner. THE CHAIRMAN: Where it says laterkal, okay. MR. HAJE: It tapers out to, maybe eight-- at the northeast corner. MEMBER VILLA: My survey shows four and a half feet. MR. HAJE: Sorry, I see you are right, yes. I had scaled it to five, but he has scaled it to four and a half. THE CHAIRMAN: While you are up there, Bob, do you have any questions of Roy Haje? MEMBER VILLA: I have two concerns: Health Department approval on this yet? MR. HAJE: Yes, that is pending. MEMBER VILLA: Because I doubt whether they are going to allow a septic system right up against the retaining wall. MR. HAJE: Van Tuyl is now trying to relocate them so that they are five feet off. They didn't want to take any action until we got all the other approvals, including the Town's. MEMBER VILLA: What is going to happen with the culvert there? I see a note that says supposed to have a concrete wall, on the end of this culvert. But the culvert is One, have you got ZBA Hearings 19 March 18, 1993 there because it is used as drainage. Where is the drainage going to go? MR. HAJE: It is used as drainage. It is~ in fact, used without the consent of the owner, for draina'ge. It is the responsibility of the owner to relocate that at his expense, and we have gotten a letter which I believe is also in your filed to the effect that the Department of Public Works has reviewed that proposal and found it to be satisfactory so that will be relocated. That was a concern of the Health Department which now should be satisfied. THE CHAIRMAN: Of course we have Town water here, so-- MEMBER VILLA: Yeah, but lots of times they put a pervious pipe to drain off -- that close to the leaching pools~ you are going to start picking up the leach. THE CHAIRMAN: And fill them up. MEMBER VILLA: Where does it go? MR. HAJE: That is one of the reasons why we have to move it. The other is that we don't want this drainage going right to the middle of the lot. THE CHAIRMAN: Well, this is passive drainage at the time? There are no septic pools that this is going into? Or no storm drains that this is going into? MR. HAJE: This is strictly road runoff. THE CHAIRMAN: Just passive, running right out onto the property? ZBA Hearings 20 March 18, 1993 MR. HAJE: Yes. There is no --at the present time there are no leaching pools to capture any water. THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. MEMBER WILTON: Do you know what the diStance is from the Dugan house to their easterly border? MR. HAJE: Sixty-five feet. MEMBER WILTON: It is 65 feet from the edge of the Dugan (phonetic) house to the easterly boundary? MR. HAJE: Yes, relying on the survey which I assume is correct -- I scaled it to be 65 feet. MEMBER WILTON: I looked at it today and it looked to be about five. feet. imagine MR. HAJE: get back to us? MR. HAJE: MR. HAJE: Five feet from the Dugan (phonetic) house? MEMBER VILLA: Basically~ yes. MR. HAJE: To the property line? MEMBER WILTON: Yes, it looked very close to where I the property line to be. Could you check that for us, Roy, and then I certainly will get back. MEMBER WILTON: It looked to me like if the house is built where it is proposed, there would be ap0proximately 8 to 10 feet between the two houses, because where you are relocating the house, 'that is right in a hollow now, isn't it? On the property? MR. HAJE: It is a low spot there. ZBA Hearings 21 March 18, 1993 MEMBER WILTON: You see, I am taking Van Tuyl's adjacent, That looks to be out of scale. It is not really representative of what is there. THE CHAIRMAN: So you are going to get usa copy of what the Trustees, the. Trustees' approval, and you will check this other thing out, and then we will, you know~ deliberate in about two weeks on this, assuming we get everything; and, hopefully, we will get it taken care of then, if that is all right with you. MR. HAJE: Yes. THE CHAIRMAN: Thanks so much for coming over. MR. HAJE: Thank you. THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody else who would like to speak in favor of this application? (There was no response.) THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody who would like to speak against it? Questions from Board members? (There w~s no response.) THE CHAIRMAN: No further questions. I make a motion closing the hearing, reserving decision until later. (Seconded and carried; see Clerk's minutes.) ZBA Hearings 22 March 18, 1993 APPLICATION NO. 4141 - GEORGE AND ANGELtKI SPANOS for a Variance to the Zoning Ordinance, Article XXIV~ Section 100-241(G) for permission to reinstate gasoline sales which is nonconforming in the current zone district, R-40 Low-Residential. The subject premises is a corner lot as defined by Section 100-13 of the Zoning Code and contains a total lot area of 21,525+- sq. ft. This parcel is more particularly identified on the Suffolk County Tax Maps as District 1000~ Section 14, Block 3, Lot 22, and is referred to as 330 Main Street, Greenport, NY. 8:08 pomo (The Chairman opened the hearing and read the Legal Notice and application for the record.) THE CHAIRMAN: I have a copy of a survey from Roderick Van Tuyl, P.C., the date on it is September 25, 1975; and I have a copy of a Suffolk County Tax Map indicating this and surrounding properties in the area. Is Mr. Cuddy present? How are you this evening? Appearance: MR~ CUDDY: applicants who are Mr. Charles R. Cuddy, Esq.~ for the Applicant I am Charles Cuddy~ and I represent the and Mrs° George Spanos, who are both here. I would first like to hand up to the Board, if I mays exhibits; and I will refer to them as I go along° (Whereupon materials referred to received by the Board and marked Applicant's Exhibits 1 through 10 in evidence.) MR~ CUDDY: The Spanos's are residents of Mattituck and they own ZBA Hearings 23 March 18, 1993 what is the Greenport service station. Probably most of you are familiar with it. This is a station located the northeast corner of Main Street and Champlin Place in Greenport. It has been there at least to my knowledge some 25 years, and I understand and am going to show you evidence it has been there probably for fifty years in just the form virtually that it is today. This is an application to determine that the non-conforming use has continued. The Code says that, that is, the Southold Town Code says that where that non-conforming use is discontinued for more than two years, that it becomes abandoned. It.is our intent tonight to show you that it has not been abandoned; and the use we are talking about is the gas service station, that is, the gasoline pumps which were removed a little over two and a half years ago; and that has presented a problem because Mr. Spanos now wants to put paints in the ground (noise on tape obscures a few words) and a service station. I want to point out to everybody that this is not an application for a use variance; it is not an application to have a referendum on whether gasoline stations are permitted --It is simply a very narrow question as to whether this is continued-- and we submit that it has-- The first point I would like to make, and I have addressed --those exhibits with numbers so that you can follow along with some of the things I am indicating-- is that it is a non-coDforming use. The nonconformity I think is shown by an ZBA Hearings 24 March 18, 1993 affidavit from Mr. Wippert (phonetic), who is a resident of Greenport. He has been a resident of Greenport for more than fifty years, in fact, all his life;' and he indicates in that affidavit that this gas station has been at that site, that he has personally observed it, that he is aware that the gas service station was there as well as the repair shop for more than fifty years, which takes it back prior to 1957 when (coughing completely obscures tape) it is today because it is located in a residential district. The second and third exhibits are simply the deed into Mr. Spanos which was in 1975, from the preceding owner, and the exhibit that is annexed to that is the C.O. The C.O. was issued by the Town in 1975 at the time that he got thepremises; it indicates it's a non-conforming use. There is also an assessment record from the Town which indicates that the premises leased as of 1968, and going back beyond 1968 eas also a gasoline service station and had been used in that capacity for a number of years. In or about April of 1990 this station was forced to stop pumping gas, and Mr. Spanos will testify to that later because they had to remove the storage ~tanks. From that time on, Mr. Spanos conducted business, and I Will have him testify and other people here testify as to the nature of the business he conducted. 'The use that they continued basically is the sale of automotive parts such as oil, grease and transmission fluid; and it is our contention --and the testimony will be-- that those ZBA Hearings 25 March 18, 1993 things permit him to continue the use today. He is going to testify they occurred in 1990, they occurred in 1989, 1991, '92 and '93; and because of that continuation, I believe and I submit that the law states that he has a continuing use of that property; and I refer you specifically to a case that is called Islip v. PBS Marina. It is a 1987 case that simply says that you can only terminate a nonconforming use if it discontinues if the discontinuance is total, meaning that it must be completely terminated and in this case the very things that he did in 1988 and 1989 were still done in 1992, and that is, selling products. THE CHAIRMAN: Will you furnish us with a copy of that case, Mr. Cuddy? MR. CUDDY: I can get you a copy. THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. MR. CUDDY: For reference purposes I will cite the citation. It is 133 Appellate Division 2d 81. And it is also probably the books that are here-- 518 NYS 2d 427, and that is this Department that covers Brooklyn~ Queens, Nassau, Suffolk° The other thing I would like to point out to the Board: If, in fact, the facts did indicate that there was a continuing use --and they certainly do-- the equities are entirely with Mr. Spanos. Before the tanks were removed, in or about 1990 in February which is a month, two months before those tanks were taken out, he went out and got a contractor to indicate what the cost would be to him to replace the tanks; and that is when the thing began to be a problem to him. ZBA Hearings 26 March 18, 1993 Exhibit No. 6 is a contracting company that indicated to him to replace the tanks, he could have 2 10,000 tanks, one 6,000 gallon tank, it would cost $148,000. That was prohibitive. It didn't stop him, but In 1991 about a year later he hired a permit research people, as Exhibit No. it sure slowed him down. permit research firm. The 7 will show, made up a plan in 1992, February 1992; they submitted it to the Department of Health Services. That plan was approved in March of 1992, and that is what Exhibit No. 8 shows, that the Health Services Department had approved the installation of underground tanks. He then had his permit application people make an application to the Town of Sguthold Planning Board. Unfortunately this was done in May of 1992, just about two years after the tanks were removed° The application was made on May 8th; the Planning Board a week later wrote him and said he missed by a day the cutoff. That is Exhibit No. 9, which is a letter from the Zoning (sic) Board. I would think that that exhibit plus the fact that he was at all times making efforts to get this done and in particular that he spent the money, several thousand dollars, to get the plan, which was approved by the Health Department. His inequities, which very few people have, and I think that that alone should permit him to continue on at this point --In any event, the Town itself has taxed him as if the gas .service pumps were still there. I put his last two tax bills before the Board. His taxes didn't go down, they increased. There is no indication whatsoever that the Town ZBA Hearings 27 March 18, 1993 thinks he is in any different business than he was before, and I don't think he is. Finally, I would like to say that Mr. Spanos recognizes that there may be a problem with some people thinking that his station hasn't been neat and orderly. He submitted a plan to the Board to show what he plans to do in the future as far as storing the vehicles; and I would like him to come up --unless the Board has some questions at this point-- to testify. THE CHAIRMAN: Just one question. Notwithstanding the fact that he has worked on this proposal, you are referring to this case of 1987 and saying that even though a person is not dispensing one specific type of either automotive or marine product, that this particular case indicates that since they were dispensing or selling, you know, retail, types of automotive products--no? MR. CUDDY: The case doesn't say that. The case says that you can terminate a non-conforming use only if you discontinue every incident of that use. That case was referring to a marina. The marina had 100 slips. They had one slip open for two years. The Judge said that is enough because the rule is (inaudible) so I don't want to say factually about oil, but the same principle applies to this, that he was doing the same thing that he did before, albeit he wasn't serving gasoline or dispensing gasoline. What he was doing was selling oil, was selling automotive products, the very things that he was doing beforehand from the service station. ZBA Hearings 28 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN:' Thank you. G E O R G E S P A N 0 S , the applicant, being first duly sworn by the Chairman, testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. CUDDY: ~ Q Mr. Spanos, are you.the owner of the Greenport Service Station? A Yes. Q And you have been the owner for some 17 years at this point? A Yes. Q Prior to 1990, I gave the date as roughly April of 1990, did you~dispense gasoline at the service station? A gasoline? A Q A Q A A I did. Did you actually operate the service station? Yes. Did there come a time when you stopped dispensing Never stopped (inaudible)-- (Continuing) Well, in 1990 did there come a time? Never stopped (inaudible)-- When did you stop selling gasoline --sometime in 1990 middle of the year. beginning 19907 In the middle of 19907 Tell us when you think it was. i never exactly remember the date, but it was the of '90. ZBA Hearings 29 March 15~ 1993 Q Prior to that time were you selling other products besides gasoline at the service station? A Yes, we used to sell everything that a car needs~ I was selling antifreeze, oil, gas treatments, all these; sometimes I would help customer that was stuck, you know, for gas. I went with the gas tanks and bring the gas and sell to them to help them out so I never stopped pumping the (word indistinguishable on tape) here. Q When you sold those products, were you selling in hundreds or thousands of dollars? In 1989o A dollars? A Q A Q same amounts? Yes. More than a hundred dollars? More than a thousand What type of income did you have? The gas? Not the gas -- the oil products° More than a hundred. What about 1990 and '91 and '92 --you were selling the A I losing because the cars doesn't (word indistinguishable) gas, so but I was selling the other. Q Were you selling more That I was. Who operates the business~ Mr. Spanos? I do. And is your family going to continue to operate this? Yes, since I open, my wife help meo Family business. than a thousand dollars a year? ZBA Hearings 30 March 18, 1993 Q did you A When you set the tanks out, was that voluntarily; or have to do it? No, I had to do it because with the steel tanks not allowed anymore Q excess of A Q A Q get the tanks. A under ground. They have to be moved. You heard me tell the Board it was going to cost in replace the tanks? $100,000 to Yes. How are So I am you going to do it? going to mortgage my house. So you are going to mortgage your house in order to No pompany will install the tanks otherwise. MR. CUDDY: I have no further questions. THE CHAIRMAN: Do you have anything else you would like to say? MR. SPANOS: That is about it. I would like to put back if I can, and continue operate (indistinguishable). THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Cuddy, could I just ask a couple questions? We on the North Fork are certainly aware that there is definitely a need for gasoline sales, and we of course notice that predominantly in times of storms and so on and so forth, when we don't have necessarily electricity, and that was the case of a couple more recent storms myself when I had to travel out to Greenport, which was the only entity that had electricity-~ and we had to go to the only gasoline station that existed at that time, which I think is Mr. Roberts over by ZBA Hearings 31 March 18, 1993 the old movies-- Now I know there is another gasoline station that is coming in, the old Gulf station which is G & S, and there is no doubt in my mind. My particular problem here is, and you did admit to it, and of your applicant, that this operation is a little unsightly~ I would ask you, if you would submit to the Board some type of covenant, some sort of restriction that is tied to a certain type of this business, only because I am concerned not only for the Spanos' but any subsequent owners, if the Board is so interested in granting this° It is a relatively small piece of property, as you know, and in the operation of the repair of automobiles, it sometimes requires that. these automobiles be kept for a certain period of time until parts are gotten, and that has been, I think, the major portion of the problem on this particular piece of property, most recently from what I can remember~ I of course don't live in the hamlet of Greenport; but when I do travel to the hamlet of Greenport, I do see that on this particular site, and that is my concern at this point. MR. CUDDY: I don't think the applicant has a problem with that. I discussed extensively with him the concerns, and I am sure some of the neighbors have as to the sightliness of the project, and he has indicated a willingness to bring it up and maintain ito I submitted a sketch, drawing, to the Board to show that ~e intended to fence part of it, and he also intended to landscape part of it, to try and hide vehicles that he stores. The fence will be sufficiently high so that can be ZBA Hearings 32 March 18, 1993 done; but I don't have a problem if you want to condition approval on that fence height. THE CHAIRMAN: That is just for me --I don't know what the rest of the Board want. MR. CUDDY: I am saying that because we had discussed that. THE CHAIRMAN: Is this trailer still in use in the rear of the property? MR. CUDDY: No, I don't believe the trailer itself is in use. It is still there. THE CHAIRMAN: It is still there; it is not in use, okay. Questions from Board members? Bob? MEMBER VILLA: Yes, I have a question. A figure was thrown out over a hundred thousand dollars to replace the tanks, and that was the first one.. Is that number still current? Is it higher? MR. CUDDY: The number is lower. It is somewhere between a hundred and a hundred-ten, as I understand it. This ~is from the people that he had actually do the plumbing. MEMBER VILLA: Now my concern is, it is all we~l and good to try to get back into business, but has anybody done an economic study to see that he is going to be able to pump enough gas to pay this off? And I would hate'to see a person mortgage his house, get an approval, and then not be able to pay off the mortgage because you are going to have to pump a lot of ZBA Hearings 33 March 18, 1993 gas to pay off something like that. Has there been an economic study done? MR. CUDDY: No. I think it is his intent, it is everybody's bent who is in business that they can' do it; he has been there seventeen years and knows what his income is and he knows a $100,000 mortgage is going to cost something, which is not exorbitant, but it is money, and he is aware that it is. Today the interest rates happen to be incredibly low, so he is fortunate this is the time he is doing it. I don't anticipate that that is going to be a problem, and Mr. Spanos as I say, has been, is not a newcomer to the business, and he is aware what it produces° He has indicated to me that that type of mortgage he thinks he can handle, and also that the cost, he has it down somewhat, so that it is not 148, and probably can reduce it by some $30,000, $40,000; but he anticipates he can do it. This is a man who knows how much he makes in a business. MEMBER VILLA: Some of the neighbors have expressed concern over the condition of the pro-erty. Is there a time schedule or a time-frame that you have --to put it bluntly-- to clean it up? MR. CUDDY: I would think we would be able to clea~ it up within a sixty-day period. And, as Mr. Goehringer suggested, we would be willing to covenant that condition will be corrected. THE CHAIRMAN: And remain? MRo CUDDY: And not just to occur at that point but it will remain that way. ZBA Hearings 34 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN: restrictions --there is MR. CUDD¥: I understand that I can see some pretty exclusionary no doubt in my mind. point out to the Board also, everybody wants the neighborhood to and I be decent, and there can be no objection to that, but I think there is a limit as to what can be compelled as far as where you put things, and he only has so much room to work in-- I certainly have no objection, and I can see no objection to saying he can't put things on the Street or on the sidewalk, and I don't think they can be piled high, but certainly in an area he can use, and he will try and screen the area he uses sufficiently, and I would hope th~at that would be adequate for the Board's purposes. THE CHAIRMAN: My concern, and we had had an application on the Main Road, the applicant's name was Sunny Brown-- and it was a pretty good decision that the Board had come up with and the main concern is the placement of unplated vehicles, the placement of dismantled vehicles or partially dismantled vehicles, and those are the vehicles that would have to be placed within the fence compound in the rear. Current vehicles that are being used, that are being worked on, as long as they didn't disrupt the normal function of visibility on the property of making that right turn and in the same case of making a l~ft turn onto Main Street, and so on and so forth; but the main concern of this Board is the more than temporary placement of vehicles that simply don't ever move, they just ZBA Hearings 35 March 18, 1993 point and said that; we have a covenant, consequences to it, stay there, and they are hatching a service station, so to speak. I hate to use old cliches, but that is, you know-- MR. CUDDY: I have no problem with what you are talking about at all. I would point out to the Board, as you are aware, the Town has enforcement offices. I don't know what has or hasn't happened in the past° Also, they have, if they are violating, and I assume that that is what people are talking about-- I would assume someone would have gone to them at this but if that still exists, by the way, and the breach of that covenant may have certain but I think that the Building Inspector or enforcement code personnel officer can go out and at any time claim he has exceeded his limits. I have other witnesses~ very short. THE CHAIRMAN: Surely. MEMBER VILLA: In the re-establishment of gasoline sales, do you plan on modifying the lighting of the property in any way from what exists today? MR. CUDDY: I think that the lighting would become somewhat --it is shown on the plan, I think-- it would be more current than it is. I don't think the lighting will reflect on the neighbors, if that is what you are talking about. We have no problem with that; but the gasoline pumps, by the way, will not be --one time they were on the street-- They will not be on the Street anymore. They will be inside the canopy, so the lighting doesn't have to go further than that. ZBA Hearings 36 March 18, 1993 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Anyone-- MR. CUDDY (interposing): I would like Go call Mr. Brown, if I may. VICTOR BROWN, being first duly sworn by the Chairman, testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. CUDDY: Q The next few witnesses are going to testify basically to the continuing use of the premises and ask to make the statement on the record. A Okay. For at least the last two or three years that I can remember and prior to that time, I have regularly been going to the Spanos station to buy oil products, oil, oil-change, antifreeze, things of that type; and it has been available for me each time that I come. I ask for a particular type of oil, and he has it. THE CHAIRMAN: That is great. Thank you very much, sir. (Whereupon the witness was excused.) THE CHAIRMAN: Good evening, how are you? M A R I O N L A T N E Y , called as a witness by Applicant, being first duly sworn by the'Chairman~ testified as follows: My name is Marion Latney. have been living there all my lifeo been there, I live in Greenport. I Ever since Mr. Spanos has he has been helpful to me with my car° Anytime I ZBA Hearings 37 March 18, 1993 need it, serviced my car. I get oil from him. George will do it for me. THE CHAIRMAN: Right. MS. LATNEY: And I miss him. THE CHAIRM_~N: Thank you very much. (Whereupon witness was excused.) THE CHAIRMAN: How are you tonight, sir? if my car breaks down, he is right at my house. He Anything my car needs, JOHN CARTSELOS, CUTCHOGUE, N.Y., called as a witness hyApplicant, being first duly sworn by the Chairman, testified as follows: I am John Cartselos; I am a resident of Southold. What I would like to say is that I have been dealing at the Spanos Service Station for many years, and I still go up there to get my car serviced; prior to 1990 and it is continuing, antifreeze and servicing my car. Thank you. THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Any further questions of the Board? Of Mr. Cuddy or applicant? Anybody? No? (Whereupon the witness was excused.) THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody else who would like to speak in favor of this application? Yes, sir. CHARLES RAYNOR (phonetic, unsworn): My name is Charles Rayno~. I live at 17 Sound Road. I have lived there for twenty years. George has serviced my truck and my car ever since he has been in business, with Prestone, grease, any repair ZBA Hearings 38 March 18, 1993 needs to be done, George did them. all I have to say. THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. He done a good job. That's Anybody who would like to speak either for or against this application? Seeing no hands, we thank you all for coming in and bid you all good evening; and I will make a motion closing the hearing and reserving decision until later. (Seconded & carried; see Clerk's minutes.) THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much. (Transcribed from 3/18/93 hearing tapes, jdr)