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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLI, LIO - Proposed Amendments 1997PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS RICHARD G. WARD GEORGE RITCHIE LATHAM, JR. BENNETT ORLOWSKI, JR. WILLIAM J. CREMERS KENNETH L. EDWARDS Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (516) 765-3136 Telephone (516) 765-1938 PLANNING BOARD OFFICE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: RE: Judith T. Terry, Town Clerk Bennett Orlowski, Jr., Chairman ~~ Proposal to Amend the Uses Pe'~tted Within the Light Industrial (LI) and Light Industrial Office (LIO) Districts. Zoning DATE: February 14, 1997 In response to the Town Board's request for input, the Planning Board wishes to be on record as endorsing the recommendations of the January 1997 report of the Plannix~g & Zoning Committee. The January report suggests specific amendments to the Zoning Code with regard to the uses that should be permitted or deleted from the Light Industrial and Light Industrial Office zoning districts. The Planning Board took an active role in the Planning & Zoning Committee meetings because of the need to bring the Zoning Code into closer alignment with the goals and objectives of the community, as explained in planning documents such as the Master Plan Background Studies (1983) and the Master Plan Summary (1985). The Board endorses the changes recommended in this report because the proposed amendments will accomplish the following things: it will consolidate intense traffic generators such as eating and drinking establishments and retail uses in the business hamlets, it will remove inappropriate residential uses from the LI and LIO zones, it will introduce trade-related uses which currently are permitted within certain business districts but which may need more space than is generally available within the business districts, 4. it will introduce needed or desirable uses which currently are not permitted within the town as of right. All of these modifications will serve to bring the Zoning Code into closer alliance with the goals and objectives of the aforementioned planning documents. In recognition of item #4, above, which deals with the introduction of a class of uses not previously addressed in great detail by the Zoning Code, the Board suggests parallel changes be made to the nomenclature and definition of zoning district category "Light Industrial Office". The purpose of this district currently reads as follows: Light Industrial Park/Planned Office Park To provide opportunity for the location of corporate business and professional offices, research facilities, light industrial uses as d~fined by this zoning code and similar activities in an open, campus-like setting in areas which are not appropriate for commercial activity or low-density residential development. In this area, such uses can be established in an attractive environment and serve both as a means of preserving the open qualities of an area and providing and areas adjacent to hamlet areas where such uses can be appropriately developed with suitable protection for ground-and surface waters. Ail uses must conform to Suffolk County Health Department standards." The district name could be changed to Corporate Research/ Commercial Recreation Park (CR). This change would reflect more accurately the predominant uses that would be permitted within this district. In conjuntion with this, the purpose statement of the CR district should be modified as well. The following is provided as a suggested example: Corporate-Research/Commerciai Recreation Industrial Park To provide opportunity for the location of large operations of a corporate or research enterprise, a commercial recreation facility, a light industrial plant. In this district, uses will be placed in a campus-like setting, buffered by and from adjacent uses. This district will provide for industries needed by the Town in a manner than protects the Town's environmental resources and which can be accommodated by the constraints of those natural resources. All proposed uses must meet Suffolk County Department of Health standards. If these changes are made, the purpose section of the Light Industry district should be explained in more detail, as being designed to accommodate specialized trade industries which require more space and accessibility to large equipment than is typically found within hamlet business centers. The current purpose statement reads only "to provide an opportunity for business and industrial uses on smaller lots than would be appropriate for the LIO Light Industrial Park/Planned Office Park District." Finally, the Board's preliminary opinion is that these proposed changes are unlikely to have a significant environmental impact for the following reasons. The removal of retail and restaurant/drinking uses from these districts removes the potential for high volume traffic in these areas. The removal of residential uses and accessory bed and breakfast uses likewise will result in a reduction of residential traffic to and from the area. The introduction of repair, custom workshop and machine or equipment repair uses to the Light Industrial district provides an alternative location for these uses outside of the general business district, especially where easy accessibility by large vehicles and greater working space are crucial to the operation. The removai of Special Exception requirements in the Light Industry zone for boat repair yards, boat building, servicing and storage yards, for publishing plants and for light manufacturing means only that the use will be permitted by right. These uses are felt to be appropriate uses for an industrial district, one where their nuisance potential to the neighboring industrial uses is thought to be no greater or worse than those of the existing uses permitted by right. The site plan requirements and Health Department restrictions will remain in-place as well as the usual environmental reviews that accompany the site and health department permit process. The introduction of a wide-range of commercial recreation facilities is the most significant modification being proposed. These facilities are not recognized by the current code: an omission that needs to be rectified. The proposed uses are thought to pose a lesser threat to the environment than many other land uses which more closely fit the "light industrial park" category. The potential for the introduction of toxic wastes or gases during a manufacturing process does not exist with the proposed recreational uses which were considered by the Planning & Zoning Committee. The land-intensive recreation use with perhaps the greatest potential for groundwater drawdown and contamination is a golf course. However, since the use would be subject to site plan review and Health Department restrictions, and the Planning Board would require extensive use of drought-resistant, native vegetation to minimize the need for irrigation and fertilizer, this is not considered a significant environmental threat. In closing, the Planning Board urges the Town Board to proceed with drafting legislation in accordance with the January 1997 Report of the Pianhing & Zoning Committee. The review of the business district uses, which is the next item on their agenda, needs to be brought t0 a quick conclusion so that we can move on to the regional transportation plan, the hamlet studies and a groundwater management plan, all of which should be addressed before much more development occurs.