Town Planning Board Meeting
Town Planning Board Meeting
Minor subdivision receives conditional approval within the former Jed Lane Subdivision. Private indoor golf simulator club seeks special use permit for beer and wine
The Ellicottville Town Planning Board has approved a minor subdivision with conditions for three lots near Somerville Valley Road, and set a public hearing on a special use permit for a bar at a private indoor golf club on Route 219.
The Planning Board, in its first meeting since late June, worked through a short agenda Monday, Sept. 27th in the Town Center at 28 Parkside Drive.
John D. "Jake" Northrup II will air his plans to make slight changes at his private indoor golf club during the Oct. 25th public hearing set by the Board.
Northrup explained the club, located in the general commercial district with a special use permit granted in the past, is not open to the public and that scheduling for play is done online. There are no set hours. Members play golf on an indoor simulator and a putting green inside a 37x45-foot building on a 2.8-acre lot at 6633 Rt. 219 North.
Northrup said he plans to create a waiting area for eight to 10 members and their guests to watch the play and consume beer and wine. Food will not be served.
Town Planner Gary Palumbo told Board members that the bar is a separate special use category in the regulations, but the facility will not be increased in size so, the application will not have to be sent to the Cattaraugus County Planning Board for review.
Board members then held a lengthy discussion before setting conditions and voting to approve a minor subdivision in a portion of the former Jed Lane Subdivision east of Sommerville Valley Road.
Plans submitted by applicants Teodore Krawec and Jill Harter of Avon Lake, Ohio, show one three-acre lot and one five-acre lot, and an 84-acre lot. But according to town officials, these lots will not provide their owners with formal easements to travel over a private road, Jed Lane, to and from the nearest public road, Sommerville Valley.
Jed Lane serves the owners of two built-out lots from the original subdivision, but the subdivision was dissolved without forming a homeowners association to maintain Jed Lane. Also, according to Planning Board Chairman Richard "Doc" Dayton, Jed Lane did not meet the Town Road Standards.
Engineer Aaron Tiller, representing the applicants, provided documents showing only one of the original subdivision lots was deeded access to Sommerville Valley Road.
Palumbo said the Town's Attorney is working to get all property owners to cooperate on a road use agreement that would ensure access and maintenance of the private road.
"The main reason is the road (in a subdivision) should be maintained to meet the (NYS) fire code," said Code Enforcement Officer Kelly Fredrickson.
At Palumbo's urging, the Board granted approval of the minor subdivision, based on criteria that it contains five or fewer lots, meets water and sewer standards and current zoning regulations, and that it will not affect the town's orderly growth and development (as long as all the lots have access to a public road) or have a major impact on the environment.
However, the Board agreed road access requirements for the minor subdivision had not been met. They made the approval conditional upon the applicants' demonstration that each of the three lots have a legal and permanent access to Jed Lane, to run with any future ownership of the land. The condition will prevent the issuance of building permits until the demonstration is made.
At the close of the session, Board members chose Chairman Richard "Doc" Dayton as their representative on a steering committee for the Drinking Water Source Protection Program to formulate a source protection plan. The Steering Committee has begun meetings with a consultant to identify current and future vulnerabilities in drinking water sources in the project area.
Also, Palumbo reminded the Board members that training will be offered by Southern Tier West to meet their annual four-hour requirements. The Board will next meet at 6:00 pm on Oct. 25th in the Town Center at 28 Parkside Drive.