* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:03] EVENING AND [Call to Order] WELCOME TO THE MAY 28TH MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD. UM, WE WERE HOPING TO HAVE ONE MORE MEMBER WHO MAY SHOW UP ONCE WE GET UNDERWAY. UM, SO THERE'S NO MAILINGS FOR THIS MEETING, CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT. OKAY. UM, SO, [1. Advisory Report on Proposed Local Law C of 2026 – A local law to rezone the property known as 1 North Street from the CC Zone to the MR-C Zone. ] UH, WE HAVE ON THE AGENDA FOR TODAY ONLY ONE ITEM. UH, IT'S A DISCUSSION ITEM, UH, FOR, UM, FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. UM, IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO WANTS TO PRESENT ON BEHALF OF THAT APPLICATION? IF NOT, I CAN GIVE A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW. ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. SO THIS IS AN APPLICATION TO REZONE ONE NORTH FROM THE CO THE CENTRAL OFFICE TO THE MRC, THE MULTIFAMILY RESIDENCE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. THE PROPERTY, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, IS A MOSTLY EMPTY OFFICE BUILDING. THERE IS AN OFFICE ON THE FIRST FLOOR, BUT OTHERWISE IT'S MOSTLY VACANT. THE APPLICANT IS PROPOSING TO REZONE THE PROPERTY AND TO ADAPTIVELY REUSE THE BUILDING. SO THEY'RE PUR PROPOSE TO, THEY'RE PROPOSING FOUR RESIDENTIAL UNITS ON THE UPPER FLOOR, AND THEN COMMERCIAL ON THE FIRST FLOOR. UH, THE EXISTING OFFICE IS PROPOSED TO REMAIN. THE FIRST FLOOR ISN'T SUITED FOR RESIDENTIAL. I THINK THERE'S EGRESS ISSUES. AND SO THE APPLICANT WAITED UNTIL THE COMP PLAN WAS, WAS ADOPTED TO FILE FOR THIS AMENDMENT. AND THE PROPOSAL IS CONSISTENT WITH THE COMP PLAN. YOU KNOW, IT CALLS FOR ADDITIONAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES, THE, UH, IN THE AREA ADJACENT TO THE DOWNTOWN, AS WELL AS THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF EXISTING STRUCTURES. AND SO THE BOT HAS REFERRED THIS TO BOTH THE PLANNING BOARD AND THE ZBA FOR REVIEW. IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE, THAT THE PLANNING BOARD HAD A POSITIVE, UH, VIEW ON THIS APPLICATION. AND AS I'D MENTIONED, THE PUBLIC HEARING IS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 16TH ON THE REZONING. AND SO UNDER THE CODE, THE ZBA MUST STATE ITS VIEWS AS TO THE DESIRABILITY AND PRACTICABILITY OF THE PROPOSAL. ALL RIGHT. VERY WELL. AND JUST FOR SECRE, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES HAS DECLARED ITS INTENT TO ACT AS LEAD AGENCY. BRIAN, DO YOU WANNA SHARE ANY THOUGHTS OR, UM, THOUGHTS? I HAVE A QUESTION, BUT I'M NOT SURE WHO TO POSE IT TO. I'LL TO YOU. LET'S SEE. UM, IT, IT'S ABOUT THE NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES REQUIRED AND PROVIDED MM-HMM . UM, MY UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT THERE WERE 16 AT SOME POINT, OR GOING TO BE 12. IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE'S ADEQUATE PARKING FOR THE PROPERTY. THERE'S, THERE'S DEFINITELY ADEQUATE, I THINK THERE'S ONE MORE THAN REQUIRED BY CODE. IT WILL NOT REQUIRE A VARIANCE. OKAY. ONE MORE ALREADY IN PLACE THAT, THAT NO, NO. AND THE NEW PARKING PLAN, IT'LL BE ONE MORE ABOVE WHAT'S REQUIRED BY CODE. AND THERE IS A REDUCTION FROM THE PRESENT. YES. BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE PARKING SPACES ARE LAID OUT THERE. 'CAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE, THE EXISTING BUILDING DOESN'T HAVE THE AISLE WIDTH THAT IS CODE COMPLIANT. THEY'RE, THEY'RE DEALING WITH AN EXISTING SITUATION AND RIGHT NOW THEY HAVE 90 DEGREE PARKING SPACES, WHICH ARE VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO PULL IN AND OUT OF. SO WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO IS THEY'RE GONNA GO TO ANGLED PARKING SPACES AND MAKE IT A ONE WAY SO THAT IT PARKING IS GONNA BE, THE PARKING SPACES WILL BE BIGGER, MORE CODE COMPLIANT MM-HMM . AND THEY'LL BE EASIER TO PULL IN AND OUT OF BEING THAT THERE'LL BE ANGLED PARKING SPACES. AND THE ONE WAY, SO IT THERE, WITH DOING THAT, IT REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF PARKING SPACES THAT ARE CURRENTLY THERE, BUT DOESN'T REDUCE IT ENOUGH WHERE IT REQUIRE A VARIANCE. OKAY. IT'S ACTUALLY AN IMPROVEMENT. IF THEY RECONFIGURE IT'S, IT IS CONFIGURATION ABSOLUTE IMPROVEMENT. EVEN THOUGH IT'S LESS SPACES, IT'S AN IMPROVE, IT'S A SAFE, IT'S SAFER AND IT'S EASIER TO PARK. IT'S A DEFINITE IMPROVEMENT. IS THERE ANY CHANGE TO THE, UH, TO THE SURFACE, UM, COVERAGE, THE LOG COVERAGE OF IMPERVIOUS? NO. DOESN'T SEEM LIKE NO. OKAY. AFTER, IT'S NOT AFTER VARIANCE. OKAY. SO, AND AGAIN, SO THIS WILL BE GOING YES, THIS WILL BE GOING TO THE PLANNING BOARD FOR SITE PLAN REVIEW. OKAY. SO THEY'LL ALSO, RIGHT. YEAH, THAT MAKES SENSE. UM, SO MOST OF WHAT WE'RE BEING ASKED TO COMMENT ON IS THE POTENTIAL REZONING OF THE USE. IT'S THE ZONING AMENDMENT. YES. AND SO YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER WHETHER THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT, IT'S THE DESIRABILITY AND THE PRACTICABILITY. MM-HMM . I THINK ONE THING TO KIND OF KEEP IN MIND IS THE LOCATION OF THE PROPERTY. YOU KNOW, IT'S RIGHT OVER THERE. IT'S AN, IT'S A GOOD TRANSITION SPOT BETWEEN THE COMMERCIAL, DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL. SO MIXED USE ACTUALLY KIND OF DOES MAKE SENSE THERE. SO, AND IT'S WITHIN THE AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY NOT ONLY THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, BUT THE GOVERNOR AND THE STATE AND OTHER AGENCIES AS PART OF CREATING MORE HOUSING IN THE DOWNTOWN WALKABLE CORRIDOR. CORRECT. EXACTLY. AND TRANSIT ORIENTED. TRANSIT ORIENTED, [00:05:01] WHICH IN, IN ITSELF COULD HAVE BEEN AN ARGUMENT FOR A PARKING VARIANCE IF IT WAS NEEDED, BUT IT'S NOT . THEN AGAIN, ALSO THEY'RE DOING AN ADAPTIVE REUSE, WHICH IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE COMP PLAN. MM-HMM . THAT WAS A PRETTY BIG THING ON THE PLANNING BOARD, WAS THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF A, OF A, OF A 90% VACANT BUILDING. MM-HMM . YEAH. UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT WAS, UH, THEY MADE ACTUALLY A, A PRETTY BIG DEAL ABOUT THAT AT THE PLANNING PART. WELL, I THINK IT'S, IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT COMES UP A LOT IN THE DISCUSSION ABOUT, UM, SUSTAINABILITY. I MEAN, IT TURNS OUT THAT ONE OF THE MOST SUSTAINABLE THINGS YOU CAN DO IS REUSE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, AND, UH, AND BUILDING, YOU KNOW, BUILDING FABRIC. SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK FROM THAT POINT OF VIEW, FROM THE WALKABLE TRANSIT CORRIDOR POINT OF VIEW, AND CONSISTENT WITH THE COMP PLAN, I PERSONALLY DON'T HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE REZONING OF THE USE. OBVIOUSLY, IF THEY NEED MORE VARIANCES OR OTHER THINGS, IT WOULD COME LATER, BUT, RIGHT. UM, YOU KNOW, SIMPLY ALLOWING THEM TO CONVERT IT TO RESIDENTIAL, YOU KNOW, GIVEN ALL OF THE DISCUSSION ABOUT CREATING MORE HOUSING SEEMS, UM, MORE THAN REASONABLE TO ME. I AGREE. AGREE. SO YOU CONSIDER IT TO BE DESIRABLE AND PRACTICABLE? YES. AWESOME. YES. THAT'S WHAT YOU NEED TO HEAR. THAT'S, I GOT WHAT I NEED. . ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS APPLICATION? UH, NOT FROM ME. BRIAN, ANYTHING? NOT FROM ME. NO. NO. UH, ALL RIGHT. I MEAN, WE, WE CANNOT, WE'RE, WE'RE, THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC HEARING, SO THERE'S NO PUBLIC HEARING AND THAT THAT'LL BE BEFORE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ON JUNE 16TH. SO THE PUBLIC WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT AT THAT POINT. THE BOT WILL HAVE BOTH YOUR, YOUR FEEDBACK AND THE PLANNING BOARD'S FEEDBACK TO CONSIDER AS WELL. OKAY. SO ANYONE WHO SHOWED UP HERE TONIGHT WITH THAT INTENT, YOUR FORUM IS ON THE DATE JUST MENTIONED. OKAY. UH, ANYTHING ELSE? AND WE [Approval of Minutes ] CAN VOTE ON THE MINUTES, THE MINUTES, THE MINUTES, WHICH WE WILL, WHICH WE WILL, UM, THAT HAS TO GET, UH, PUSHED OVER TO THE NEXT MEETING. ASSUMING THERE'S A QUARTER, WE'LL ADJOURN UNTIL NEXT MONTH. OKAY. AND DO WE EVEN HAVE ENOUGH TO MOTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING? BISHOP MEETING. ALRIGHT, WELL, UH, THANK YOU EVERYBODY. UM, HAVE A GOOD NIGHT. THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.