Proposed Zone Changes Outlined
Changes would, among other things, allow boutiques and cafes on East Broad Street
If approved, proposed revisions to the village zoning law would, among other things, allow for the creation of a business district of small shops and cafes along Broad Street on the east side of the village green between Payne and East Pleasant streets.
In a progress report to the village Board of Trustees at its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Zoning Revision Committee also:
- raised concerns about the increased commercialization of residential properties;
- addressed protecting the quality of life in the village;
- discussed continuing concerns over off-campus student housing;
- outlined possible changes to the various commercial centers within the village;
- discussed the creation of a "design corridor" for all properties along 12B through the village, as well as commercial areas on East Broad, Lebanon and lower Eaton streets;
- and explained proposed changes in how Colgate properties are considered in the zoning law.
Committee members include trustees Anne Clauss and Debbie Kliman, as well as Planning Board Chairman Bob McVaugh and board members Ben Eberhardt and Morgan Larson. Proposed revisions are being crafted in response to the creation of a master plan in 2009.
Larson told the trustees the commitee seeks responses to the proposed changes from the trustees and village residfents as it continues its work. Before the changes are made, there will be a public hearing and discussion and a vote by the trustees.
The section of the committee's report concerning village's residential areas said:
"Our review of the residential districts has focused on strategies to support their core use -- single-family residences -- and to safeguard the strong sense of neighborhood community that Hamilton has traditionally enjoyed. Traditional owner-occupants are especially vulnerable to the abuses sometimes associated with the commitment of properties to transient occupants and to students. As the master plan recognizes it is likely that the village senior population will grow in coming decades, and the safeguarding of quality of life of the residential districts is particularly relevant to that population.
"In our discussions the following factors have emerged and the most significant challenges to the quality of life in the residential districts:
- trends toward the commercialization of residential properties within the residential districts with special attention to the recent expansion in rentals to transients;
- erosion of the quality of life and the availability of moderately priced housing as a result of enduring pressures of student rentals;
- and the pressures directed to traditional one- and two family residences and neighborhoods by student housing.
"Commercialization of Residential Properties
"Whenever a property is purchased for, or devoted substantially to, rental purposes, responsibility to the quality of life of the neighborhood is likely to become a secondary priority.This is particularly the case with absentee landlords. Many landlords are fine and committed to the community. However, many others slide toward exploitation and there is little that the village can currently do to monitor or mitigate such corrosive exploitation. (For our purposes transient occupants or renters occupy a house for period less than a month. Typical of this use is weekend or weekly rentals.)"Actions being explored:
"1. Introduce a special permit classification and an annual licensing process for all existing and future apartments (long term rentals of more than a month duration). Since the 1990s there has been growth in the number of conversions of single-family residences to apartments. The current law has few provisions of oversight of such properties. When, in the 1990s, group residences were the primary means to cash in on student rentals, we instituted annual licensing of such residences. It had a positive effect, but that impact leveled off as subsequent landlords have avoided he oversight by turning to apartment conversions. It seems advisable to us that a similar program of licensing be instituted for all rentals. In this way the village will have an enhanced capacity to engage rental properties on issues of trash, parking, and social disruptions through noise and obnoxious behavior.
"This is almost sure to create opposition, but experience with group residence licensing suggests that the routine of licensing is not problematic for conscientious landlords. Though the setting of fees is not the prerogative of the Planning Board we suggest that the fees be modest. We also suggest that we can learn much from comparable licensing processes currently being set in Fayetteville and East Syracuse. There may be an affidavit system that will simplify the process.
"2. Set the limit for permitted transient occupancy of dwellings in the residential districts at 15 total days per year. The IRS currently specifies that the maximum number of days within the calendar year for which a homeowner may rent or otherwise let a property before it is deemed commercial and subject to reporting as income is 15. The opportunity to open homes to Colgate visitors on key weekends is crucial to our economy. However, new behavioral patterns and the fluidity of Internet marketing have created an expanded year-round market for somewhat casual, usually brief, and very lucrative rental of residences (we define transient occupancy as occupancy of less than one month duration.). Frequently (but not always) the owner of such properties is absentee and offers minimal supervision of behavior during the rental periods. The impact on the neighborhood can be intense. This increase in transient rentals is causing erosion of the neighborhood character of our residential districts and, in some case, contributing to an inflation of home prices, curtailing availability to traditional occupants.
"3. Employ a Multi-Family Dwelling overlay district rather than differential permission by zoning district. Multifamily dwellings (apartment structures) have long been one of the most significant problems for the community. Unless controlled by senior-only constraints, they are unusually susceptible to student occupancy and once such occupancy takes place likelihood of displacement of non-student population is very high. Then the impact on the surrounding neighborhood could be close to irreparable.
"Currently we permit them with special permit in the R2, but one consequence of that would be the encouragement of heavy foot traffic through residential districts from the bars. This in itself is a major problem for residential districts currently. We are exploring the idea of creating an overlay area including the downtown and some properties roughly contiguous to the downtown in which multi-family dwelling might be supported. The virtue of such of plan is that it would keep the heaviest concentration of rentals at the center of town, minimize student traffic through the residential districts, and prevent the serious erosion of neighborhood quality of most of residential districts areas at some distance from the bars.
"4. Tighten the controls on Bed and Breakfasts. Currently Bed and Breakfasts are permitted by right in the R1. Given their significant impact on the neighborhoods in which they are positioned, they should be subject to special permits and annual licensing.
"5. Permit, with special permit, the certain occupational uses of secondary structures in the residential districts. The ability to use secondary structures as space for some home occupations seems advisable to foster low-impact Internet businesses and the like. Such occupations would be limited in terms of the permissible sound and odor generated, the number of employees who might generate undesirable traffic, and the frequent deliver of goods, which could disrupt the neighborhoods. Moreover, only owner occupant business would be permitted."
The committee's report also addressed the various commercial sections of the vilage. The changes would "refine several of the business districts to encourage more coherent development" as spelled out by the Master Plan, and change Milford Street, which has historically been an area for light manufacturing. The committee designated four distinct business districts and addressed proposed changes in each. They include:
"Business Green. The Business Transitional District formulated in the 2000 Zoning Law was previously adopted for both the East side of Utica Street between the Bank and Wylie as well as many of the properties fronting the Green. However, those areas have evolved in somewhat different directions. It seems time to encourage the use of the properties fronting the Green as well as those on Payne west of Charles for service commercial or light retail use such as cafes and small shops, while remaining quite vigilant regarding their potential impact on dense residential districts that are right next door. The strategic adaptation of the Business Green area to light retail and service commercial could bring the green closer to the commercial center of the village rather than its current condition of bordering it on all but farmer's market days. However, the protection of both appearance and impact on neighbors is an extremely high priority making oversight of this district necessary.
"Business Eaton. The committee recognizes that the area around the intersection of Eaton and Utica Streets is distinctive in that it offers advantages associated with parking as well as the close proximity to residential districts that both encourages pedestrian and bicycle use and requires careful oversight to minimize impacts on residents. It shares characteristics with the central business district as well as the commercial strip beyond Kinney Drug without replicating either of those and thus should be treated as a distinct district. It is likely that this designation could extend up the west side of Utica Street to Montgomery.
"Business Utica. The east side of Utica Street between the bank and Wylie is best suited to offices and limited kinds of service commercial traffic. To maintain the integrity of the downtown area it is valuable for it to retain its historic residential appearance and to discourage the creep of retail beyond the drive-in bank. These same characteristics may be applicable to the area west end of Milford - a region which was historically the locus of village industry but which should be understood as no longer on the village's edge, but rather in the center of the prime area for residential development.
"Business Center. The historic retail core of the Village is focused primarily on pedestrian based retail and service commercial. Street level spaces should remain retail to assure the maintenance of a critical mass of shops at the village's core. The upper stories are suitable for offices or residences. Recognizing the divergence between these uses, the Board is working to clarify upstairs and ground floor designations for uses in that area. The prohibition of "university related off-campus uses" should continue to maintain the commercial vitality of the village core and to protect the tax base."
The committee's report also addressed zoning for institutional uses, for example Colgate and HCS. It suggests:
Strategy 1: Separate the (Colgate's) Athletic facilities (including the golf course) from the central campus. The impact of the athletic fields on neighbors and community are distinct from those of the central campus. Noise, parking, lighting are very significant issues. So where they were all considered Institutional 1 in the last zoning revision, they will be separated to an Institutional 3 category.
Strategy 2: Currently, development within the central campus is subject to a special permit only when it is within 100 yards of a residential district. Our proposal is that the 100 yard rule apply to all borders of the Institutional 1 zone (campus bounded by Hamilton, Broad Street and Kendrick.) A reason for this is that the impact of University planning and development on the perimeter of the Central
Campus district normally have significant impacts on traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian and the special permit process offers a standard means of mitigating adverse neighborhood impacts.Strategy 3: Colgate will be subject to Design Overlay requirements.
Strategy 4: The properties of the Hamilton Central School would be rezoned residential rather than institutional. As public schools are authorized to plan and develop their properties independent of local control, the only relevant zoning regards what might happen if the school were to close or merge with another district. In that case, the optimal use of that important property for the community would be residential.
The report slaso said the "majority of the committee favors the creation of a 'design corridor' that addresses all properties along 12B through the village and embraces the commercial districts on East Broad as well as Lebanon and lower Eaton. (There is some sense that it should extend to all commercial structures.)"
The report, the committee members at Tuesday's meeting made clear that the new regulations would include "minimal standards that can create guidelines and separate the review process from the arbitrary 'taste' of board members."
RSS 2.0 Feed
