The item on Monday night’s Zoning Board of Appeals agenda for 39 Murphy Lane read: “area variance modification for proposed changes to a previously approved barn conversion to single-family residence; seeking additional relief from the minimum front yard and rear yard requirements in the Urban Residential-3 District.”

I will provide a link to the video when it is available but here are my impressions from the evening.

First of all the Board met with two members, Skip Carlson and Adam McNeil, being replaced by alternates. Having alternates to fill in when Board members cannot be present seems like a good idea but raises a lot of questions I’m not sure have been thought through.  For instance, two alternates sat through and participated in the discussion of the Murphy Lane variances but there was no vote last night. Will the alternates be brought back for the vote on March 7 or will the regular board members who have now missed the discussion be voting?  Would the vote come out differently if the alternates not the regular Board members were voting? Some of the same questions could be asked of all the items on last night’s ZBA  agenda .

The review of Murphy Lane began with the applicant’s attorney trying to explain why the barn renovation they had brought before the Board had turned into a new construction single family house. She claimed that the applicant’s final purchase of the property was contingent on the renovation plans being approved by the ZBA. Since the applicant didn’t actually own the property she didn’t inspect the sills, walls, etc. and allegedly had no idea of the actual state of the barn.  Now the applicant is a real estate agent. It is hard for me to believe that she would make a purchase offer on a structure if she were unaware of its condition.  Anyway, her lawyer contended that once she started work on the structure it was all of a sudden discovered that there was significant deterioration and then one thing lead to another and sadly her intention to save the building gave way to replacing it with new construction. The good news, the attorney said ,was that they could eliminate one of the variances already granted and could reduce the others mainly it seemed by reducing the overhang of the roof.

Keith Kaplan noted that serious changes had been made and that a full basement that had been put in  was not in the original plans presented to the Board and had raised the whole structure two feet. He noted that the applicant and her lawyer were not ignorant applicants who were unaware of building requirements and procedures. Why, he asked them, when they decided to change the plans and put in a full basement didn’t they come back to the Board for approval.

The applicant first said she did it because she could get more storage space out of a basement.  Then, when pressed,  she said she had read the plans wrong and didn’t know she had to come back to the Board.  She just wanted to put in a basement she said.

Kaplan noted that the plans as submitted had not transpired and that made it difficult to balance the neighbor’s needs with the needs of the applicant.

Susan Steer made a strong statement criticizing the applicant. She said she was appalled by what had happened to the structure.  She had voted against the original variances and had no intention of approving the applicant’s new request. She wondered how far the whole project would have gone had the neighbors not been vigilant.

Gary Hasbrouck asked what degree of change in plans triggers a stop work order.

Steve Shaw, the city building inspector, noted he had received complaints from neighbors that the project was not going forward as presented. Shaw noted that changes are not unusual as a project proceeds. For instance if a stone foundation is being worked on and crumbles and requires an alternate plan that is not a big deal, but the building department should be consulted first. In the case of 39 Murphy Lane he said the changes increased significantly the amount of non compliance. Hasbrouck, the developers’ best friend on the Board, continued to question whether raising the foundation two feet affected the criteria they were supposed to use in granting variances and seemed to minimize the changes that had occurred in the plans for Murphy Lane.

James Helicke got straight to the point. “How is this a renovation?” he asked. “What percentage of this structure is part of the original barn? I see all new.”

William Moore admitted that when he voted for the variances he didn’t picture what is there now and would not have approved what it has turned into.

Helicke pointed out that the applicant herself had stated in her application that “Tearing down the barn and starting new would cause a detriment to the neighborhood and community character” and that this was obviously a self-created problem.

Sheri Grey, one of the alternates, commented that the barn should still be in existence to call it a renovation and that she felt this was not a re-use of existing space.

Moore asked Shaw what would happen if the new variances were not approved. Shaw replied that the project could not proceed and that the applicant would have to come back with another plan.

Kaplan asked for additional information to clarify the change in height. Shaw pointed out that a significant amount of fill had been brought into the site so it was not flat anymore and this would affect an attempt to measure the original height of the building versus what was being proposed. Other Board members asked for a comparison of the height of the project to surrounding structures.

At 7:55 the neighbors had their chance to speak. Mr. Moore did not limit speakers to two minutes this time. The neighbors were articulate and focused in their remarks. Many came armed with photos showing the original barn and the new structure for the Board to compare. The new owners of 74 White Street noted that they had decided to buy their property based on the assurance that the barn renovation would create a “cute little cottage” as William Moore had described it and felt they had been subjected to a bait and switch.  They noted that the plans were constantly changing so it was hard to make an informed decision.  They noted a number of indignities they had gone through including construction workers urinating in their yard, construction debris being dumped in their yard, and vehicles using their yard as a turn around.  When they brought all this to the attention of the applicant she merely told them to call the builder. Other neighbors testified that the applicant had told different stories about who would inhabit the new structure. Some were told the applicant herself and her family would move in. Others were told someone who lived in Florida and just came up for the races would move in. Some neighbors were told there would be an apartment in the basement. One neighbor was told the applicant planned to just flip the house. Other neighbors pointed out that the new height and window placement meant that the structure would overlook their yards and invade their privacy. Others noted that if this applicant were allowed to get away with this project it would set a precedent for other applicants in the future to do what they want and as one neighbor put it come to the board to “ask forgiveness, not approval.” A number of neighbors argued that the previous variances had been granted for work on a barn that no longer existed and so those variances were now null and void. The applicant should start over and apply for new variances based on new construction of a single family house on the plot.

Once again I was proud to live in a neighborhood where neighbors turned out to support each other and where so many spoke with clarity and argued so persuasively. But all this is to be continued. No vote was taken on the project.  The Board requested more information from the applicant. Possibly new players will be at the table next time if Carlson and McNeil, both of whom had approved the previous variances, are present.  Stay tuned—the project at 39 Murphy Lane will be back before the ZBA on March 7.

For sixteen years I was the executive director of the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council (President Johnson’s war on poverty).  During that time I frequently worked with the Saratoga County Public Health Nursing Service.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I admired these women (they were all women).

Their work with my agency was above and beyond their normal duties but these women, who visited homebound elderly and disabled, did whatever it took to help the people they were caring for.

I was appalled to read in today’s Gazette that Saratoga County is discontinuing this agency’s home nursing services.  The county alleges that there has been a dropping demand for these services and that the program has been losing money.

Of course, in the spirit of the way the county is run, the nurses were notified on the same day that the county publicly announced that it would discontinue the service.  According to the Gazette, as early as November, the county had applied to the New York State Health Department to end the service.  Apparently, they have given thirty days notice to both the employees and the people being served that the service will end.  I have no idea how difficult it will be for the existing clients to find another source.  I feel just as confident that the county has done no planning for transitioning the clients since they have kept this entire business secret.

One might ask, why is it that private agencies can make this service work financially but our county cannot?  People asked the same questions when the county closed our nursing home and sold it to a private for profit corporation.  They never got an answer.

So what happened with transparency?  Wouldn’t a decision like this involve some sort of public debate by the county supervisors and some sort of vote?  I know it is rather quaint of me to ask that question.

So where are our Supervisors?  In the past I would have emailed them about this but I have learned that both Peter Martin and Matt Veitch are incapable of action in these matters or of thoughtfully responding.  I will save Supervisor Veitch the trouble of emailing me his response.  He will simply repeat the position of the County Administrator that the service loses money and that other private agencies will fill the gap.  If I ask him to offer any proof of these assertions he will simply tell me that the issue is closed.  Peter Martin will email me back that he is forwarding my email to the County Administrator.

Neither of these two men will have any idea about the harm that this may do to some very vulnerable people.  They simply do not care.

Here is the story:

NEWS

online at www.dailygazette.comArticle printed from the web

Saratoga County to end home nursing visits

Layoffs of 12 nurses, six clerical staff also announced

By Stephen Williams February 20, 2016

The Saratoga County Public Health Nursing Service is going out of the home nursing business next month, with the anticipated layoff of 18 county employees.

County officials said the county will stop doing home visit nursing on March 22, with an anticipated layoff of a dozen nurses and a half-dozen clerical staff.

County officials said the change is driven by dropping demand for the service and its financial losses, but the county employees’ union, the Civil Service Employees’ Association, is expressing outrage.

The union said the information only reached it on Thursday — the same day the county announced the service elimination to the public, though without revealing the pending job cuts.

“CSEA has learned that the county laid out plans over a several-month period beginning in October continuing straight through to discussions with the state Department of Health,” said CSEA Regional President Kathy Garrison. “All actions on the part of county officials were carried out in secrecy with no notice to employees or residents. CSEA received notice yesterday.”

According to the county’s statement released late Thursday, last summer the Board of Supervisors hired an outside consultant to complete an analysis of the county’s certified home health agency, which recommended the county exit the business, in part because the service is also available privately. There is no record, however, of that report having been made public.

The request to close the program was submitted to the state Department of Health last November, county officials said, and was recently approved by DOH.

Giving 30 days notice that the services will end, the county can also stop taking any new referrals, effective immediately.

County Administrator Spencer Hellwig noted that the changing health care landscape and financial losses of home nursing services mean many other counties have also dropped the service in recent years.

“In 2012, there was 36 counties with certified home health programs, and now there are 12,” he said on Friday.

None of the other counties in the Capital Region provide county-funded home nursing, according to a Health Department data base.

The number of referrals for home care from hospitals or doctors has been dropping, and the county has been losing money providing the service, officials said, despite Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance reimbursements.

Hellwig said the county lost $316,000 providing the service in 2014, and will have lost around $350,000 in 2015, once figures are finalized.

The same kind of services are available from six non-government nursing services that provide “excellent” care, county officials said.

The nursing service has 86 employees, 29 of whom work in the home health care program. Hellwig said 11 will be moving into other jobs, while the details of the layoffs still need to be negotiated with CSEA officials.

Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen, a former county supervisor, said she was concerned about both the loss of services and the loss of jobs.

“As mayor I can say I’m very concerned and I can only imagine what the residents feel when they get the letter saying the service will no longer be provided,” she said.

The public health nursing department, based in the county’s Saratoga Springs office building, has been slowly transitioning into a more broad-based public health agency for at least a decade.

The nursing service is putting more attention on addressing public health issues like reducing smoking, providing immunizations, screening for lead exposure, evaluating community health risks, and addressing concerns about communicable diseases.

The state Health Department has pressured the county to create a more full-service public health department, getting away from the in-home nursing mission.

According to the county announcement, the nursing service will stop taking Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance payments for providing home health care at the end of the business day on March 21.

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, swilliams@dailygazette.net or @gazettesteve on Twitter.

CITY CENTER PARKING  STRUCTURE                   12-21-‘15

                                                FACT  SHEET

What is the “parking structure”?

The City Center Authority is proposing to build a 480 space parking facility on a portion of the High Rock Parking lot-directly east of the City Center; net gain of 292 parking spots.  Balance of High Rock lot left for future development.

Who will construct and pay for the structures maintenance?

The City Center Parking structure will be paid for and maintained by the City Center. There will be no expense to the City.

Why is additional parking needed?

The success of the City Center and the vibrancy of downtown businesses have created the need for several hundred more parking spaces, year round.

Who will be able to use the parking?

The newly created parking inventory will be available to everyone (shoppers, guests and downtown employees) not just attendees at the City Center.

Will the new parking be paid parking?

Yes. The rate is 1^st hour free, 2^nd hour $1.00, all day (8 hr.) $5.00 and overnight rate $10.00

Is this leased property and if so what will the City receive?

The City Center parking facility will use only the northerly portion of the High Rock Lot,  leaving 93  free surface spaces.  The lease is proposed as a 25 year agreement.  The City would receive $50,000. annual lease payment, + 50% of the net revenues; after operating costs, debt service and reserves.

What will this provide besides basic parking?

Direct, covered connection to the City Center and Broadway. It includes an accommodation for the  downtown “shared path” for the Green Belt and a civic area (AGORA) which may be the  home of the Farmer’s Market and host venue for other community events.

How will this parking facility work with High Rock Park?

It will create a gate-way into the park area, adding more light, life and activity. Plus more parking.

How much will this cost the City Center?  

$10.5  million dollars

How long will it take to build?

8 to 10 months. Phasing will be used to eliminate as much disruption as possible.

Unfortunately, I doubt Commissioner Mathiesen can even get  a second, but Commissioner Mathiesen continues in his role  representing the “little people.”

Article From The Saratogian

Mathiesen calls for a Comprehensive Plan change

By Jennie Grey, The Saratogian

Posted: 02/17/16, 6:00 PM EST | Updated: 2 hrs ago

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> At the Feb. 16 city council meeting, Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen set a date for a public hearing that could affect Saratoga Hospital’s plan to construct a medical office building on Morgan Street. He is calling for a reversion of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan map “institutional” designation on Myrtle Street north of Church Street and on Morgan Street to the prior designation of “residential.”

Mathiesen has said he sides with the residents there who are opposed to the project.

“I don’t think this parcel should be used for anything other than residential use,” he said.

Last year, the council adopted a new comprehensive plan, which made provisions for the proposed hospital expansion. Mathiesen now says the plan should be amended to eliminate that expansion.

“At the time, the council had a lot of other matters before it and didn’t give the attention it should have to this parcel,” he said. “Plus, I don’t think neighbors were aware of the hospital’s plan then.”

The hospital’s $14 million expansion project was proposed to help consolidate physicians and patients in one space in close proximity to the hospital, and to provide better patient care and efficiency. Saratoga Hospital has therefore planned to construct a new medical office building on Morgan Street solely for its physician employees and their staffs. The proposed building would be constructed roughly 200 yards north of the hospital’s main location at 211 Church St.

Specialties to be housed in the new building may include oncology, general surgery, bariatric surgery, urology, pulmonology, nephrology, cardiology and general family practice.

For the hospital to construct this Morgan Street building, the city council would need to vote to amend the now-residential zoning and make the 8.5 acres part of the existing Saratoga Hospital planned unit development (PUD) in that area. The city planning board has already returned a favorable advisory opinion on the PUD to the city council.

Since filing its application in August 2015, the hospital has been working cooperatively with area neighbors to address concerns over such issues as building height, lighting, stormwater management and traffic.

The city council has been hearing from the hospital, its development team and the residents. The neighbors have been very clear in stating they don’t want their residential neighborhood rezoned to take in so much business and traffic as they say the hospital offices will create.

Saratoga Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Angelo Calbone said, “Saratoga Hospital has been in this neighborhood for 100 years. So I understand the concern residents have. We are being very sensitive in how we plan to place this medical office building. We are first and foremost a hospital, dedicated to our patients; but next, we want to be a good neighbor.”

Matters became more complicated when Mayor Joanne Yepsen and Accounts Commissioner John Franck recused themselves from any discussion or vote on the hospital PUD, citing a conflict of interest. Yepsen may do work for the Hospital Foundation in future, and Franck does the taxes of two homeowners’ associations near the proposed medical facility site.

When the neighbors sent a petition, that resulted in the council needing a super-majority to vote, which it lacks because of the recusals.

“So if the PUD expansion application is dead in the water for the hospital, I didn’t want the zoning of that Morgan Street property left in limbo,” Mathiesen said. “It’s a beautiful, historic piece of land. I want to change it back to residential.”

He also said he’s suggested to the hospital that it seek an alternative parcel of land to build on, rather than pour more resources into getting the rezoning.

Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo said a proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan required a certain amount of notice before holding a public hearing. The date was set for March 15 at 6:45 p.m.

ZBA Meets On Murphy Lane “Renovation”

On Monday night the ZBA will be dealing with the “renovation” at 39 Murphy Lane.  The neighbors of this alleged “renovation” would appreciate support.  The Meeting will be at 7:00 pm on Monday night and will be the first item on the agenda (Hooray!).

City Council Meets With High Rock RFP Committee 

The City Council will be holding a special meeting at 5:30PM on Thursday, February 25, in the City Council chambers to receive a report from the committee which has been assessing the High Rock RFP responses.

Film On Health Care System Crisis 

There will be an interesting film on how to fix the health care crisis:

 League of Women Voters of Saratoga County

“FIX IT”

HEALTHCARE AT THE TIPPING POINT

Saratoga Springs Public Library

49 Henry Street

Saratoga Springs, New York

Monday, February 29

Two showings

3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.*

This new 55-minute film is made from a business perspective.  It

looks in depth at how our dysfunctional and inefficient healthcare

system damages our economy, suffocates our businesses,

discourages physicians and negatively affects the nation’s health

while it remains unaffordable for a third of our citizens.

The LWV of New York State advocates for New York Health and Medicare for All.

Discussion of the film will be facilitated by

Dr. David Ray and his medical-school students.

*If the library is closed on account of weather, it will be shown on Tuesday, March 1.

I spent the day at the Unified Development Ordinance workshops a few weeks ago.  I have to say that it was quite fun.  John Behan was the facilitator of most of the individual groups I sat in on and he kept the discussion lively and interesting.

I did not attend the evening general session but the most interesting things to me were who did not attend the day’s events and how little of the discussions focused on specific changes to the city ordinances.  Todd Shimkus, the head of the Chamber of Commerce did not attend.  David Carr and Mike Ingersoll of the LA Group attended.  Samantha Bossart, the executive director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation was quite active.  The city’s planning staff was heavily represented all day.

The initial session in the morning filled three large tables with about fifty people.  The rest of the day, aside from staff there were about thirty participants.  Again, I did not attend the evening general session.

Here are some brief observations:

1. Charlie Brown, chairperson of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, shared his prepared statement which I posted several days ago. The statement questioned why the advisory committee called for in the contract with the city had not been established.  John Behan did not respond directly but offered that the drafts, as they evolved, would be posted on the UDO website.
2. Matt Jones, noting with good humor how uncomfortable he was agreeing with me, noted the need for the land use boards to operate more efficiently.  We both agreed that there was a critical need to expand the staff of the planning office including building inspection and code enforcement.
3. Bob McTague expressed a concern I heard a number of times, that the greenbelt needed to be rigorously protected.
4. Samantha Bossart noted it would be helpful if the materials for land use meetings included a check list of the documents and issues to be discussed.  She argued that if all the required information is not submitted for a particular project/application, that the board should postpone consideration pending receiving all required documents.   She also argued that preservation should be seen as a key element in sustainability.
5.  There was a very interesting discussion that involved David Carr from the LA Group and an engineer from Glens Falls about the issue of public lighting.  This involved not only the issue of light “pollution” but what could be done to conserve energy by rethinking what should be lit and how bright that lighting should be.
6. A couple who had recently moved here from Chicago talked about the program in Chicago that involved compost.  Apparently Chicago has special receptacles that are provided to the community for composting as a way of minimizing what goes into the waste stream.
7. There were some interesting discussions about how the city should address the growing short term rental market given the growing popularity of  Airbnb and VRBO.  As it turns out and as was noted in a recent post, the city has launched an enforcement campaign while simultaneously rewriting the ordinances for this.
8. The issue of enforcement came up repeatedly but not about rental issues.  People were quite upset at the apparent violations of city ordinances for things like setbacks, sidewalks, height, etc. that draw no penalty from the city.  Tony Izzo, the city attorney, argued that proper enforcement would require additional staff for licensing, administration, and prosecution.

Given the generality of many of the suggestions, I asked John Behan how this would translate into ordinance language.  He said it would be the responsibility of his firm to craft the language.  His firm would be publishing an “ordinance diagnostic” report which I was a little unclear about but which I think will lay out the issues that need to be addressed in crafting the ordinances.

Mr. Behan said the site would post all the comments they receive and identify who submitted them.  At some point a draft representing 50% of the final document would be posted on their site.  He said they might have another workshop.

From the Saratogian February 15

City moves to dismiss Mouzon House lawsuit

Link To Story The Post Star Newspaper ran an incredible story about Siemens Building Technologies contracts with Warren County for their heating and cooling projects.  Some industrious critic did some serious research and analysis documenting the fiasco.  He shows that the county, over fifteen years, spent approximately $4,000,000.00 with Siemens which saved them $1,000,000.00 in energy bills.   In other words, they lost $3,000,000.00 

Through some tricky wording about the way the cost of energy would be determined, Siemens inflated the savings the county realized.

I wrote earlier on Saratoga County’s agreement with Siemens for similar energy devices that turned out to be wasteful.  In the case of our county, the magnitude of the loss was never disclosed.   The energy plant was part of the nursing home that was sold.  The buyer of the nursing home, recognizing that the energy plant was a loser, required the county to separate the plant from the deal and to decommission it.

As documented in my posts, I contacted both the Saratoga Springs Supervisors, Matt Veitch and Peter Martin, regarding the fiasco.  I urged them to initiate a full investigation of the history of the plant to determine who was culpable for the fiasco and to what extent Siemens could be liable for the losses.  Veitch made clear that for him the case was closed and nothing further would be done about it.  Martin responded by telling me that he was passing my charge on to the County Administer and county attorney.  As far as the public record goes, nothing was done.

Both Peter Martin’s and Matt Veitch’s failure to pursue this is an indictment of both men.  It appears that protecting the ineptitude of the Saratoga County supervisors is more important than investigating the waste of huge sums of public money. The story in the Post Star does a great job showing how Siemens operates and how, at least in Warren County, the issue is still very much alive.

ZBA board member referenced as James Paterson should have been James Helicke.

There is an interesting story in this week’s Saratoga Today about code enforcement for illegal rentals in Saratoga Springs.  Link To Article

In the age of Airbnb and VRBO.COM homeowners are increasingly renting out their houses.  As someone who has used VRBO I can testify that many of us prefer the advantages of staying in a nice apartment or home where there is a kitchen when we travel.  In effect you usually get a lot more for your money in terms of space and amenities.

Recently, as documented in the linked article, the city has sent out cease and desist notices to people illegally lodging guests in the city.  I made some inquiries about what is going on.

Apparently, this was precipitated by complaints about full house rentals in residential districts.  The complaints apparently have not been so much about someone who rents out individual rooms of their primary residence or their whole house when they are away.   The complaints have more often been instead about non- owner occupied houses being illegally rented out in residential districts.

In response the city has set up a task force made up of city attorneys Vince DeLeonardis and Tony Izzo along with representatives from the city code enforcement to work on refining the existing ordinance. In the meantime the cease and desist orders have been sent out. Supposedly these notices were not targeting short term rentals of owner occupied dwellings. I know of at least one person, though, who rents out rooms through Airbnb on occasion who was the recipient of a cease and desist notice.  So there appears to be some confusion here.

The process remains in flux.