Member Rosen believed they have been somewhat misled on the Hamlin Road issue |
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and saw some options. There has been concern from the very beginning, even by the |
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request to the Zoning Board of Appeals to reduce the parking requirement, that the |
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proposed development is too much for the site. It is his opinion that the conditions |
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approved by the Planning Commission on June 16, 1998 are proper, appropriate, and |
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necessary for the safety and welfare of the city and the customers of Walgreens. |
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Having heavy truck traffic turning in and off Rochester Road is a very frightening |
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prospect to lawyers in terms of liability. If it's a site plan that they propose, they will |
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end up some day, if it's bad enough, having to defend that. He did not think they |
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could do that, given the record. He is definitely not in favor of Mr. Dearing's |
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alternative of allowing access from Boyken; that would invite a whole set of different |
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problems. He wondered why Boyken would be acceptable when Hamlin Road is |
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not. In his opinion truck size is not a good enough reason to rehash the site plan, |
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because that is controllable by Walgreens and their suppliers. All this is beginning to |
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bring the real difficulty into focus -- too much building and too much stuff on the site. |
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It is not the Planning Commission's duty to give an applicant what he wants; it is up to |
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the Planning Commission to balance the ordinance requirements with what the |
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applicant wants, with public safety, with public welfare, and with common sense. He |
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thought they did that on June 16, 1998, and he still believes that is true. The plan that |
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was approved does that about as well as you can given the conditions that they were |
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faced with. Removing the restrictions on trucks entering off Rochester Road is not in |
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the public interest. This gives the applicant an opportunity to consider options, such as |
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reduce the size of the building to allow room for the trucks to circulate around the |
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building; arrange for delivery trucks of an adequate size; investigate what it would take |
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to make Hamlin usable -- simple road repair or striping; Hamlin Road is supposed to |
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Member Ruggiero stated in all fairness to the applicant that they have demonstrated |
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that they can accommodate what they wish to do on the site, with the exception of |
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reduced parking which has already been granted by the ZBA. Similar situations exist |
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all up and down Rochester Road; it's a commercial corridor. There are some areas |
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and some businesses that rely on one driveway. The applicant has demonstrated that |
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they cannot accomplish what the Planning Commission has asked them to do. The |
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applicant is not asking for something that has not been granted to other businesses on |
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