Gotham Properties presents lot-line adjustment; board flags utility easements, cell-tower location and ZBA variances

Gotham Properties (previously referred to as Robert/Aurora Innovations) presented a proposed lot-line adjustment affecting roughly 40.8 acres along Pulaski Highway (County Route 6). Applicant representative Anton Spetersack described a reconfiguration to reduce four tax lots into three, transferring an easement area to an adjacent parcel and addressing a landlocked parcel in the rear.

The board classified the proposal as a Type II action under SEQRA (no county GML referral required under the town-county agreement) and voted to record that classification during the meeting. Board members and the applicant spent the bulk of the discussion identifying outstanding issues the applicant must address before the planning board can approve a lot-line adjustment, including: the location and legal status of electric-service lines and easements that feed a cell tower, the actual built location of the cell tower compared with the approved site plan, private-road frontage and lot-frontage issues for parcels accessed from a private road, and front- and rear-yard setback variances that will be needed.

Applicant Anton Spetersack presented a colored map showing proposed lot lines and easements and said the owner Casa Verde had offered to buy a portion of an easemented area to consolidate access. Board members asked the applicant to confirm whether the utility poles and service runs are covered by recorded easements and to verify the cell tower’s as-built location; one board member said the tower appears closer to an airplane hangar and grass landing strip than the approved plan indicates and recommended a resurvey and, if necessary, an amended site-plan application for the tower.

The planning board advised the applicant to pursue required variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) before the planning board approves the lot-line adjustment. The board also discussed whether to hold a public hearing; members agreed to table that decision pending a legal opinion and the ZBA outcome. The applicant said he would resubmit revised materials to both the ZBA and the planning board so the boards could review updated survey and easement information.

During the meeting the planning board recorded a procedural motion to treat the lot-line adjustment as a SEQRA Type II action; the motion passed. The board did not finalize the lot-line adjustment and listed several follow-up items for the applicant, including verified easement descriptions and updated surveys. No final approval was granted at the meeting.