GLOVERSVILLE – The man who recently purchased the former city Water Department building discussed his plans to turn it into a bottle return center Tuesday.
Joe Semione was previously awarded the highest bid by the Common Council to purchase the former Water Department building.
He bought the building on the corner of North Main Street and Third Avenue for $26,500. Semione said he will turn the building into a second bottle and can return service for his business, Perfect Redemption Bottle and Can Return, after some repairs to the structure are complete.
Semione already has a recycling center located in the old Meco Fire Department building that opened during the summer.
Semione came before the Planning Board on Tuesday to discuss the site plans for the return business.
He originally had plans to have a 4-foot illuminated sign on a 6-foot pole in front of the business but was advised by members of the board it should be higher to avoid distracting drivers and to deter vandalism.
The board and Semione agreed the sign would be OK at 10 feet high.
The board also asked how he planned to take care of pick-ups when large tractor trailers arrive to get the recyclables.
Semione said he will try to work out a plan to have them picked up in the early morning. He also said those days he will have additional staff to help load the truck faster and estimated it would take about 40 minutes on a given day.
The board completed a short form State Environmental Quality Review on the proposed site plan and also scheduled a public hearing for June 4 at 7 p.m. on the site plan.
The board asked Semione to update the plans with more specific information on the sign that will be used and specifications for any additional security lighting that will be placed on the building.
In other meeting business:
- After a silent public hearing on a permit to allow city resident Richard Ruby to convert a commercial building at 47-49 Spring St. into a single-family residence, the board approved the proposal.
The Fulton County Planning Department previously reviewed the application and decided sufficient information was provided by Ruby.
In March, the city Common Council rezoned the property from manufacturing to residential.
The zoning change included six properties on the block: 8 Frontage Road, 49 Spring St., 83 Bleecker St., 40 Church St., 30 Church St. and 52 Church St.
The board also recommended the Common Council approve the proposed zoning change along Yale Street between Third and Fourth Avenue.
City Attorney Anthony Casale previously told the Common Council the owners of the former Captain Video building, at 36 Fourth Ave., would like the zoning of the property to be changed to give them more options for the site.
Casale said the zoning for the side of the street where the building is located is residential, while the opposite side of the street is zoned residential/ commercial.
Since the property is on the border of that zoning district, the city can extend the other zone from across the street, Casale said.
The zoning modifications would be for the following parcels: 36 Fourth Ave., 68 Yale St., 55 Third Ave. and 57 Third Ave.
The Planning Board asked Robert Floyd, who owns property at 16 John St., to provide a more detailed plan and blueprint for a barn-style garage that he would like to build in his backyard.
He has a lot of about 0.3 acres and would like to construct a garage that is 40 feet by 36 feet and 24-feet tall, which he intends to use to work on his own vehicles.
However, the maximum height of an accessory building in the city is 18 feet, and anything taller requires a site plan review by the board.
The board also made it clear that his business, Adirondack Truck and Trailer Repair, cannot be conducted on the property or in the garage.
DPW Director Kevin Jones also had the updated city zoning map adopted by the Planning Board on Tuesday.
Jones said he has been working with C.T. Male Associates to update the City’s Zoning Map will all the changes that have been made in recent years and to correct inaccuracies in the map. He said the map was last updated in 1989.
