Two new hotels won permission to build higher than the rules allow. The night's biggest decision was a pair of related requests from Indus Hospitality Group, a Rochester-based company that develops, owns, and operates hotels and restaurants. The company is planning a multi-building project on the Griffiss Business and Technology Park, near the traffic circle where Hill, Geiger, and Ellsworth roads meet. Two of the buildings are extended-stay hotels (Home2 Suites and a Woodspring Suites) plus a small one-story commercial building with space for a restaurant. Both hotels would be four stories, but that part of the park is zoned for a maximum of three stories and 35 feet, so each hotel needed an area variance (permission to bend one of the code's dimensional rules). The developer's engineer told the board that today's national hotel brands require a minimum number of rooms to be financially workable, and that building up rather than out actually shrinks the project's footprint and leaves more green space. He also pointed out that four-story buildings already stand nearby. The board agreed the extra height would not harm the area and approved both hotels 5-0. The city's Planning Board had already approved the overall site plan back in May, on the condition that these height variances were granted. That means the board's vote clears the last major hurdle for a project that adds to the ongoing build-out of the former Air Force base.

A fence, a property line, and a deck all got a quick yes. Three smaller requests passed unanimously with little discussion. A homeowner on South James Street will be allowed to replace a six-foot fence with an eight-foot one to help block traffic noise from nearby Route 365. A realty company got permission to shift a shared property line on Pinebrook Lane so it lines up with two houses near a golf course that were built at a slight angle to it. And a resident won approval to build an open-air deck in the front yard of his home on Fairview Lane. This is something the code normally prohibits, but which the board noted is already common on that street. All three were area variances, the more routine kind, which the board weighs using a five-part balancing test that looks at things like the effect on the neighborhood and whether there's another reasonable way to solve the problem.

A contractor got his warehouse, but not his gravel driveway. The most interesting split of the night came over two requests from the same applicant regarding property on South Doxtator Avenue, a short dead-end street that runs down toward the canal. The applicant, who said his family has owned the land for more than 50 years, first asked for a use variance to build a small warehouse, 24 by 25 feet, which the code does not allow in that commercial zone. A use variance is the harder kind to get, but the board approved it 5-0. Members agreed the spot was unique, sitting behind homes on a dead-end road and directly across from a much larger warehouse. They felt a small one would fit right in. His second request was to leave the new driveway as gravel instead of paving it, which divided the board. City rules require driveways to have a hard, all-weather surface such as asphalt or concrete. Several members said they had held other applicants to that standard and didn't want to set a precedent by waiving it here. One member argued the gravel would do no harm on such a lightly used stub of road, but the request failed on a 3-2 vote. The board encouraged the property owner to work out an acceptable surface with the city's code officer before he builds.