TOWN OF GUILDERLAND PLANNING BOARD MARCH 8, 2017 Minutes of meeting held at Guilderland Town Hall, Rt. 20, Guilderland NY, 12084 at 7:30pm. Members Present: Stephen Feeney, Chairman Theresa Coburn James Cohen Michael Cleary Thomas Robert Herb Hennings William Meehan Chairman Feeney called the meeting to order at 7:30pm. He noted the emergency exits in the event they were needed. ****************************************************************************** PYRAMID MANAGEMENT GROUP Chairman Feeney stated that this was an advisory opinion to rezone 12.7 acres of land on Western Avenue from R-15/Local Business/Business Non-Retail Professional to General Business to allow construction of a 200-unit hotel. Robert Sweeney presenting. Mr. Sweeney gave a brief overview of the project. Mr. Sweeney stated that the 12.7 acre parcel has three different zonings presently and they are looking to change the zoning to General Business which permits the hotel. He also discussed the changes being made for CDTA at Crossgates Mall and the hotel, including rotaries and this would be in close proximity to the hotel. Lehner Road would be relocated so that it lines up with the main intersection of the center food court section of the mall. There was discussion regarding drainage and parking needs. Chairman Feeney asked if there were any questions or comments from the residents. Don Reeb of 5 Norwood Street asked if there would be fill added to the site. Bryan Clenahan, County Legislator, encouraged the Boards to do a complete, objective and thorough traffic study regarding this project. Cheryl Lasher of the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, spoke favorably about the project. There was discussion of rezoning only the parcel that the hotel would be on and leaving the rest as is for now. 1
Chairman Feeney made a motion regarding the advisory opinion for Pyramid Management Group rezoning request for 12.7 acres to General Business to accommodate construction of a 200 room, 5 story hotel. I recommend for the following reasons: The proposed zone change and hotel project is consistent with development in the area, compatible with surrounding land uses, represents an extension of the adjoining GB District and is reasonable under the existing land use circumstances. The proposed zone change and hotel project is also consistent with the recently adopted Westmere Corridor Study which recommended a Transit Oriented Development District (TOD) in the area. The Plan states that permitted uses in the TOD District should include a wide range of uses found in the Town s GB District while discouraging auto-dependent uses such as drive through windows. At this time the zone change to General Business (GB) should be confined to the 6.5+/- acre lot created for the construction of the hotel. The applicant should provide a sketch subdivision plan identifying any proposed lot line realignments. Motion seconded by Tom Robert. Vote 7 0. MATTER OF VAITULIS 2825 CURRY ROAD Advisory opinion to rezone 47.9 acres from Residential (R-40) to Agricultural (A) to allow construction of a solar farm. Andy Brick presenting. Mr. Brick stated that this property is currently used by Mr. Vaitulis for his home and field crops. The area directly across the street from the residence is mainly commercial and industrial uses. Mr. Brick stated that Mr. Vaitulis is interested in constructing a solar farm in the middle of his property. There is no specific design yet; if the property is rezoned they would come back for a special use permit for the solar farm. The proposal would be to have the solar array in the middle of the property and maintain the vegetative buffer around the lot. Mr. Brick stated that the solar array would have no visual impacts on the neighbors. Chairman Feeney suggested that the parcel could be rezoned from R40 to RA5 which would still allow for solar arrays and would be a very significant down zone. Chairman Feeney asked if there were any questions or comments from the residents. There were none. Chairman Feeney made a motion for this advisory opinion to the Town Board regarding Vetto Vaitulis rezoning request from Residential (R-40) to Agricultural to permit construction of a solar farm. Recommend for the following reasons: The proposed change represents a down zone to a less intensive district in an area recommended for full protection by the Pine Bush Commission. Agricultural zoning is compatible with the surrounding land uses and neighboring character. 2
The Town Board should consider changing the zoning district to Rural Agricultural (RA5) to reduce future development potential and associated environmental impacts. The zone change to RA5 should be conditioned on not allowing mining as is currently allowed by SUP in the RA5 district. A sketch plan should be provided identifying the boundary of the proposed solar array, location of any associated structures and the limits of ground disturbance to allow a better determination of any environmental impacts. Motion seconded by Terry Coburn. Vote 7 0. MATTER OF RICK RAPP 2500 WESTERN AVENUE Site plan review for construction of a two-story mixed-use building (11,625sf) consisting of 11 apartment units and 8720sf of retail/office space. Luigi Palleschi presenting. Luigi Palleschi of ABD Engineering stated that this project is located at the corner of Western Avenue and Hague Drive. There are currently three separate parcels will be combined into one parcel to be developed with a two story mixed use building. In 2009 this parcel did receive approval for a 9000sf medical office building with a parking lot. It was on the market since 2009; but there is no demand for this type of use. What they now are proposing is a residential mixed use type of development at the corner. Mr. Palleschi gave a brief overview of the project and discussed water line, drainage, traffic, etc. Chairman Feeney asked about the variance request for the one parking space in the front setback. Mr. Palleschi replied that they could eliminate that parking space that requires an area variance. Chairman Feeney asked if there were any questions or comments from the residents. There were none. Chairman Feeney made a motion regarding the construction of 11,625sf mixed use building with 11 apartments and 8720sf office retail space. Recommend site plan with the following conditions: Provide a detailed lighting and landscaping plan. Landscaping to include deciduous street trees. Relocate proposed handicapped parking spaces to provide a better direct connection to the building. Eliminate parking space that requires an area variance. Provide building elevation drawing. Identify the large trees on the site plan that will be preserved. Motion seconded by Mickey Cleary. Vote 7 0. Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm. 3
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