GUILDERLAND — Residents settled in for the long haul at a double planning-board meeting last week to express their displeasure with plans for a neighborhood vet practice, unrestricted town homes, and more development on a narrow, small street.
Veterinarian Laurie Coger, of 20 Shady Lane, submitted a site plan for a home occupation, which was approved conditionally. The planning board said that "no onsite visitation of clients is permitted."

Coger said that the majority of her practice is house calls, but that she occasionally treats her friends’ and acquaintances’ show dogs at her home. Coger said that animals would be seen at her home two or three times each week, and that none would be housed or hospitalized at her home. Coger gives the animals chiropractic treatments, she said. She said that she did not plan to put up a sign.

Because veterinary offices are not permitted in residential areas, Coger’s request would have needed a variance. Board members said that her application would have been no problem if she were not seeing animals at the house.

Neighbor John McNeil said that Coger’s website described a mail-order aspect of her business. The number of clients determines whether a business is small or large, McNeil said.
"This business falls in what I don’t think of as customary home use," he said.

Another neighbor said that Shady Lane and nearby Oak Drive merge into a cul-de-sac, which is not meant for business.
While another resident said that the board would send the wrong message to people who think they can simply get special-use permits, board Chairman Stephen Feeney said, "Home businesses/occupations are allowed" according to town standards.

Feeney said that animal use is only allowed in agricultural districts or areas with larger square-footage uses.
Donald Reeb, president of the McKownville Neighborhood Association, said, "There are better ways to handle this." Reeb suggested that Coger rent a room at a nearby veterinary hospital when she cannot see clients at their homes.

The planning board decision to deny animals on site caused audience members to heave audible sighs. Coger asked for a copy of the code and was told that copies are available at Town Hall or online.

Rosedale Meadows

The board gave final plat approval for John Ciancetta’s project in the heart of the Rosedale Meadows, a restrictive town-home community on Rosedale Way. Surveyor Mark Blackstone said that Ciancetta was prepared to maintain the same restrictive standards for the four townhouse lots.

Town Planner Jan Weston said that the lots were not part of the original Rosedale Meadows, and did not have density restrictions.

A Rosedale Meadows board member asked the planning board to impose the community’s restrictions on the new homes, but the planning board said that the restrictions were a private agreement outside the planning board’s authority. The planning board said that, if Ciancetta will voluntarily comply with Rosedale Meadow restrictions, then it would ask Ciancetta to remove a non-compliant chain-link fence around the construction zone, and to require that purchasers of the four town homes comply with the neighborhood’s restrictions.

Razing wrangle

With a split vote, the planning board approved Lisa Romano’s request for a mortgage consulting business at 1847 Western Ave.

Conflict about the lack of parking on the parcel, an inaccessible back alley, and an unfinished plan that may include a rough sketch by Chairman Feeney kept the vote from being unanimous.

Weston said that the plan presented by attorney Tim Elliott had two invalid rear parking spaces, from which cars could not back out. The narrow strip of planned green space would not allow adequate snow storage, she said.

Following the board’s earlier recommendations, Elliott said that the garage on the property would be razed to provide parking for the business and a tenant on the property. He said that the nearby alley, which could have allowed through access and alleviated parking concerns, is privately owned.

Feeney sketched a parking plan and gave it to Elliott.
"There can be some design back there that works," Feeney said. His plan allowed five spaces of the six required, and allowed green space for snow storage. He said that Romano could get a special-use permit.

Board member Lindsay Childs said that he would not approve the plan until Romano had contacted the alley’s owner about using the access. Romano told the board that her surveyor told her sewer pipes are under the alley, which cannot handle much traffic.

Elliott said that he had researched a possible easement and found none, and had found the owner of the alleyway, but, to require Romano to approach the owner privately, was beyond the board’s authority.
"I frankly don’t know that you have the power to require that of us," Elliott said.
Childs said that, with or without alleyway access, "I would like to see a site plan we’re happy with."

Feeney said that the board’s recommendation to the zoning board is that Romano present a better layout, reasonable access to the alley, if possible, and snow storage. He said that the site plan should be modified to accommodate a minimum of five parking spaces with possible future access to the alley. He recommended that Romano contact the alley’s owner to pursue the opportunity to gain access for her use.

Childs voted against the recommendation. Board members Terry Coburn, James Cohen, Paul Caputo, and Feeney voted for it. Board members Thomas Robert and Michael Cleary were absent.

McKown Road

A proposed four-lot subdivision of 1.13 acres brought out neighbors opposed to the development on McKown Road. Nearby residents voiced worries about limited parking and driving space and wetlands, and fears of contamination from a defunct gas station nearby.

The planning board continued Bill Strassburg’s proposal for 1-3 McKown Road until a state Department of Environmental Conservation record of the tests on the gas station site is located. Feeney asked engineer Zareh Altounian to present ideas on how drainage on the site will be handled, and possible locations of catch basins.
"Don’t engineer it, but at least give us some idea of what your plans are," Feeney said.
Altounian was surprised to hear of the gas station nearby. He said, "That I didn‘t know about." His partner, Tony Trimarchi, told the board that he had seen a report about the gas station.
"It should be OK. It was cleared," Trimarchi said.
"That property is very wet," Coburn said.
Neighbors complained that, aside from drainage issues, McKown Road is narrow with two lanes, no shoulder, and dog-walkers. Noting three school-bus trips per day, trash collections on the road, and holiday visitors’ cars parked in the road, one resident said, "Access is already compromised on this street." Adding new lots would increase the daily traffic, she argued. "It’s just not acceptable, really," she said.
"The lots are larger than most of the lots in the neighborhood," Feeney told residents. "This clearly meets the standards. Drainage is clearly going to be an issue. Our standards are that they can’t make it worse for the neighbors."
Feeney said that the board could not deny this project because of the traffic impact. He said that the code calls for a minimum two-car driveway for each proposed lot, and that most of the project is on Westlyn, not McKown Road. To study the effect of increased traffic, the board must consider the number of trips made for each residence. "What are three houses going to do to the percentage of the trips"" Feeney said.

Other business

In other business, the planning board:

— Approved Dominic Riguso’s subdivision of 5.17 acres into three lots on Veeder Road;

— Approved the concept presentation of a two-lot subdivision of .6 acres at 3039 Old State Road;

— Approved the final site plan for the planned unit development Mill Hill at Route 155. The final plan must show a sidewalk plan for the proposed phase 4; a note must be made on the plans for a change of title; all roads and storm water facilities in phases 2, 3, and 4 should be maintained by the lot owners; an easement across Mill Hill Court for the ballet school on the site must be shown; and the roads are private and must be designated as private on the plan;

— Approved an application to cut an existing single-family home from the Mohawk Village Apartments at 1-5 Okara Drive;

— Approved Lisa Romano’s initial proposal to subdivide 14.7 acres on Route 158 into four lots. Two of the lots will share access on Route 158, and one lot will access Route 20. Romano must provide a storm water prevention plan and show fire and emergency access on her plan, the board said;

— Approved Vera Dordick’s request to use office space in Park Place Plaza for her Queen of Tarts business. Dordick said that the space was formerly used as a gift shop.
"We outgrew our space," Dordick said. The company’s cakes are being served in area hotels, and its wedding cakes are becoming a large business, she said; and

— Approved a site plan to allow an in-law apartment at 1 Ardsley Road. The board told owners Louis and Margaret Carciobolo that they must provide more details on their plan to the zoning board.