Neighbor objects as Lucarelli plans to build two homes for family



GUILDERLAND — A 15-year dispute between neighbors made its way to the planning board here last week, when one of the neighbors asked to build two homes for family members on his 42-acre property.

Jack McDonald, of McDonald Engineering in Schenectady, told the board that Joseph Lucarelli wants to divide 41.9 acres on Old State Road into two lots to build homes for his daughters. The property is zoned for agriculture.

Lucarelli’s neighbor Earl MacIntosh said that the town must protect his property, and the Watervliet Reservoir, from storm water that flows from Lucarelli’s land. MacIntosh presented to the board two poster boards full of pictures showing the installation of a 500-foot drainage pipe that he said was on Lucarelli’s property, and the ensuing damage that he said the flow had caused. He also showed pictures that he said proved that wetlands had been filled in on Lucarelli’s property.
"I just can’t believe that someone can get away with this nonsense," MacIntosh said. He said that the resulting water flow had affected his home.

MacIntosh insisted that the work had been done in the 1990s, but McDonald said that any previous changes to the land were done in the 1980s.

McDonald suggested that the Lucarellis meet with MacIntosh. He said that Army Corps of Engineer regulations for wetlands were different in the 1980s than they are today.
"Today is today, and we want to comply," McDonald said.
"I want them to prove that it was the ’80s. That’s not true. Absolutely not true," MacIntosh said.
McDonald said that the year "1992 was 15 years ago. The issue is what’s going to happen today."

McDonald told the board that the only work proposed is a shared driveway that is partially in place now. The board said that the long driveway must be able to hold a 50,000-pound emergency vehicle. McDonald said that he would check on whether or not the 24-inch culvert currently under the driveway can support that heavy of a weight.
"Erosion, sedimentation control is going to be critical on this project" because of the stream flowing through the culvert, planning board Chairman Stephen Feeney said. He said that the project must consider the outfall.
"Clearly, that’s what the pipe’s for," Feeney said. The water is now moving, he said, but that the work has been done.

Steve Reuter, Lucarelli’s son-in-law who hopes to move into one of the proposed homes, presented pictures he had taken of work that he said was improperly done on MacIntosh’s property.
"I don’t want to get into a neighborhood dispute," Feeney said. "It’s a non-issue."

Feeney said that installing culverts, as MacIntosh may have done, is different than piping water from one place to another.

The board gave the project conceptual approval, and suggested that the applicant could agree to stabilize the property if, after the planning board sees the end of the pipe, it finds that damage has been done.

Other business

In other business, the planning board:

— Continued an application by Dilip and Anna Das, who want to build a home on two of their 11 acres at 6030 Nott Road.
"It’s in the floodplain," Feeney told their attorney, Salvatore Rico, of the Proskin law firm.

Feeney said that the first floor must be elevated one to two feet above the flood elevation. Elevations have not been determined in the area of the Dases’ property.

Board member Thomas Robert said that he had walked the property, and that the proposed house site is below the road.

He and Feeney said that the Dases could still build there.
"The furnace or electrical must be up above the floodplain — if you’re in. You need an engineer to determine that," Feeney said.
The Dases might have to bring in fill to raise the house, Feeney said. "There’s issues with that, too, because it displaces the water," he said;

— Approved a site plan review to allow an in-law apartment at 140 Schoolhouse Road;

— Approved two site plan reviews at 3770 Carman Road at Carman Plaza for a card and gift shop, and for a nail salon.
The proposals had no site changes, and no planning objections from the town planner, "and no one here. That’s OK. We don’t mandate that from the applicants," Feeney said.

Board member Paul Caputo said that he wants the application process to be fair for all Guilderland business owners, and he proposed a minor change in the way future applications are presented to the planning board.
"I’d really appreciate a paragraph"or two from our zoning officer stating why they’re in front of us"as to what has changed in their [special use permit] from what was there," Caputo said.