GUILDERLAND — Having previously come to the town with plans that included more units but were out of sync with the Guilderland’s intended development goals for the area, Rosetti Properties of Colonie is now proposing a 96-unit townhome development on Carman Road.

Placards notifying the public that the Dutch Mill Acres Townhome application was slated to be heard at an upcoming town board meeting were posted on Carman Road and Lone Pine Drive, but no meeting date is listed on the Dec. 28 affidavit that’s on file with the town.  

The project address is 3633 Carman Road. 

First brought to the town’s development planning committee in October 2019 as a 12-building, 120-apartment development, Rosetti at the time was seeking a zoning change from general business to one that allowed for multi-residential development for the 16.2-acre property that borders Carman Road, Lone Pine Road, and Danna Joelle Drive. No formal application was made at the time.

“Town staff commented at the meeting that there may not be support for the zone change to multiple-residence, based on the Carman Road Transportation Study,” The Enterprise reported in 2019. “Town staff recommended that the developer consider instead a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, that would incorporate commercial uses, as the Carman Road study advocated for this parcel.”

The town suggested in 2019 that Rosetti construct townhomes next to the existing single-family homes on Danna Joelle Drive, with apartments in the middle of the development, and commercial space along Carman Road — the recommendations were meant to align the project more closely with the guidance laid out in the Carman Road study.

The project’s name is a nod to its past. 

Rosetti bought the land from the Mastrianni family, who had once owned Dutch Mill Nursery on the property, and The Enterprise was told in 2019 that the development’s name was chosen out of respect for that family as well as the history of the site.

In February of last year, the project was back before the development planning committee for a second review, but this time Rosetti was seeking a 132-unit apartment and townhouse development, proposing five apartment buildings, each consisting of 20 units, and eight townhome-style buildings with four units each as well as 3,000 square feet of commercial space.

Rosetti was also looking to change the zoning of the property from general business to a Planned Unit Development district, a recommendation made by the town when the project was first proposed.

Planned Unit Developments requires a rezone through the passage of a new local law. The town board is the lead agency on PUD applications. 

Rosetti’s latest proposal on file with the town is for a 12-building, 96-unit townhome development that has 3,000 square feet designated for commercial use — the project’s traffic study notes that a previous traffic study was prepared in June 2020 for a proposed development of 112 multi-family residential units and 6,000 square feet of commercial space.

The project narrative also notes there are 20 spaces for a potential Capital District Transportation Authority Park ’n’ Ride.

Building boom

As of the start of December, 18 single-family homes, 52 townhomes, and 241 apartments had either been approved or were already under construction in Guilderland, while another 206 townhomes and 111 single-family homes — half of which are up for approval — had been proposed.

On the planning board’s Jan. 13 agenda is a consideration for a negative  State Environmental Quality Review Act declaration for a 58-lot single-family subdivision proposed for 2745 Old State Road. 

A negative declaration means an in-depth environmental review would not be undertaken.

Presented as a concept five years ago this month and applied for in November 2017, JTR Realty was before the board in June of last year with an update on the project, having previously appeared on its agenda in April 2017, when the board expressed concerns about water and sewer would be brought to the site.