To the Editor:

If you attended or watched the Guilderland Town Board meeting on Dec. 10 [“Town board pauses on letting Foundry Square proposal proceed,” The Altamont Enterprise, Dec. 16, 2024] and Jan. 7  [“It’s a work in progress’: Foundry Square allowed to proceed,” The Altamont Enterprise, Jan. 9, 2025], you would have heard many comments pro and con regarding Foundry Square Planned Unit Development. Whether we agree with what was said, let’s look at a few facts that need to be addressed regarding this project.

First, I think everyone can agree that this is an unsightly eyesore that we as residents have had to endure for over 25 years. Let that sink in: For a quarter of a century, this property has not been maintained as outlined in various parts of our town code. How interesting that now, all of a sudden, people are speaking out to have the site cleaned up at almost any cost to the character of our town or without regard to zoning codes.

My questions are these:

— The fire department across the street has voiced its support for this project, with some firefighters looking forward to “workforce housing.” That is a fine opportunity to look forward to, but given the amount of time that it will take to remediate the site, have public hearings by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, etc., we are looking at years before this even comes to fruition, if it does.

If this site is such a hazard for firefighters, what steps were taken to see that the site is not a hazard? What steps did the Guilderland Building and Zoning Department take to cite the owner for not maintaining their property, or better yet, when has anyone ever been cited for not maintaining their property in this town?

You would think that since the chief building and zoning officer of our town is also in the fire service, she would take some initiative to ensure the safety of the neighbors by ensuring that properties that have been neglected are addressed. (Please be aware that this is also true of the abandoned homes that are owned by Crossgates Releasco. Nothing has been done there either. Many of those homes are fire hazards and unsafe as well).

Section 280 of the town code addresses zoning in our town. If you are to read this part of the code, you will clearly see that none of it is being adhered to or addressed by the town;

— Concerns raised by those neighbors who reside behind this property have made it very clear that this project will affect their daily lives continuously. The issues? The size of the buildings, the number of apartments, and most concerning, the traffic.

I will repeat what I said at the town meeting: The town ignored the neighbors on Route 155 where Hamilton Parc was built, they ignored the residents in Westmere, specifically Westmere Terrace, and you are now ignoring the residents who live on Foundry Road.

Three members of the town board are up for re-election this year. I urge the residents of this town to pay attention. Why would you re-elect these folks when they are ignoring you and voting in favor, once again for developers. It makes you wonder why. When are we as residents ever listened to? Do any of our local politicians listen to what we want?

We voted them in because they told us they work for the residents of this town. Explain how this is working for town residents and not a developer, and in particular, a wealthy town resident claiming destitution and needing to have the town do what she wants.

I repeat: We are not responsible for bad business deals of others or greed, which is what is the root of this problem. No one bails out the rest of us, so why should the town approve what Teri Bohl wants? Pay your dues, clean up your mess. You are responsible, not the town, for giving you what you want;

— Town board members said they spent time with the developers to listen to what they had to say about this project and to try and work toward a solution. Were these secret meetings? Were there individual meetings? How many attended at once?

Why wasn’t the public privy to or allowed in these meetings? Do you think that perhaps members of the public could have benefited from being able to watch these interactions? Isn’t this a violation of the Open Meetings Law? 

After all, the town board is supposed to work for the public and part of that would have been transparency by including their constituents who placed you in office to represent them;

— This project will set a precedent. Is this what we want? Do we want to see more multi-story buildings in this part of town? Why the push for this zoning, which essentially allows a developer to build to any height?

We are watching our town become urbanized and that is not what we have said we want. The comprehensive plan update has not even been fully reviewed or presented or even discussed by the town board.

We voted these people in because we thought they had our interests at heart. Sadly, they do not. As difficult as this decision may be, learn to say no. Be firm in your convictions and what you are willing to accept. Better yet, go knock on some doors and talk to your constituents instead of sitting on the dais and making armchair decisions.

Robyn Gray

Chairwoman

Guilderland Coalition For Responsible Growth