GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals this week approved 27,000 square feet of self-storage at 2360 Western Ave., current site of the M&M Motel.

A-Metro received permission to construct four buildings on the three-acre site: a two-story, 10,000-square-foot climate-controlled building and three smaller cold-storage structures varying in size between 5,100 and 6,800 square feet. 

The hang-up multiple boards had with the project was its proposed aesthetics.

The planning board had raised concerns about the lack of architectural character and visual appeal of the self-storage buildings, in particular the climate-controlled structure. The planning board felt the proposed flat-roof design and industrial-style materials were inconsistent with the desired character of the area and suggested the applicant explore alternative materials and designs. 

To receive approval, A-Metro, which heard similar comments from the zoning board, eventually returned with a project, in the words of project architect Dan Sanders, whose “center section,” which is orange, now has a “prominent Gable on a six-on-12 pitch,” meaning, for every 12 inches moved horizontally, the roof rises 6 inches; a canopy over the front entrance; and is flanked on either end with a parapet wall.

Airgas

The zoning board also approved an addition to the Airgas facility located inside the Northeastern Industrial Park. 

In October 2021, the board approved a special-use permit and major variance that allowed for construction of a facility to store and distribute the liquid argon. 

Airgas USA, a major producer of gases used in manufacturing, food production, and health care, received approval to build ten 47-foot tall tanks to hold liquid argon.

Each 13,000-gallon double-walled tank holds the argon, which is kept at a temperature of negative 300 degrees. Argon is used mainly in welding.

On Feb. 5, the board approved an expansion of the facility to include a carbon dioxide depot on the site, which will include two large storage tanks; two offload rail towers, which are a specialized structures for transferring bulk materials or cargo from railcars to storage systems, trucks, or conveyors; a shed; and a concrete pad with associated equipment. 

Inns of Altamont

The Inns of Altamont continues to wend its way toward approval. 

The proposed project site at 1180 Berne-Altamont Road is a 16-acre property that sits on the shoulder of the Helderberg escarpment overlooking the village of Altamont.

Project developer Kent Hansen is proposing to turn the former Peter Young Center into a 30-room hotel with a 45-seat restaurant and multiple event spaces, both indoor and outdoor. 

In October, the zoning board OK’d the project concept, allowing it to be sent to the village of Altamont’s rural referral committee, which, due to a 2005 law, gets to weigh in on actions to real property within 1,200 feet of the village boundary, or 1,200 feet from a current or future Altamont water system.

The committee had a few notes, but the main comment was one echoing the Albany County Planning Board’s recommendation, that the project receive a formal review and permits from the New York State Department of Transportation as Berne-Altamont Road is owned by the state. The entrance to the property has been cited by neighbors and the town’s planning board as an issue. 

Project engineer Luigi Palleschi told the zoning board that the traffic impact of the proposed use wouldn’t really differ from the site’s previous use. He said that, when the former Peter Young Center would host baseball tournaments, “more than 100 cars that would utilize that curb cut,” and “we feel that the new uses are comparable to what the current or what was previously used.”

The zoning board decided to wait for more information on the project’s potential traffic issues and kept the public hearing open.