ldquo We rsquo ll be watching rdquo say neighbors Controversial Fletcher Road subdivision approved


GUILDERLAND — The planning board here voted unanimously last week to approve Veli Hysenllari's controversial subdivision on Fletcher Road, despite the protests of outspoken neighbors.

Earlier, Hysenllari had been issued a stop-work order and court tickets because he failed to submit proper paperwork for the amount of clearing done on his property at 49 Fletcher Road.

“Our house shook,” said Fletcher Road resident Catherine Noakes at the meeting last week. She said that trees came down at all hours.

“I have no problem with houses going up, or trees coming down,” she said. “The problem we have is the way it’s being done.” She asked the board to make Hysenllari accountable for his actions as the subdivided property is developed.

Hysenllari submitted the paperwork months ago, and received final planning board approval last week for a three-lot subdivision of 5.6 acres. He originally proposed four lots, but the Guilderland Conservation Advisory Committee suggested that only three lots be allowed. One 2.5-acre lot is a keyhole lot. The other two lots are 1.73 acres and 1.5 acres.

A driveway across both lots will be removed, according to Chris Meyer, Hysenllari's representative. Each drive will have a tee-turnaround so that drivers face traffic as they enter the road.

Meyer said that, as part of the proposal, Hysenllari would address a neighbor’s water issues.

The project includes plans to drain water that flows from the subdivision to an adjoining property owned by Douglas Lloyd at 53 Fletcher Road. Water pools at the rear of his detached garage, Lloyd told the board both in a letter and in person last week.

Meyer suggested that the water could be piped off-site, but planning board Chairman Stephen Feeney said that grading would be a better option so that maintenance would not become an issue.

Meyer said that a 30-foot by 50-foot area would need to be graded.

Several neighbors noted “lack of faith issues” with the developer.

“This, at least, provides an opportunity to address a problem,” Feeney said. If the project does not go through, he said, the drainage issue will continue.

“The lots do meet, above and beyond, all our standards,” he said.

“We all have our little cell phones and cameras,” said one resident. “We'll be watching.”

Feeney said that the grading plan should be put on the plat and made a condition of approval of the keyhole lot’s building permit.

Hysenllari's daughter, Alida, told the board that they were following all the regulations.

“I think it was pretty reasonable” for the Hysenllaris to agree to three lots instead of four, she told The Enterprise.

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