NEW SCOTLAND — Two small-business neighbors in the town’s industrial zone are working through planning and zoning requirements as they expand their services — a feed store, and more mulch, topsoil, and other bulk products.

Gary Guyette proposed to the town board in April that he use his existing barns at 209 New Scotland South Road to open a feed supply store similar to the Original Applebee’s shop that recently closed in Westerlo. Also in April, Scotland Yards Landscaping Supplies owner P. J. Hognestad went before the planning board to discuss a site plan for expanding his business next to Guyette’s, at 198 New Scotland South Road.

“That property is a very sore subject with his having trucks coming in and out of there,” said resident Sharon Boehlke about the landscaping business at the town board meeting. “What’s the added traffic going to be?” She also suggested that, if Guyette’s venture failed, the property would languish and not be improved.

The town board said that it would not discuss the planning board application, but Guyette said, “I thought the use we came up with would suit the property. I own the house across the street. I don’t want to make it worthless.”

“The properties are adjacent to each other,” said town Councilman William C. Hennessy Jr. “They’re selling bulk materials in bins. I’m supportive of the use. It could probably help buffer part of the use behind it,” he said of Guyette’s proposal. He noted Guyette’s continued use of the existing barns, and the town’s recent relocation of the Hilton barn from its original site to one along the county’s rail trail.

“We just established that we want to maintain historic barn buildings,” he said.

Town board member Patricia Snyder said that the was not comfortable with Guyette’s proposal or the history of his property, which has been approved, previously, for horse boarding and for equipment sales and rentals. The town received complaints in 2003 for expanding his business at a nearby property without permits and for not fulfilling conditions of his site plan.

Snyder also took issue with Hognestad’s site plan, and she read a statement at the planning board meeting.

“As a town board member, I am regularly approached about the sight of the property and the speed of the trucks” near Hognestad’s business, Snyder said. She asked what he would do to address the complaints.

Hognestad said that he uses union drivers who work only Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., but that trucks from other companies use the road, also called Route 308, as a main cut-through from nearby gravel pits.

“The road is approved for truck traffic,” he said.

Hognestad said that board members asked him to move materials, but that the town’s attorneys told him the materials were too close to water and had to be moved back.

“Everything I’m told to do, I do, and then I’m told everything I’m doing is wrong,” Hognestad said.

Expanding businesses

“Gary’s thrilled to death with what I’m doing, and I’m thrilled to death with what he’s doing,” Hognestad told The Enterprise. He said that he and Guyette are each other’s only neighbors for three-quarters of a mile. Hognestad’s property wraps around Guyette’s property like a horseshoe, Hognestad said. One side of Hognestad’s property borders the large National Grid substation in New Scotland.

“He’s trying to do stuff. I’m trying to do stuff,” he said of Guyette.

Guyette told the town board that he has been repairing the four barns on his property; he said that the barns look better now, even if the town disagrees. Guyette also owns land across the street from his barns, he said.

If Guyette’s concept for the feed store is approved, town board member Laura Ten Eyck said, “We’re giving up the residential use of this area. I’m not necessarily opposed to that.”

“It’s going to be a long, long series of meetings,” Hognestad told The Enterprise about meeting with the town for his site plan application. Hognestad’s business sits on 20.3 acres in the town’s relatively limited industrial zone.

Building Inspector Jeremy Cramer told the planning board in April that he had issued a violation notice to Hognestad for both an unapproved land expansion and for bringing unapproved amounts of fill onto his property. Cramer told the board that Hognestad had worked to come into compliance.

Cramer also said that, in 2014, Hognestad received site plan approval to sell mulch, stone, and firewood at his business, and that a steel shop on the submitted plan was under construction but had not yet received a certificate of occupancy.

The board asked Hognestad for a written long-term plan for the property, but Hognestad said that town officials have told him conflicting information.

Planning board member Jo Ann Davies said that she went through a decade of files on allowed uses at the site. Hognestad said that he bought the property three years ago and has improved it.

“I’m sorry you think it’s ugly. It is in an industrial area,” he said.

“Part of it is in an industrial area,” Davies said.

The board asked about commercial entrances on the road; Hognestad has two, but told The Enterprise that he has 1,500 feet of roadway, and that, under town code, he could be allowed up to three entrances.

The board also asked Hognestad to check with the Onesquethaw fire company about access onto the property.

“I’m a professional firefighter,” Hognestad said, referring to his job with the city of Albany. His New Scotland property has a pond from which the Onesquethaw fire department draws emergency water, he told The Enterprise.

“We’re just both small business owners...bringing jobs to the area,” he said. Most members of the governing boards in New Scotland understand that, he said, but a few are digging in their heels.

Planning board Chairman Charles Voss told Hognestad to complete his site plan so that, if the town receives complaints, he can say that the business is in compliance with codes.

“That way, you don’t have to deal with it,” Voss said. “Let’s get this organized.”