Plan revised 15 times Fine-tuning Glass Works Village
Plan revised 15 times
Fine-tuning Glass Works Village
GUILDERLAND As plans for the $100 million Glass Works Village move forward in Town Hall, the design has been changed while some neighbors cite traffic concerns.
The biggest development in town since Crossgates Mall, Glass Works is being billed as a mixed residential and commercial "walkable community" that will connect local amenities like the Guilderland Public Library and the YMCA.
It is to be built off of busy Route 20 and the heavily developed east end of town.
Developers Atlantic-Pacific Properties, Platform Reality Group, and DRA of Troy unveiled new plans during last Tuesdays town board meeting. It is the 15th revised plan created to date, they said.
The changes include moving garages behind homes, incorporating new storm-water management features, removing a corridor from the villages green space, and cutting the height and density originally planned near Chancellor Drive.
"It’s just a different design type; it has nothing to do with functionality"it’s a preference," said Daniel O’Brien, president of Platform Realty Group. "It gives it a more village feel from 100 years ago."
Joseph Sausto, also from Platform Realty, told the town board that the project will "lessen the reliance on the automobile," and Dominick Riniri, of DRA, said Glass Works Village is "designed around the human experience."
John Behan, of Behan Planning Associates, added that the development will generate money for Guilderland.
"Economics are not only going to be direct, but beneficial to the whole town at large," he said. "We have the chance to build a whole new place here."
The board was also told that Glass Works Village will be "more like Stuyvesant Plaza rather than Crossgates Mall," and that models and planning are being designed around similar plazas with similar uses.
Developers say the "New Urbanist designs," and the "traffic calming devices" will mitigate possible traffic concerns. New Urbanism seeks to re-create traditional villages with businesses and homes in close proximity, creating community and reducing car use.
Some neighbors at the meeting werent so confident.
"We had some very frank discussions"I am within 75 feet of Winding Brook Drive," said Michael Kurz, referring to his law firm on Route 20. "Since opening in 1999, I have seen a significant increase in traffic flow"At peak traffic times, it’s virtually impassable."
Kurz told the board that, although he is not opposed to the project if it is "done properly," he sees car accidents on a regular basis and said traffic mitigation needs to be a top priority when reviewing the project.
"We’re a traveling society. Realistically, very few people will live there and work there," Kurz said. Saying that he is the sole provider for his family, Kurz added, "If I can’t do business, I have to move out of this town, it’s as simple as that."
Board members of the Guilderland Public Library also attended the meeting and spoke about traffic concerns.
"We didn’t hear any reference to the library, and that really bothers me," said library trustee Merry Sparano after the developer’s presentation.
"What we want to know is how we will we be affected by traffic"" she said. "What are the potential alternatives""
Sparano said the proposed road between Windingbrook Road and Mercycare Lane would affect the librarys new Literary Garden, which cost tens of thousands of dollars to build. Although the proposed road was designed to reduce traffic from busy Route 20, Sparano said the heavy trucks and constant traffic would ruin the new garden.
"As a library trustee and interested and concerned citizen of this town, there is nothing approaching a full and detailed discussion," said Brian Hartson, vice president of the library’s board of trustees.
Sparano added that the library is "kept out of updates."
"It seems to me, it runs counterproductive to a wonderful project," Hartson told the town board. "It could be a wonderful addition to the town."
Some others spoke at the meeting, expressing similar concerns.
Smart Growth
The Guilderland Hamlet Neighborhood Association sent an official letter of endorsement for the project to the town board.
"This is exactly the type of development envisioned for this hamlet’s planning," the letter said.
Supervisor Kenneth Runion has told The Enterprise on several occasions that he has gotten some "very positive feedback" on the project and that it "utilizes the Smart Growth concepts," which are endorsed by New York State.
Councilman David Bosworth sided with residents and said traffic concerns need to be seriously looked at and he said he wants to make sure the board is looking at the "whole picture."
"There’s not going to be any bell towers, or water slides, or anything like that," he said. "I’m being facetious, of course"but we want everything up front before we move forward."
OBrien said he is aware of the traffic concerns.
"It’s certainly a concern and we certainly want to address it," he said. "They were all very good points made at the meeting that night."
Continuing, OBrien said that the project has over 10 consultants working on the planning for Glass Works Village along with 15 community-based groups.
"I think if there were more of these projects, it would cut down on a lot of traffic overall," O’Brien told The Enterprise. "We think we’re somewhat part of the solution," he said of developments that combine homes with businesses.
Plans
The development is planned for 57 acres of land bordering Winding Brook Drive and Western Avenue. Most of the construction is planned for the southeast corner of the intersection.
As for the public elementary school across Route 20 from the proposed site, OBrien said Glass Works will contain large numbers of condominiums and not draw as many school-aged children as other developments.
"We don’t envision a host of people crossing Route 20," he said. Plans call for a crosswalk to be installed at the Winding Brook Drive intersection, as well as turning Winding Brook into a boulevard with a round-about.
However, according to the projects draft environmental impact statement, an estimated 135.8 school-aged children will live at the Glass Works Village. The plan estimates that 15 percent will attend private schools, leaving 116 children for the Guilderland public school system to educate.
The impact statement also says 22 acres of the development will remain "usable open space" and 12 acres will be landscaped areas, leaving 24 acres for development.
Glass Works will consist of 228 condominiums, 72 townhouses, and 27 residential cottages, the proposal says. The development will also contain 180,000 square feet of commercial space for retail stores, offices, and restaurants, and an additional 10,000 square feet for day-care facilities.
OBrien told The Enterprise that if all the permits and variances are in place, he hopes to break ground by this fall.
"There is so much interaction between consultants, groups, and the town," he said, "but we hope to get started by the end of year."
At the very latest, OBrien said, construction is slated to begin by early spring of 2008.
Residents and business owners have until May 7 to submit written comments to Town Hall on the proposed Glass Works Village. All comments will be used in the developers final draft report for the town to review.
"We’ve had at least 50 people call, trying to look at the site and pick out lots," said O’Brien. "We met last week with five people who wanted to come in and get some more information, but we don’t have an offer out quite yet."
