NEW SCOTLAND — The New Scotland Planning Board dealt with a packed agenda at its May meeting. 

Among the items dealt with by the board on May 2 were Meadowdale Winery’s request to move its operation from Guilderland to New Scotland, an application from Indian Ladder Farms to hold a festival this July, a request from Boozy Moo! Ice Cream to move its production facility from Albany to New Salem, a proposed condo project on New Scotland Road, and an already-approved solar project on Altamont Road.

First presented to the board in April, Meadowdale Winery is asking the town to allow for a winery and tasting room at 111 Picard Road, at the site of the former Picard’s Grove.

Meadowdale’s John Sheehan told the board last month he wants to expand the days the tasting room is open to the public from Saturday and Sunday to also include Friday, and move from six months to a year-round operation. 

After a month with the proposal, the board and Building Inspector Jeremy Cramer had a few issues they wanted to clear up.

Chairman Jeffrey Baker’s first issue was with the proposed parking. 

He said he wanted to see the dimensions of parking spaces and a parking lot, echoing a recommendation made by the town’s engineer, who wanted it clarified on the plans. Baker was told spaces were 9 feet by 19 feet, with handicap spots double the size. 

Cramer had an issue with the driveway width leading into the site. 

He said that  when he visited the site, the property owner indicated that the driveway was 30 feet wide, which he said may be the case where the driveway meets the roadway, but “not long after you get into the driveway it dips down to 15 [feet] or less.”

Cramer said commercial insurance typically looks for a 20-foot width so traffic can enter and exit the site, but also so fire apparatus can access the site.

He also said he’d like the parking-lot surface to be ADA-compliant, echoing another opinion of the town engineer. 

There are also stairs on the front of the building that would have to be reconstructed, he said. 

And Cramer said the parking-lot lighting should be addressed as well, so it’s “dark-sky compliant.”

Sheehan, noting the time that could be added to come into compliance, said “we’re basically [under] a deadline for getting out of the current production facility,” and asked if he could receive conditional permission to move equipment and material into the facility.

Cramer said he had no problem with the request, if it was only for storage. 

Indian Ladder Festival 

Board members approved a special-use permit for Indian Ladder Farms’ July 15 Farming Man Festival. 

The event was described by Indian Ladder in its application as a “music and craft beverage festival with vendors,” for which a maximum of 750 tickets would be sold. 

Prior to signing off on the permit, the board added conditions to its approval. 

A neighbor raised concerns about the anticipated number of people attending the festival, the number of cars the attendees would be driving, the speed limit of the road which they’ll use to get to Indian Ladder Farms, and the noise from the event. 

Baker said the board raised many of those issues with representatives from Indian Ladder, who were unable to join the meeting remotely because of a poor connection. 

The board ultimately decided to use many of the conditions imposed on the Renaissance Festival held at Indian Ladder, some of which included: providing security; covering any potential cleanup costs and damage to neighboring properties; posting no-parking signs along Tygert, Meadowland, and Picard roads; and notifying first responders about the event. 

Boozy Moo!

The board on May 2 waived the public hearing for Boozy Moo! Ice Cream and approved its application to move production from inside the Albany location of owner Leyla Kiosse’s The Yard Hatchet House and Bar to 705 New Salem Road, which is the site of the former New Salem firehouse next to the Punkintown Fair.

Boozy Moo, according to the board-provided narrative, is a “hand-crafted, alcohol-infused ice cream” that’s 5-percent alcohol by volume, for which “no liquor license is required to manufacture or sell our product.”

Boozy Moo will both manufacture its alcohol-infused ice cream on-site as well as rent out on a part-time basis its kitchen to other food-makers, according to its application. 

The company told the board its hours of operation would be every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with its kitchen operating seven days a week, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. 

New Scotland Road condos

The long-planned 50-unit condo project proposed for New Scotland Road, across from Town Hall, is starting to gain momentum. The planning board on May 2 elected to name itself the lead agency for the project. 

The proposal from 13 Blessing LLC was initially for 12 two-story, four-unit buildings and one two-story, two-unit building, but, because of the proposed two-story, two-unit building, the project would have required a waiver from the town board. The company is now proposing 11 four-unit buildings and two three-unit structures. 

To build all 50 units, 13 Blessing is counting on getting a density bonus from the town. 

The updated zoning adopted by the town board this year, which was adopted in response to this proposal, allows 40 total units in the hamlet; however, developers would be eligible for a density bonus “in return for providing certain amenities to the town.” The law allows for a maxim of 10 additional units to be built in return for the amenities.

Baker asked project attorney Donald Zee what 13 Blessing was proposing to receive the full density bonus. 

“We are looking at portability, looking at putting in potential EV parking stations,” he said of places to charge electric vehicles. “And I believe there’s regard to putting sidewalks or connecting to adjoining properties.”

“Affordability is a new one that you were relying on” to receive the full-density  bonus, Baker responded. “I don’t think I’ve seen details on how that’s going to be” presented.

After walking the board through the applicant’s math, Zee appeared to arrive at a $2,400-per-month figure for affordability. 

After declaring its intention to become lead agency for the project, the planning board decided to send the project to the zoning board for a recommendation on an on-street parking variance request made by the applicant. 

Altamont Road solar

In September 2021, the board approved a 5-megawatt solar facility on a  27-acre site located in between 215 Altamont Road and National Grid’s high-voltage transmission lines.

But the project’s owner came back to the board to ask for changes requested by the utility company. 

Mill Creek Renewables asked the board to approve an increase in the number of utility poles from five to seven, which the board approved on the condition that the company works with a nearby neighbor on landscaping issues he raised about the project.