KNOX — The long debated proposed business district at the intersection of routes 156 and 157 in Knox was disapproved by the Albany County Planning Board last month. The board has sent a letter to the town reviewing its decision.

The Knox Town Board could still revoke this decision with a supermajority vote, or at least four of its five members, in favor of the proposed district.

The county board’s reasoning echoes the points the Knox Planning Board made in twice recommending against the business-district proposal. The town board had decided to proceed on its own, despite the Knox Planning Board’s concerns.

The letter from the county board, dated April 19 — the day it discussed the district — states that the board disapproved the rezoning due to the “incompatibility with surrounding land uses and community character,” potential traffic impact, inadequate infrastructure or plans for it, potential environmental impacts, and inconsistency with the town’s comprehensive plan.

Dominic Rigosu, the acting chairman of the county planning board, confirmed this Monday that the board had voted against approving the proposed district but declined to comment further on the matter.

Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis, who has touted creating new business districts even before he took office two years ago, stated in an email to The Enterprise that “questions and concerns raised by residents will be addressed and discussed by the Town Board at the appropriate time in public.”

Lefkaditis did not provide any further details in answer to Enterprise questions, which he will entertain only through email.

The creation of a business district was revived this year after it had failed to be voted in by the town board last summer.

At the county meeting, according to the minutes, the board also stated that the environmental assessment form, which was included with the application to the planning board, was incomplete. The form, displayed on the town’s website, shows that “Part D,” which discusses project details, and “Part E,” which discusses the land and on-site resources, are not completed.

The county board recommended that the town first update its comprehensive plan, consider what infrastructure could or should be provided, and to contact the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets to assess any impact to farms. Similar suggestions had been made by residents during last year’s town board public hearings on the business district, which had been followed by two different tied votes that failed to enact it.

At the county meeting, Rigosu mentioned Knox’s 1995 comprehensive plan, noting that it recommends that the area of routes 156 and 157 become a business district. Michaela Sweeney, the county’s senior planner, said that it does suggest that the area be a potential business district but also recommends other areas.

Currently, Knox has just one business district, in the hamlet. The hamlet district has just one business, a restaurant; Lefkaditis had renovated the building and then sold it.

According to the minutes from its April meeting, the county planning board heard from a number of Knox residents speaking against the proposed district. These included Arthur Brearton, who lives in the proposed district and has spoken against it in the past, and Pat Figler, representing her father who lives in the proposed district. Some residents of the proposed district had also objected to the district at Knox hearings.

Town planning board member Robert Price, who had previously served as the chairman before being replaced this year by Tom Wolfe, told the county board that the town planning board has rejected the proposed district twice. Wolfe had been the sole dissenting vote in these instances. Wolfe declined to comment to The Enterprise on the county decision until he has reviewed it, he said.

Both Price and Amy Pokorny — a former town board member who ran against Lefkaditis for supervisor last fall and lost — also noted that there are already businesses in the proposed district, and expressed concern about water contamination. Pokorny also said she was concerned that Lefkaditis has real estate interests in the area to be rezoned.

Price noted that the village of Altamont has a reservoir in the area that could be contaminated. The reservoir is no longer used by the village, and has caused contention between the town and the village over whether an unused source of water should be assessed at a lower value; after filing a suit in the state’s Supreme court, the parties agreed in 2017 the reservoir should be assessed at two-thirds of the assessed value at the time, which was $1 million. Price also told the county planners that Route 156 is a busy road with accidents.

At the meeting, county planning board member Enzo Sophia asked the Knox residents present why the town wants to rezone, to which they said they didn’t know. Lefkaditis had said last year that more business districts would be “setting the table” for new businesses.

County planning board member Sean Maguire also asked about the current business district, the sole one in Knox, and was told that the supervisor does not believe the parcels there are desirable for businesses.

Brigitte McAuliffe, who lives on Route 156 in the proposed business district, said that she had asked to have her property removed from the proposed district. She also expressed concern about water quality and also questioned why Lefkaditis has pushed for the zoning change, and said that he has mortgages for three businesses in the hamlet business district. While Lefkaditis declined answer Enterprise questions on the matter, he has sold property to the owners of the Knox Market, a restaurant on Route 156 in the Knox hamlet.

McAuliffe said at the May town board meeting that she had collected letters from over a fifth of the residents of the proposed district as well as others outside the district, stating that they were against it and — for those within the proposed district — asking that their tax parcels be removed from it.

McAuliffe and other residents of the proposed district who spoke out against it were told by the town board in March and April that their properties could be taken out of the proposed district. The town board did not discuss the proposed district at the May meeting. Lefkaditis said at the May meeting that proposed district would be discussed in June.