Zoning
Moratorium on the horizon for the Northeast "



NEW SCOTLAND — After two public hearings and two citizens’ petitions, none of New Scotland’s town board members want to proceed with re-zoning the northeast quadrant to two acres or larger. Some members are now calling for a moratorium on large subdivisions in the northeast so the town can consider and implement different planning and zoning strategies.

Re-zoning to two acres had been the request of about 107 residents in October under the leadership of the Northeast Neighborhood Association, which submitted a petition to the town board. In reaction, the board then drafted a law for consideration; where the medium-density residential zone above the old D&H Railroad bed would be changed to R-2, meaning lots must be 2 acre parcels or larger instead of the 22,000 square feet per parcel that is currently permitted where there is public water and sewer.

The citizens’ re-zone request was in response to a proposal for a 282-unit residential development called Kennsington Woods around Hilton Road.

The Enterprise interviewed all five of the town board members — two Republicans and three Democrats individually to learn what direction they want to go in planning for the northeast quadrant. The re-zone bill was not placed on the town’s agenda this month.
Last week, Robert Griffin, the president of the neighborhood association, said that his organization was still hopeful that their re-zone request would be granted, and that they had not wavered on their position. "We’re attempting to maintain the character of New Scotland," he said. He believes that permitting only larger lots would maintain rural character. The concern is density, he said.

Supervisor Ed Clark, a Republican, was the least decided of all the board members. He said he is still not sure how he wants to pursue the issue.
"I haven’t made up my mind yet," he said of the zoning. Clark is in no hurry to make a decision either, he said, because he wants to wait and watch the direction of Kensington Woods, which could take a long time. Any town board member could make the recommendation for the proposed law to be placed on the town-board agenda, Clark pointed out.

Richard Reilly, a Democratic councilman told The Enterprise he is going to suggest a moratorium on large subdivisions in the northeast quadrant, while plans are drafted.
"Just on the face of it, it sounds attractive," Clark said on Wednesday of Reilly’s recommendation for a moratorium after hearing about it from The Enterprise. He said he would like to think about it some more.

Town board member Douglas LaGrange, a Republican told The Enterprise that he’s ready to vote "no" on the proposed re-zone. "I still don’t feel an inordinate amount of reason to do it," he said of re-zoning. Additionally, he said, switching to two-acre zoning wouldn’t necessarily affect Kensington Woods as people hope. That development is proposed to be a planned unit development (PUD), a re-zone that needs to be approved by the town board and would supercede the zoning in the area, he said.
LaGrange wants to put the proposed law on the town-board agenda in June, and give the courtesy to all parties involved a definitive "yea" or "nay."

Large landowners located within the medium-density residential zone in question also organized a petition and submitted it to the town last month. They’re in opposition to re-zoning to two acres.

There are about 36 lines of signatures on this petition; many of the signers are Donatos and residents along Front Grove Road. The Donatos own the land where Kennsington Woods is proposed. Some full names repeat, but the petition is organized to count each individual parcel, rather than people, so that individuals who own much of land are counted more than once. Since the signers of the petition own at least 20 percent of the land that would be affected by the re-zone, the petition forces a supermajority for the local law to pass, meaning four out of five town board members must support it.
LaGrange said he hears resident’s concerns about quality-of-life issues such as increased traffic, but all these things will be addressed during the environmental-quality review and planning board site-plan review. Re-zoning to two acres "is not the tool that should be used," he said. He went on to say that he’s glad the residents organized petitions because it stimulated thought and facilitated discussion that needed to happen.

Call for moratorium
"Simply re-zoning MDR to R-2 won’t be effective in dealing with the concerns" residents have, Councilmen Reilly said. "It’s replacing one form of sprawl"with another form of sprawl;" two-acre lots just create bigger yards, he said. His recommendation is to either table the proposed law or vote it down.

He told The Enterprise he’d like to take a more comprehensive approach.

Reilly is calling for a short moratorium for large subdivisions of 10 or more homes in the northeast quadrant. This would apply only to new applications so as not to undercut any pending projects, including Kennsington Woods, which would still proceed on schedule, Reilly said.

Over the course of a limited nine-month moratorium, town officials can work to draft zoning changes, that will accomplish goals that are best for the town, Reilly said. The 1994 comprehensive plan and all the engineering studies show that this area zoned MDR, is appropriate for residential development, he said. Reilly envisions a small group of town officials coming up with recommendations that would be more fair than a blanket 2-R, he said.

He’s looking to combine increased average minimum lot size with increased flexibility for the planning board.

For example, Reilly said, if the existing R-2 in the northeast quadrant were bumped up to become a 3-acre lot size minimum, and a landowner wants to subdivided a parcel that is nine acres in total, there could be the traditional three lots of three acres each, or 2 two-acre lots and one five-acre lot, so that the average would be no more than three acres each.

There could also be an increase in average lot size for the MDR area, Reilly said, but then he would like to give the planning board the flexibility and authority to decrease the density back to MDR levels if the proposal incorporates certain desirable factors, such as development toward the rear of the property, preservation of open space or vistas, or incorporating affordable housing in the mix.
Developers could give the town "big bonuses to bring them back to current MDR levels, " Reilly said.

Trust in the planning board process

Councilwoman Deborah Baron, who grew up on a farm, said she is sympathetic to large-property owners, since that’s her parents. There are two separate issues going on here, Baron said: Kennsington Woods as a proposed development is one, and re-zoning is another.
"I’m not ready to rush right now into big changes," she said of re-zoning.

She watched a change in people, Baron said, over the course of the two public hearings — one in January and one the first week in May. While a lot of the same things were said at both, and there are still clearly two distinct sides, she thinks each side now has a better understanding of the other. She left the May session more at ease, she said.
There is more of a desire for a compromise now, she said, a "meeting of the minds."

Baron sees public opinion as evenly split now. While the majority at public hearings have spoken in favor of re-zoning to less density. Many of the large landowners in the area to be rezoned oppose it, she said. Factoring in how much property each side of opinion has, she sees it as an equal split, about 50/50 for and against.

Baron, a Democrat, said, if a vote came up at the next meeting, she would vote against changes right now.
Like Clark, Baron said she just wants to wait and first follow through with Kennsington Woods "bit by bit." She trusts in the planning board process, she said.

Baron said, since planning isn’t her expertise, she’ll follow the lead of some of the other board members. After The Enterprise brought up Reilly’s desire for a moratorium, Baron said, "I wouldn’t be opposed to that."

It would be good to stop and take a breath, she said.
"I listened very closely at the hearings — I think people who spoke had heartfelt concerns," said Councilwoman Margaret (Peg) Neri, a Democrat. The great concern is where the town is going in terms of sprawl and density, she said.
"I’m not convinced moving MDR to R-2 is a solution," Neri said. "I don’t understand how that possibly could solve the problem." Larger lot sizes create another kind of sprawl, Neri said.
Rather than going with two-acre zoning, she said, "I’d like to take a fresh look at the entire area."

There are two additional pieces of MDR in the mostly R-2 Northeast quadrant, both touch the Guilderland border, one is in the top east corner of town on Krumkill, and the other is along Route 155.

Neri is in favor of a short-term moratorium so a small committee well-versed in the planning process can make recommendations for the town board to enact. She would like to see Bob Stapf, the planning board’s chairman, and Paul Cantlin, the town’s zoning enforcer, to be on the committee, she said.

Both are already on the current comprehensive planning committee, which is reviewing the 1994 master document for the whole town. Neri said this new committee would have, instead, a very specific focus of zoning techniques just for the northeast quadrant.
"Everything we need to do this is already in the comprehensive plan," she said. Neri does not think the town needs to wait on a revised comprehensive plan to move forward with planning for the northeast.
Supervisor Clark said, "I don’t know that we have the people to build two qualified committees at the same time." Also, Clark said, he’d like to consider that the anticipated "amendments to the comprehensive plan might serve that purpose."

Industrial zone

Often lost in the discussion about the current proposed re-zone is the second aspect of the law, the clause that would change the industrial designation on land just above the commercial zone along New Scotland Road.

The proposed law includes a change of some of the industrial land to R-2 (residential two-acre) and of some to commercial. This industrial land currently lies between the MDR zone in question and the commercial zone below. (See map.)

The proposal was for the industrial land north of the D&H rail line, the section that abuts the MDR to be designated R-2 — the idea was that all the land directly above the abandoned railway bed would become R-2 with this law — which board members are not currently in favor of approving — and then the industrial land south of the abandoned rail bed would be changed to commercial, to mix in with that designation.

Board members are still in agreement that the southerly portion, which is the larger portion should be melded into the commercial.

It is, however, up in the air what is to become of the industrial land next to the Kennsington Woods development.

LaGrange said it was inappropriate for the two separate zoning issues — what to do about the MDR and Industrial — to be combined into one proposed law. They are two separate issues that need be addressed separately, he said.
The industrial zone really "got lost in the shuffle," LaGrange said.
Changing industrial to commercial "seems like the smart way to go," LaGrange said. His first response was to move forward with that as soon as possible, which was the sentiment of others, but, after consideration, he hesitates making any zoning changes until the comprehensive -plan review has been completed, he said.

LaGrange chairs the current comprehensive- plan committee. This first committee is reviewing the 1994 document and is to get back to the town board with ideas of what parts of the plan need to be reviewed, or updated, if any.

While the members won’t be finished with their review and report until the summer, LaGrange said its shaping up to look like there are some areas that do need to be reviewed and updated.

The final stage of the comprehensive-plan review is for a final committee (with some repeat members) to then work on how to actually update the master plan, focusing on exact changes that should be made.
"Will this be done in six months" Probably not," LaGrange said, answering his own question.
Reilly said that the comprehensive plan is a guide and that the industrial designation is inconsistent with the current comprehensive plan since the railroad line no longer exists. Within the parameters of the existing "well-considered plan," the change to the commercial zone can be made now, Reilly said.
Baron agrees. "I really don’t think you’ll see industrial there," she said. She, too, is ready to rule on the commercial switch now.