Despite neighbors’ complaints
Conceptual approval given for 6 lots on Church Road

GUILDERLAND — After hearing neighbors’ complaints, the planning board last week approved an initial proposal to subdivide more than seven acres on Church Road.

The board’s chairman said that, if the proposal moves forward, the construction would offer an opportunity to fix the problems currently at the site.

Engineer Skip Francis, of CT Male, told the board that owner Drew Cathell proposed six housing lots on 7.6 acres. One lot has an existing home. Francis said that the project would require one curb cut to Church Road, with a new cul- de-sac accessing Church Road from the subdivision.

Francis suggested placing a storm basin between lots five and six on the plan and installing a dedicated maintenance agreement.
"That’s not going to happen," said town planner Jan Weston. The board said that it was concerned about town access and the inclination of residents to plant within the easement.

Francis said that the basin would have only grass and no pond.
Francis will "utilize the existing topography as much as possible," he said. "At this time, we don’t foresee any changes to the existing tree line."

Church Road resident David Lawler lives across the street from Cathell’s property, which Lawler said has been under construction for two years. That construction, Lawler said, caused erosion and flooding problems at his own home.
"Think of the negative impact on my family," Lawler said. He asked the board to move the proposed driveway 10 feet "so headlights are not directly in my living room."
Neighbor Richard Satalino also complained about the construction on Cathell’s property. Saying that dirt blows from the property in summer and that ice runs off the property in winter, Satalino added, "I can’t even sit out on my patio and eat. There’s got to be an end to it."

Satalino said that the problems already caused by construction should be fixed before new construction begins.
"They can come down and put up plastic fences," planning board Chairman Stephen Feeney said. He said that the ground can also be seeded. "There can be no water coming off the site," or no more than is already there, Feeney said. "The site would have to be stabilized before they build."
Feeney said that, if material is coming off the site, Cathell could be in violation of town or state regulations, and that he may be subject to "significant fines." The board suggested that neighbors contact Ed Zyniecki in the town’s building department.

Other nearby residents asked the board alternately to have Cathell preserve the tree line, and remove dead trees that could fall on their homes.
"This is very humbling," Cathell said before he addressed the board and his neighbors. "Our desire in the design is to not do any clearing at the rear of your home," Cathell said to one neighbor.
"We did a terrible job last spring," he said. He cleared out a sand bowl just before a large spring storm. Now, he said, no driveways are affected by water from his property. Lot Six is the only lot proposed to have substantial clearing, he said.

Reminding the audience that the proposal was only seeking conceptual approval, board member Michael Cleary suggested that Cathell bring back to the board a plan showing the neighboring houses and driveways across the street to see how the plan will affect the area.

A public hearing will be held after more engineering is done on the project.

Other business

In other business, the planning board:

— Approved the site plan to allow a kennel at 200 Foster Lane. Rebecca Reed said that her seven-acre property is heavily wooded, and that she breeds Great Danes. She does not board other animals, she said.

A neighbor sent a zoning officer to her home about her son’s car and parts collection, Reed said, and the officer noticed her dogs. He told her that a special-use permit is needed for more than three dogs, she said.

Reed has nine Great Danes. She had not sought official sanction before now because she is in a district zoned for agriculture, she said. She uses a fenced run and her dogs go in her home.
"I don’t let them run at random," she said. "They can’t jump over a six-foot fence. I don‘t want to keep any more, but I would like to have a litter";

— Approved Monte Bernard’s request to house a bicycle repair shop on Carman Road. The shop is in a former service garage.
"It’s been there forever," Cleary said;

— Approved Richard Ewing’s proposal to cut 61 acres on Old State Road into two lots, with a three-acre parcel housing the existing home.

Feeney said that the board needs to see the locations of the well and the percolation tests on the final map Ewing will submit.

Weston said that the proposed driveway is so long that it must be designed and built to withstand an emergency vehicle.