On Thomas’s senior housing
Re-zone recommended



GUILDERLAND — The planning board last Wednesday carefully considered Jeff Thomas’s request for re-zoning the site of the former Bavarian Chalet to multiple residence for a senior living center. The board unanimously recommended that the town re-zone the site, currently zoned for local business, for multiple residence only if a senior center is built on the site.
The recommendation did not come easily, because Thomas’s project needs "substantial variances," Chairman Stephen Feeney said at the board’s agenda review. With a quick glance at the proposal, Feeney counted up to eight variances that would be needed to allow the project on the Bavarian Chalet site, even with a re-zone. For instance, town standards call for 100-foot setbacks in areas zoned for multiple residence, but Thomas’s plan uses 50-foot setbacks.
"They know it," said Town Planner Jan Weston. Weston said that four others have contacted her about similar senior projects in Guilderland, but that she has not received any applications yet.

Earlier this month, Thomas presented his plan to the town board and offered to create a public senior-citizen community center for the town’s use if he is allowed to go forward with the project. A public hearing is scheduled for June 6.
"A larger density will allow us to dedicate a portion of the property as a town community center," Thomas told the town board on May 2.
Supervisor Kenneth Runion responded at the time, "We need to keep an open mind on the density issue in exchange for the benefit we will receive."
Runion also said that the housing would need to be affordable. "We’re looking for housing for the common senior citizens," he said.

Thomas, who lives in Knox and owns WeatherGuard Roofing, also has plans to build two other senior housing complexes — one in Berne and the other in Guilderland, just outside of Altamont.

"Tough spot"

At last Wednesday’s planning board meeting, Feeney hesitated to recommend the re-zone because of the message the planning board’s decision would send to the zoning board of appeals and the town board.
"It puts them in a tough spot, procedurally," he said.

Board member Terry Coburn said that multiple residence is a good use for the site.
At the meeting, she said, "I think this is overuse of the site, maybe. It should be cut back. But, we can deal with that at site plan [review]."

Thomas questioned Feeney’s insistence on the 100-foot setback. He said that the standard is for multiple family use, which could include several children on the site, whereas his senior center needs less space.

When Feeney explained that the code calls for 100 feet, Thomas said that no town code is written specifically for seniors.
"Code doesn’t differentiate it," Feeney said. He said that a variance is significant from a legal standpoint.

The project, called Mill Hollow Senior Living, is at 5060 Western Turnpike on 12.9 acres that reach back to French’s Mill Road. The proposed residences are for those 55 years and older. Feeney questioned whether or not 55 -year-olds are retired, but Thomas said that the people on the waiting list for Mill Hollow are older than 65.

Other issues the board contemplated were zoning the property based on a senior residence, or simply based on a lower-density use, and sight-distance issues in the project’s traffic design.
"It’s a strange configuration, let’s put it that way," Feeney said.

Board member Lindsay Childs, a member of the town’s pathways committee, said that the proposal shows few walkways. Feeney asked if Thomas would put in connecting sidewalks between the property and surrounding businesses.

Thomas discounted the board’s concerns, stating that the living center is a community of its own, and that walkways are within the community.
"That’s very nice, but they can’t walk and get a cup of coffee or buy a newspaper," Childs said.

Feeney considered making sidewalk installation a condition of approval. He speculated that the cost could run about $60 per foot for a 1,000 foot sidewalk. He said that, if the developer does not put the sidewalk in when the project is built, then the town would have to put one in later at public expense.

Other business

In other business at recent meetings, the planning board:

— Approved a request by Frederick and Patricia Wagner to subdivide 146 acres into two lots measuring 90 and 55.9 acres. The 90-acre lot, with two homes, barns, and other outbuildings, is a pre-existing, non-conforming use. The second lot is vacant.

The board asked that the Wagners show both a small stream that runs to the Black Creek, and a small cemetery with public access on the final plat.

Coburn asked if the board would be creating an illegal lot by allowing the 90-acre lot.
"We’re not increasing the non-conformity," said planning board attorney Linda Clark;

— Approved Michael Cleary’s request for a four-lot subdivision of 33 acres on Depot Road. The board said that Cleary must pave the steep common drive, show a conservation easement near wetlands on the property, and show the locations of percolation tests for septic systems on the final plat;

— Approved a request for a two-lot subdivision of 20.1 acres on Curry Road. An existing home would be left on a one-acre lot, and the remainder of the property would be developed in the future, said Gilbert VanGuilder.

The board approved the request on the condition that the site receives an area variance for the road frontage. A 48- to 50-foot frontage variance would create an odd-shaped lot, the board said, and its approval was not to be construed as approval of the proposal. The board said, however, that the request met town requirements.
Weston said that, because of the "hodgepodge" of lots on Curry Road, the new lots would not be out of character for the neighborhood; and

— Approved a request by Tony Trimarchi to open a land surveyor office at 1869 Western Ave. Weston said that a special-use permit is needed to change tenancy in the building. The company would have three employees, Trimarchi said. Feeney asked Trimarchi to remove or adjust one of the six parking spaces so that all the parking is perpendicular to the structure.