GUILDERLAND — The planning board sees the proposed 72-unit affordable and workforce housing development on Mercy Care Lane as a “needed project” because it addresses a demand for non-market-rate housing in town. 

While some technical, inside-baseball concerns were expressed by planning board members as part of Rockabill Development’s June 25 presentation, the board largely expressed strong support for the proposal. 

The proposal received a shot in the arm in early June after the town board voted unanimously to exempt it from Guilderland’s moratorium on large-scale residential projects, which was adopted in May of last year. 

Rockabill previously told town staff that Mercy Care Lane was located on the former Beacon Meadows site, a project that failed to secure funding through the state’s Homes and Community Renewal agency because the developer had placed restrictions on who could live there. 

An earlier letter to the town board said Rockabill’s current proposal “maintains  an overall  site layout consistent with the design approved by the Guilderland Planning Board” about six years ago, but adds that the project “closely aligns with the priorities and expectations” of NYSCHR. 

“Beacon proposed an ‘intergenerational’ development that included seniors living with grandchildren; ultimately leading to multiple funding denials,” the Rockabill letter stated. “HCR has prioritized mixed-income general occupancy developments in Housing Opportunity Project Areas (“HOP”) such as Guilderland. Our Development focuses on a more traditional model targeting general occupancy working households.”

The 6 and 10 Mercy Care Lane project proposes 100-percent workforce and affordable housing, targeting households with incomes ranging from 30 percent to 80 percent of the annual area median income, which according to the source and designated geographical location can be as low as $83,150 or as high as $116,000. The Rockabill letter to the town board states the target annual incomes of residents would be approximately $30,000 to $90,000 per year, which would help address a need for trade, logistics, hospitality, and municipal employees.

Specifically, 80 percent of the units would be set aside for affordable households, those making between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income, with the remaining 20 percent reserved for workforce housing, those making 80 percent of the area median income. 

June 25 acted as a first-pass review of Rockabill’s proposal to build 24 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom, and 24 three-bedroom units just behind the Guilderland Public Library, allowing planning board members to provide general comments and high-level feedback on the proposed site layout and design principles.

Attributes

Many of the positive project attributes highlighted on June 25 revolved around the proposed development’s 6 and 10 Mercy Care Lane address, such as its:

— Distance to amenities, which was considered excellent due to its proximity  to the YMCA, public library, and Guilderland schools, especially given the anticipated number of children who might live in the apartments;

— Access to employment and retail: The Western Avenue location is well situated for potential employees and prospective shoppers; 

— Access to public transportation since the site sits on a public transportation route, often seen as a plus by apartment-dwellers, like the ones who reside in a Rockabill development in Saratoga, where they have a bus stop directly within the complex, the board was told; and

— Walkability and connectivity since there are existing and planned pedestrian connections nearby.

Recommendations

The planning board on June 25 touched on topics such as:

— Consolidating access and rethinking parking layout.

The board termed the proposed driveway’s access as “awkward,” recommending it be consolidated into a single point to improve traffic flow. There was also a suggestion that the “sea of parking” be reconfigured by moving more spaces directly in front of buildings, ensuring the buildings are connected by landscaped sidewalks;

— Improving pedestrian circulation and safety by consolidating redundant pathways, reducing impervious surface in the process; 

— Leveraging the flexibility of the planned-unit development process to do away with certain zoning restrictions like the number of feet a building has to be setback from the roadway; 

— Addressing critical safety and access issues. 

There were several safety concerns that require immediate attention, as Rockabill had to confirm a fire truck would be able to maneuver its way around the tightest parts of the site; and

— Ensuring sufficient on-site amenities for children. 

In March, then-Superintendent Marie Wiles told members of the Guilderland School Board, “We are seeing significant declines in early elementary enrollment and future kindergarten projections.”

She said, “If that holds true, that is going to work its way through the whole organization and it will be really important that the district, as hard as it is, right size the staff as that happens.”

Even though the birth rate is declining all across the United States, it was noted projections for future kindergartners in Guilderland were lower than in neighboring districts, as families with kindergartners are “often early in their income-earning cycle and looking for more affordable housing” of which there is a dearth in Guilderland.

When planners and developers typically calculate the number of children living in each unit, the figure comes out to about half-a-child per apartment.

But for Mercy Care Lane, given the number of two- and three-bedroom units, the board estimated the figure to be two to four times the average, between 72 and 144 children.

The concern planning board members voiced wasn’t the anticipated higher child population “swamping the school district,” but rather members were concerned if there would be sufficient on-site amenities to adequately accommodate so many young residents.