ZBA Permits
Live music to spark teen hangout on Route 155

GUILDERLAND — With summer in full stride, many Guilderland teens who are looking for a place to hang out and have some fun may be hard-pressed to name such a place.

Phil Atwood hopes to change that.
As the owner of Sparky’s Pizza and Ice Cream Café on Route 155, Atwood applied to the town’s zoning board for a special-use permit to allow live music, catered to teens, on Friday and Saturday nights. The live music would be provided by local "garage bands" for their friends, he said.
"There’s a lack in the area I think, for kids to go, particularly now that Crossgates has put their sanctions on age limits," Atwood told the zoning board last Wednesday. The mall requires those under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturday s.
"I wanted to have a place for kids to go on any given Friday or Saturday night where they could stop in an alcohol-free, non-smoking, non-aggressive environment," said Atwood.

Atwood wants to have live entertainment at his restaurant from 9 to 11 p.m. every Friday night with occasional Saturday-night shows as well.

The zoning board unanimously approved the special-use permit with a stipulation that, if noise ever became an issue, then the permit would be reviewed and Atwood would have to appear before the board again. Also, no outdoor speakers or broadcasting will be allowed for the live music.
"The music will be indoor only, right"" zoning board chairman, Peter Barber, asked Atwood during the meeting. Barber said he liked the idea and that his only major concern was noise levels affecting nearby residential neighborhoods.
"There’s a very large berm behind the building," Atwood answered, adding, "It seems like a very controllable situation."

Atwood assured the board that there will be no outside speakers and that all of the live music will be confined and maintained within the restaurant on 5 New Karner Road.
"I don’t have a problem with what you’re trying to do," said Barber, but added that, if the weekly event grew to be very successful and became a big occurrence, then he asked if Atwood would be willing to come back and revisit the issue.

Atwood said he had no objections and was willing to work with the board.
"I guess I hope it does, but it’s not like we’re looking to bring in the Stones or anything like that," said Atwood. "I’m not really limiting myself to that particular demographic of people, because, in fact, when it comes down to it, if I could find a band that could pull off a mean lick of string of pearls; I’d bring them in too."

Barber asked the town’s chief building inspector and zoning administrator, Donald Cropsy, if there were any issues regarding parking.
"There’s plenty of parking. The bank closes around five and the doctor’s office closes around then, too," said Cropsy, who cited 60 parking spaces surround the plaza where the store is located on Route 155 and added that Rite Aide closes at 9 p.m. and those spaces would also be available.

Alternative board member Thomas Remmert, filling in for fellow absent member Susan Cupoli, advised Atwood to see Guilderland’s chief fire inspector, Donald Albright, about the legal capacity for people in the store. Remmert said that capacity limits for venues are determined through a number of variables such as square footage of the site, number of parking spaces, and the number of seats the business has.
"I definitely always wanted to play by the rules," said Atwood. "[Sparky’s] is well within the area of Guilderland, so teenagers wouldn’t have to drive into Albany or Colonie to find a place where they could enjoy themselves."

Board member Charles Klaer, who is typically the board’s only dissenter, also agreed with the idea.
"The whole neighborhood has been put on notice and, if there’s a noise issue, we can revisit this, so I’m in favor," he said.

The board then made a unanimous decision to grant the special use permit, after which Klaer joked that he now wanted a free ice cream cone.

Other business

In other business, the zoning board unanimously:

— Granted a special-use permit as well as parking and side-yard variances for Robert Sumatric to convert a single-family house into an office for his business, Genetic Computers, on 2244 Western Ave. Sumatric is going to convert a 994-square-foot home into a professional office for his computer business, which he describes as an on-site consulting, security, and hardware implementation business.
"Very rarely would I have customers come to my office; it’s mostly on-site work," said Sumatric. He added that most people are looking for wireless networks for their businesses and homes and that he usually only has one U.P.S. or FedEx delivery to his office each week. Barber described Sumatric’s business as "light use," and said parking should not be an issue, citing a lack of employees.

Genetic Computers is zoned Business Non-Professional Retail;

— Granted Bruce Hering a special-use permit and a parking variance for his 3418 Carman Road computer software store. Hering is allowed to build a 12-foot by 50-foot addition onto his building, which will provide for an additional five office spaces, he said at the meeting. Hering has nine full-time and three part-time employees and is also creating five additional parking spaces to the building’s lot.
Klaer suggested that Hering replant additional landscaping after removing two large spruce trees for the parking lot, saying it would "ease some heartache from the neighborhood." Landscaping will also be used to buffer any additional lighting created by cars in the parking lot;
— Postponed granting a sign variance for Nuri Ozbay at 1611 Western Ave., which board members described as "the old gas station in front of Crossgates." Ozbay wants to put up two signs, which will be 24 square feet each.
"The sign seem too big," said Barber, who asked to postpone the variance request until more information was gathered;

— Granted a special-use permit and area variance for Bethel Gospel Church at 7315 Route 158;

— Granted a special-use permit and area variance for Guilderland Agency on 1807-1809 Western Ave.; and

— Granted a one-year extension to the Albany Curling Club on McKown Road.