Clustering off Depot Road
Farmer plans to develop 60 lots and keep on farming



GUILDERLAND — A part-time farmer wants to develop his land by Guilderland High School into an old-fashioned neighborhood, and keep farming it, too.

Engineer Francis Bossolini, a partner with Ingalls & Associates in Schenectady, described for the planning board last week a 60-lot cluster off Depot Road.

Planning board Chairman Stephen Feeney told owners James and Lori Matulewicz that school traffic and the possible installation by Albany County of a roundabout near the industrial park could delay their project.

Bossolini’s proposal showed a U-shaped neighborhood drive, with curb cuts onto Depot Road near one another.
"It seems a little odd, the placement," Feeney said. He said that the curb-cut issue could also stall the project.

The Matulewiczes own 230 acres considered in the project, but plan to use only 123 acres of buildable land. Part of the property is swamp near Black Creek. More than 100 acres south of the proposed cluster could be free for agricultural use.
Bossolini said that the project goal was to "create a traditional neighborhood-style setting — a higher quality than a standard subdivision." According to the plan, the lots in the cluster are narrow, with service roads to garages in the rear of the homes.

The board worried that the narrower-than-usual lots would create a stream of variance requests for buyers who would want garages in the front or side of their homes.
"Everybody has a right to apply for a variance," Feeney said. "We kind of like, as a board, what you’re presenting. But we’d like to make sure that’s what happens."

The board said that the developers might put possible buyers on notice that narrow lots are the purpose of the neighborhood. The board also said that the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation might be interested in taking over a portion of the property near Black Creek.

Matulewicz told The Enterprise that he had not known that he could donate the swampy area on his property to the DEC.
"I like the idea of contributing the land to the DEC," he said.
"Nothing’s set in stone, yet," Lori Matulewicz said.
James Matulewicz’s plans for the green space around the cluster is "to continue to farm where it can be farmed," he told the board.
The cluster neighborhood with agricultural uses nearby is one way "to have a farmer afford to keep his farm," Matulewicz told The Enterprise. "That’s a very serious issue for farmers around here, too."
"The talent is to have a higher level of design," Bossolini said.
Matulewicz said that he does not make his living being a farmer. "I don’t know how anyone could," he said. He has lived in Guilderland since 1985, he said. He does not drive during the school drop-off and pick-up hours, and the off-peak traffic does not bother him, he said.
"I don’t see a big issue," he said.

Town planner Jan Weston said that the Helderberg view shed is protected, according to the plan.
"We need a clearer depiction of what is buildable," Feeney said.

Board member Lindsay Childs said that, because the cluster is close to Guilderland Center and the high school, the developers should consider installing a sidewalk along Depot Road to School Road.

The plan includes cul-de-sacs, which are not disallowed, but are not encouraged in Guilderland, the board said.
"It’s more along the lines of what we’d like to see," Feeney said. "I think we’re heading in the right direction."

Matulewicz told The Enterprise that the project would not be under construction for three to five years.
"We have to find a buyer. The buyer has to put in all the roads, etc. You can’t market it until it gets approved," he said.