Proposal for 120 units previewed


NEW SCOTLAND – The latest proposal for the much-debated future of the town’s Northeast Quadrant is a 120-unit development of homes the developer calls "modest" – priced between $250,000 and $350,000.

Because the proposal is for a Planned Unit Development, the application must go before the town board but, on Tuesday, the planning board was given a preview.

Dean DeVito told the board that 20 buildings consisting of six units per building are planned for Krumkill Road, west of Schoolhouse Road. The area is in the town’s still rural Northeast Quadrant, along the Bethlehem and Guilderland town lines, and close to the city of Albany.

The proposed development is located in a section of town that does not have municipal water or sewer systems.

Each unit will have an attached two-car garage. Most of the units would be two-bedroom units with a den, but some three-bedroom units will be available as well, DeVito said.

The roads throughout the development would be maintained by the town, and the green space would be maintained by a homeowners’ association,he said.

DeVito talked of the unique nature of the site. It has three natural ponds, and the developer plans to build landscapes around the ponds. Regulations require that a development such as the one presented by DeVito maintain 10 percent of green space, and this proposal will have 60 percent, he said.

According to DeVito, the development would fall entirely within the Guilderland School District.

Originally, the developer proposed a plan to the Guilderland Planning Board for a 75-lot subdivision on 214 acres that would stretch across town lines to New Scotland.

Afterwards, the Guilderland Town Board re-zoned an area that increased the lot-size requirement from 40,000 square feet to three acres.

The developer is now concentrating on the 29 acres in New Scotland, DeVito said.

DeVito’s proposal will be heard by the Town Board next Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Other business

In other business at its August meeting, the board:

– Held a public hearing on an application submitted by Archibald Munro for a three-lot subdivision of land in the Industrial District on waldenmaier Road. Munro wants to subdivide his 12.053-acre property into three lots. His house is on one lot and he’d sell the other two. There were no public comments and no questions from the board;

– Reviewed a plan submitted by Stuart Morrison on behalf of William and Jeffrey Lawyer to use a building at 705 New Salem Rd., located in the Commercial Hamlet district, for an insurance investigation office. They plan to build a 42-by-78-foot storage building behind the existing one. The board had questions for the applicant involving location, height, and parking. The questions were answered satisfactorily. A public hearing has been scheduled for next month; and

– Approved an extension-of-time request from Matthew Fiske. He bought three lots from David Moreau with plans to build a home on each lot. He was granted an additional year from the original approval date in order to comply with the Albany County Health Department requirements, which are necessary before he can be granted a building permit.

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