To the Editor:
I am writing to voice my disdain, abhorrence, and total disgust for the Guilderland Planning Board members as well as for the meeting held on Aug. 10. This was the second public hearing for the Apex at Crossgates proposal. There were several things that were most notable:

— 1. Not one resident of this town who attended either of these meetings were in favor of the new site plan. The only ones who were in favor of these plans were the entire planning board;

— 2. The town planner insisted on providing a definition of what a Transit Oriented District is and that this project meets those guidelines;

— 3. When a resident asked that no construction on Westmere Terrace occur on Saturdays, they were met with opposition not only by the planning board, which supposedly represents the interests of its constituents and which voted to approve the plans, but by the developer, United Group, as well.

The reason for the request is that there are families who reside on the street who have children with special needs — autism, to be specific — and wanted to keep the disruption to Monday through Friday. If you know anything about autism, you know that some of the most important issues (but by no means all), to maintain your child at home is regularity in routines, and keeping a calm environment with the least amount of disruptive noise as possible.

In addition, there are Jewish families who reside on the street that will have their sabbath disrupted and for that to be so summarily dismissed is lacking in tolerance at the very least.

In reference to item # 2, we also did research about what the federal guidelines are for a Transit Oriented District as well as to review the town’s code for this type of development. While this project may meet the minimum, there is nothing that states you can’t exceed this minimum.

Asking where amenities other than trails, a couple of sidewalks, and a bike stand are were met with no response or even a defense. This is poor to say the least.

To say that tenants of a high-end apartment complex are going to use public transportation is ridiculous and they know it. I ask of you Mr. [Jeff] Smetana [United Group’s executive vice president for development], Mr. [Stephen] Feeney [planning board chairman], Mr. [Kenneth] Kovalchik [Guilderland town planner], and other board members, if you were to rent an apartment in this complex, would you use the bus to get to work every day? I strongly doubt it.

In reference to item # 3, I find the response by the planning board and the United Group Developers reprehensible and disgusting on all levels. To say that most contractors don’t like to work on Saturdays because they have to pay overtime as mitigation is a poor and self-serving response to parents of special-needs children, who asked for a small change in schedule.

In fact, one board member suggested reducing the amount of time on Saturdays from the proposed 9 a.m to 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. to noon and was met with resistance from fellow board members! In the end, there was no consideration for the health and safety of those families with handicapped children who reside on this street.

Construction will be allowed six days per week because developers are clearly far more important than those residents who reside here permanently.

All this continues to tell us is that those who hold positions either appointed or elected are more concerned with developing properties than having any concerns or compassion for their constituents. The fact that the planning board is not willing to recognize the special needs fellow town residents have and ultimately support them, clearly shows corporations and developers reign supreme in Builderland.

This town has clearly shown by its past and present actions, that it supports corporations and developers rather than residents.

Robyn Gray

Chair, Steering Committee

Guilderland Coalition

for Responsible Growth

Editor’s note: See related story.