GUILDERLAND — Developer Christopher Meyer has been appearing before the town board and the planning board for nearly 10 years seeking a zoning change for his subdivision along the Black Creek.

He appeared again on Tuesday evening, asking for a zoning change for the parcel on School Road and part of Depot Road, from Rural Agricultural 3, which would allow only nine units on the land, to Country Hamlet.

A Country Hamlet designation means the area should look rural, have multiple uses, and include walking paths.

The development Meyer is proposing, previously called Dutchmen Acres and renamed Black Creek Run, includes a 14-unit senior apartment building, eight two-family townhouses, and 24 single-family homes.

Meyer said on Tuesday that the project had received preliminary approval from the planning board after appearing before it a total of seven times.

One of the main concerns of the planning and town boards, for years, had been the design and placement of the stormwater drainage system. The property has a high spot in the middle, which drains to either side, and the plans call for a central road to collect the water and pump it into a retention pond. The water would then be released into the Black Creek at a timed rate.

Originally, Supervisor Kenneth Runion was skeptical that a homeowner’s association would be able to properly maintain the drainage system, and worried that the runoff into the Black Creek, which runs into the Watervliet Reservoir — the town’s main source of drinking water — would be contaminated.

In 2009, Runion said the retaining pond was too close to the creek, which resulted in Meyer withdrawing his request for the zoning change.

The newest plans had, in fact, received preliminary approval from the planning board, but, Runion said, at this week’s town board meeting, that he met with the town’s planner, Jan Weston, and with the owners of property adjacent to the proposed development, and there were new concerns about the pond.

The Moaks, who live on Cerruti Road, feel that the nearly three-acre retention pond would be too close to their property. Runion said they cited concerns about mosquitoes breeding in the pond as well as inadequate fencing.

Ken Johnson, of Delaware Engineering, said the intent was to move the pond west and put a berm along the basin.

“We only received that request about one-and-a-half weeks ago,” said Meyer. “If this request had been made in any of the first few meetings it might have been possible, but now it would be a serious obstacle.”

He estimated it would cost about $20,000 for the redesign and delay the project for another year.

“The entire concept and design of this development has changed so many times,” Michael Moak told The Enterprise this week. “This latest plan, apparently the one they planned to go forward with, is the first time we saw how close the pond was to the property, and how big it was.”

The pond is immediately adjacent to the pastures and barn where he and his wife, Heidi, keep their horses, he said.

“We’re concerned that for a large portion of the time it would be standing water and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which carry the West Nile virus and a host of other diseases,” said Moak. “The six-foot chain-link fence proposed is not particularly attractive.”

Moak said he has no problems with the proposed development other than the proximity of the pond to his property.

Meyer implied at the meeting on Tuesday that the Moaks were standing in opposition now because they will not be receiving any land from him.

Originally Meyer had planned to transfer ownership of a portion of his land to the Moaks when he built the development. Under the Country Hamlet designation, however, the land can’t be held under private ownership because of the possibility of dividing it up or building on it.

“The point of Country Hamlet zoning is to allow a cluster of buildings on a small parcel and to keep the rest of the surrounding land rural,” said Runion.

The acreage that Meyer had planned to give to the Moaks will now be given to the town and kept forever wild.

“We certainly had hoped to get some of that land, but, when it fell through, we still thought that, if the land will be kept wild anyway, why not move the pond a little bit,” said Moak.

“We really don’t want to be difficult about this,” he continued. “We are completely accepting of this development going forward; we just think the pond should be moved if it’s possible.”

“My feeling is it should be moved,” said Runion, referring to the pond, at the end of Tuesday’s discussion on the development.

“I would be willing to entertain another conversation with the Moaks to see if anything else can be done to appease them,” said Meyer.

The town board voted unanimously to put the project on the agenda for the Sept. 15 meeting and Runion said he would organize a discussion between himself, Meyer, and the Moaks before then.

Other business

Also at the Guilderland Town Board meeting on Aug. 18, the board voted unanimously to:

— Appoint Bonnie-Jean Johnson as paramedic supervisor and Matthew Phelps as paramedic from the Albany County Civil Service List;

— Appoint Casey Childs as golf professional from the Albany County Civil Service List;

— Reinstate Jordyn Hagadorn to position of telecommunicator at Step 3 of the Civil Service Employee Association Unit A contract;

— Appoint Robert Duell to position of laborer/pump and controls operator at a rate of $25 per hour;

— Appoint Craig Berschwinger to position of laborer for parks and recreation and the golf course;

— Approve purchase of used 1996 Caterpillar D5 LGP Dozer, for a purchase price of $24,500, to be shared by the highway department and the department of water and wastewater management;

— Authorize the department of water and wastewater management to go out to bid for purchase of a jet and vacuum truck;

— Authorize emergency repair of the press building roof at Nott Road; and

— Authorize the return of escrow in the amount of $1,240 to T-Mobile in Stuyvesant Plaza.