GUILDERLAND — Angered over the removal of sidewalks around their office building, employees of the 1450 Western Ave. Picotte building have brought the matter to Town Hall.

The five-story Picotte building was undergoing exterior renovations and maintenance crews were installing drainage when they began tearing out sections of sidewalk. In response, workers sent e-mails to Guilderland’s chief building inspector and zoning administrator, Donald Cropsey.

The workers say that, without sidewalks, people are now forced to walk in the roadway along with cars and tractor trailers in order to get inside of the building. The zoning board has ruled that approval was necessary before the sidewalk removal began.
"We got copies of an e-mail from people who work there," Cropsey said about being notified of the issue.

The town’s zoning board listened last Wednesday to Guilderland resident Jerry Hauser, who works in the building, about his dissatisfaction over the project. Hauser, who is active in the Guilderland Community Garden, also sent a letter to The Enterprise editor over the matter. (See letters to the editor.)
"The issue has come up whether or not they can do that," Cropsey said at the meeting of sidewalk removal. The owners of the building cited maintenance, safety, and the desire to expand the building’s landscaping as reasons for the sidewalk removals, according to Cropsey.

Picotte’s head of property management, Joe Miller, did not returns calls to The Enterprise for comment.
Hauser told the board that Picotte management removed two sides of sidewalks from the 26,000-square-foot building "despite the fact they were contacted that this may be inappropriate." The building had sidewalks on all four sides and is surrounded by parking lots and a "drive aisle" on each side.

The Picotte building is adjacent to the Burger King and diagonally across from Stuyvesant Plaza on Western Avenue in McKownville.
"As soon as you step out that door, you’re walking in the street," Hauser said at the meeting. "I can assure you that no one in that building is in support of this"They’re perplexed."

Hauser told The Enterprise that more than 400 people work in the building and that various visitors frequent the building as well. The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services employ over 300 people and the remaining workers are made up of employees of the New York State Legislative Bill Drafting Commission and private companies.

Referring to an old site plan that Cropsey provided, Zoning Board Chairman Peter Barber determined that the owners of the building need the board’s permission to remove the sidewalks.
"In those old approvals, there’s always a condition that says ‘adherence to the plans as submitted,’ so I think the board was relying upon it," Barber said. "So, if they’re changing it, an amendment to the special-use permit is needed."

Cropsey said on Tuesday that he has been in contact with Picotte’s management, but that there has been no application made to the board for a special-use permit amendment.

The Picotte Companies, headquartered on a 200-acre office park at 20 Corporate Woods Blvd. in Albany, own several commercial buildings in the area.

Hauser said that much of the sidewalk has already been removed.
"When does landscaping take precedence over people’s lives"" Hauser asked The Enterprise.
Hauser stated at last Wednesday’s meeting, "If this weren’t so serious I would laugh at one of the reasons given by Picotte to remove the sidewalks is to put landscaping in."
Barber said that, although Picotte needs an amendment to legally remove the sidewalks, it wouldn’t happen "overnight," because of the time it takes to draw up new site plans.
"We’ve been requiring sidewalks on the side of buildings in which there is parking"I think we’ve always done this"because it’s logical," Barber said. "It doesn’t mean that an applicant can’t come forward and try to propose something different than a sidewalk. Maybe they can propose a different way to get pedestrians into the building."
Barber said that enforcement issues are handled by the town’s code enforcement officer, Rodger Stone, and by the town’s court, not the zoning board. But, he added, if an applicant deviated from a site plan they "might be asked to come back to the board to explain themselves and we could revoke the special-use permit."

The town’s code enforcement officers could also issue fines for being in violation of the town’s code.

Other business

In other business, the zoning board last week unanimously:

— Adjourned a special-use permit and area variance hearing for two weeks on the application of Rebecca Reed to construct a dog kennel on her 200 Foster Lane home;

— Granted an area variance for Mary Reed of 17 Pinewood Rd., to construct a 10-foot overhang onto her patio;

— Tabled the application for an amendment of a special-use permit by Key Bank, located at 2050B Western Ave., inside of Star Plaza. Key Bank has applied for the amendment in order to begin interior and exterior renovations of the bank, but will not expand or alter the footprint of the existing structure; and
— Tabled the application of a use variance for a month for Paul Sciocchetti’s in-ground pool located at his 122 Dedham Post Rd. home. Sciocchetti installed an automatic pool cover instead of the state-required fence around his in-ground pool and is currently waiting on a "pending matter in Guilderland Town Court" and a New York State permit.

During the Aug. 15 zoning board meeting, the board unanimously:

— Approved a side-yard setback variance for William Goergen of 31 Providence St. to construct an addition to his home;
— Granted an area variance to Albert Barcomb of 14 Norfolk St. to construct a detached 20-foot by 24-foot two-stall garage on his corner-lot property. Cropsey said that a variance was necessary because Barcomb’s "house faced a different direction," than the other homes in the area;
— Approved a five-foot front-yard variance for David O’Hehir of 14 York Rd. to construct a 24-by-20-foot attached garage addition to his home. O’Hehir told the board that "being on a corner lot is difficult," and zoning board member Sharon Cupoli called the project a "marked improvement of the neighborhood"It’s nice to see that it’s getting done." Cupoli said she was "definitely in favor" of O’Hehir’s application;

— Approved a five-foot area variance for Joseph Silvestri to construct a 14-by-16-foot sunroom addition to the back of his 1004 DiBella Dr. home. The structure is to be built over an existing patio area, according to Silvestri;
— Granted a special-use permit to Nancy Wideman to create a hair salon inside of her 5 Velina Dr. home. The hair salon will be "by appointment only," according to Wideman and the zoning board found no objections to the application and determined that Wideman’s "doublewide driveway" provides adequate parking. Zoning board member Michael Marcantonio recused himself from the vote;

— Approved a side-yard variance to Pad Chappidi to construct a 12.5-by-8-foot storage shed on his 8024 Gregory Ln. property;
— Granted a sign re-approval to Stewart’s Shop for its Route 155, Mill Hill Court, location. The store made "slight changes" to its site plan by removing one of the four gas pumps originally planned because it could not be seen at the cash register and the store also scaled down its sign footage; and

— Appointed a town-designated engineer to the application of Clearview US, LLC, to install telecommunication towers on the town’s Fort Hunter and Westmere water towers and on Tower Place. Boswell Engineering was appointed to review the application before referring it back to the zoning board. Clearview currently has no antennas or communication towers in Guilderland and is looking to install new ones on three sites in town.