NEW SCOTLAND — It didn’t take long for the planning board on Tuesday to decide unanimously its recommendation to the town board — not to change the medium-density residential zone in the northeast quadrant of town.

Last month, the Northeast Neighborhood Association submitted a petition to the town board with about 170 residents’ signatures, requesting to rezone the medium-density residential zone east of the abandoned D&H railroad bed, to permit only two-acre lots, a lower density than what is currently allowed.

There are three pieces of land zoned MDR in the northeast quadrant. The town board limited the scope to consider re-zoning only the medium-density residential district that is east of and abuts the abandoned railroad bed.

The Garrison Development Group’s subdivision proposal called Kensington Woods lies within this medium-density zone.

The preliminary housing plan calls for 286 clustered units on 267 acres of land with lots ranging in size from 9,000 to 40,000 square feet. Houses are proposed for both the west and east sides of Hilton Road, which comes off of Route 85A and serves as a through road to Krum Kill. The northeast side of the proposed development would run along Font Grove Road.

The proposed residences range in price from $300,000 to over $1 million.

Kensington Woods would occupy a little less than half of the medium-density residential zone that is just north of the railway bed. The rest of this MDR zone includes large chunks of land owned by Robert Cook, the Genovesis and the Donatos.
"I’m sick and tried of people trying to tell me what I can and can’t do with my land," Anthony Genovesi told the planning Board calmly Tuesday night. Two-acre lots is a "ludicrous request," he said.
"It’s the same old, same old people" who are coming in and trying to "manipulate the law for their own agenda," Genovesi said. "It’s the same people who stopped me from having a cell tower," he said of the neighborhood association efforts in 2002. Genovesi said he decided it was time for him to defend himself.

His farm is very hilly, so he needs the ability to cluster lots for development, he said; the cost of infrastructure would be too much if the houses had to be spread out over two-acres lots.

One Font Grove Road petitioner, Andrew Carnell, told The Enterprise earlier that he wanted the zone change to protect the rural character of his neighborhood.
"The concept of putting a home on less than half of an acre will really change the character of the area," Carnell said; it will "turn an area traditionally under-populated to a very populated area."

More than half of the town’s northeast quadrant is already zoned Residential 2-acre .

Planning board Chairman Robert Stapf said Tuesday that he thinks the planning board can protect the character of the town through the subdivision and site-plan review phases of development proposals.

The Kensington Woods plan has not come before the planning board yet.

Zoning rationale

Stapf said that he was on the planning board when this medium-density residential zone was created. He had participated in making the 1994 comprehensive plan and so did current planning board member Robert Smith.

Stapf said that when they looked at designating MDR zones, they were looking for areas of town that have the ability for development, including having water resources, and in this area of town there is water in the ground, Stapf said.

The town’s building inspector and zoning administrator, Paul Cantlin told The Enterprise last month that a pump test of the well on the Kensington site had been done last year — the well pumped over 400 gallons a minute for 72 hours, he said. That aquifer could supply the whole commercial area, Cantlin said.

On Tuesday night, the planning board compared the differences between an R-2 District and an MDR.

A Residential 2-acre district generally has slopes and soils that are not the best for construction; the purpose of an R-2 zone is to discourage growth, Stapf said as he read from the town zoning ordinance.

MDR zones are for areas of town that are accessible to other population centers, can feasibly be serviced with public water and sewer, and are generally outside the prime agricultural areas, the ordinance reads.

The medium-density residential zone permits lots of 22,000 square feet.
"We spent at lot of time creating this MDR," Smith said. There is water accessible to this land, and the area will accommodate growth, he said. "I’m adamantly against changing the zone in this area," Smith said.

Stapf said that he doesn’t like everything about the initial Kensington Woods proposal, but this is an area of town that is conducive for development. There are a number of benefits to developing this area, Stapf said. One is fire protection and the other is that it will bring more people into town, which will encourage commercial growth.

Board views
Planning board member Chuck Voss, said he agreed with the rest of the board, that this land is suitable for development for a number of reasons. He added, "I would hesitate to support any zoning changes."
Voss went on, any re-zone action anywhere in town would have to have an updated comprehensive plan to support the reasoning for the change. He said he’s not saying that an update to the comprehensive plan needs to be done now, but he thinks rezoning "shouldn’t be done as part of a knee-jerk reaction."
This land is where utilities are a possibility, planning board member Kevin Kroencke said. He doesn’t think what Kensington Woods is proposing currently is moderate-priced housing, but he said, "two-acres lots, — all that’s going to do is increase the price."

For 25 years now, the town has seen many proposals for this old Tall Timbers property and it’s still not developed, Smith said. And this is the most feasible area in town for growth, he said, as he expressed concerns for New Scotland’s lack of development.
"That zone was created for a good purpose and we should leave it," Smith said.
Planning board member Lorraine Tuzzolo said, "I think the law should stay the way it is," echoing other board members.

The board voted unanimously and passed its recommendation on to the town board.

Only one planning board member, Cynthia Elliott was absent, because she was out of town, but she had shared her sentiment with Cantlin before she left; he then conveyed to the board that she was not in favor of the rezone either.

Significance

Planning board attorney Louis Neri emphasized that the planning board’s recommendation is in no way binding. The town board simply had asked the board to take a look at the petition and offer its advice. It is now up to the town board to decide if it wants to hold a public hearing on the matter, Neri said, and make a final policy decision.

Councilman Richard Reilly, who is the liaison to the planning board, told The Enterprise on Wednesday that he views the planning-board recommendation as "a step in the process" and that he would like to "continue with the process" which includes environmental review and "certainly a public hearing."
"I appreciate the input from the planning board," Reilly said. He also appreciated that most of the board members explained their reasoning of their well-thought out position, he said.
Referring to the residents of the northeast quadrant, Reilly said, "I know it’s an issue folks over there feel pretty strongly about, both for and against." There are significant consequences of a re-zone for them personally, but also significant consequences for the town as a whole, he said, such as development and access to water.

Reilly said that he is not yet ready to issue an opinion on the matter.

Since several planning-board members expressed that there shouldn’t be zoning changes unless there is something that changed to justify it, Reilly said he would like to go forward with the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) with assistance from the town engineer, to see if things have changed.

Reilly said that he would certainly give weight to what the planning board said as he considers his final vote.