Developers propose senior facility next to Pine Bush Preserve

GUILDERLAND — At a public hearing on Nov. 5, the town board listened to a proposal for a senior living community on New Karner Road, adjacent to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve.

Partners Senior Consulting LLC and William J. Keller and Sons requested a rezone of the 51-acre property at 145 New Karner Road from Business Non-Retail Professional to Planned Unit Development.

The board unanimously granted a conditional rezone, the start of a lengthy approval process.

Timothy Cassidy, president and owner of Senior Consulting, said the community would be built on 11 acres, and the remaining 40 would be donated to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission.

The proposal includes 96 independent living units and a two-story assisted living facility for those with memory problems, like Alzheimer’s disease. That facility would have 96 units and some would be double-occupancy.

“This would benefit the seniors in the town, the town in general, and the Pine Bush,” said Cassidy.

The 51 acres are, according to the commission’s Executive Director Christopher Hawver, recommended for full protection.

“If we had the funding available to us, we would have purchased that parcel,” said Hawver this week. “We had it appraised twice but couldn’t afford to pay anything above the appraisal price.”

He said the commission has met with the developers twice and given them preliminary feedback on the project, and that they were willing to incorporate suggestions each time.

In addition to the two residential facilities, the developers proposed a “lifelong learning center” for both residents and the general public, which would include a room dedicated to Pine Bush history and information.

The developers also offered to maintain natural vegetation surrounding the buildings.

“Ideally, the land would not be used for development at all,” said Hawver. “But, what they’ve proposed is a reasonable compromise.”

Supervisor Kenneth Runion suggested the developers pay a one-time fee of $200 per unit to the Pine Bush Commission to help them offset the costs of purchasing other parcels of land.

A letter from Creighton Manning Engineering stated that the predicted amount of cars coming in and out of the community would not be enough to warrant a full traffic study, because a majority of the residents would not be driving, and those that did would not drive at peak hours.

Two residents living on Gladwish Avenue, off of New Karner Road, spoke at the hearing and said, despite the letter, they were concerned about the possibility of increased traffic.

They already have difficulty making right turns onto New Karner Road, they said, and there are several hours in the morning and afternoon where people don’t even attempt to go out because it is dangerous.

Jan Weston, the town’s planner, said any decision the town board made would be a conditional rezone, and the project would still need to go before the planning and zoning boards.

“This would only start a long process,” she said at the public hearing. “We haven’t even begun to look at most of the details.”

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