To the Editor:

Stewart’s Shops has again applied to the Altamont Village Board for a rezone of the property adjacent to its store. Stewart’s seeks to change its zoning from residential to commercial to expand its facility into the neighborhood, which requires demolishing a two-family home.

The public learned two days before the Nov. 8 village board meeting that there was an agenda item to consider holding a public hearing to rezone 107-109 Helderberg Ave. at the request of the property owner. The public hearing is scheduled for the Tuesday, Dec. 12, village board meeting at 7 p.m.

In 2015, after six months of village board discussions and public input, the board denied the same rezone request by the then-property owner and Stewart’s. Over 40 letters were received, over 15 people spoke, and a petition of 200 signatures was submitted, the majority in opposition to the rezone. At some point after the denial, Stewart’s bought the adjacent two-family dwelling.

It was the previous owner who had applied for a rezone of this property in 2015 and, because Stewart’s is a new owner, village board members stated they must consider this new request.

According to Mayor Kerry Dineen, the application and drawings with changes from the 2015 plans were received by the village in late September, which were shared with village board members. Following established policy, per the mayor, the application was forwarded to the village planning board for its review and comment.

The board received materials for consideration two weeks in advance of the meeting. A meeting agenda was not posted in advance due to staff leave, although agendas are routinely posted on the village website.

The planning board meeting was held on Oct. 22, as such meetings are only set when there is an issue to discuss, and the application and drawings were considered. At the time of this writing, the minutes and a meeting report have yet to be submitted.

Stewart’s rezone application and drawings are available for review at the village offices.

The public will have five weeks between the November and December village board meetings to gather and provide input. According to Mayor Dineen, the public will have the opportunity to give comments about the rezone application at the December meeting, which is where many will be seeing the proposed expansion plans for the first time.

Dineen assured those in attendance that discussion and input could extend beyond the Dec. 12 meeting, and that a vote on the rezone did not have to take place in December although she added, it could.

“Although the village has followed procedural requirements,” said resident Kirby Wilson, “in the interests of fully informing the community and providing maximum opportunity for public input, it would seem that providing only five weeks during a busy holiday season ... including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Victorian Holidays,visiting relatives and friends, out-of-town trips, etc. ... would be a barrier to a full discussion.”

In April 2015, when the prior rezone application was received, then-Mayor James Gaughan stated that this was just the beginning of the discussion, with the final vote occurring many months later. It was also expressed by board members that the rezone from residential to commercial was so tied to the purpose of the rezone, that both the plans and the rezone should be considered together.

The final vote in 2015 was 2 to 2, with Mayor Gaughan and Trustee Dineen voting for the rezone, and Trustee Dean Whalen and [the late] Trustee Christine Marshall voting against. Trustee Cathy Glass recused herself.

Since that time, there are three new village board members: Trustees John Scally, Nicholas Fahrenkopf, and Michelle Ganance. Trustee Dineen is now mayor. Trustee Whalen is still serving.

I encourage everyone who is interested in the impact on the historic character of the village of the property rezone from residential to commercial, the demolition of a two-family home, and the expansion of Stewart’s into a residential neighborhood, to write to the village board with their comments, and plan on attending the Dec. 12 public hearing. The mayor and trustees are seeking your input.

Kristin Casey

Altamont

Editor’s note: See related story on the front page.