GUILDERLAND — One man’s opposition to the rezone of six parcels of land on French’s Mill Road led to an extension on the town board’s decision so a third public hearing on the matter can be held.

The board held the first hearing on the issue on Oct. 5, after a letter and petition were submitted by residents of French’s Mill Road outlining concerns with the commercial zoning there and requesting it be rezoned for residential use only.

No members of the public spoke at the October hearing and Supervisor Kenneth Runion said he thought the Albany County Planning Board should issue an opinion before the town board voted. The public hearing was held open until the town board meeting on Nov. 5.

At the start of the November hearing, the town’s planner, Jan Weston, recommended that the parcels be rezoned to R-20 — single-family residential use — to bring the area into conformity with the town’s comprehensive plan.

Weston said the Albany County Planning Board deferred to “local consideration.”

Thomas Spoor, an owner of one of the parcels up for rezoning, told the board he was opposed to the rezone because one of the reasons he had bought the property was it’s local business zoning.

“That appealed to me,” said Spoor.

Six months ago, he said, he applied for a subdivision of his property, which was approved. The property was divided and Spoor planned to sell a half-acre lot adjacent to French’s Mill.

Spoor said it was his request for a subdivision that alerted his neighbors to the fact that their properties were zoned for local business use in the first place.

“They thought it meant they could put all sorts of big, evil business in there,” he said.

He asked the board to be exempt from the rezone to R-20 or to be rezoned to BNRP — business non-retail professional.

Weston said the board should consider whether, if Spoor were exempt from the rezone, it would be considered spot zoning.

“You never rezone to benefit an individual,” she said. “You have to rezone to conform to the comprehensive plan.”

Several of the board members, though, including Brian Forte and Paul Pastore, said they understood Spoor’s perspective, that it could be viewed as unfair to rezone a property that someone bought specifically because of the way it was zoned.

Runion said that, if the board were to consider spot zoning for Spoor’s parcel, another public hearing, with proper notice given to the rest of the parcel owners, would need to be held.

In a vote, Runion was the only one who opposed the spot zoning, and the board members unanimously agreed to table the decision until another public hearing could be scheduled.

Other business

Also at the Nov. 5 town meeting, the board voted unanimously to:

— Authorize a transfer of $760,000 from the Phase V water reserve account to the Capital Project account for Phase I of the Town of Guilderland/Rotterdam Interconnect as requested by the Department of Water and Wastewater Management;

— Adopted an amendment to the employment manual to have the town continue health insurance premium payments for a period of six months for an employee on a leave of absence due to a work-related injury or disability;

— Approved a list of 2014/2015 water re-levy amounts for the January 2016 property tax bill as requested by Albany County Tax and Finance;

— Authorized the supervisor to sign a fixed price electricity supply agreement;

— Approved the Country Hamlet designation for Black Creek Run in Guilderland Center; and,

— Canceled the Nov. 17 town board meeting.