To the Editor:

This is the testimony I gave on Dec. 14 to the city of Albany’s Department of Planning and Development for the hearing about the proposed Sandidge apartments.

Please do not approve this proposal. Here are my 10 reasons why it should not be approved.

— 1. Excessive loss of green space. The single-family dwellings covered less than a third of the building lots. The proposed parking lots and buildings will cover almost twice that percentage of the area;

— 2. Dangerous left-hand turns from Sandidge onto Fuller;

— 3. No nearby urban facilities — like playgrounds — and no green space on the site for play and relaxation — not even a pool;

— 4. The applicant did not register the buildings as vacant as required by city regulations;

— 5. Hardships imposed on visitors to the nearby cemeteries;

— 6. The future of the Nano buildings is in doubt while it is known that nanoparticles could be a public health hazard;

— 7. The residents of the nearby streets — Fuller, Providence, Mercer, and Warren — expected that the single family use of Loughlin Street/Sandidge would not be interrupted and based their investment decisions on such;

— 8. The seven buildings are about as ordinary in their design as is possible — they remind me of the army barracks I once lived in — rectangular plain multi-story buildings;

— 9. The stream to the south of 275 Fuller is not mentioned in the proposal — it is terribly important to McKownville and the residents on Fuller, Providence, Mercer, and Warren. If the stream becomes blocked then flooding on the nearby streets and in the nearby basements becomes much worse; and

— 10. This proposal is an adjustment from what was imagined in 2014 when the homes began to be purchased. The attorney general was alerted that the buyers and sellers appeared to be in collusion and subsequently several persons were indicted. The city is now a partner to a criminal act. Are the developers sharing the profits with those indicted? They already have. The city should refuse to be a party to a criminal act.

After three-plus years of neighbors registering their objections in every possible way the law provides, do you not think it is time to say — yes, all you people cannot be wrong. Do tell the owners they must find a better way to use this property?

Donald Reeb

McKownville

Editor’s note: Donald Reeb is the former long-time president of the McKownville Improvement Association. The neighborhood borders the city of Albany where the apartments are planned.