“We can’t offer everything and do everything that we want to do and still come within the financial guardrails that we have within the state of New York and how we fund our schools, unfortunately,” said Superintendent Daniel Mayberry.

Don Rittner, Chairman, Town of Guilderland 250th AMREV Committee

John B. Haluska, Vice President, Guilderland Historical Society

The board’s unanimous Feb. 4 vote overturned a building permit issued for a fence running along a shared driveway between the historic Norman Vale home and property at 3 Norman Vale Lane.

On separate votes related to the proposal — an interpretation of the proposed use and approval of the project itself — the tally was 4 to 1, with James Zieno twice casting the dissenting vote. 

The board at its March 4 meeting unanimously approved the project as well as a variance request from the town zoning code that would require the new structures to be set back 100 feet from the single-family lots on either side of the property. 

The issue the applicant ran into was the town’s zoning code does not allow construction within the 250-foot setback to watercourses — in this case, the Bozenkill — feeding the Watervliet Reservoir. 

The town’s planner, Kenneth Kovalchik, recommended the PUD, citing ways in which the proposal follows recommendations of Guilderland’s recently updated comprehensive plan. Three people objecting to the proposal also cited the new comprehensive plan as they stated the importance of preserving the globally rare pine bush.