2006 in review Water development shape New Scotland future
2006 in review:
Water, development shape New Scotland future
NEW SCOTLAND Much of the towns attention in 2006 was focused on planning for New Scotlands future.
A six-month moratorium on building in the northeast quadrant has minimized the development pressure in that area of town; negotiations between the towns of New Scotland and Bethlehem are ongoing, with hopes an intermunicipal water agreement may be reached in the near future; and the comprehensive land-use plan has been reviewed by a town- appointed committee, and may be updated if state aid and town-board approval are granted.
Moratorium
Late in 2005, the board was presented a petition, sponsored by the Northeast Neighborhood Association, requesting that the area be re-zoned to a residential conservation (R2) district, which would require residential lots be a minimum of two acres. Some residents said this would preserve the character of the area.
Some other large property owners from the medium-density residential (MDR) zone submitted a petition opposing a re-zone to R2. Other concerns were expressed to the board about availability of water and sewer resources for development, and doubts were raised about future developments spurred by current building.
The northeast quadrant borders the suburban towns of Bethlehem and Guilderland, and is the closest part of New Scotland to the city of Albany; it remains mostly rural.
The board was in agreement that rezoning the MDR zone to an R2 zone would not appropriately handle the problem, Democratic Councilman Richard Reilly told The Enterprise earlier.
Reilly suggested that the board adopt a moratorium while the zoning in the northeast quadrant is reviewed. The six-month time period would "put pressure on ourselves to get things done," Reilly told the board, but explained that the moratorium could be extended if needed.
The town board, in a split vote at its September meeting, passed the law suspending large-scale development in the northeast corner of town. The three Democratic board members voted in favor, while the two Republican members voted against the law.
The law states that, for six months from its effective date, "No applications for subdivision approval, site-plan approval, special-use permits, or for planned unit developments shall be accepted or considered by officials or boards of the town of New Scotland."
The moratorium will expire in mid-March, Supervisor Ed Clark told The Enterprise. Clark said this week that it is possible the moratorium will need to be extended, but he doesnt know how likely it is.
Exceptions to the law include the "maintenance, repair, replacement, modification or alteration" of structures that do not increase the size of the original structure by more than half; applications that are pending before the planning board or town board for review; applications that have been approved by either board; and applications for residential subdivisions that create 10 lots or fewer.
Two substantial planned unit developments are exempt from the moratorium. The Maldel development on Krumkill Road and the Kensington Woods development. Both have applications pending, and are therefore not restricted by the law.
Water
The Kensington Woods development is still in its preliminary stage, but a viable water supply has been determined to be present there, Supervisor Clark said this week.
"It will be adequate for Kensington Woods and maybe more," he said.
The planned unit development is a 282-unit housing project proposed on 267 acres of land bisected by Hilton Road.
"All people would prefer to have municipal water, because many wells are unreliable," Clark previously told The Enterprise.
The towns of New Scotland and Bethlehem have been discussing an intermunicipal agreement for water in New Scotland.
Bethlehem owns the Vly Creek Reservoir, which is located in the town of New Scotland. A pipeline runs from the reservoir along Route 85, through New Salem and into Bethlehem. The homes along that road in New Salem have Bethlehem water from the reservoir piped to their homes. They are billed for their water by the town of Bethlehem.
New Scotland hopes to buy from Bethlehem a "specified amount of water for whatever purposes they choose to use it for," Oliver Holmes, the commissioner for public works in Bethlehem, told The Enterprise earlier.
Clark said this week that he has put in a few calls to Bethlehem’s supervisor and reports, "They have not settled on a response to our proposal for an agreement.
"I’m hoping they will accept it," he added.
If the agreement were to be worked out, the water would come from either the Vly Creek Reservoir or the city of Albany, and would be piped to residences in New Scotland. Bethlehem would "sell the quantity that New Scotland needs," Holmes said, and New Scotland would then bill the customers.
"The very earliest, most optimistic date would be five years from now," Clark told The Enterprise earlier regarding a timetable for the water district.
"We’re working very hard on a water district out there," he said this week. "We’re trying to find funding for it."
The New Salem Water District project is listed in this years Intended Use Plan, which is necessary to be eligible for state funding, Susan Mayer, director of corporate communications for the Environmental Facilities Corporation, said earlier.
The applicant must first submit a pre-listing form, explaining the general parameters of the project, she said.
The next step is to submit an application. With the application, various documents are required, such as engineering reports, environmental reports, and financial reports, she said.
The New Salem Water District is listed in the IUP with a score of 60, and a project cost of more than $5 million; it is to serve 486 residents.
The score is based on both technical and non-technical criteria. According to the IUP, the criteria are: maximum contaminant level/treatment technique violations, sanitary code violations, system reliability/dependability issues, governmental needs, and financial needs.
The projects with the greatest risk to the public health are given the highest priority, and therefore, a higher score.
"After projects are scored, they are ranked. The highest score is ranked first," said Mayer. Projects are awarded funding in order of rank, she explained.
Comprehensive plan
The town board established a preliminary committee in January to make suggestions to the board about revising the 1994 comprehensive plan. At that Jan. 11 meeting, Douglas LaGrange, a Republican board member, said that most municipalities update their comprehensive plans every five years.
The committee consists of town board members Reilly and LaGrange, planning board Chairman Robert Stapf, planning board member Charles Voss, zoning board members William Hennessey, Adam Greenberg, and Robert Parmenter, and the towns zoning administrator and building inspector, Paul Cantlin.
The group met once a month until it had come up with a list of preliminary findings, which were brought to the town board at its September meeting.
The committees consensus was that updating, in some capacity, should be done on the comprehensive plan, LaGrange told The Enterprise earlier.
The plan, he said, has a lot of "little things that could warrant attention just to clean it up."
A comprehensive plan update is "very, very past overdue," Supervisor Clark said earlier.
The adoption of a six-month moratorium by the town board on areas of the northeast quadrant falling in medium-density residential (MDR) and residential conservation (R2) zones, indicates the need for a new plan, LaGrange also earlier told The Enterprise.
LaGrange, at the Oct. 11 board meeting, asked for the boards approval to apply for the 2006 Quality Communities Grant, with funds to be allocated for use in updating the comprehensive plan.
Though the decision to update the comprehensive land-use plan has not yet been made, the board approved the preparation and submission of the grant application to the state with the provision that it see the application before it is submitted.
The board will later decide whether or not to accept the money, if it is awarded, and move forward with updating the towns comprehensive land-use plan.
The grant money would be used to fund professional review of the towns land-use plan and pay for more modern methods of land-use planning, Clark told The Enterprise this week.
If awarded the grant, the town would need to add in a percentage of the funds, Clark said, and that money is already in the budget.
Clark is not sure when the grant recipients will be announced.
The grant is one that is flexible, said Chuck Voss, who sits on the planning board, and is part of a committee of grant writers. The town board can choose not to accept the money, he said.
"This is a good opportunity to have money in our pockets," said LaGrange, at the November meeting when the board decided to apply for the grant.
