GUILDERLAND — Twenty West developers are 61 days closer to a decision on whether or not their vast residential subdivision on Route 20 will be approved by the planning board here. The board voted 5 to 1 to close the public hearing last Wednesday, rendering the board liable to make a decision within the next two months.

Planning board Chairman Stephen Feeney said that the board has 61 days to make a decision, but that, likely, the board will decide in two weeks at its next regular meeting.

Board members told Scott Lansing, of Lansing Engineering in Malta (Saratoga Co.), who represented Lou Masullo of Garrison Development, that parts of his design need to be changed before they approve his plan or give a negative declaration to New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. A negative declaration means in-depth environmental analysis is not needed.

Board member Lindsay Childs voted against closing the hearing and giving the board a deadline for a decision. Board members Terry Coburn, Paul Caputo, Michael Cleary, James Cohen, and Feeney voted to close the hearing. Board member Thomas Robert was absent.
"They’re forcing my hand on this," Feeney said at the agenda review before the meeting. He said that the board would keep the project moving, but that a decision could not be made for the project that night.

Twenty West would cover 181 acres, with 60 donated to the town, including prehistorically-significant land where the Vosburgh point was first identified.
The project calls for 74 lots, with the majority in a cluster plan with several long roads ending in cul-de-sacs. Four three- to five-acre "estate" lots are planned for Vosburgh Road within the same plan, Lansing said. He said that the plan would improve the dead end at Vosburgh Road by creating a cul-de-sac. Feeney had called Vosburgh Road sub-standard.
The project includes a keyhole lot, with a proposed home built behind two others. While Lansing described the lot as "private," Caputo said that the keyhole lot is "very much out of place."

Childs noted that the presentation Lansing read was a year old, and he asked about the lack of a trail on the plan.

Lansing said that the state’s office that handles historic preservation does not want a trail by the archaeologically-sensitive area. The office is also concerned that the town would clear the area for ball parks, Lansing said. He said that, by leaving the land unused but mowed to prevent tree-root damage, future excavations could be done at the site.

Feeney said that he did not approve of the planned cul-de-sacs, but that the hills and wetlands in the topography could impede street or pedestrian connections. He said that the infrastructure proposed would be costly for the developer and for the town, and that the plan has too many storm-water basins.
"We’d rather take five than six," Feeney said.

Roads and water basins will be turned over to the town after the project is completed. Feeney and the board members have continually pushed for changes in the plan, since it came before them in May 2004.
"I can’t make you submit it," Feeney said about the changes. "That’s their right," he told the board. He said that the storm-water basins and cul-de-sacs constitute "an ongoing expense and cost to the community."
Childs worried about the proposed Vosburgh Road lots, which are drawn as being adjacent to the wetlands on the site. Attorney Teresa Bakner said that the developer would put in landscaping along the edge of the wetlands and lots. "Is it because it’s a bigger lot"" asked Cleary.

Bakner agreed that larger lots command larger prices.

Childs suggested that a one-acre buffer be under town control between the four lots and the wetlands.

The board told Lansing to show more construction details, to reconsider the lot lines along the wetlands, and to consider installing a trail head at the Vosburgh lots.
"I feel strongly about the cul-de-sac. Why should the town take on all the infrastructure"" Feeney asked.

Historic home

Douglas Hewett represented Ernest Neverman about dividing 44.7 acres on County Line Road into three lots. Two lots would be cut off the front, if the plan remains unchanged. A house dating to about 1780 stands on one of the lots, and would be demolished, Hewett said.

The town of Rotterdam is across the street from the property, and Neverman hopes to use Rotterdam water, Hewett said.

The Nevermans want to sell a couple of acres, and the home is on their property, Hewett said.
"Personally, I’d hate to see it demolished," Caputo said.
"It’s an old house, and the Nevermans just want it gone," Hewett said. "They have no money. What would they do with it" Basically, they are looking to reduce their tax base."

The board told Hewett that a phase-one archaeological and historical research study of a property is typically required for town subdivisions. Lot three would become a building lot if lots one and two were cut off from it. Building envelopes and the archaeology study would need to be submitted to the board, members said.
"This is becoming a very big project, and it may not be worth my time," Hewett said. "The house itself"I don’t understand the issue there."
"It’s going to come down," Feeney said. "We can’t make you save it. [A study] could cost a few thousand dollars. [Neverman] is free to sell it to somebody. He’s creating three lots."

Cleary said that he would vote to grant concept approval, but Coburn and Caputo said that they would not approve the concept because of the possible significance of the house.

Coburn told Hewett that some organizations buy old homes to disassemble and reassemble elsewhere. Other organizations document buildings well before the buildings are razed.

The board told Hewett that the Nevermans can submit documentation on why they believe the house is not significant if they want to continue the application, or that they can withdraw the application.

Other business

In other business, the planning board:

— Voted unanimously that it found the final environmental impact statement filed for the Woodsfield project on Lydius Street complete. Woodsfield encompasses lands identified as Pine Bush;

— Told applicant Larry LeFevre, of Rotterdam, that his request to re-subdivide two lots on 4.8 acres on Gipp Road was moot. The two lots had been questionably merged into one tax lot. The two lots are already existing, the board said after a records search, and no further subdivision is required. For sale or building purposes, LeFevre may need a variance, the board said;

— Approved the application by Black Creek Associates to divide 36.84 acres into two lots. Paul Sciocchotti of Black Creek said that 6.94 acres, on which there is an existing home that may be razed, will be kept and that 29.9 acres are under contract to be purchased by the nature conservancy. The almost 30 acres will eventually be part of the Albany Pine Bush, Sciocchotti speculated;

— Approved a request by Brian Jackson to divide 8.9 acres at 5899 Ostrander Road into two lots. The western piece with single-residence homes will be 2.91 acres, and the remaining southerly portion will be undeveloped, Jackson said;

— Approved a four-lot subdivision of 14.7 acres at routes 158 and 20 for applicant Lisa Romano; and

— Sent an advisory opinion favoring a zoning change for eight condominiums on 3.2 acres on Ashford Drive to the zoning board of appeals.