Village proposes, listens, adapts plan for future



ALTAMONT — Since the village adopted a comprehensive plan last January, it has spent the year following the plan’s recommendations.

Created by a committee headed by architect and village trustee, Dean Whalen, the comprehensive plan addresses issues all over the village, from suggested green initiatives to the practical recommended overhaul of the decades-old zoning regulations.
"It has a lot of broad-stroke references and reminders," Whalen said of the plan after its first public hearing, adding, "and dreams."

Out of the plan came a committee to rework the village’s zoning regulations, a process that is just now coming to a close. Also headed by Whalen, the zoning committee presented its plan to the village this fall; the draft was met with heavy criticism from the public.

A section that would have created a historic district, with regulations imposed on building upkeep that many residents saw as too restrictive, was removed from the proposed zoning changes following a special meeting of the village board after the public hearing.
Over the course of three months, the board heard residents debate the merits of a controversial "M," or multi-family, designation given to some parcels in the village and on its outskirts. Following its December meeting, the board said that it was committed to taking away the option for development of multi-family homes, like apartments or condominiums, on a sizable piece of land on the Bozenkill, and allowing for that sort of development on the smaller pieces within the village proper. Another public hearing on the zoning regulations is scheduled for January.

Fairgrounds re-zoned

As suggested in the comprehensive plan, the recently proposed zoning law would rezone the fairgrounds for development.
Nobody has plans to build on the fairgrounds, which are home to the century-old agrarian celebration hosted annually, village and fair officials said in January. But it’s the village’s responsibility to plan for the "what ifs," said Whalen.
"What if the fair fails"" asked Whalen. "Then we end up with a bunch of McMansions."

Should the fairgrounds be developed, it will likely be a New Urbanist neighborhood. Following the suggestion for rezoning the grounds, the comprehensive plan lists specifications for the development, most of which echo the New Urbanist platform.
The recommendation itself reads: "Consider the zoning district designation for the Fairgrounds from "F" (Fairgrounds) to a mapped Planned Unit Development District (PUD) where the minimum parcel size must be 25 or more acres; include in Zoning Code a full set of procedures to administer development within this district and clearly establish standards and objectives for development in this area."
Then the list includes connected roads, buildings that are "village-like in character, scale, and density," walkable, mixed commercial and residential development, parks and green spaces, re-use of existing buildings, and it also specifies that there should be proof of adequate water and sewer capacity for the development.

Six of the 11 parcels of land that make up the Altamont fairgrounds are within the village, a total of 43.2 acres currently assessed at $1.7 million, according to the town of Guilderland’s assessor’s office. Carol Wysomski, the town’s assessor, said that the value of land changes according to its use. Commercial land fetches the highest prices, she said; land on Route 20 near the town hall is selling for about $100,000 per acre for commercial use.
Of rezoning the fairgrounds, Wysomski said, "The use would change, therefore the assessment changes."

Elections not contested

Voters elected two trustees and a judge in Altamont’s uncontested village elections this spring. There were a handful of write-in votes for Harvey Vlahos, who decided not to seek re-election to the village board.

Incumbent William Aylward, a retired social studies teacher, and newcomer Chris Marshall, a retired state worker, ran together for the village board on the Concerned Citizens ticket orchestrated by Mayor James Gaughan.
"It will differ in that I think we will have a more homogeneous approach," Aylward said in the spring of how the new board would be likely to behave. Vlahos was often the only dissenter on the board while he was serving.
Marshall echoed that answer when she said, "I personally think that we will work very cooperatively."

Those predictions came true.

Rebecca Hout, a lawyer, who has been a village judge for 13 years, was re-elected to the post.

No hearing for Dorsey

Marc Dorsey, a former Altamont police officer who was removed from the force in 2003, will not get a hearing after all.

A decision last May from the Appellate Division, the middle level of New York’s three-tiered court system, reversed a lower-court judgement that had granted Dorsey a hearing after he made claims for back pay; reinstatement to his job; and a hearing, pursuant to section 75 of the state’s Civil Service Law.

Dorsey was suspended from the Altamont department in December of 2003, following stalking charges filed against him in Albany. The charges were dropped in June of 2004, but he was never reinstated.

Dorsey sued the village in November of 2005. The following April, Supreme Court Judge Joseph Teresi granted that he was entitled to a hearing.
Dorsey could have filed a notice of permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, but the case would have had to address a unique or novel issue of law to be heard, said Dionne Wheatley, who handled the case for the village. "It’s my belief that it would probably be dismissed," she said last spring.

Water flows

After years of ups and downs, the water-strapped village got its new wells connected to the municipal system this year.

In March of 2004, the village agreed to a purchase option with the Michael and Nancy Trumpler for about five acres of their land on Brandle Road where engineers had discovered water months before. A year later, in April of 2005, the Trumplers filed papers in Albany County Supreme Court, seeking to get out of their contract with the village. The Trumplers meant for the water to serve the residents of the village, they said, and they objected to Altamont’s plans to give water to developer Jeff Thomas, who had plans to build a 72-unit senior housing complex just outside the village.

Although the Trumplers hadn’t sued for any money, the village filed a counterclaim against them for tens of thousands of dollars. In June of 2005, Thomas sued the Trumplers for $17 million, claiming interference.

Altamont later settled with the Trumplers and new water has been flowing through village pipes. There were some problems with water discoloration when the new well came on line, but those have now largely been solved.

This summer, Thomas broke ground on Brandle Meadows, the senior housing complex that is set to use the municipal system.