GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland Planning Board was recently presented with a project to install a drive-up ATM kiosk on the site of an abandoned gas station at 1611 Western Ave.

Also during its Sept. 10 meeting, the board was informed about a proposal for a drive-thru restaurant to be built on land surrounding the proposed Western Avenue automated teller machine.

The former Sunoco gas station, whose previous owner was delinquent on taxes, was sold at auction by Albany County for $1, according to county records. 

There is no bank building proposed for the site, only the drive-up kiosk.

The zoning board is the lead agency for the project, which was before the planning board on Sept. 10 for a site-plan review. 

Town Planner Kenneth Kovalchik wrote in a memo to the board that the “proposed site improvements include upgraded lighting. The redevelopment will maintain existing grades to the greatest extent possible and preserve the current amount of impervious coverage … The proposed site layout can accommodate up to four (4) vehicles in queue.”

During his overview of the proposal, Kovalchik said the planning board typically “tries to bring parcels into compliance with current codes when we see redevelopment on the site.”

Kovalchik’s memo said the existing site exceeds the 75-percent maximum lot coverage allowed in the transit-oriented development district where the site is located. Almost the entire site contains existing pavement, he wrote.

On Sept. 10, Kovalchik said, “It’s a pre-existing, non-conforming use.”

Kovalchik asked if the board was looking to bring the site into compliance with existing codes. “That’s the underlying question,” he said.

Drive-thru proposal

He then noted that the board had another matter to deal with. 

“The other, probably more important, issue is we just received this week a special-use permit for the parcels surrounding this property for a drive-thru restaurant,” Kovalchick said. “The board may recall, even though it didn't come before this board, the zoning board earlier this year approved a use variance on that parcel to allow a drive-thru use for a restaurant.”

In May, the Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals in a split vote approved a request from Pyramid Management Group to allow for a drive-thru restaurant to be built on the handful of properties adjacent to 1611 Western Ave. 

The approval allowed Pyramid to move forward with a specific development project for the site, a process that involves obtaining a special-use permit and undergoing all reviews associated with the permit application. 

Pyramid needed the variance because the five potential project parcels — 1593, 1613, 1615, 1617, and 1621 Western Ave. — are located in the town's TOD district, which, while allowing for food uses, explicitly excludes drive-thrus.

The specific restaurant looking to build remains unclear. Pyramid did not respond to an Enterprise request for comment. On Sept. 10, Kovalchik said in response to a question about the potential operator, “They’re not disclosing.”

Of note was Chairman Stephen Feeney’s observation, “They’ve got two drive-thrus and a hundred parking spaces. So I’m kind of scratching my head, like, ‘OK, what’s this thing?’”

Bank of America ATM

 Caryn Mlodzianowski of Bohler Engineering told board members on Sept. 10, “This is a pretty simple project. This is a very small lot, about a quarter of an acre or so, so there’s not much that’s going to fit here in the way of redevelopment.”

Mlodzianowski said the current site is “a bit of an eyesore. We’re hopeful to clean it up a little bit here with this very simple project: a new Bank of America freestanding [drive-up] kiosk.”

With site cleanup in mind, the board pushed for the removal of excess asphalt, considering that getting rid of the buried fuel tanks involves breaking up the pavement. 

The absence of landscaping was noted, with the board pushing for its inclusion, particularly in the front of the property, while a proposed six-foot security fence on just one side of the site was questioned as it appeared to lack clear purpose; the proposed fence wouldn’t fully enclose the site. 

With Bank of America looking to retain the two existing 30-foot curb cuts on Western Avenue, site access was problematic for the board.  

 With the adjacent drive-thru restaurant also proposing two new curb cuts, having four cuts was thought to be a problem as the New York State Department of Transportation typically prefers to consolidate curb cuts to improve traffic flow and enhance safety, Kovalchik said, particularly in areas with multiple, closely-spaced access points.

Members decided to table Bank of America’s application until the access issue could be cleared up.