ALTAMONT — The Altamont committee tasked with weighing in on town projects within 1,200 feet of the village boundary says a proposed community center on Gun Club Road should be designated as a school and not a resource center, according to Guilderland’s own zoning code.

The Dec. 19 opinion from the Rural Guilderland Referral Committee states Acton Albany’s application to open a community resource center at 6378 Gun Club Road “is not consistent and does not meet the criteria set forth in the previous” town-issued special-use permit.

The project’s lead agency, the Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals, has the ability to disregard the committee’s opinion if a majority plus one — meaning four members of the five-member board — vote to proceed contrary to the recommendation.

The building at 6378 Gun Club, which had been vacant for years, started as a dance hall called Pat’s Ranch, then became home to the Helderberg Bible Chapel, after which Jeff Thomas bought it as a home for the Community Caregivers. After the Caregivers vacated, Ed Frank ran an anti-drunk-driving campaign from the site, which hosted school field trips. Thomas, through his family foundation, still owns the property. 

Acton Albany is part of Acton Academy, a network of private schools that eschews traditional classrooms, grades, and homework in favor of self‑paced academics and project‑based learning.

Although Acton Academy operates somewhat like a traditional school, Joe Coffey, the project applicant, previously told The Enterprise that’s not the immediate plan for Acton Albany.

“It could grow into that; it depends, [but] because they’re homeschoolers, it’s not like they have to go there every day,” Coffey said in early December. “So it will be what works for the families that are going there. Right now we think that’ll be three days a week.” 

Coffey did not immediately respond to a request for comment this week. 

The committee determined Coffey’s proposed use and application is “not similar to the previous approved application” for 6378 Gun Club Road.

The committee also said that the previous special-use permit was granted with the stipulation that “the operations will be limited to Not-for-Profit Entities.” But, the committee said, “Acton Academy is a for profit private school for homeschooled children thus it does not meet this requirement under the previous Special Use Permit.”

The building is located in Guilderland’s R-20 Zoning District, where single-family homes are permitted and community centers may be considered but require a special-use permit, per town code. 

The referral committee determined that “the Acton Academy School is a class E occupancy by NYS Building Code whereas Community Hall or Center would be a group A occupancy.”

The difference between the two is largely related to the state’s fire code, where Group A (Assembly) governs spaces where people gather for civic, social, or religious purposes — for example, theaters, community halls, or restaurants. Group E (Educational) applies specifically to buildings used by six or more people for educational purposes through grade 12. 

Group A assumes a high density  — 7 to 15 square feet per person — necessitating wider exits and stricter door hardware rules to prevent “crush” conditions during a panic, while Group E assumes a lower density — typically 20 square feet per person — and requires wide corridors, a minimum of 6 feet, to accommodate class movement.

Under a Group A classification, it’s generally assumed that occupants are capable of taking care of themselves in an emergency, meaning there are no requirements for regular drills.

But under a Group E classification, schools must conduct 12 emergency drills per year, including lockdown drills. And, because the code assumes students cannot be responsible for their own safety, staff must be trained to supervise an evacuation. 

There are also different alarm-system requirements that kick in only if a school has over 100 occupants.

Based on its analysis of the proposed use as a school and not a community center, the referral committee recommended that the “application should be referred back to the applicant to apply for a use variance through the Town of Guilderland ZBA Planning process.”