GUILDERLAND — McKownville residents are worried about what the state’s University of New York Polytechnic Institute’s imminent expansion will mean for the future of their neighborhood.

An environmental assessment report from Fuller Road Management Corporation regarding new student housing and a parking expansion was released last week, months after houses on Loughlin Street and Fuller Road were bought by a development company.

Donald Reeb, the president of the McKownville Improvement Association, said the development company was “very secretive” about the process of buying the property.

“In chatting with people who sold their homes, they invariably said they couldn’t talk to me about, it or they would lose the contract,” said Reeb.

“This one has been tricky,” said Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, who represents the 109th District, which includes Guilderland and the city of Albany. “I think we were all a little surprised in the spring when the homes were bought, but there’s more clarity now.”

SUNY Poly did not return repeated calls seeking comment.

The development company purchased 11 homes on the street, which borders McKownville.

The environmental assessment report details a three-phase project that will ultimately include three new dormitory buildings, a student center, and more than 800 new parking spaces.

Phase One of the project will involve constructing a 104-bed student residence that will provide 2,000-square-feet for use by the school’s security department and installing 709 parking spaces in the vicinity of Loughlin Street. The report discusses demolishing the existing buildings there to accommodate the parking lot.

The parking lot described in Phase One is expected to be open for use by December and the residence is expected to be ready for occupants by September 2016.

Phase Two includes the construction of a student center and a 250-bed student dormitory on Fuller Road. The dorm is expected to be ready for occupancy by September 2017, but the report states, “The schedule might be delayed based upon the growth in needs.”

The third and final phase includes construction of another 150-bed dorm on Fuller Road, which is proposed to be finished by September 2018, but, again, might be delayed “based upon the growth in needs.”

“My main concern is that they not come into McKownville,” said Reeb. “They should not expand beyond their footprint.

“I’ve been trying to get them to explicitly say that this is as far as they’re going, but I haven’t been able to do that,” he said.

The report lists a number of benefits provided by the plan including:

Adequate student housing for a growing student population of the “pre-eminent research facility in the world working on the next generation of microchip fabrication technology”;

Provision of adequate parking for employees, student residents, and visitors;

Continued development of the relationship of the local community business with SUNY Poly that will make facilities more attractive and competitive;

Provision of economic stimulus;

Creation of 150 construction jobs; and,

Creation of six permanent positions.

It also examines the potential impacts on the surrounding areas.

The 178-page report states that all three phases of student housing construction will have a “very small impact on traffic generation during peak hour volumes.” The students in the dorms will not have to drive to and from classes, it says, so the level of service at the roundabout there will remain the same, and some traffic will enter and exit the site from Loughlin Street.

There will also be a “small or moderate impact on groundwater or water supply” based on “new or additional use of groundwater that may have the potential to introduce contaminants to groundwater or an aquifer,” the report says.

The Albany Water Board has enough water supply to meet the needs of the project, according to the report. 

The two biggest concerns for Fahy are traffic and water. She said the report appears to have solid plans in place to mitigate those possible impacts. 

The design of the buildings, according to the report, “has taken into consideration the need for aesthetically pleasing views.”

The design of the new buildings will be consistent with the current buildings and maintain the same modern architecture style with “an emphasis on clean white colors and the use of significant quantities of glass.”

“This is all very disturbing,” said Reeb. “It was all being handled as if it was a big secret.”

It concerns him, he said, that such a large project could have been in the works without residents living close by knowing about it.

He said he has been trying to foster a better relationship with SUNY Poly so he can initiate a dialogue with the McKownville Improvement Association, but, he said, the school doesn’t have a “community outreach person.”

Fahy said she has spoken to represents from SUNY Poly and been “assured that there are no plans” for expansion into McKownville.

She said she has encouraged those representatives to attend some of the neighborhood meetings organized by Reeb.

“Whatever does happen in the future,” said Fahy, “we want to make sure it is an improvement in quality of life for people.”