Town Supervisor Paul Sausville, the town board and town staff members gathered together Monday to meet with representatives from Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC) to discuss the conveyance of lands within the Luther Forest Tech Campus (LFTC).
While the conveyance of 28 acres within the site to the town has been a stipulation of the planned unit development district (PDD) legislation, SEDC has increased the acreage to 34, but has also requested that the town include in the deed and title of the land restrictions that were not dis-cussed as part of the PDD legislation.
We want to make sure that property would be used for current PDD use, said Jack Kelley, senior vice president of SEDC. `We’d like to have you respect that PDD. We’d like it to go through a site plan-type review so as to not be a detrimental impact to the fab.`
Advanced Micro Devices has announced plans to build a chip fabrication plant in LFTC.
Town Attorney Tom Peterson and members of the town board expressed concern about placing restrictions on the property.
`Is the town willing to arbitrarily restrict the use of its property?` Peterson asked. `The town doesn’t need to do that. The only thing the town would get out of that is that it might make the campus more attractive to buyers.` Peterson suggested a landowner agreement.
`We already go through the planning board,` said councilman Cliff Lange. `We don’t have to, but we adhere to it because we expect developers to.`
Lands owned by the town are not required to go through the process of site plan review, and do not have to comply with existing zoning laws, said Peterson. Historically, said board members, the town has always engaged in the site plan review process and provided open forums for public comment.
John C. Lemery, the attorney representing SEDC, expressed concern that without language in the deed and change of title there was no legally binding way to ensure that this town board or future town boards would live up to that promise.
`Future generations aren’t bound by it,` said Lemery. `We’re bound by town law. You, on the other hand, are not.`
At the recommendation of councilwoman Donna Gizzi, the town will draft a memorandum of understanding that details the town’s intentions to comply with current zoning law and plans to take any site plans through the typical review process by the town’s planning board. Peterson made clear that this document would not be binding, and that at a later time if the town board so chose, it could indeed do something completely different.
While drafting the document was acceptable to SEDC, representatives continued to express their desire for a binding commitment prior to the conveyance of the lands. Further discussions between the town board and SEDC will have to take place to reach an agreement. In the meantime, SEDC will begin the subdivision of the 34-acre parcel. The town also agreed to allow SEDC to begin the site plan review process for projects related to the site before the conveyance is done. The PDD legislation had stated that the conveyance of lands would be completed prior to site review commencing. All parties verbally agreed that final site plan approval would not be granted until the lands have been conveyed.
The lands to be conveyed to the town are located in the center of the site commonly referred to as the Hundred Acre Woods, a parcel of over 130 acres that will be left predominately as green space. The proposed 34 acres to be conveyed are located adjacent to the eastern north-south connector road that will connect the Stonebreak Road entrance with the main entrance off Route 67. SEDC and the town are discussing the possibility of entering into a land management agreement in which the town would manage the remaining portion of this part of the LFTC site.
Currently before the town planning board is the site plan for the 5 miles of roadways to be constructed on the site. SEDC is hoping to have final approval granted next month on the site plan design for the roadway infrastructure, resulting in the ability to begin construction on the roadway project in September. Officials expect that construction to take approximately one year from start to finish. “