Residents of New Scotland Road in Bethlehem are invited to participate in a series of three unique meetings hosted by the Town’s economic development and planning departments designed to create a new pedestrian friendly Slingerlands.
The area under consideration for major changes encompasses 72 acres along New Scotland Road between Cherry Avenue and Mahar Road.
Your input will be considered by consultants engaged by the town to create an area of town we can all be proud of, wrote Supervisor Theresa Egan in a letter to New Scotland Road residents and developers.
`When the planning document is complete, we hope to have a blueprint and a set of design guidelines showing how New Scotland Road could look as a traditional, pedestrian friendly, mixed use town center where residents can live, eat, shop, stay and play,` wrote Egan.
The meetings, which begin Aug. 31 inside town hall, are called Slingerlands Hamlet ‘Charette’. They will take the form of a pre-1900 exercise in France where architectural students were given a design problem to solve within a brief period of time. These students would then rush themselves and their almost-completed drawings from the studios to the Ecole des Beaux Arts in the back of a cart called a ‘charette.’ The students completed the design drawings on the way to the school.
`Out of this planning session will come a concept for how this should evolve,` said economic development director George Leveille. `We think these meetings will be stimulating.`
Some ideas that may come from the three scoping sessions, according to the Assistant Director of Economic Development Michael Morelli, could include new curbing and sidewalks, new lighting and a place for people to live, work and recreate all in one location.
`It’s referred to as a new urbanism,` said Morelli.
The first meeting, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in room 101, will help develop the desired character people want to see for the hamlet. The second and third meetings to be held Sept. 14 and 15 at 9 a.m. in the town hall auditorium will function as design meetings where an illustrator will show different ideas on how New Scotland Hamlet could be developed.
Leveille said the three workshops will be intensive and several talented individuals will be asked to come up with ideas and a concept to implement.
`We want the town to buy into something a little more challenging and complex,` said Leveille. `The dynamics are here.`
The New Scotland Road area of Bethlehem is already one of the busiest in the town with a Price Chopper Plaza, post office, medical plaza and several other shops. A new Vista Technology Park just behind the proposed hamlet between LaGrange and Mahar roads will be home to at least 3,000 new employees who will be looking for places to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pedestrian links and nature trails are already under consideration by many town, county and state officials to go with the Vista Park development.
`People are looking for sustainable alternatives,` said Leveille in regard to the future of Slingerlands. `The dynamics are in place for a truly special location we can live in.`
Exit 15 off the Northway in Saratoga is one area officials point to as a pedestrian friendly hamlet currently under construction with a new hotel and other attractions.“