Bethlehem town hall hosted three Stakeholder Input Sessions regarding a proposed Slingerlands hamlet project with the hope of designing a new neighborhood community off New Scotland Road.
A group of about 40 property owners, developers, residents and town officials attended each session called a charette.
Charettes are intense multi-day meetings with developers, residents, and local officials designed to provide solutions to urban-planning problems.
About 100 different folks participated in all three sessions, said George Leveille, director of economic development. `By Saturday, an illustrator had some visual images on how properties might look in the defined area.`
Professional consultants cultivated ideas to take over 70 acres of land behind the Price Chopper Plaza all the way to the Normans Kill and create a pedestrian-friendly place to work, visit, shop and live.
`We are going to take these ideas that have been a part of your life and start putting some images behind it,` said Jim Segedy, landscape architect and professor at Ball State, one of the facilitators at Friday’s Charette session.
`Our job is to turn those ideas and words into something more tangible,` Segedy added.
Developing a pedestrian town center that shares Bethlehem’s unique characteristics with plenty of green space were the main ideas generated by the residents from the first input session.
`The Slingerlands hamlet project meetings are incredibly productive,` said Kyle Kotary, town council member. `This innovative, forward-thinking process is making Bethlehem one of the best places to live in the Capital Region.`
Todd Fabozzi, program manager and geographic information specialist from the Capital District Regional Planning Commission, presented a slide show of four different locations in Westminster, Stapleton, and Belmar, Colo., along with one in Portland, Ore., that changed the look of their communities through a public/private partnership beginning with the Charette design process.
`These are four examples of new towns built, two of them reusing existing sites and three of them in suburban areas,` said Fabozzi.
A characteristic `hamlet` features retail, recreational and housing uses, along with entertainment uses for theater and the arts.
A resident of Slingerlands asked if the town is going to use eminent domain proceedings to develop the hamlet site.
`There is no eminent domain here,` said assistant economic developer for the town, Michael Morelli. `This plan is for willing property owners to participate; there is no plan to take people’s property.`
According to supporters, advantages to a hamlet-style development include pedestrian access to stores, a common environment for people to work and play, and a physically attractive neighborhood. Disadvantages can include pedestrian safety, uncontrolled congestion and a day-only destination with no nighttime draw.
Consultant Burt Wolf facilitated the three meetings. Developers representing Peacock Development and Vista Technology Park were at the sessions.
`We refined and concluded the session with a couple of different looks on how this might enfold,` said Leveille. Officials are looking at making the proposed site a traditional village with a variety of retail, recreational and other community uses.“