The City Council voted 3-to-2 to deny a zoning amendment proposed by National Grid to change 28 acres on Brook Road adjacent to Pallette Stone quarry from rural residential to light industrial.
Mayor Valerie Keehn, Commissioner of Finance Matthew McCabe and Commissioner of Public Safety Ron Kim voted against the zoning change, while Commissioner of Accounts John Franck and Commissioner of Public Works Thomas McTygue voted in favor.
The utility company has been looking for an area to consolidate its operations in the Saratoga area since it left its contaminated Excelsior Avenue location in 1998 so the area could be cleaned up. The company moved to a city-owned parcel on Weibel Avenue that year, under an agreement with the city that it would give to the Department of Public Works its $1.4 million facility when it was supposed to move out in 2004.
Citing a lack of space for consolidation of the growing company’s vehicles, equipment and staff, National Grid decided not to move back to Excelsior Avenue that year, and has been leasing the Weibel Avenue location from the city for $4,500 a month. The lease was signed in 1997 and was renewed in 2003. It is set to expire in 2008.
The Excelsior Avenue location also was determined to be contaminated, but has since been cleaned up, according to National Grid’s real estate supervisor Bill Dow. Dow said the site is still under orders from the Department of Environmental Conservation and Environmental Protection Agency, but it is the size, not the remediation of the Excelsior parcel that is the reason for National Grid’s interest in the plot of land near the quarry.
McCabe said he opposed the zoning change because it bypassed the zoning board and failed to garner a majority vote in the planning board, which had reached a 3-to-3 impasse on the project and could not issue an advisory opinion to the city council.
McCabe also questioned the lack of a concrete development plan for the lot. Dow said the facility would occupy 8 of the 28 acres in question, but McCabe and Keehn noted there was no limit as to how much of the parcel could be developed, and that National Grid could, in turn, sell the property to a business with a different plan.
This is no doubt an area of terrible friction, McCabe said. `You’re asking us for guaranteed permission when we don’t have a guaranteed project.`
Kim questioned what would become of the Excelsior lot, a piece of property that he described as being `basically, a paved area with a bunch of generators on it ` basically, a pretty ugly area.`
He also said he would not vote in favor of the zoning change without knowing how the city’s Comprehensive Plan Committee weighed in on it, to which McTygue replied, `If the Comprehensive Planning Committee had their way, nothing else would be built in this city.`
McTygue said his department had a stake in the zoning change, as it would get the Weibel Avenue facility for free. This would benefit the taxpayers, he said, as, the city would save considerable money by having an eastside DPW garage. About half of the equipment at DPW’s Division Street garage would move to Weibel. He said it would also alleviate the space problem in city hall, as staff from the DPW located on the first floor of that building could be moved to Weibel Avenue.
Planning board member Cliff van Wagner agreed.
`I truly believe we’re looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth by denying this application,` he said.
Van Wagner said it was a disservice to city taxpayers to impose the cost of fuel and maintenance on DPW vehicles that will have to travel farther without a facility on the east side of the city.
`Not withstanding the fact that I’m going to get all of these heavy trucks away from the school,` said McTygue.
Although McCabe and City Planner Geoff Bornemann said some neighbors of the parcel contacted them with concerns before the meeting, no neighbors spoke against the zoning proposal at the meeting.
`Where are all the people [opposed]? I’m not seeing it,` Franck said.
Former supervisor Phil Klein, who lives nearby, spoke in favor of the plan. He touted the additional $1.8 million that would be generated in property and school taxes ($180,000 per year for 10 years) by the proposed National Grid facility.
`By allowing this to happen, we are insuring our future tax base and freeing up downtown property,` he said.
Klein also capitalized on the fact that the parcel, while zoned rural/residential, is located right next to a mining and extraction operation.
`If you don’t allow National Grid to go there, what in good God’s name are you going to put there? No one’s going to build a house next to Pallette quarry,` Klein said.
Keehn said her decision to vote against the zoning change was the result of a vow to protect the city’s green space made before she took office.
`Once you start encroaching into the greenbelt, you keep encroaching further and further. And I think that, as a community, we have to set a limit, we have to set our priorities, we have to state what our values are, and I don’t think you can set a price on our quality of life. People come to Saratoga Springs because of our quality of life and because we have high expectations and because of the progress that we approve and accept in our community,` said Keehn. `I have spoken all along about protecting the greenbelt around the community; this is certainly a case in point, in my mind, for me to do that. I hope that National Grid can find another site close by. I certainly understand the tax implications, but again, what is the price for our children’s quality of life, and at what point do we say enough is enough?`
Keehn said she was sure National Grid would still provide the same quality of service regardless of where they end up.
Franck took issue with the mayor’s argument.
`The important thing is, Mayor, when people are asking for ambulances on the eastern ridge, I hope you vote no against that because they’re going to take care of business the same way,` Franck said.
`Obviously, National Grid is going to do the best they can, but the closer they are the quicker they can respond.`
National Grid’s Patrick Stella said the company will try to find another site quickly, and will remain at the Weibel Avenue site until they do so. He called the council’s vote disappointing.
`We’ve worked hard over the years trying to find a site that would suit our needs,` he said. `From here, we’ll try to find another site.` “