Lawyers representing Siena College and residents opposed to the installation of four, 90-foot light towers pleaded their cases for the last time before members of Colonie’s Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday, June 21.
The board will make its decision Thursday, July 5, on whether or not to grant the college a variance to the town’s height restriction of 40 feet.
Last week’s meeting ended six months of deliberations between town planners and the college on the four towers that will light the college’s new synthetic athletic field constructed in the spring.
It was standing room only, and residents, college officials, engineers and athletes packed into every nook and cranny of the meeting room at Colonie’s Public Operations Center.
Bob Sweeney, the attorney representing Siena throughout the proceedings, addressed the 15 letters and memorandums, both in favor and against, that have been entered into the minutes of meetings since December last year.
Siena has spoken about the merits of the new field and how the new lights will have a minimal impact on the surrounding residential neighborhood while helping Siena athletes remain competitive in NCAA Division 1 sports.
The Clough Harbor analysis is a fair and accurate representation of what is out there and what is seen. It is difficult to see and has virtually no impact on the neighborhood, said Sweeney.
Clough Harbour and Associates is the lead engineer on the construction of the field and light towers.
As a result of the last zoning board of appeals meeting in May, the town requested that a cherry picker lift be put up to gauge the height of the proposed towers and the potential impact to the historic neighborhood’s vistas.
Residents and Siena have squared off on the results of the test, and both parties submitted more than 100 photos in support of their causes.
More than a dozen residents retained attorney Andrew Gilchrist, and dozens more backed his argument, that the test failed to show how the tower would appear with banks of more than 20 lights, each light more than 2 feet in diameter.
Despite the fact that the lights are designed for as little spill-off light as possible, the fact remains that the proposed four, 20-foot wide light banks resting on top of the 90-foot poles, will be seen from throughout Loudonville, lit or not, said Gilchrist, a graduate of Siena himself.
The towers are a quality-of-life issue, he added.
`They will face these light towers and the field every day. They will live this every day, whether the lights are on or not,` Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist also raised several issues with the manner in which the college has gone about selling residents on the proposed towers.
For one, the college has said that the lights will only be on for 10 scheduled games of the year. For the first time in the hearings, Siena officials stated that they would like to use the lights for practice any opportunity they could.
Resident Sharon Alley, who has led the charge against the proposal, also pointed out that the college has already put in the four footings to mount the lights. Building Department Director Michael Rosch confirmed that Siena had only been given a building permit for the new field and accessory bleachers, not the footings for the lights.
`We have come to the hearings, listened with opened minds, and we are still adamantly opposed to these towers. We are not against higher education, we are not against Siena, we are not even against athletics,` said Sharon Bright Holub, president of the Greater Loudonville Association.
Holub stated that there has not been good dialogue between Siena and its neighbors, and that the proposal is more than a matter of what is permitted by town law; rather, it’s a matter of community and the impact four, 90-foot light towers would have on it, she said.
Throughout the proceedings, a few area residents have blasted Loudonville residents for pushing a self-serving agenda and seeking to employ its own building codes that differ from other allowable building uses in the town.
`No one put a gun to your head, handed you a key and said, ‘You have to buy this house,’` said Doris Essepian, a longtime resident of Spring Street Road, south of the Siena Campus.
Essepian was speaking to the scores of newer Loudonville residents who have joined forces with the dozen or so residents opposed to the plan who have lived in the hamlet most of their lives.
`All I hear is mine, mine, me, me, with no regard for Siena. A college has to grow. They can’t stop, and we heartily support the lights and the extension of the athletic program,` she said.
The zoning board of appeals closed the public comment period on the variance and will prepare a finding of facts for the next scheduled meeting, Thursday, July 5, when the board will vote on the variance.“
