During a public workshop Tuesday, April 22, on the Ballston Lake Overlay District, residents expressed concerns over the regulations, which they say will limit development in the town.
Why do we need to add more of a burden to people trying to develop here? said Dave Bennett, who owns Bennett Stair Company on Route 50 in Ballston Spa.
Route 50 is the boundary for the overlay district.
Bennett also said the overlay district regulations will prevent development in town because it will cost more to build. He said it is already difficult to market the town for development and that these regulations make it harder.
`It seems like another step to limit growth,` he said.
Todd Stewart, who owns Stewart Construction on Vienna Court in Burnt Hills, said `It [the regulations] will add considerably to the cost of building.
He estimated that $10,000 would be added to the cost of building projects for public water.
According to the regulations, residents who want to build in the overlay district must have both public sewer and water to be granted a density bonus. Density bonuses allow developers to increase the number of units permitted on a property.
The town would also require people who want to build a single-family residential development between 1 and 5 acres to treat storm-water runoff.
There are several ways to treat storm-water runoff, which are outlined in the Stormwater Design Manual issued by the state.
`There are some practices that would not be a large burden on homeowners,` said Kathryn Serra, the town’s engineer from CT Male Associates in Latham.
Two common storm-water runoff control practices are keeping trees on the property and building a swale.
A swale is a dip in the property, which holds water to prevent it from running off the property.
Serra said the town is only modifying the state regulations slightly in regard to residential development.
Residents also said the regulations will do little to clean up Ballston Lake if Clifton Park does not adopt or enforce the regulations.
Clifton Park borders the lake, and residents said there were several junk yards on that side of the lake that need to be cleaned up before the town can begin cleaning up the lake.
Town officials and the Ballston Lake Improvement Association members said they hope the adoption of this local legislation will serve as a model for Clifton Park to follow suit.
`Once we have our system in place, we will go to that board and the town’s zoning officers to enact the law,` said Councilman James Briaddy.
Town Supervisor Patti Southworth said she has discussed the issue with Clifton Park Town Supervisor Phil Barrett, and that he would put the regulations before his Town Board if Ballston were to first adopt the regulations.
Frank Shipe, vice president of the Ballston Lake Improvement Association said, `We have to start somewhere.`
He said much of the discussion did not relate to the overlay district, including talk over failing septic systems.
Regulations require that residents fix their failing septic systems, although the local regulation only gives the town enforcement over the state law already in place, according to Serra.
`Ballston has a problem with failing septic systems, especially in the watershed,` Serra said in an earlier interview with Spotlight.
There are two proposed maps of the overlay district. The board will only adopt one map.
One proposed map regulates properties with 50 percent or more land within the watershed. The other map encompasses properties that are 25 percent or more in the watershed.
A watershed is defined as any region draining into a body of water. In Ballston, the watershed includes all properties that, when it rains, will drain into Ballston Lake, according to Serra.
Serra said they eliminated five properties on the north side of Outlet Road from the maps because they realized the properties did not drain into the lake.
Before the map and regulations are adopted a public hearing will be set.“