The Bethlehem Planning Board listened to details of the long-anticipated Van Dyke Spinney Development project to the interest of many of the town’s seniors and several of the nearby residents of the proposed site.
Developers describe the project as a nice senior citizen community for `active seniors` and have put an age restriction of 55 on the proposed 220 homes to be built on a 90-acre plot off of Van Dyke Road just south of Bethlehem High School.
Van Dyke Spinney will feature cottage-style housing; a community center with a pool and recreational facilities; a full-time, on-site coordinator; and access to a variety of `social, educational and cultural opportunities,` according to the site plan.
R. Mark Dempf, a senior principal with Stantec Consulting, presented the plans to the board on Tuesday, June 17, and said builders hope to have homes ready for occupancy by 2009. The planning board described the occupancy date as `optimistic.`
`It’s a good design, but I think maybe there’s too much there,` said Chairman Parker Mathusa. `We understand the economics involved we just think it’s too heavy.`
Dempf told Planning Board members that the project’s design will display three distinct styles of doors, different roof peaks, and different types of windows, and that `the row of garages are going to be internal on the site.`
Mathusa said he appreciated the detail involved in creating the `unique little community,` but he was concerned about traffic, considering the proposed site was half a mile from the high school and the newly built Eagle Elementary School.
Dempf told the board that a grant application was submitted to the Capital District Transportation Committee for between $500,000 and $600,000 in order to look at transportation issues involved with proposal.
The intersection of Mead Lane and Van Dyke Road was an issue of concern that has been brought up in previous planning board meetings.
One concerned resident, Bruce Davis, described the intersection as a `60-degree angle on a hill,` and described the road infrastructure on that part of Van Dyke Road as one his biggest concerns.
`My parents are 87 and they still drive. They’re trying to say these 221 seniors apparently aren’t going to drive,` Davis said. `We’re not going to put the developer on the hook.`
Davis said his concerns, which include effecting the area’s water quality, traffic and easements for water, sewer, and gas lines along residential property, have fallen on deaf ears at Town Hall.
`We wanted to be a part of the process and add our comments but the town basically said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’` Davis said. Referring to Supervisor Jack Cunningham, he continued, `Cunningham gave us assurances, but we’re not being listened to. You don’t even get a form letter back, thanks for the comments.`
Cunningham said the town is taking all of the comments it receives, including Davis’, and adding them to the record, and that Town Hall continues to get a constant stream of calls from interested seniors wanting to know when the project will be completed.
`I don’t have the exact number of them,` Cunningham said, `but I meet with seniors every week and I can say anecdotally that many, many of them are interested in this project.`
Cunningham also added, `The road design is going to be addressed.`
Assistant Director of Economic Development and Planning Michael Morelli agreed and said he, too, has gotten many calls asking when the project will go through.
`We have a lot of people in town who call and want to know when this project will be ready,` Morelli said.
Victor and Carole Ballato, who live on Van Dyke Road, say they are not against the project but are frustrated by not being more involved with the process.
`Let me say right up front that we, as well as most of our neighbors, are not against development on Van Dyke Road,` the Ballato’s wrote in a letter to Cunningham and Morelli dated June 21.
`We simply would have liked to have been involved in what will be in our backyards,` the letter said. `We do not appreciate that the Town and Planning Boards have not only taken away that right by completely ignoring our concerns but appear to approve a project which very likely could have adverse results on our neighborhood.`
Dempf pointed out the Van Dyke Spinney project is below the density allowed for such a development under the Planned Development District that was approved by the town board. The current density of the project allows the developers to keep the price of the homes affordable, which is currently being estimated at costing roughly $1 a square foot.
The project will also only house seniors aged 55 and up, thus having little or no impact on the school district, according to the projects developers.
A point Planning Board member Howard Engel disagreed with.
`This will impact the school district,` Engel said, contending that when the town’s seniors move out of their larger homes to Van Dyke Spinney, their former residences will be bought by younger families with children.
Developers will be returning to the planning board with water and sewer plans and Dempf said project managers will continue to be fully cooperative with the town’s requests..“