A public workshop will be held Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Voorheesville High School to allow residents to weigh in on possible plans for a size cap on new development for a 600-acre commercial zone that lies along the northern portion of the town of New Scotland.
The workshop will allow residents to comment on the progress the Commercial Zone Advisory Committee has made and offer suggestions as the group moves forward.
A moratorium on new buildings over 30,000 square feet was put in place since May to allow the town time to address its zoning laws to make them fit better with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. The move was made in response to a proposed commercial development that would include a 137,000-square-foot anchor store. The moratorium is set to expire Nov. 12.
Roz Robinson, chairwoman of the advisory committee, said the workshop is going to allow the group, `to get the input from the public on what we have done so far get up to date on where we are and where we are heading. This is the final time for my committee to hear from the public.`
Robinson said the committee has not finalized a size cap for new commercial developments but is hopeful the public workshop will help reach a number.
The next CZAC meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 25, and Robinson said the committee is going to discuss the public’s input from the workshop and begin drafting a recommendation.
A local advocacy group, New Scotlanders for Sound Economic Development, has been vocal in its support of a size cap on retail stores, and said it `advocates a size cap on retail stores of no more than 50,000 square feet per store.`
`NS4SED welcomes non-retail development in the commercial zone such as offices, residential and institutional buildings on a single parcel,` according to a statement from the organization. `It is NS4SED’s position that a well-designed, walkable, hamlet-style development linked to the existing community by sidewalks could enhance New Scotland’s character and keep our commercial development viable and sustainable.`
CZAC member, Liz Kormos said she is not in favor of a large commercial development, and research she has done indicates the town could not support such a large retail store.
`That’s too big. It’s too big for the town, and too big for the market,` she said. `The project doesn’t make any sense.`
The Friends of Five Rivers organization, a group affiliated with the state education agency, but which does officially speak for the agency, sent a letter to the New Scotland Town Board, expressing its opposition to a large-scale commercial development.
According to a letter from Friends of Five Rivers President RoseAnne Fogarty, Five Rivers could acquire a 29-acre plot of land near Route 85 and is against increased traffic and development affecting the potential public use of the land.
The letter supports a cap of 50,000 square feet for buildings and 100,000 square feet for entire projects.
Representatives of Sphere Development, the company that would like to develop a 200-acre site in New Scotland’s commercial zone, said they do not feel the town is giving their proposal a fair chance.
`A feasibility study needs to be conducted. No such study has been conducted,` Greg Widrick, a managing partner at Sphere Development LLC.
Widrick said that by setting a size cap at 50,000 square feet, the town’s message to its residents is, `We don’t want any commercial development.`
Widrick said a Best Buy, Marshalls and Bed, Bath and Beyond, generally are about 20,000 to 30,000 square feet. Widrick said, though, that those retailers would not be able to sustain themselves in New Scotland without an `anchor,` store such as Target.
Widrick also said that a size cap is not the only determinant for a `regionally drawing` retailer, a term that New Scotlanders cite as one of the key terms in the comprehensive plan that would prohibit large developments.
Widrick used the example of a high-end Crate and Barrel furniture store, which generally runs less than 50,000 square feet, and would certainly draw customers from outside the region. He compared it to a Stickley furniture store that is usually more than 50,000, but is more common to the area, and would not draw customers from as far of a geographic region.
He cited language in the town’s comprehensive plan that indicates the purpose of the commercial zone under moratorium is to develop retail for `automobile` customers and have large parking areas to accommodate them.
According to language in the town’s comprehensive plan, `The purpose of the commercial area is to provide areas for the location of businesses, which are dependent on automobile borne customers and which require large parking areas to be successful.`
Widrick said he is unsure if Sphere will attend the workshop on Sept. 17.
`We bring a lot of attention. I don’t think we want to do that. This is the landowners’ time,` he said.
Widrick said Saratoga Associates has advised Sphere on the matter, and said the proposed development is appropriate for New Scotland’s rural setting.
According to a memo from Saratoga Associates, it is `generally understood that approximately 1 acre of buildable land is required for every 100,000 square feet.`
The memo indicates a ratio could be worked so that there would be 1.75-acres for every 100,000 square feet of developed land.
Jeff Pine, a code enforcement officer in the building department, said Sphere’s proposal is the first of its kind in the 10 years he has been in his position.
`We really haven’t had any real push for commercial development since I’ve been here.`
Pine estimated that the largest standing building in the entire town of New Scotland is the Colonie County Club, and the largest commercial building is no more than 10,000 feet.
While the town hammers out comprehensive plan details, Supervisor Tom Dolin said a meeting to discuss extending the moratorium has been officially planned.
`The town board voted at its Sept. 10 meeting to have a public hearing on Nov. 12, to entertain comment on a proposed extension to the moratorium,` Dolin said.
He said the board is going to need at least two months to review the recommended actions of the CZAC, before making any decisions on the zoning law, making the need for an extension likely.
The recommendations of the CZAC will be shown to the town and Albany County planning boards before final approval from the Town Board, Dolin said.
`I’m hoping, ultimately, that the CZAC recommends a cap of 50,000 square feet, with a possible extension to that of 70,000 square feet, with any extension to need the approval of the Town Board,` Dolin added.
He also said he is in favor of a requirement that would limit the amount of building space to a certain density, so that there could not be many developments grouped together. “