By JARRETT CARROLL and DAN SABBATINO
Bethlehem officials said they are skeptical of a big-box proposal in neighboring New Scotland and are pledging to say no to extending water or sewer to the project.
The town currently sells water and sewer services to New Scotland and owns the Vly Creek Reservoir in Voorheesville, which is its main water supply.
The majority of the Bethlehem Town Board does not support the current proposal from Sphere Development LLC in Cazenovia, and members said they won’t support any municipal water or sewer lines to the large retail proposal at the site at the former Bender Melon Farm, situated on routes 85 and 85A.
Supervisor Jack Cunningham said the location simply couldn’t sustain it.
`The reality is that their infrastructure is not prepared for that type of development,` he said. `We’re not advocating for this project and the residents are communicating to me they are not supporting it so that’s what I’ve been communicating back to New Scotland.`
Opposition to the plans began when a 137,000-square-foot anchor store, such as Target, was proposed. Some advocacy groups have pushed for a 50,000-square-foot size cap, but the issue has been divisive.
Greg Widrick, Managing Partner for Sphere Development LLC, said he is not surprised Bethlehem has pledged to not supply water to the development.
Widrick recalled comments by Cunningham previously made supporting a moratorium on commercial development in New Scotland.
`It’s kind of absurd that a 16-inch water line runs right by the site and Bethlehem wouldn’t allow us to tap into it,` Widrick said.
Cunningham said he frequently talks with New Scotland Supervisor Tom Dolin, and the issue of water access came up when Bethlehem was asked about extending water and sewer to the proposed New Scotland Senior Living Community near the Bender Melon site.
`They had come to us to extend our sewer district to the senior development,` Cunningham said. However, he said he stipulated the extensions `does not include water or sewer to the Sphere project.`
Widrick told The Spotlight he asked Dolin about where water can be obtained. He said he petitioned Dolin to ask Cunningham, `informally` if Sphere could tap into the water supply.
Dolin, who has expressed opposition to the development, said he did not speak to Cunningham about the issue specifically and confirmed they talked about the proposed senior development using Bethlehem’s water.
Cunningham said that although it is possible to provide municipal services to the Bender Melon site, the Sphere development is not the right fit for the area. He said, however, service lines are `close enough now for another development.`
He said he’s against service to the site primarily because of the residential resistance to the Sphere proposal, not because he’s trying to guide development to Bethlehem.
`There’s a real concern in the Town of Bethlehem over this proposal and how it could affect us,` Cunningham said. `And there’s a fear in New Scotland that we here in Bethlehem want to try to block this to bring more development over here.`
Sphere said initially, plans to use Bethlehem’s water were not included in the development, and a self-contained water supply is still an option. Widrick said, though, intensive studies about its viability would not be conducted unless the zoning law permits the development.
A local engineering and surveying expert, who didn’t wish to be named because of current business dealings in the Capital District, said an on-site water and wastewater treatment might be slightly more expensive than a municipal connection.
However, he warned that there needs to be sufficient groundwater to build an adequate well or wells for hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail development.
`From my experience in that particular area of New Scotland the well systems are poor producing,` he said. `They would have to do some significant testing, but they could get lucky on that particular site.`
The water issue was pushed to the forefront in Bethlehem when Edie Abrams, an outspoken opponent to the Sphere development and member of a group called New Scotlanders for Sound Economic Development, or NS4SED, spoke at a Bethlehem Town Board meeting on Feb. 25.
`You may have heard that a developer wants to put in the fourth-largest shopping center in the area in the Town of Scotland,` Abrams said. `I’m pretty confident to say that most of the residents are against it.`
She then asked for Bethlehem’s help and for the board to write a letter of opposition to Dolin. `We have met opposition from both the planning and our town board,` said Abrams `The reason I’m here tonight is because we are neighbors. This development is not only going to affect the Town of New Scotland, it’s going to affect Bethlehem, especially Slingerlands.`
Abrams said a number of children live along Route 85 and that a pediatrician told her there was a `stark difference` between the number of children with asthma who live in urban areas like Albany and along major highway, as opposed to those living in a split rural and suburban area like Slingerlands.
She said the traffic generated by the proposed development would affect the quality of life in Slingerlands and that children and seniors would `be put at danger.`
`We have beautiful home on [Route] 85, I just can’t imagine a four-lane highway on 85,` she said. `The developer has a radius of customers that reach into Rensselaer.`
Bethlehem Councilman Mark Hennessey, who described himself as a friend of Abrams, said he understands her concerns.
`We haven’t written a letter to the Town of New Scotland, but it’s certainly something we have discussed,` Hennessey said. `The effect a big-box store can have on Slingerlands could be significant.`
Hennessey said he would be against extending water or sewer to the site and reiterated Cunningham’s stance that the infrastructure could not handle the development.
Councilman Sam Messina said he wasn’t outright against the project, but is against it as it’s currently proposed.
`If I have to vote on extending water or sewer right now, I would vote ‘no,’` said Messina. `I think this project needs to be looked at and studied a lot more.`
Abrams concluded her pitch to the board by stating there were several shopping plazas within 10 minutes of the proposed site and that the `largest Wal-Mart in the world` was on Washington Avenue Extension in Albany.“