The Bethlehem Town Board listened to a second appeal from an advocacy group in neighboring New Scotland that opposes what is being called a big-box development just across the town line.
This time, New Scotlanders for Sound Economic Development Founder Daniel Mackay asked the town to write a letter of opposition to the Albany County Planning Board on a proposed 85,000-square-foot size cap on single-building construction that was recently passed by the New Scotland Town Board.
In March, fellow NS4SED member Edie Abrams asked the Bethlehem Town Board to send a letter of opposition against the Bender Melon Farm development to the Town of New Scotland.
The motion to adopt the size cap, primarily drafted by New Scotland Councilman Rich Reilly, passed unanimously at the town’s April 15 meeting. Councilman Doug LaGrange and Town Supervisor Tom Dolin supported an amended version of a zoning law featuring a 50,000-square-foot size cap to be sent along with Reilly’s draft, but it failed 3-to-2.
The proposed New Scotland zoning law also caps a `community shopping center` at 250,000 square feet, according to the local law being presented to county planners.
Mackay said Bethlehem has a stake in defeating the size cap, which is significantly larger than the 50,000-square-foot cap that he and his organization supported.
`I just wanted to give you an update on what’s happening in the neighboring town,` Mackay told the board. `In the opinion of my organization and many of the residents in town, the wrong size cap was passed, a much higher one [was passed] than we think is appropriate for the site and appropriate for the neighboring hamlet of Slingerlands and thus the town of Bethlehem.`
Mackay contends that in the proposal that was defeated, a subdivision restriction was included that would have prevented putting multiple sites of construction in one area that could individually meet the 250,000- and 85,000-square-foot caps.
The law proposal passed with the larger size cap does not contain such a provision, he said.
`In the local law that was passed, the Bender Melon Farm could be subdivided multiple times, and multiple projects of 250,000 feet could be built in each of those subdivisions,` he said. `So it’s not just one project of 250,000 square feet, it’s multiple projects of 250,000 square feet.`
Discussions about New Scotland’s zoning laws were prompted by a proposal from by Sphere Development LLC to place a 137,000-square-foot anchor retail store at the corner of Routes 85 and 85A, and a desire for the town to upgrade the laws to coincide closer with its comprehensive plan.
The county’s planning board will hear the law and potentially make a decision on the size cap on May 16. A public hearing is then scheduled to be held on the new local law on June 17.
Mackey said the Bethlehem board can help show support, as it has in the past by attending public hearings in New Scotland, by sending a letter of opposition to county and speaking out against the possible negative effects such a large project could have.
`I think the Town of Bethlehem has a very significant role to play should you be concerned with what’s happening just over the town line,` Mackey told the board. `I guess I would urge the town to consider your role in communicating with the county planning board about traffic impacts and environmental impacts or just the impact on the hamlet of Slingerlands.`
Bethlehem Councilman Mark Hennessey, who has vocally opposed the development, said the larger size cap was the wrong fit.
`I think it’s of deep importance to the people who live in Slingerlands,` he said. `I think as it is envisioned right now, I don’t think it would be a positive development for Slingerlands. I think it would be a negative one.`
` Reporter Dan Sabbatino contributed to this article
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