Tractor Supply Company has plans to renovate the former Kmart space in Glenmont’s Squire Plaza at the intersection of Glenmont Road and Route 9W.
The company presented some details to the town’s planning board Tuesday, June 2, on its proposal to effectively cut off around 20,000 square feet of retail space and convert it into an outdoor showroom.
Mike Tucker from Infinigy Engineering was on hand to represent the applicants, who are working with Schuyler Companies development division, which co-owns and manages the plaza.
According to Economic Development and Planning Director Michael Morelli, the plans call for retaining around 20,000 square feet of retail space inside of the plaza, maintaining another 20,000 square feet of outside space for equipment sales and displays, and transforming another 11,900 square feet to be leased to another tenant in the plaza.
What they’re basically doing is demolishing 20,000 square feet of retail space that would be left unfilled, he said, adding that the site was simply too small for a big-box store but too big for a smaller retailer, and this was a good solution.
The project is being considered an amendment to the existing 52,000-square-foot site plan, and it doesn’t need any special use permits or variances to operate.
Tucker said Tractor Supply is willing to `assist with the pedestrian circulation within this area,` by adding sidewalks along Route 9W to link to Glenmont Road, as well as other improvements.
`We’ve agreed to install a 6-foot high wall in the rear of the structure and extend the existing sidewalks,` Tucker told the board.
Tractor Supply Company is proposing to use `split face block` on the facade of the building in order to match up to the existing structure to `bring it in more from the Wal-Mart look to the Target look,` according to Tucker.
There was some discussion over the proposed fencing when board member John Smolinsky asked if the galvanized chain-link fence could be replaced with rubberized coated black fence, saying the proposed fence `looks more institutional, I guess.`
The representatives said all of their chains nationally used the galvanized fence, and that it would be easier for maintenance work crews when they came to do work at their Capital District locations if all of the fencing remained uniform.
Morelli said the applicants have since agreed to alter their standard fencing for the Glenmont site.
`Typically Tractor Supply does a chain-link galvanized fence,` he said. `For this site they’ve agreed to galvanized black chain-link.`
The fence will be six feet high with intermittent masonry columns along a 400-foot existing tree-lined section behind the plaza.
The fencing is important, according to Planning Board Chairman George Leveille, because there are some security concerns from the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Leveille mentioned a letter written to the board by a nearby resident citing such security concerns.
Smolinski agreed, saying, `Security seemed to be an issue in that person’s mind.`
The company is proposing operating from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and will not have overnight deliveries, which was another concern of neighbors. The company said they will typically be selling smaller tractors and lawn movers at the 329 Glenmont Road address instead of larger earth-moving equipment used on larger farms.
The site is a part of the Selkirk Fire District and is zoned commercial hamlet water and sewer district according to the town. The site is within the Bethlehem Central School District.
The town’s Industrial Development Agency Chairman and Assistant Town Engineer and Land Surveyor Terrence Ritz said the parking lot at the plaza provides more spaces than is required for a business of what Tractor Supply is proposing.
The Tractor Supply Company is a nationwide corporation started in Chicago in 1938. It opened its first retail store a year later in Minot, N.D. According it its Web site, the company `owns and operates more than 800 stores in 40 states supplying daily farm and ranch maintenance supplies to a targeted customer base.`
`It’s an aggressive schedule, but we think we can accommodate the applicant. It’s certainly a nice project,` Morelli said at the planning board meeting, adding later, `Really what you have now is improvements to the plaza.`
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