Developer will propose more condominiums in North Bethlehem application
A developer that was aiming to bring a set of condominiums and a Stewart’s gas station to Russell Road in North Bethlehem has dropped the Stewart’s from the Blessings Corner project.
Daniel Hershberg, of project engineers Hershberg and Hershberg, said the applicant decided to remove the Stewart’s store from the proposal after nearby residents spoke out against it at community forums and a Feb. 2 public hearing before the Planning Board.
`The applicant heard from the residents concerned, and we thought that it was quite likely that the PDD [Planned Development District] would not pass with a positive recommendation from the Planning Board with the Stewart’s store included,` Hershberg said.
The developer will instead be amending the proposal to include another set of 12 condominium units at the corner of Krumkill and Russell roads, bringing to total number of condos up to 56.
`The Stewart’s store, although it was a component, was not the driving component in regard to this PDD,` Hershberg said. `The market still exists for those [condominiums], and I think it’s a great transition.`
A member of Russell Road Partners, the project applicant, deferred comment to Hershberg.
Tom Mailey, a spokesman for Stewart’s Stores, said while the company felt the location was excellent for a Stewart’s, the resident opposition did cause the company to reexamine the plan.
`We felt that there was [a need], but a lot of people felt that they’d rather just have us where we are,` he said. `The neighborhood reaction was that they would rather see something residential there than commercial.`
Blessing Road resident Jim Martley said he was pleased with the developer’s decision.
`I think this is a heck of a lot better for this community to have the condos rather than the Stewart’s,` he said. `They didn’t bother me as much as the gasoline and the Stewart’s station.`
Martley is one of many residents who have become vocal on the project by making public comments or signing petitions. The majority of residents who spoke at the public hearing earlier this month singled out the Stewart’s portion of the application, though a few said they didn’t like the idea of having condominiums nearby, citing traffic concerns among other issues.
`I know some of our neighbors on Beverly Drive are not happy with it because it’s in their back yard, and they’re going to have to look at these tall buildings,` Martley said of the condos.
The development at the corner of Russell and Krumkill would be separated from the main plot of condo buildings further up Russell Road by federal wetlands, which the proposal would not disturb. The condos would be targeted at working professionals and run around $300,000 per unit, depending on size and other factors.
The developer has said the town stands to realize over $30,000 in revenue from the project, but that was with the Stewart’s store. A condominium association would take on service of the development’s roads and utilities.
Hershberg said he hopes the project can be place on the agenda of the Tuesday, March 2 Planning Board meeting to make a presentation and ask for an extension of the deadline for the project to be considered. The Planning Board still has a March 7 deadline to submit a recommendation to the Town Board`which makes the final determination on PDDs`but the developer thinks more time should be taken for review.
`We’ve been in front of the board for a while, but this is a change,` Hershberg said.
The applicant asked the Planning Board to hold a public hearing for Feb. 2. Another one won’t be required until the PDD comes to the Town Board for consideration.
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