A housing development nearly a decade in the works was approved by the Colonie Planning Board Tuesday, March 30.
Shelter Cove, located off of Route 9 across from the town landfill, will consist of 200 apartments and 111 single-family home units overlooking the Mohawk River. A private clubhouse with a pool and tennis court is also in the plans.
Developer Dean Devito of Prime Companies said he’d like to begin construction on the project in the early fall. The apartments would be built first and a number of single-family home lots would go up for sale along with them. The schedule for build out of the rest of the development would be influenced by market conditions, said Devito.
The Planning Board attached several contingents to its unanimous approval, among them the placement of signage on Route 9 informing the public of access to the Mohawk River that will be provided via an easement through the development. Users will be able to park along a road in the development and walk down to the river.
The developer will also make a donation of 10 acres of land to the town’s park space and build a multiuse path connection to an existing town path nearby. The town’s Planned Development District rezoning legislation requires developers provide some public benefit in their project.
Plans for a bridge that will be built as part of that path were beefed up so it would be able to support the weight of emergency vehicles.
If there is a 911 response to some part of that trailthe response may be delayed if they don’t guess right and they came in from the town park side when the person is on the other side, said Town Designated Engineer Brad Clark of Barton and Loguidice.
The town was most concerned about the project’s proposal for sanitary sewer, however. The developer’s plan had called for sewage to be pumped to a force line along the town’s multiuse path, but town planners said they’d like to see it pumped to a gravity sewer in Dutch Meadows instead.
The reliability of the proposed system`which would be signed over to the town once completed`was questioned.
`The force main to force main, there’s a lot of moving parts,` said Clark. `They can be dicey, and this looked like one from the beginning.`
`I wouldn’t be able to support this project unless you guys did go to the Dutch Meadows sanitary,` said Planning Board Chairman C.J. O’Rourke.
Devito agreed to build sewer to Dutch Meadows, which he said would be somewhat more expensive.
The board also discussed the SEQR environmental review process, which was completed in 2002. There was some question as to whether the project had changed enough to invalidate that ruling, leading some on the board to call for the SEQR process to occur later in the planning process.
`In the past, I think SEQR was just signed off on and people were given carte blanche,` said Planning Board member Thomas Nardacci.
Devito said the apartment units would be rented at market rates, and estimated homes would be available for around $300,000.
`We are going to keep it, as much as is practical, on the lower end,` he said.
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