A proposal to the Bethlehem Town Board could bring new life to a Selkirk housing development that has been in the works for 20 years.
The plan calls for 31 double-unit homes and three single-family homes to be built at 494 Elm Ave. Developer Ken Raymond appeared before the board on Wednesday, May 23 because a previous plan for the development known as Hamden Woods called for all single family homes to be built. The area’s land zoning would now need to be changed to allow for a planned development district.
Luigi Palleschi, an engineer with ABD Engineers and Surveyors, presented the plan to the board on Raymond’s behalf. He said the last time the last time the project was before the board was in 2007 and it consisted of 84 condominium units.
“Because of the way condominium sales have been going the applicant and developer decided to amend the plan and go to town homes,” said Palleschi.
The project calls for the 26.6 acre parcel of land to include 65 two-story townhouse buildings, each with basements for storage and a two car garage. The units will be in various styles equaling in 1,500 to 2,600 square feet of living space and include two or three bedrooms.
The plan was tabled in the past because of drainage issues. The developer needed approval from the board to the needed environmental reviews under SEQR, some of which had been done in the past but now need to be updated. The development would be in the Bethlehem Central School District and a home owners association would be responsible for regular maintenance like snow removal.
“This style living is really still popular,” said Palleschi. “It attracts the retired couples, the singles, and the professional couples. There’s very few school age children on a project like this, which is a tax benefit for the school district as opposed to leaving it single-family residential homes.”
The town’s Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2005 calls for alternative housing options, since Bethlehem is mostly composed of single family homes.
“And we are aware that our population is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of age and that having house that works for empty-nesters, or pre-nesters, or non-nesters is very important,” said Clarkson.
Councilman Jeffrey Kuhn asked about the number of housing developments already built in the area or were in the stages of being approved. He questioned whether another development was needed. Especially, as pointed out by Councilman Kyle Kotary, after a group of citizens had already presented the board with a petition of 900 signatures asking to preserve Bethlehem’s open space.
`So it seems like there’s quite a bit of this type of housing just in this part of town,` Kuhn said.
Raymond assured that the homes are in demand.
“This type of product that we have in other areas is going very quickly,” he said.