Conversion of agricultural land into commercial development land was the primary topic of discussion at a zoning advisory committee meeting last week.
The new zoning laws call for the expansion of mixed commercial development areas into agricultural zones and the creation of a town square at a location along Route 85 that would require the construction of a four-way intersection. Advisory meetings concerning these zoning changes began in April. They are being held in preparation for the upcoming public forum in September, which the public is encouraged to attend.
“Land that’s great farmland is usually great development land, and sadly that’s usually the first to go.” said Marian Hull, a project manager from AECOM, the company contracted to assist the town’s zoning board through the rezoning process.
The most recent meeting was held on Tuesday, June 16.
While land preservation is the top priority in these discussions, the town sees the zoning updates as revisions that will attract businesses and tourists to the area. In order to make these changes, a public hearing must be held before the zoning laws are approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals
“It’s important to get community members on board” said Paul Kelly, zoning board advisory committee member. “Ideally, we’d want the community to be happy with the trade off.”
The Zoning Board is prepared for zoning revisions to be met with some reluctance from the public. As Kelly described, “The people that live in New Scotland live here because they want a smaller, homier feel. During the public forum you will see people saying that they don’t want commercial development.”
Concerns over preservation of agricultural land are nothing new to the Town of New Scotland. In 2008, plans to build a Target in the town eventually failed when changes to zoning laws were met with considerable objection from the public. At that time the need for new zoning laws became apparent.
Since 2011, the Zoning Board has worked through a grant from the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) Linkage Program to improve the area’s zoning. Building Inspector Jeremy Cramer says the laws haven’t seen major changes in more than 20 years.
With these zoning changes come additional concerns, the town’s lack of an independent water and sewage system being the top among those. Because the Town of New Scotland contracts all of its water from the Town of Bethlehem and this contract is currently at capacity, either businesses would have to create their own sewage and water systems as Target had planned to do, or more likely, renegotiations of the Bethlehem contract would need to be made.
However, these renegotiations are sure to come with a high price tag. Hall promised that zoning changes would not alter current housing zones. Zoning changes would primarily adjust developmental standards in the proposed commercial development zones to allow for the creation of bigger, taller buildings.
There is potential, as some public attendees voiced, for zoning changes to create lanes for bike travel and to create tax incentives for businesses that use eco-friendly practices. The public may attend the final advisory meeting, which will be held on an as-yet unscheduled date in August before September’s public forum.
