Advocates for a project that would provide housing for seniors, low-income families and the disabled rallied at last week’s town board meeting to show support.
Supporters of the potential Colonie Hills housing development appeared at the town board meeting Thursday, July 9, to ask town board members to reconsider the revocation of a Planned Development District (PDD). The vote took place at the Jan. 22 meeting and halted forward momentum on the housing project, resulting in two lawsuits against the Town of Colonie.
Area residents and supporters of the project carried signs that appealed to Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, reading, “Supervisor Mahan, you’re breaking out hearts. Support Colonie Hills.”
“We’re here tonight to remind the town supervisor and the town board that we support Colonie Hills affordable housing project for seniors, working families and people with disabilities,” said Rehabilitation Support Services (RSS) Executive Director William DeVita.
RSS, an Altamont-based not-for-profit, is behind Colonie Hills. On Oct. 12, 2014, the organization approached Planning and Economic Development Director Joe LaCitiva with a proposal to purchase 179 Troy Schenectady Road, behind a now-closed K-Mart, for the development.
The $30 million project would provide 128 apartments for people with disabilities, seniors and low-income families.
The Latham property was given PDD approval for a previous 2007 project, which ultimately fell through due to economic hardship. PDD zoning designation is approved for projects with innovative in design with regards to “environmental, cultural and physical aspects” of the area and benefit community development, according to the town’s Land Use Law.
According to RSS representatives, LaCivita said they needed to file an amendment to the existing PDD, since Colonie Hill was similar to the previously proposed housing project. During a following meeting on Nov. 10 with Town Attorney Michael Maggiulli, RSS said Maggiulli was not receptive to the project.
On the Jan. 22, 2015, town board meeting, board members voted four to two to rescind the property’s PDD, returning the parcel to its original Commercial Office Residential zoning, where a project like Colonie Hills could not be built.
RSS then filed two lawsuits against the town. The first is under Article 78 alleging the town did not follow proper procedures in changing the zoning designation. RSS officials have said the town did not file all required paperwork and never did an environmental review.
“I believe there was an attempt to rush through a change in zoning on this parcel without fully considering what the implications of that were,” said DeVita.
The second is under the Fair Housing Act alleging the town’s decision to change the zoning was motivated by discrimination against the disabled.
However, in addressing public comment from Colonie Hills supporters at the July 9 town board meeting, Maggiulli and Mahan reiterated that since no application from RSS to amend the PDD or to go before the planning board was filed, the project was never officially and legally before the town.
As well, by RSS not filing any official application, Maggiulli has said it sparked questions among town officials concerning the motivations surrounding the project.
“There is no Colonie Hills project before the town, because there is no application for it,” Maggiulli said to DeVita at the board meeting. “The fact is you never filed an application. You had four weeks to do so.”
Maggiulli previously said one reason why RSS never filed an application might have been due to losing funding from New York State Housing and Community Renewal, since not all zoning approvals were in place. By filing for an amendment to the PDD, RSS might not have received the funding, according to Maggiulli.
“If someone wants to bring a project before the Town of Colonie, the first thing they would do is they would bring an application. There’s a process. We have to have the same standards for our projects,” said Mahan at Thursday’s meeting.
Mahan also expressed her own concerns regarding the project. With 25 years of experience working in special education, Mahan said she understood and was compassionate toward the needs of people with disabilities.
“What bothers me more than anything is that what I see is people being told things and people with very deep pockets that are lobbying, and politics come into it, and (they are) using a vulnerable population of seniors and disabled to bring across something instead of coming and doing it the correct way. … That’s what hurts me. That’s what breaks my heart,” she said.
