Before pedestrians step foot on newly installed sidewalks along Western Avenue, several property acquisitions must be completed. For one building housing a few businesses, that means moving its sign and making up for lost parking spaces.
Mark Reeves, managing director of Reeves Associates LLC, must move the sign for his property, located at 1525 Western Ave., because the state Department of Transportation informed him the planned sidewalks run right through it. The sign, which still reads “Roberts Real Estate,” has been up for more than 25 years and is currently located several feet off Reeves’ property on the town’s property.
Reeves is proposing to move the sign further back from the road but still on town property, without making any modifications other than placing new panels in it to show current businesses.
Guilderland Town Supervisor Ken Runion on Tuesday, Dec. 3, called for a public hearing to be held on the proposed easement for Reeves to place the sign on town property. The Town Board approved holding a hearing at its Tuesday, Dec. 17, meeting at 7:30 p.m.
“I know there has been some issues in the past with some of the residents down in McKownville when the town has granted easements on (town property),” Runion said.
Runion is also looking to accommodate the businesses through creating additional parking, because the sidewalk is knocking out access to around 10 parking spots. This includes access to a separate building, with the parcels located in between Stuyvesant Plaza and the entrance ramp to the Northway. Some spaces could be gained back from changing it to horizontal spaces as opposed to vertical.
“Parking is tight, so they’re going to need the spots somewhere,” Runion said. “On the town property it is kind of vacant … so we have the ability to create eight parking (spaces).”
The public hearing would also address adding these spaces. The town’s facility, an old water department building located between the commercial storefronts, is only used to house town records.
“It was DOT’s suggestion that we try and pick up some of the spaces that are lost,” Runion said.
Donald Reeb, president of the McKownville Improvement Association, said the sign is “very much oversized” and was concerned about the town offering up public land.
“Any number of people in the town and town government have expressed a concern about the number of signs along Western Avenue. It does get cluttered,” Reeb said. “There is concern about having town land granted to private (owners).”
Runion also suggested the town push for the sign to better comply with the current zoning laws.
“We may want to look at trying to bring that sign more in compliance to what the current zoning requirements are,” Runion said.
Reeves said there is “no way” to make the sign compliant, so if he was forced to better comply with town laws, he would have to purchase a whole new sign.
“The sign could be replaced at considerable cost or essentially used at its current size and configuration,” Reeves said. “Obviously for us, being that it’s been there for around 30 plus years, that would be preferred.”
The sign was grandfathered in after new regulations were adopted.
Over the years, Reeves has made repairs to the sign totaling around $1,800 and installing new sign panels for another $2,500. He said estimates on replacing the sign came in around $5,500.
Reeves is just one of the more than 150 property owners along Western Avenue that will be impacted by the project in some way.
Bryan Viggiani, spokesman for DOT Region 1, outlined the total number of properties the state was seeking to purchase, acquire a temporary easement, or be granted a release across both phases of construction.
The DOT is looking to purchase “slices” of nine properties during the first phase, but during the subsequent phases, it’s eyeing 50 properties. These pieces of property would need to be purchased because proposed sidewalk improvements do not fit within the existing highway boundary.
Temporary easements would be needed to provide construction crews room to work along 15 properties during the first phase and 58 properties for the second phase. Viggiani said any areas disturbed during construction would be restored in kind.
The least invasive encroachments would only require releases from 24 property owners during the first phase and around 10 for the last phase.
“Releases are granted voluntarily by private property owners to allow a contractor access to perform the work,” Viggiani said in an email. “This might involve access to private walkways, driveway connections or lawn areas.”
The sidewalk project is expected to be completed in two phases and cost $2.6 million. The first phase would tackle the north side of Western Avenue and begin in the spring of next year, to be “substantially completed” in 2014. The second phase would focus on the south side of the street, with work starting the fall of next year and completed in the spring to summer of 2015.