BETHLEHEM — The former Price-Greenleaf nursery property in Delmar is proposed to be replaced with a new fitness studio and cafe.
The property, located on 14 Booth Road, had been previously a family-owned gardening and landscaping business that was owned by the Plummers. It had offered residents options for indoor and outdoor flowers, trees, shrubs and gardening supplies. Price-Greenleaf was originally founded in 1957 but closed its doors in December 2018.
The new proposal was submitted by Feathers Fitness owner James D. Featherstonhaugh to the town’s Development Planning Committee (DPC) earlier this year and it appeared on its Aug. 15 agenda. Feathers Fitness is currently located at 180 Delaware Ave., a four-minute drive from the new proposed location.
It is unclear in the meantime if Feathers Fitness plans to retain its current location and expand to 14 Booth Road or completely relocate to the latter address. Spotlight News has reached out to Featherstonhaugh but he was unable to provide comment at this time.
According to submitted town documents, the proposed location is within the Bethlehem Central School District, the Elsmere Fire District, the water and sewer districts, and in a Commercial Hamlet zoned area.
Retaining the former Price-Greenleaf building, the fitness studio would take up around 2,500 square feet while the cafe would measure approximately 1,500 square feet. The overall lot size is just over 0.5 acres. There will be 31 parking spaces including handicap, an outdoor patio, accompanying benches and a bike rack.
It also aims to benefit from its convenient location near the Albany County Rail Trail, joining local businesses who have recognized the trail’s importance for connectivity.
Robert Leslie, the town’s Planning Division director, said the application has only been reviewed by the aforementioned DPC which is “essentially the first step in a review of a development project, before it goes off to the Planning or Town Board. … In general, the application received positive feedback in terms of its layout and potential impact. It is located near the Rail Trail which has been an asset to local businesses.”
He added that a representative of the application’s engineer, the Guilderland-based Insite Northeast, attended the Aug. 15 meeting to jot down feedback and “I think the next step is for them to make minor revisions to the application and submit it for site plan approval to the Planning Board.” He said that it is not known when the application will be submitted yet though.
In the meantime, signs for Price-Greenleaf remain standing at the existing location. It closed last year after 61 years of service due to effects from the late 2000s recession, how young adults are not rushing to buy their own houses in recent years, how the local deer population which eats shrubs in town had narrowed Price-Greenleaf’s inventory and how owners and brothers James and Dean Plummer wanted to move on to other endeavors.
