A New Stewart’s Shop Is On The Horizon
By Thaddeus Flint
The new Stewart’s shop, sited for where the New Lebanon Mini Mart currently sits on State Routes 20 and 22, is proceeding apace, it was heard at the May 16 Planning Board meeting. However, that pace could be a brisker one for some residents.
A Public Hearing had been scheduled for the same meeting to see if anyone had anything to say. This being New Lebanon, it was somewhat surprising then that so few people had anything to say. There were only two residents there who had any input. The first was Scott Larabee of Larabee Fuel, who would be an abutter to the new Stewart’s if the project comes to fruition. “We have reviewed their plans and we see nothing there what-so-ever that would affect us,” Said Larabee. “We are all for it.”
The only other comment was from resident Johanna Johnson-Smith. “Hurry up!” she said. That’s not going to happen. In fact the Public Hearing will be suspended until at least the June meeting, said Ray Herrmann, Planning Board Chairman, pending review by Columbia County.
The Board then went over various points brought up so far by New Lebanon’s engineer Paul McCreary. One point noted by Planning Board member Elizabeth Brutsch was if the number of parking spaces is enough and whether the Town’s Comprehensive Plan is being followed when it comes to the layout of the parking lot. Brutsch said she believed that given the size of the new store—around 1,495 square feet—the correct minimum number of spots should be 30. The current site plan shows 24. Stewart’s Project Coordinator Chris Potter responded that the plan does not show the parking spots at the pump as parking spots. So, given those, there would be 30 spots. Potter also pointed out that Stewart’s customers are creative parkers and often find ways of increasing a parking lot’s capacity in ways even engineers couldn’t have fathomed. Besides that, Potter said he believes that the current location only has 12 spots. “It’s a substantial increase,” he said. Brutsch again cited the Comprehensive Plan’s desire to keep New Lebanon green–or greener–when it comes to parking lots. The Plan calls for certain amounts of garden bedding and parking islands in order to break up expanses of asphalt. Potter responded that the wording of that section reads “should” have islands and bedding. Does the word “should” mean “it has to be?” he asked. Potter added he felt that section was more in reference to larger plazas, such as what the Hannaford that never got off the ground, or into the ground, would have been. Chairman Herrmann replied that he thought a justification could be made that there was “not enough area” to include the islands. The site plan already shows a significant increase in green areas that would be added to the property, especially with a landscaped storm drain area in the back and planted beds separating the parking from the road in front. “The place will look a lot better than it does now,” pointed out Planning Board member Robert Smith. “But we can’t put that in,” said his fellow Board member, Wes Powell. So that will be left out. At the upcoming June 20 meeting of the Planning Board, a second Public Hearing will take place in regard to the signage Stewart’s would like install which would exceed the size permitted by the Town. In the meantime, Potter said he will be working toward getting NYSDOT ” all on the same page.” Apparently the road agency is once again having trouble agreeing with itself in yet another project slackened by the State owned roads paved with red tape that cut through New Lebanon’s heart. The Stewart’s company, however, is probably just as familiar with NYSDOT’s foibles and idiosyncrasies as New Lebanon is. “We will keep moving,” vowed Potter.