Proposed Brunswick Apartment Complex Raises Ire Of Neighbors
By Doug La Rocque
The Brunswick Planning Board opened its Thursday, August 2 meeting with a public hearing on the proposed Valley Avenue Apartments. The apartments will be located on land owned by David Leon behind the Planet Fitness building on Hoosick Road (Route 7). That hearing went for 90 minutes, before the Board adjourned the session, to be continued at a later meeting. A total of 13 area residents took their turn at the podium, with all but one vehemently opposed to the project. One resident was non-committal.
The traffic impact the proposed 201-unit apartment complex would have on already congested Hoosick Road was perhaps the main complaint. Mr. Leon is proposing a traffic light be installed at the entrance of the complex, between the Planet Fitness building and the pad site just east where an Aldi’s is approved for construction. His spokesman, James Easton of M.J. Engineering, told the board a 2001 NYS Department of Transportation Traffic Study called for just such a device, but DOT rejected a request for a traffic light in 2015. He indicated a new traffic study of the area should be completed shortly, and that traffic patterns in the complex would be engineered to facilitate traffic flow. That however, did nothing to placate those in attendance.
Other issues raised were sewer concerns, the impact on the water flow to Cooper’s Pond and area wildlife as well as adding to the population of what many described as an already overcrowded School 13, the elementary school that is part of the Troy City school district that serves that area of Brunswick.
How Do We Stop This
That was a question raised by many, one resident asking if the board could defeat the proposal that night, and other questioning why the Board allowed such a request in the first place. The answer to both questions is the law. The public hearing is part of the Special Use Permit process that also includes a long-form environmental review, either of which could give the Planning Board grounds to reject the proposal. As to accepting the permit request in the first place, anyone is allowed to file such a request, and the Board is bound by law to follow through on the process.
Several months ago, when the proposed complex first came to light, the Planning Board sent a letter to the Town Board, expressing its concerns about the population density in that part of the town. The Town Board has yet to act on that letter. Many of those in attendance last Thursday, promised to attend the next Town Board meeting, scheduled for Thursday, August 9.
As to the questions raised at the public hearing, Mr. Leon or his representative must respond in writing for the next Planning Board meeting, August 16.
Borrego Changes
Some of the other action taken that night included changes to the Borrego Solar site plan, that allowed them to combine two solar collection facilities into one, and once again informing Simply Better Auto Sales that their site plan submission still needed more information before it could be considered. Simply Auto, owned by Rensselaer Honda, is seeking permission to sell small-scale mobile homes on their Hoosick Road site.