Valley Avenue Apartments Scoping Review Extended
By Doug La Rocque
Since the 201-unit apartment complex was proposed more than a year ago, it has faced many complaints by neighbors and other residents of the Town of Brunswick, all concerned with its impact on the community, the environment and mostly, traffic along NYS Route 7 (Hoosick Road). Last December the Brunswick Planning Board found many positive points on the required long form State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and gave the developer’s representative, M.J. Engineering a scoping document that listed all the points the Board wanted to see further addressed. That was returned over the summer, and the Planning Board again rejected it as incomplete. Fast forward to September 5, when Board Attorney Andy Gilchrist informed the planners the scoping document was back in the board’s hands, and by law, they had 30 days to review it. That deadline matched up with the Thursday, October 3 meeting. There was no action however, because the review committee, made up of board member Linda Stancliffe, Engineer Wayne Bonesteel and attorney Gilchrist, had not had enough time to complete the review of the 1005 pages of answers. MJ Engineering granted the Board’s request for an extension, and the matter is now on the November 7 agenda.
No Action The Night’s Theme
The Planning board had a full agenda, but one by one those items seemed to fall by the wayside. The developer of another controversial project, this a 17-unit single family home proposal on Sharpe Road, came to the meeting looking for approval. One of the lingering items however, is a response from County Engineer Joe Teliska, as to whether the curb cut for the planned cul-de-sac meets county road requirements. Sharpe Road is owned by Rensselaer County. There was no report received yet and Mr. Teliska was not in attendance, so the matter was also postponed to the November 7 meeting.
Seed Solar is looking to construct a ground mounted private solar system on property located at 4 Winfield Lane. A Bulson Road neighbor, James Sponable, commented at the public hearing preceding the meeting, that he had a clear view of the solar panel site, right down to the ground stakes currently in place. It was asked by the planners if the applicant would consider relocating the site, or would be willing to place some vegetation, perhaps as high as 20 feet, to block the view. The applicant decided it needed more time to address these concerns, and matter was adjourned until the Board’s October 17 meeting.
A proposal by Carbone Subaru to construct a car wash building for private use, is still hung up over the number of cars parked at the site, off pavement and in some cases, blocking emergency vehicle access as well as a fire department hookup for the building. Carbone’s initial site plan application indicated a much larger area was to be paved than actually was. The Board indicated they would take no further action until the parking issue is resolved. It too is now on the October 17 agenda.
Borrego Solar’s plan to construct a large scale community solar facility on Dusenberry Lane saw the applicant present a letter answering the many concerns expressed at a previous public hearing. Also addressing the concerns was the Laberge Group, the engineering firm hired by the Board for this project. It was determined the applicant had not had sufficient time to review the Laberge letter, and that matter too was placed on the October 17 agenda.
4th Generation Awning was also back with its site plan for the former Marshall’s Auto Body shop on Hoosick Road. It was determined he would need some of his plan drawings updated and stamped by an engineer, but the Board also decided the change in use was not significant enough to require public hearing. The matter is another to be further discussed on October 17.
What Was Completed
The planners said yes to a minor subdivision of property owned by Robert Talham at 18 Miller Lane.