July 25, 2018 Town Planning Board Meeting Notes

Town Planning Board Meeting Notes – July 25, 2018

Approximately 40 people attended the meeting.

Planning Board attorney’s last meeting, retiring, thanked for his involvement.

The Spinney Group PUDD sketch plan conference and public hearing were not scheduled, as the applicant withdrew from the July meeting and will resubmit at a later date.

New Business- 2 items

1)Townley Funeral Home addition of embalming room onto existing structure, 16x21 feet.  Unanimously approved.

2)Hannaford Supermarket and Pharmacy on Rossi PUDD Lot #1.  Mr  Rossi noted the 2011 PUDD was passed, 76 acres divided into 4 lots.  Lot 1 is proposed for Hannaford Store, 22 acres with a loop road.  Store footprint is 38,000 square feet.  Former Walmart plan was 137,000 square feet and their application was withdrawn.  Following the withdrawal, Mr. Rossi spoke on a radio show and indicated that the town continued to desire a full service grocery store and shortly thereafter Hannaford contacted Rossi.  The Rossi family has given authority to Hannaford to proceed with the project.

Lot 1 is behind former Augie’s property, McDonalds and the Service Station, on the Route 67 to Church Road connection.  Sewer handled by the county, water handled by the town, electrical service will be underground, natural gas or propane to be determined soon.   A small accessory building for recycling is also included in the plan. 

Mary Ganridge, Director of Real Estate for Hannaford, noted that the full service grocery store will have 172 parking spaces and is located as the beginning of a future L-shaped building.  A storm water development plan has already been approved by the Planning Board.  On the east part of the site there are wetlands, and they are working with the DEC on a plan to avoid wetlands completely.  The placement of the building is as far west as possible to meet setback requirements, with a 100 foot buffer and stockade fence between neighbors to block sound and provide visual screening with vegetation including trees.  Lighting will be LED, the latest technology.  There will be 10 lights in a uniform design that illuminates the entire property without a beam or uplighting.  DOT performed a traffic assessment focusing on the 850 approved vehicle trips as a guide.  In the morning, there would be 95 new vehicle trips and in the evening there would be 250, both well below the guide.  Mitigation will include a left turn lane, signals, crosswalks, sidewalks, and widening / lengthening the lane by Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds in the future.  The loop road will not be extended in the first phase but when this occurs, the lane/sidewalks will include Trustco. 

Mr. Shoey questioned the delivery hours for trucks.  Hannaford explained that the times are variable and they want to continue that flexibility, as there are also deliveries made to other stores.  Smaller vendors also make their deliveries to multiple stores.  The concern was related to evening and early morning hours, where trucks could be idling and in and out during the night. Ms. Mathias expressed concern that with the potential noise outside of regular daytime hours, the barriers planned would not do much to reduce the noise. She also asked if the docking area could be moved, and Hannaford explained that this is not in the proposed plan.  It was also explained that driver practice is to not idle and the backup beeper is not on.  There are an anticipated 3 to 4 deliveries per day.  Ms. Mathias asked why could there not then be a determined span of time for scheduled deliveries?

Mr. VanVorst asked why moving the building would not work.  Representatives explained that working with 22 acres is a challenge with developing only 8-9 acres and a change would impede further development on the other part.  The back of the store faces East, the front of the store is more pleasing to view rather than entering with the back of the store as the view entering the parking lot.  An aerial photo can be provided that would clarify this.

Mr. DiPasquale asked if the sound impact could be quantified?  Representatives answered that attenuation occurs based on distance and might be handled with dense landscaping.  Counsel asked if other types of better soundproofing material might be considered.

Mr. VanVorst noted that he received an email from Christopher Jennings regarding solar panels.  Hannaford noted that this has been installed in some stores but is not planned now for this particular store.  Electrical vehicle parking stations were also mentioned in the email, also installed in certain stores but not planned at this time. Mr. VanVorst then read the entire email and it was determined that this was a question, not a complaint about these possibilities to be considered, part of the public comment forum and with an eye toward cost savings and environmental impact.

Mr. DiPasquale asked if there were other recycling buildings at any Hannaford stores.  The answer was yes, at the Milton store and it is open 24 hours.  Electrical service would be run from the interior of the new store to a panel located in the recycling building.

Public Hearing Comments:

Mr. VanVorst set ground rules prior to any comments: that a public hearing is not required by law, it is a privilege and not a right. Each commenting person will have 5 minutes to speak and will receive a reminder at the 4 minute mark.  Additional comments from that person will need to be submitted in writing.  There is to be no insulting, no foul language, and he will be the judge of that, noting that an individual acting in that way may lose their opportunity to speak again.  There will be no repeating of previously expressed comments.  There will be no response to remarks during the meeting, and all questions will be answered at a later date.

John Zebko, 200 Zebko Lane had two concerns: wants to be sure traffic egress to Route 50 a year still includes a “no right on red” sign; wants to be assured of a continued water supply for those residents in close proximity to the property  as footings may disturb this – Zebko, Debroski and Smith residences.

Carl Thurnau, Woodside Drive Burnt Hills concern:  traffic lights in front of McDonalds on Rt. 50?  Answer was Yes.  Compared this to the current traffic in Burnt Hills because of the CVS where tractor trailers have difficulty negotiating the turn.  Mr. Van Vorst said “We’re not talking about CVS, Carl.”  The reply was that traffic is a major item of concern.

Jane McGinn:  lives next to the McDonalds, the planned road is by her bedroom window and trees won’t be enough.  She was told that with the Walmart project, she asked for a fence and that it was turned down.  She wants it as part of this project, please.

Mr. Smith (I think that’s who it was): lives across the road from the land and is concerned about traffic mitigation as others expressed.  The fencing for Jane and the decibel concern are valid and should be considered for Zebco and Debroski too.  Noise from heating and cooling will be a concern…generators might be in the sight line for neighbors.  Overall, this proposal is very different from the previous project and he is in favor of it.  It suits the community at 38,000 square feet.  Sidewalks, fencing and landscaping are much more positive.

Elizabeth___________: Feels the local Hannaford stores are box-like architecturally and would prefer one like Lake Placid or Bedford as they would more reflect Ballston Spa. The traffic assessment is based on current conditions and does not take into account the planned communities that have been proposed in the area. She suggested Hannaford assess shopping times.  She would like to see sidewalks on the east side of Route 50 for Doubleday senior citizens and others who will walk.

Patti Southworth: encouraged everyone to read the PUDD in its entirety.  Spoke to the hours of operation for truck deliveries.  She worked at Hannaford and this is usually not a problem.

Ben Haskin, 60 Ballston Avenue: He is encouraged by the project and feels the sound mitigation and sidewalks are important.

Representatives spoke to the traffic studies, noting that the analysis was done based on the Walmart specs, and now with the much smaller footprint the need was not there to change it.

Unanimous vote for the Town Planning Board to assume lead agency status.