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Glen Oaks Subdivision Proposal by Amedore Homes
- The Glenville Environmental Conservation Commission (GECC) reviewed the Glen Oaks Subdivision application on January 27th and February 24th, and issued their recommendation to the Town’s Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) on February 24th. The GECC’s role with this and all planning/zoning applications is to evaluate potential environmental impacts that could result from development of the project.
- The (PZC) is responsible for the review and actual decision on the subdivision application. The PZC’s procedure involves a two-step process; preliminary subdivision review and final subdivision review. The PZC will be conducting their preliminary review on Monday, March 10th at 7:00 p.m., assuming the application is complete enough for their review. Depending on the outcome of the March 10th meeting, the PZC could conduct final subdivision review on April 14th. It’s also possible that the preliminary review from March 10th will be carried over to April 14th.
- All meetings are open to the public, including the PZC’s agenda meetings, which take place on the 1st Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m., with the next one being scheduled for March 3rd. The PZC does not take any action at their agenda meetings. These meetings are scheduled to familiarize the Commission with the applications before them.
- State law requires a minimum of one public hearing for subdivision applications, which the Town holds during the PZC’s final subdivision review. The PZC will mail public hearing notices ahead of time to all landowners whose properties are located within 500 feet of the property being subdivided. In the case of the Glen Oaks Subdivision proposal, 347 property owners will be notified in writing of the public hearing. New York State Town Law does not require that residents be notified directly of public hearings, but Glenville offers this as a courtesy.
- It should be noted that the development of single-family homes is permitted in the “Suburban Residential” zoning district, in which the Amedore project site is located. The GECC’s and PZC’s roles, therefore, aren’t necessarily cast to stop this or any project from happening. Rather, both Commissions are responsible for ensuring that the project will have a minimal impact on the environment and the surrounding neighborhood, given natural resource constraints and design limitations. What this could mean for the Amedore subdivision, or any other subdivision, is that the proposal gets altered during the review process; the total number of lots could be reduced; lot sizes could change; the street layout could be altered; proposed water and sewer lines could be relocated or resized; the
proposed landscaping plan could be reworked, etc.
- Other agencies outside of the Town will also be involved in the review of this application. These include the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Schenectady County Economic Development & Planning Department, and Village of Scotia, to name a few.
- The Town will also ask a third-party engineering firm to review this application and report to the PZC. This will be paid for by the applicant, but the Town hires an engineering firm of our own choosing.
- The Town Board’s role in the Amedore project is rather limited. The Board has been asked to consider certain waivers to the Town’s Street and Roadway Ordinance, but it is the PZC who plays the key role in the review of this application. And it is to the PZC that comments from residents and landowners are best directed.
KC
2/18/14
2/25/14 (revised)
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