Last week five development projects made their way to the Lloyd Planning Board’s desk for their consideration.

D & D Auto
The auto parts store is proposing to construct a 30 ft by 120 ft, free-standing storage building [3,600 sq/ft] on their property, located at the intersection of Route 9W and Woodside Place. They have already been granted two area variances by the Zoning Board that will allow a maximum lot coverage of 67% and a rear yard setback, with the understanding that the face of the building along Woodside Place would have features that are consistent with the residential character of the neighborhood. The building will be 29 ft in height, three windows set at 18 feet high, shrubbery planted on this side and no lighting.

Representative Patti Brooks said she will be developing more detailed landscaping and lighting plans before it is sent up to the Ulster County Planning Board for their review and comments. She is hoping that the Planning Board could set a Public Hearing on this project for September.

P. WE Holdings LLC

The company is proposing to construct a 6,300 sq/ft one story catering hall facility with a maximum capacity of 112 people. There may be an outdoor tent that would bring the total up to 150 people. The project is being proposed for a 9.34 acre parcel that is located on Route 9W, south of North Road and north of Grand Street.

Patti Brooks said they are proposing access off of Route 9W, with a “pork chop” one way in, one way out. She added that a grading plan is being worked on that will bring, what she called a ‘serpentine’ roadway, up to the facility. There will also be another way out to Grand Street and then to the light at Route 9W that will be the main out for traffic traveling north. The board indicted they would like to profile the “vertical changes” at this point and installing a blind driveway sign may be considered for safety reasons.

Brooks said the code requires 1 parking space per 3 seats, which in this case is 67 slots but they will provide 77 parking spaces. Building Department Director Dave Barton urged Brooks to keep as much grass on the site as possible in order to minimize the amount of asphalt and gravel.

Highland Estates
Brooks is also representing a hotel/office complex that is being proposed around and behind the Rite Aid pharmacy at the intersection of Route 9W and Mack’s Lane. The proposal is for a 66 ft by 140 ft hotel with 54 beds; an 80 ft by 200 foot two-story retail/residential building; a 60 foot by 80 foot two story professional building and a 30 foot by 100 foot gas station facility. She noted that the property has water and sewer that was provided for during the original approval of Rite Aid.

Planning Board member Carl DiLorenzo voiced issues with traffic because of the numerous development projects that are being proposed in this area of town.

“My concern is with everything that is going on there, nobody’s going anywhere to get in and out,” he said, but admitted, “These are all allowed in the zone.”

Barton said a coordinated effort is needed.

“It may behoove us to get everyone on the same page in terms of traffic and maybe get them all in a room, sit them down and say you guys figure this out together,” he said.

This project is in the very beginning stages and is expected to undergo some changes along the planning process.

Auto Zone Store
Project Manager Jeffrey Berneburg is representing Auto Zone that is seeking to build a 6,816 sq/ft, one story auto parts retail store off of Wingate Way, near Route 9W. He said they share the General Business zoned property with the existing Dunkin’ Donuts shop and would enter in from Route 9W and exit via the in/out of Wingate Way.

Berneburg said their engineer is currently working on a stormwater plan for the site.

“They’re using the stormwater swall that is already there as well as adding one on to the rear [of the site] for the roofs,” he said.

Berneburg said 28 parking spaces are required by the code but they are proposing 31 slots. Barton suggested this number may be a little high because Auto Zones are typically not highly trafficked stores.

“Maybe we’ll trade you those three spaces for some additional landscaping for site beautification, particularly on the Route 9W side,” he said.

Member Carl DiLorenzo agreed, saying. “I think it’s a low intensity use compared to Dunkin Donuts.”

Chairman Fred Pizzuto also favors additional landscaping but stressed that, “We don’t want to make Auto Zone go away,” because of the board’s requests.

The board also asked Berneburg to provide details for all of the signage that Auto Zone will use on the site.

Berneburg will return after the Planning Board’s engineer finishes his review of the proposed project.

RTH Realty Holdings
Cathy Hobbs, represented by engineer Khattar Elmassalemah, brought to the board her idea for a 12,000 sq/ft multi-use, passive warehouse and office space building on a 3.4 acre site on Upper North Road. Elmassalemah said he is seeking to keep the buildings footprint small while including as many green concepts as possible. The site is already served by public water and a septic system is presently in the design phase for the property.

Hobbs owns an interior design and staging company.
“Essentially what we do is we stage and style vacant properties for sale, mostly in Manhattan,” she said. “We have our own inventory of merchandise, sofas, beds, couches, art work, and typically can stage 30 or 40 properties simultaneously. We provide and rent our inventory to make it look lived in and once the property is sold we take it back and then we rent it again.” Hobbs said she has a background as a television newscaster and will be doing some social media activities in the new building as well.

Chairman Pizzuto said he would like to see a conceptual rendering that shows some landscaping on the side of the building that faces Upper North Road, “so it doesn’t look like the back of a building, like a big flat wall. We just don’t want to have a surprise at the end, so if we’re ahead of it, we’re all on the same page. The concept is fabulous and I love the building; you couldn’t do a better spot on that site, it’s just what the east side of the building will look like going by. We would need some kind of optics to see what that looks like.”

Hobbs agreed, saying, “all of those visual aspects are crucial and important to me.”

The board also wants Hobbs to show how deliveries will be made to the building.

Town engineer Andrew Learn pointed out that the project will disturb. .98 acres, “and if you’re over .95 you’re required to get a SPEDS permit,” he said. Elmassalemah indicated he will work to keep the project under the state threshold requirements.
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation website states that, “New York is rich in surface and groundwater resources. Article 17 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) entitled “Water Pollution Control” was enacted to protect and maintain these valuable resources. Article 17 authorized creation of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) program to maintain New York’s waters with reasonable standards of purity.”

Hobbs is hoping to begin construction as soon as possible.

“The building is in 100 pieces in Bangor, Maine,” she said.

After completion Hobbs expects to have nationwide press coverage of this building because of its unique green additions and setting.