Neelytown warehouse project expanding

By RACHEL COLEMAN
Posted 6/21/22

Yet another distribution center has been proposed for Neelytown Road in the town of Montgomery.

Last week representatives of RDM Group made a presentation to the Montgomery Planning Board, …

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Neelytown warehouse project expanding

Posted

Yet another distribution center has been proposed for Neelytown Road in the town of Montgomery.

Last week representatives of RDM Group made a presentation to the Montgomery Planning Board, updating their initial proposal for Neelytown Business Park. They are adding a third building to the plans, for a total of more than 1.1 million square feet of warehouse space.

This expansion is possible because RDM Group plans to purchase several properties along Beaver Dam Road and Neelytown Road.

“RDM was able to acquire under contract all of the additional lots on the east side of Beaver Dam Road,” said Dave Everett, counsel for RDM.

The applicants also have a couple properties along Neelytown Road under contract.

Some of the parcels are vacant, while others are residential or zoned industrial but have pre-existing residential homes on them.

Everett said the existing homes would be demolished and removed to make space for the third building, which would be about 250,000 square feet.

Currently, should all of the sales go through, the RDM property will grow from 89 acres to about 111 acres. Once completed, each building will actually rest on its own parcel. Heavy truck traffic is to go out to Neelytown Road, while employee traffic is to use Beaver Dam Road.

The applicants currently have no end users for any of the buildings.

“We’ve just started to get into this,” said Planning Board Chairman Fred Reichle. “We’re going to get you some comments and we’ll discuss a path forward.”

At the same meeting, the Town of Montgomery Planning Board also heard a presentation for a new self-storage facility on Route 17K and New Road.

Beehive II Self-Storage would be approximately 38,000 square feet, with an entrance off Route 17K. The property is located just up the road from the Orange County Farmer’s Museum.

“They’re looking for another one that’s nearby [so] that they can manage it from their existing facility,” said Ross Winglovitz of Engineering Properties, representing the applicant.

Winglovitz said their original Beehive Self-Storage on Bracken Road has been operating for a few years with success. The new operation would have a small office, with the expectation of one person on site during busy periods. They are looking for an outdoor storage area on the west end of the site for RVs and boats.

The property does have wetlands and the applicants are in contact with NYSDEC as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Dunkin Donuts
A public hearing was also held for the proposed Dunkin Donuts on Route 208 and Goodwill Road—right beside the current Dunkin Donuts. The current owners are looking to relocate the business to the vacant area in front of the hotel.

Vehicles will enter the site from Route 208 or Goodwill Road and exit onto Goodwill Road. The access from Route 208 will be the existing entrance that serves the current Dunkin Donuts, which is a common driveway approved with the original subdivision that gave rise to the hotel.

The new Dunkin Donuts will feature a dual drive-thru with a dual order board that will merge into a single lane for the pay window in the rear and service window in the front.
“All of the fast food franchises are going to this dual drive-thru scenario,” said Ross Winglovitz, engineer for the applicants. “It allows for much quicker service and they tell me it speeds up production about 50 percent.”

Winglovitz said that this new design and site will enable them to handle a queue of about 21 vehicles, compared to eight at the current site before it “starts to back up” out onto Route 208.

Planning Board member Cheri Zahakos pointed out that the plans “still don’t have a bypass lane” that would let vehicles avoid the traffic internal to the site, but Winglovitz said it was a requirement that no longer applied to the project as it has become a permitted use in the zone.

While there were no public comments at the hearing, the board agreed to adjourn it and resume the hearing on July 11, to provide time for the county to provide their comments, as well as for DOT and the town’s landscaping architect to review and comment.

Meanwhile, other projects were closer to approval, such as the 3-lot subdivision by Marianne Reichle Trust for Beamer Road. It is a subdivision of an almost 10 acre lot that would split off an existing repair shop into one lot and create two new lots for single family dwellings. The public hearing was closed with no additional public comments and the board approved a negative declaration as to SEQRA and granted final approval conditioned on a few minor items.

Milk Factory

The Montgomery Planning Board also passed a motion to declare itself lead agency for the Milk Factory project proposed on Route 208 for the old Borden Condensed Milk Factory; approved a recommendation of road bond to the town board for Ponds at Montgomery; and granted an extension for FedEx Freight on Neelytown Road to Dec. 14.
After some discussion, the board also agreed to send a letter to the town board regarding the town’s proposed local law regarding “performance buffering” which was only recently received by the planning board.

“The planning board sees this local law regarding performance buffering as a law that will affect most—if not all—of the projects that are and will be before the board,” said the letter, read by Chairman Reichle. “The complicated nature of this new law, combined with the regulations already in place, need careful thought and review.”

The letter went on to point out that the planning board members need time to review the law together and to discuss and compose their comments. They asked that the town keep the public hearing open for an additional meeting, through July 21, to give the Planning Board time to respond.