Last week Lloyd Councilman Mike Guerriero brought up the issue of a promised traffic light for the Villages senior residential project at the intersection of Mayer Drive and Route 9W. Guerriero pointed out to the Town Board and to Building Department Director Dave Barton that recently the Planning Board gave permission to developer Mark Sanderson to construct his proposed cottages on additional phases and that the traffic light would not necessarily be able to be put in before the residential cottages were completed. The Planning Board allowed 12 months for the light to be put in.

Guerriero said when the project is being built there will be tractor trailers carrying equipment and going onto the site from Route 9W.

“It’s a safety issue and it’s one of our busiest intersections between Haviland Road and Argent Drive in that area,” he said.

Barton said the project is moving forward and the light itself is sitting in Poughkeepsie.

“My understanding is that he [Sanderson] is using the approval that was granted to collect financing from an investment bank. Once that’s in place, which could take from 60 to 90 days for the closing, everything will start flowing.”

Supervisor Dave Plavchak said he thought the light always had to be in place before a CO could be issued. The town’s Land Use attorney Paul Van Cott wrote in the new resolution for the Villages that, “because of the uncertainty of the time it will take the applicant to procure and install the traffic light for Mayer Drive, there is an increased potential that the applicant may seek Certificates of Occupancy for the cottages in the Planned Residential Retirement Development [PRRD]before the traffic light is installed and operational, potentially resulting in a traffic safety impact.”

Guerriero pointed out that Mayer Drive is not a 90 degree angle to Route 9W but instead is at a 45 degree angle, making it a difficult turn to negotiate if they are coming from the north. Barton added that it would be illegal for a truck coming from the south to make a left hand turn onto Mayer Drive because there is no traffic light.

Guerriero suggested the board approve a temporary light as the construction proceeds. Barton said the underground infrastructure for a permanent traffic light is in place and having a temporary light could be possible but the Department of Transportation has not made it a requirement. He said they are aware of what is about to occur on that site and have been kept in the loop on this project for more than four years.

Plavchak said the Planning Board required the traffic light, “in the first place,” as a condition of approval, “but never required it as construction was gong on; maybe we should have, I’m not saying we shouldn’t have.”

Guerrero asked if the town would hold up the developer by not issuing Certificates of Occupancy because the traffic light is not in place, despite 10 or 15 cottages having been built and millions of dollars at stake? Barton said yes, “the site plan is the law.” Guerriero said that “things do change,” with Barton responding, “That is true.”

Van Cott’s new resolution for the Villages states that, “Any proposed deviation from those uses [Assisted Living Facility and residential cottages] may require an amendment to the PRRD, as determined by the Town Board and/or an amendment to this site plan approval, as determined by the Planning Board.”

Plavchak took issue with an article in the Southern Ulster Times, stating that the Planning Board granted the developer concessions.

“It’s absolutely untrue; in fact, they made it more restrictive by saying they always needed a traffic light to get a Certificate of Occupancy. So, now what they did was put an additional restriction on them saying it had to be in within a year and if it’s not, they lose their whole approval,” Plavchak said.

Plavchak shares Guerriero’s concerns about truck traffic going up Mayer Drive. He noted that during the previous construction activity at the site, signs were put up to show where the construction vehicles had to go; Barton added that this has requested for the impending site work.

Barton said Route 9W is a state road that is designed for this type of traffic. He said most of the construction infrastructure and equipment for the project will be delivered to the site itself and remain there, pointing out that it is not economical to keep moving items on and off the site. He said modular cottages are transported over roadways all the time, “and it’s incredible that they make some of the turns that they do and I see them come on Route 299 all the time to go to points north and south.” He said the cottage units could be brought onto the Villages site where the sales office presently sits. He does not believe the pace of deliveries of materials and the cottages will create an, “insane infrastructure mess.”

“In my opinion the traffic light is a benefit and the board says no CO before the light or 12 months, whichever is sooner. Once 12 months comes and goes and the light is not up, no CO’s can be issued because the approval becomes moot,” Barton said.

Guerriero again pressed the board for a temporary light as well as flagmen on the roadway when needed.

“How are they going to bring the cottages up Mayer Drive,” he asked. Councilman Lenny Auchmoody said they will come north up Route 9W, since they are coming up from Westchester County and will turn left onto Mayer Drive. Barton disagreed, saying they will be coming up the NYS Thruway and across on Route 299. This leaves the drivers to make a difficult right hand turn onto Mayer Drive, which is Guerriero’s main point. Barton said that cottages should be transported on state access roads, such as the NYS Thruway and Routes 299, 9W, or 44/55.

Plavchak said if the Planning Board had a concern about this issue they could have requested the light before construction started, “but they didn’t do that.”

Barton said the developer would not be able to receive a variance from the town’s Zoning Board that would let him off the hook for the traffic light, since this project involves site plan. The only one who could authorize that is a judge on the Ulster County Supreme Court.

“Judges always defer to the local boards having authority, so in your case it would be the Town Board on things like re-zoning issues and the Planning Board would be site plan,” Barton said. “There is no relief for the CO issue, no relief for the light, no relief for the pump station upgrades on Vineyard Avenue that is required, no relief from the sidewalks and the work on Apple Lane.”

Barton questioned what the benefit would be of having the light in place before construction, “because the light is tied to impact, so it would be like charging an impact fee before the impact occurs and that’s illegal.”

Guerriero insisted this entire matter is about safety.

“You’re going to have heavy traffic and large vehicles loaded with cottages,” he said.

Plavchak said the traffic study must have been reviewed by the Planning Board, with Barton adding that the New York State Department of Transportation reviewed the project’s phasing, “and sort of ignored the phasing plans. They assumed that it was all coming at once.”