Villages questioned on key project items

By Mark Reynolds
Posted 2/22/23

Last week, the Lloyd Town Board returned to the Villages application for a Planned Residential Retirement Development [PRRD] that was submitted by Florida-based developer Marc Sanderson.

The Town …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Villages questioned on key project items

Posted

Last week, the Lloyd Town Board returned to the Villages application for a Planned Residential Retirement Development [PRRD] that was submitted by Florida-based developer Marc Sanderson.

The Town Board is considering granting the Villages project the zoning change from its present Residential ½ acre to the PRRD designation. If the town grants the zoning change without any modifications, Sanderson will be able to build his proposed 340 ft long, 119 bed Assisted Living Facility and 197 senior living cottages across his 57 acre parcel that is located on the west side of Rte. 9W, opposite the Bridgeview Shopping Plaza.

Councilman Mike Guerriero asked the developer’s attorney, John Furst, if the Department of Transportation [DOT] has approved the traffic light at Route 9W and Meyer Drive. This would be a second light in very close proximity to the existing one at Route 9W and Argent Drive, which leads into the Bridgeview Plaza. Furst said the DOT has conceptually approved the light but not yet the permit.

“Essentially they are ready to issue the permit but for these last couple of followup items, namely the PRRD and they are waiting for the SEQRA [State Environmental Quality Review Act] as well, which we obtained back in December [2022],” he said.

Councilman Joe Mazzetti asked if the developer has this approval in writing, with Furst reiterating that the DOT has not yet issued the Permit.

Guerriero pointed out that the project is proposing access to the site via Mayer Drive when the town code requires that access for a PRRD must be done on a state or county road and not by a town road. Furst countered the comment by saying, “we do have access on a state or county highway with a right in and right out on Route 9W. We do have other access on Mayer Drive, which everybody has known about from the beginning, so we do have two forms of access. Meyer Drive is not our sole form of access.”

Mazzetti criticized the town’s “loosey-goosey” laws.

“Where it says no you have to go on a county road and a paragraph under it that says the [town] board can overrule it and we didn’t have any discussion asking us to overrule,” he said.

Town Supervisor Dave Plavchak said the DOT has recommended that the main access should come off Mayer Drive for safety reasons.

Mazzetti reminded the board that the town’s Land Use Attorney Paul Van Cott has said on many occasions, “that the [town] board has the right under the PRRD to grant it; that we can request them to do any changes or modifications we want or deny it.” Van Cott agreed, saying that the Town Board, “always has full discretion to do what it wants with a local law,” but went on to add that the Ulster County Planning Board favors this law and the project. Mazzetti said one comment from the county was for the project to provide housing, “so all different people can end up there, so to me that’s affordability.” He pointed out that the developer’s initial proposal was for 178 housing units but through a bonus section in the Affordable Housing code, they were able to push that up to 197 units. He pointed out that to date the developer has not provided what it would cost for a senior citizen to live there or to be in the Assisted Living Facility.

“So what is the affordability going to be and how are we going to guarantee that it remains affordable and that these units don’t become just part of the grand scheme of things and get full price rentals?” Mazzetti asked.

Attorney Furst said the affordable figure is a certain percentage of the mean income in Ulster County, with Plavchak adding that it is 30% of $92,000, which Furst said sets the price. They will be marked out on their site plan map for the Planning Board’s review. They will remain affordable, “as many times as it passes hands.”

Mazzetti highlighted additional concerns he has about the project: that the cottages will be set 5 feet apart instead of 10 feet as was initially proposed; and is the developer going to add more “green” components to the project that the county planning board suggested, such as more efficient electric heating and cooling and including solar and geothermal applications.

Mazzetti also pointed out that in an emergency, the plan shows that fire trucks will go between the two present self storage buildings that front onto Route 9W and on up a steep hill, especially difficult in bad weather. He asked about the sidewalk that is supposed to connect into the Bridgeview Plaza, with Furst saying that an agreement has not yet been finalized with the Plaza owners.

Mazzetti said because of these unanswered questions it is premature for the Town Board to approve the PRRD.

“There is a lot of work that still needs to be done,” he said.

The Town Board voted to close the Public Hearing, with Mazzetti the sole no vote, but the board did not vote on the PRRD zoning change, an action that Plavchak indicated will be taken up at the next Town Board meeting. It will be on March 1 at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Town Hall, 12 Church Street, Highland.