MAJOR HOUSING PROJECT BACK AGAIN
Mike McCagg
ccSCOOP News
02-08-10 - 3:45 p.m. - After another hiatus, the 112-unit housing development proposed for the hamlet of Stottville will once again go before the town Planning Board.
The project, proposed by SSD Stockport and represented by Crawford and Associates, is on the agenda for tomorrow's Stockport Planning Board meeting at the Town Hall. Board Secretary Barbara Drabick said the developers are only scheduled for an information update and are not formally on the agenda.
Crawford and Associates representative Brandee Nelson confirmed to ccSCOOP on Friday that the project will be moving forward and she will be in attendance at the Planning Board meeting.
| The project—which has been on and off the town’s radar for several years—took a major step forward in October 2009 when the Town Board created a "Planned Development District" (PDD) zoning designation for the area proposed for the project, which is a large field that stretches from the rear of existing properties on Route 9 to the rear of existing properties on Chester Avenue. The PDD designation allows the developer to construct houses on lots smaller than the half acre required by the original zoning designation for the area. No action had been taken since the early October approval of the new zoning district, and some officials had suspected that the project may once again have gone on hiatus, as it had been for more than a year prior to 2009. |
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Photograph by Harvey McCagg |
The project, first proposed in about 2003, was originally much larger than the 76 single-family residences and 36 age-restricted townhouses currently on the drawing board. That proposal ran into a number of objections from town residents, and it was eventually put on hold by the developer as a result of the economic downturn. Among the concerns raised about the original proposal were that the development would:
- put too much stress on the water and sewer systems;
- result in an increased call volume for the emergency services;
- impact drainage, because the 122 acres of land includes a wetland and during heavy rains serves to catch run-off from Route 9 before the water reaches Chester Avenue;
- impact the viewshed, which for residents and motorists on Route 9 offers a view of the Berkshires.
Among the steps taken to reduce the impact was limiting of the development to two areas within the 34-acre proposed Planned Development District. The single-family houses would be built along a new road that would be constructed from the end of Sunset Avenue (located off Chester Avenue) to Route 9. The proposed age-restricted townhouses would be constructed in the northwest corner of the property, in the vicinity of the town’s older water tower and near the veteran’s monument on Route 9. The project was also moved back from Route 9 in an effort to limit the impact of the project on the viewshed.
Nelson said on Friday that the economy continues to be a factor, but the developer wants to be ready when the new housing market eventually rebounds. “Project approval can be a lengthy process, and we want to be in position when the economy begins the uptick,” she said.
During the project’s most recent hiatus, negotiations between the developer and Columbia Land Conservancy over stewardship of the forever-wild land were started. Planning Board member Don Meltz said he had received some correspondence regarding that negotiation, and Nelson confirmed that the talks are underway. However, she said, no agreement has been reached. As part of the newly created PDD zoning designation, a significant portion of the land included in the development must remain undeveloped, and Nelson said the discussions between the developers and the Columbia Land Conservancy were over additional measures that could be taken to preserve the open space.
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