As much as we love solar, the Eden Renewable Solar Project in Colonie is NOT okay. Dear Save the Pine Bush Friends, Please come to the public hearing regarding the proposed Solar Farm in the Pine Bush. I have included links to the documents and maps. Thank you so much, Lynne Jackson For Save the Pine Bush Join the next fight for the Pine Bush Wednesday, June 1, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Town of Colonie…
Read More Read More
GUILDERLAND, NY: Rapp Road Development, a corporate entity of Pyramid/Crossgates, is proposing to build on about 46 acres of land. Originally, the proposal was to build 222 apartments on 20 acres of land adjacent to the Pine Bush preserve. After the Town Planning Board appointed themselves the lead agency, the project was exapanded to include a proposed Costco and an undefined commercial/residential development on an additional 26 acres of land. The proposal is huge. To put this proposed development in…
Read More Read More
Name of the project: Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects Here is the Draft Environmental Impact Statement website at the Town of Guilderland: https://www.townofguilderland.org/planning-board/pages/environmental-impact-statement-rapp-road-residentialwestern-avenue-mixed-use Save the Pine Bush’s comments on the DEIS Here are Save the Pine Bush’s comments written by Christopher M. Walker, , Legal Intern appearing pursuant to the Practice Order of Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc. Download all the documents in a zipped file. Save the Pine Bush Comment Appendix A Dr. Stager Appendix B Zamurs…
Read More Read More
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: On Thursday, August 26, the Zoning Committee of the Albany Common Council held a scoping hearing on the proposed 124-Unit Residence Inn in the Pine Bush. This hotel would be built next to the Karner Blue butterfly hill, which is the only large site of Karner Blues south of the Thruway. Last year, when Pyramid Crossgates first proposed this Residence Inn, Save the Pine Bush asked the Council to require a Scoping Hearing, which is a…
Read More Read More
by Claire Nolan The first ski of the season was held on December 13, 2004. Although the snow situation did not look too good – we had enough snow at King’s Road for an excellent morning of skiing. On Saturday January 31 we had our second monthly ski trip. We met at Trail Head #7, near the Water Tower. We enjoyed a really terrific day of skiing. The conditions were absolutely perfect: powder enhanced by an early morning dusting of…
Read More Read More
by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: John Poorman, Executive Director of the Capital District Regional Planning Commission spoke at the July SPB vegetarian/vegan lasagna dinner. Mr. Poorman began by describing what the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDTC) is. The CDTC is the designated “Metropolitan Planning Organization” (MPO) for four counties, Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady. Under federal law, the CDTC’s responsibilities are to provide a forum to discuss transportation needs and develop transportation plans in the context of social, economic and…
Read More Read More
by Lynne Jackson GUILDERLAND, NY: Rapp Road Development, a corporate entity of Pyramid/Crossgates, is proposing to build on about 46 acres of land. Originally, the proposal was to build 222 apartments on 20 acres of land adjacent to the Pine Bush preserve. After the Town Planning Board appointed themselves the lead agency, the project was exapanded to include a proposed Costco and an undefined commercial/residential development on an additional 26 acres of land. The proposal is huge. To put this…
Read More Read More
Christopher M. Walker, Legal Intern for the The Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic wrote comments for the proposed project. Here is an excerpt from his comments sent to the Guilderland Planning Board. You can view the complete comments and the appendicies online at: http://www.savethepinebush.org/Cases/Crossgates_Expansion/index.html The Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic submits the following comments on behalf of our client, Save the Pine Bush, in response to the proposed Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) on the Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment…
Read More Read More
Dear All, The proposed apartment complex on Rapp Road in Guilderland is back. Pyramid sold the 19 acre parcel to a local developer. This new developer has proposed some modifications to the project. The new name for the project is Apex at Crossgates. The area where the proposed apartment complex is to be built is recommended for partial protection by the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission. The public hearing: Wednesday, July 13 at 7:00 PMGuilderland Town Hall5209 Western TpkGuilderland, NY…
Read More Read More
From the Altamont Enterprise on Thursday, March 24, 2022 – 19:03 GUILDERLAND — A panel of five appellate court judges this week heard arguments in the second lawsuit to land in their laps over Pyramid’s proposed Rapp Road and Western Avenue projects. Save the Pine Bush filed its suit in November 2020 based on the Guilderland Planning Board’s adoption of a findings statement for Pyramid’s proposed 222-unit residential development and Costco Wholesale store in addition to the site-plan approval given…
Read More Read More
Published on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 – 17:34 in the Altamont Enterprise Lynne Jackson of Save the Pine Bush speaks at a press conference announcing a Nov. 20 court decision to halt Pyramid’s plans to build a Costco and 222 residential units near Crossgates Mall in Guilderland. GUILDERLAND — A week after a judge in Albany County Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of Westmere residents and a Guilderland gas-station owner who were seeking to stop construction of a 222-unit development…
Read More Read More
<< Previous Begin Next>> Note: The "Comment" is the developer’s summary of the public input, the Response is what the developer says in response. Comment 4: Commentor indicated that walking is a dangerous mode of transportation. No sidewalks are proposed. Employees will not be able to walk to work or use mass transit. Customers will not be able to walk or bicycle to the nano-tech facilities. Because customers and employees will need to use vehicles, their risk of being involved…
Read More Read More
written by Lynne Jackson << Previous Begin Next>> Read the Developer’s outrageous response to this issue that says "walking or bicycling . . . should be discouraged." Public Health Issues The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Residence Inn says the following about bicycle and pedestrian access: d. Bicycle Access – Page 19 “There is no convenient bicycle access to the site through the use of dedicated or shared bicycle lands. The Applicant does not anticipate either employees or…
Read More Read More
GUILDERLAND: What better way to celebrate Earth Week than attending a public hearing? The Town of Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals is holding a public hearing on giving a special use permit to Pyramid for the proposed Costco to be built near Crossgates Mall. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, April 19 at 7:00 PM at the Guilderland Town Hall, 5209 Western Tpk, Guilderland, NY. Pyramid is proposing an approximate 163,000 square feet Costco wholesale retail facility, including an…
Read More Read More
2020s 🦋 2010s 🦋 2000s 🦋 1990s Search Newsletter Archives: 1999 🦋 1998 🦋 1997 🦋 1996 🦋 1995 🦋 1994 1999 December 1999, January 2000 Garbage in the Pine Bush – City Proposes Landfill Expansion SPB Files Most Unpopular Suit Yet – Sues the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission The Thruway Authority Comes Across Royally Thank You to All Who Responded to the Emergency Appeal 1st Annual Pine Bush Walk-a-Thon a Sucess! October/November, 1999 Save the Pine Bush Sues…
Read More Read More
by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Todd Ommen and Robert O’Connor of the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic (PELC) made a joint zoom presentation at the June 16th Save the Pine Bush dinner. Lynne Jackson hosted the event. Mr. Ommen led off. He is the PELC managing attorney and supervises interns. He began practicing environmental law in 2007, joined PELC in 2016, after prior corporate litigation and a stint with the NY Attorney General. He said there was little environmental law in…
Read More Read More
Here are some helpful tools to help you research development and land use changes in Albany Pine Bush. Properties on the Planning Board Agendas See our Planning Board Agenda Tracker. Search a Property You can search a property here, however it must be in a very specific format to match the tax record, like this describing the property: 20 New Karner Rd, Town of Guilderland. If you don’t have that level of detail or nothing is returned, you should use…
Read More Read More
Albany County Tax records show that 253 acres of Pine Bush were forever lost to development between 2010 and 2020. Acres in Study Area Acres Developed with a Building * % Acres Preserved ** % Acres Undeveloped or Used for Highways / Landfill *** % 13,005 5,723 44.0% 3,317 25.5% 3,965 30.5% * Acres developed does not include highways or other developments that do not contain buildings. ** Albany Pine Bush Commission managed lands *** County tax parcels that do…
Read More Read More
The Village of Colonie is proposing to build a bridge in the Pine Bush over the Rapp Road/Lincoln Avenue railroad tracks. To allow for high-speed rail, all Òat gradeÓ crossings over railroad tracks are to be eliminated. The Village wants to eliminate the Rapp Road/Lincoln Avenue crossing by building a bridge. Save the Pine Bush knows a much better, much less expensive way: dead-end the road on either side of the railroad track. This would save about $3.5 million taxpayer…
Read More Read More
by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC or Commission) Conservation Director Neil Gifford spoke at SPB’s June 19 dinner about the ongoing work of the the Com- mission and the proposed Pyramid Crossgates 222-unit apartment development on Rapp Road inGuilderland. He began saying that “in no small part do we [the Commission] owe our existence” to the work of Save the Pine Bush. At it’s best, he said the Pine Bush is a savanna with some…
Read More Read More
PETER HENNER ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW P.O. BOX 326 CLARKSVILLE, NEW YORK 12041-0326 (518) 768-8232 Fax: (518) 768-8235 WEB SITE: peterhenner.com * CERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUE October 20, 2003 Mr. Mark Wagner, General Manager Pyramid Crossgates Company 120 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12203 Dear Mr. Wagner: This letter is a formal Notice of Intent to file a citizen suit against Pyramid Crossgates Company (“Crossgates”) for violations of its State Pollution Discharge…
Read More Read More
Albany — A blizzard howled on the evening of Feb. 6, 1978, when a shrinking remnant from the last Ice Age faced the prospect of the bulldozer. Anyone who cared that land in the Pine Bush — glacially created sand dunes and pitch pines at the city’s western edge — was slated for an office building would have to brave the storm to complain at the sole city hearing on the issue. The storm was so bad that the state…
Read More Read More
Divided Highways Divided Highways by Rezsin Adams The Interstate and Defense Highway System – – the "divided highways" – – was initiated by President Eisenhower in the early 1950’s to connect cities in the U.S. (in the case of enemy bombing, rail lines are more vulnerable than highways). Eisenhower wanted a highway system like the European Autobahns. Divided highways – – super-highways – – have fundamentally changed how we live and work, said Skidmore Professor Tom Lewis at our January…
Read More Read More
Guilderland CandidatesNight At SPB Guilderland Candidates Night At SPB by Lynne Jackson Candidates for Town Supervisor and Town Board members spoke at the October Save the Pine Bush dinner. Attending were Bill Aylward, Democratic candidate for Town Supervisor; David Bosworth and Cheryl Reul, Democratic candidates for Town Board; and Paul Caputo, Independence Party candidate for Town Board. Lauren Ayers had hoped to attend, but could not due to a family emergency. The other Independence Party candidates, Anne Rose and Tim…
Read More Read More
Visitor Use Education Efforts Increasing in the Preserve — Several new educational tools are being used to increase protection of the Preserve’s natural features while allowing for appropriate recreational and educational use of the Preserve. About one dozen Preserve Naturalists are out on the trails, a new mountain bike education patrol is being created, new brighter trailmarkers are on most of the trails and additional signage relating to appropriate and responsible trail use has been installed. The Commission has recently…
Read More Read More
Proposed Hotel in the Pine Bush Hotel Update: Oral Arguements in the NY Court of Appeals Tuesday, September 15 at 2:00 The Court of Appeals is next door to Albany City Hall. This is an extremely significant case, and could, if we win change who has standing in SEQRA cases. Click here to read Amicus briefs Read attorney Steve Downs’ commentary about the hotel case here. Action Alert! Hear the Oral Arguments in the NYS Appellate Division Friday,…
Read More Read More
Name of the project: Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects Email comments to: Kenneth Kovalchik, Town Planner, Kovalchikk@togny.org The Town of Guilderland Planning Board should reject the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed development by Pyramid (Crossgates) to build massive apartment complexes, office space and expansive retail on Rapp Road, the Mall Road and Western Avenue. This proposed development includes a Costco with 700 car parking lot and a gas station. The Town of Guilderland Planning…
Read More Read More
I am writing in opposition to the draft environmental impact statement filed by Rapp Road Development Corporation, a pseudonym for Pyramid LLC, the owner of Crossgates Mall, which was filed to develop 47 acres of pine bush into a variety of projects such as a gas station built in sand over an aquifer. The level of development proposed is dense, inappropriate to the area, and also bent on increasing traffic in a congested area; designed to create noise pollution in…
Read More Read More
Murdered By Pyramid: It Could Happen Here Murdered By Pyramid It Could Happen Here By Daniel Van Riper Public officials and neighborhood activists are holding the notorious Pyramid Corporation responsible for the traffic death of a young mother outside Buffalo, NY. Pyramid operates the Walden Galleria Mall in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, and is responsible for Crossgates Mall in Guilderland, which destroyed a vast area of prime Pine Bush. According to the February 19 issue of Time Magazine, the…
Read More Read More
Draft Environmental Impact Statement DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT for Avila House Independent Senior Campus Lead Agency: City of Albany Planning Board 21 Lodge Street, Albany, New York 12207 Contact: Nicholas Dilello (518) 434-2532 ext. 28 Project Sponsor: First Colun1bia, LLC 26 Century Hill Drive Latham, New York 12110-2128, (518) 213-1000 Report Contributors: Hershberg and Hershberg 40 Colvin Avenue Albany, New York 12206 Responsible for "Pine Bush" Contact: Daniel Hershherg (518) 459-3096 Transportation Concepts, LLP 152…
Read More Read More
Resting on a leaf, click on photo to see larger picture. So much controversy over such a tiny butterfly-the Karner Blue, Lycaeides melissa samuelis. A beautiful pale blue, this tiny creature only lives in its adult form for one to two weeks. Named by Vladimir Nabokov (probably better known for his writing than his lepidoptery), there were once so many butterflies that all one could see were clouds of blue. Now, only a few hundred survive in the Pine Bush….
Read More Read More
They Have Their Niche Memo From The PB Commission They Have Their Niche Memo From The PB Commission By Daniel Van Riper What is the Albany Pine Bush Commission, where did it come from, and what does it do for the Pine Bush? Back in 1989 Save the Pine Bush filed suit to stop the 25 acre expansion of the Albany Pine Bush Dump, which is euphemistically referred to by officials as "the landfill." Because the State of New York…
Read More Read More
A snow-covered field near Crossgates Mall may become a battleground over the effect of building in the Pine Bush and on that ecologically fragile area’s bellwether symbol, the Karner blue butterfly. Environmentalists are trying to fend off the nation’s largest independent hotel developer, which wants about four acres west of the mall’s movie theaters for a 124-room project. A fight is brewing because that site along Washington Avenue Extension is next to a protected preserve — surrounded by the mall…
Read More Read More
by Lynne Jackson The first part of this series was printed in the February/March, 2005 newsletter and is a summary of a presentation given by Neil Gifford at the October, 2004 SPB lasagna dinner. The Karner Blue Butterfly Federal Recovery Plan has three priorities. In New York State, scientists are focussing on priority one, which is doing those things necessary to prevent extinction of or the irreversible decline of the species, everything from monitoring populations to creating and implementing a…
Read More Read More
A recent date to speak about Nabokov’s blues in Albany, New York — the state’s capital — afforded me a chance to visit what is left of old “Karner”, New York. Karner is the little hamlet that, in common parlance, has attached its name to Nabokov’s famous endangered species Lycaeides melissa samuelis, the “Karner Blue”. Karner got the nod for samuelis’s common name because Nabokov chose specimens of samuelis from Karner for his type series (the specimens he used…
Read More Read More
Summarized by Grace Nichols ALBANY: At the May Save the Pine Bush lasgana dinner at the First Presbyterian Church, NY State Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone gave a talk summarizing our recent discoveries of pesticide use in the Pine Bush by both the City of Albany at the Rapp Road Landfill and Pine Bush Police and Fire Station and placing it in the context of his 39 years of work with Rezsin Adams, Lew Oliver and other leaders of the Save…
Read More Read More
"Man has disrupted the natural order in the Pine Bush with roads, developments and suppression of fires," said Stephanie Gebauer at the December Save the Pine Bush dinner. Ms. Gebauer, the first director of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Research and Management of the Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, went on to describe how fires benefit the Pine Bush. Fires used to occur in the Pine Bush every five to ten to fifteen years. Particularly since the…
Read More Read More
Willow Street Again Crossgates Follies The Government Plays Catch-Up By Daniel Van Riper Yerbury Flip-Flops Guilderland Supervisor Jerry Yerbury, who is up for re-election this November, has publically turned against the ravenous Pyramid Corporation and their plan to double the size of Crossgates Maul. Yerbury was quoted in the Daily Gazette as saying on Feb. 3rd, “I am personally opposed to the further expansion of Crossgates and I promise the residents of Guilderland that as long as I am…
Read More Read More
Exploring Bus Service to the Pine Bush Exploring Bus Service to the Pine Bush by John Wolcott One can reach the Pine Bush from Albany by bus. However, it is, at one point, difficult and unsafe. At another point, it is awkward, and, as yet, uncertain. A couple of weeks ago, I tested part of the bus system in person. I took the Number 12 Crossgates bus to Wall-Mart on the Washington Avenue Extension. This is the nearest stop to…
Read More Read More
Willow Street Again The Devil In Skaneateles Wealthy Developer Deplores Development By Daniel Van Riper There is an unconfirmed report that the Albany Pine Bush Devil has received approval from the planning board of the picturesque town of Skaneateles in western New York to build a ten million square foot shopping plaza, hotel, parking garage and casino. Skaneateles, which up until now has not allowed strip malls and fast food emporiums, is home to Robert Congel, owner and director…
Read More Read More
by Grace Nichols, July 26, 2009 The survival of the Federally Protected Karner Blue Butterfly in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve is in doubt here in Albany – its numbers have been critically low for at least ten years. This butterfly was first named by Vladimir Nabokov, the famous writer, and became one of the best known insect species on the East Coast. It is a beautiful brilliant blue color when it spreads its wings, while the undersides of…
Read More Read More
NEW SCOTLAND — A man of principle and passion, Peter Henner worked for causes he believed in with the same logic and commitment he used when playing chess. He tackled his legal work as he tackled mountains on climbs with his wife — with a sense of adventure. “He always told everything straight,” said Nancy Lawson, his wife. Mr. Henner died at his Clarksville home on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. He was 64. The pages of The…
Read More Read More
Save the Pine Bush Newsletters in Date Order Save the Pine Bush Newsletters in Date Order 1996-1997 December 96, January 97 Newsletter New York to Buy Pineland Tract From L.I. Scouts The Karner Blue vs Crossgates Mall – Secret Meetings and SEQRA Violations The Karner Blue and the Wishing Wells Save the Pine Bush Sues the Town of Colonie November SPB Dinner Speakers Now We’ve Got A Bond Act – Jeff Jones of Environmental Advocates Bethlehem Pickled – Formaldahyde And…
Read More Read More
ALBANY, NY — Save the Pine Bush and the Alliance for Environmental Renewal have filed a notice of intent to sue Pyramid Crossgates over its violation of its waste water permit for the past three years. Pyramid Crossgates has a State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“SPDES”) Permit 0107930 to discharge sodium into the Krum Kill. During the winter months for the past three years, Crossgates has exceeded its permit limits. Save the Pine Bush (SPB) and the Alliance for Environmental…
Read More Read More
By Grace Nichols Albany County is home to many bats, from the rare Myotis genus species, so vulnerable to White-nose syndrome for which we were a ground zero, to the more common Large Brown Bat, Hoary Bats, Red bats, Silver-haired Bats and Tri-colored bats. They come in a variety of sizes and colors and they are agile flyers, plucking insects from the air, hunting with both eyesight and special echolocation, using calls far above the frequency of sounds audible to…
Read More Read More
by Lynne Jackson, Mar./Apr. 92 The Karner Blue has been proposed to be listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If the butterfly is listed as an endangered species with a designated critical habitat, any developments proposed within the habitat would need to have a federal permit in order to be built. Obtaining a federal permit is a much more rigorous and difficult process to go through than the zoning changes or Planning Board approvals-and…
Read More Read More
What is the Pine Bush? The Pine Bush is the only sizable inland pine barrens sand dunes in the United States, and is recognized world&endash;wide as a unique pine barrens ecosystem. It contains over 300 species of vertebrate animals, over 1,500 species of plants, and over 10,000 species of insects and other invertebrate animals. Many of them are rare and restricted to the Pine Bush habitat. Its most famous occupant, the Karner Blue Butterfly, is on the Federal and State’s…
Read More Read More
So much controversy over such a tiny butterfly-the Karner Blue, Lycaeides melissa samuelis. A beautiful pale blue, this tiny creature only lives in its adult form for one to two weeks. Named by Vladimir Nabokov (probably better known for his writing than his lepidoptery), there were once so many butterflies that all one could see were clouds of blue. Now, only a few hundred survive in the Pine Bush. There are no laws to protect an ecosystem. But there are…
Read More Read More
Save the Pine Bush has been in almost litigation to preserve the Pine Bush since February 6, 1978. The seven cases we have litigated in courts since 1997 can be found on NY Supreme Court’s Web Civ by searching “Save the Pine Bush”. Court YearFiled Index Number CaseStatus Plaintiff FirstPlaintiff Firm Defendant FirstDefendant Firm Justice Albany Supreme Court 1997 7685-97 (0007685/1997) Disposed Save The Pine Bush Lewis B. Oliver Guilderland Dennis C. Vacco GEORGE L. COBB Albany Supreme Court…
Read More Read More
Home April / May 2023 Newsletter Down to Earth PowerPoint – April 2022 Presentation Podcasts Volunteer Donate Planning Board Agendas 253 acres forever lost in the Pine Bush between 2010-2020. Join our Mailing List Follow on Facebook Court Cases Land Use/PropertyResearch Newslettersby Subject Newslettersby Date SpeakersList Search our Newsletter Archives: The Karner Blue Fire! Virtual Exhibit Cartoons Sally’s Recycling Corner About SPB Our Friends: South End Butterfly Sanctuary Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth Historic Action Network Friends of Stanford Home…
Read More Read More