Village of Colonie EDWARD SIM DEPUTY MAYOR VILLAGE HALL 2 THUNDER ROAD PATTY SCHWARZ LOCKART COLONIE, NY 12205 TRUSTEE (518) 869-7562 FAX (518) 464-0389 JAMES M. RUBINO THOMAS J. TOBIN TRUSTEE MAYOR ART WHITE TRUSTEE villagehall@colonievillage.org JAMIE BLOT www.colonievillage.org CLERK Minutes Tuesday, January 17, 2023 6:30 P.M. The regularly scheduled meeting of the Village of Colonie Planning Commission was held at Village Hall, 2 Thunder Road Albany, NY 12205 on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. ROLL CALL: Chairman: Chris Dennis Commissioners: John Martin Brittany Kendall Kenny Hart (absent) Jim Splonskowski Mark Keegan Brian Curran Village Attorney: Victor Caponera Village Engineer: R.J. Laberge Liaison: Patty Schwarz Lockart Chairman Dennis opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Commissioner Martin led the Pledge of Allegiance and requested that all electronic devices be turned off or muted. The Commission reviewed the regular meeting minutes from January 3, 2023. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Commissioner Curran seconded the motion. VOTE: unanimous to approve Change of Ownership/Change of Occupancy 1630 Central Ave. Lakshmi Hospitality Inc. dba Econo Lodge Mr. Ram Sah appeared before the Commission. Mr. Sah is the owner/operator of Lakshmi Hospitality Inc. which owns/operates the Econo Lodge. The Econo Lodge operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The application was amended to reflect this change. There are no business vehicles. Garbage pick-up is once a week. Mr. Sah stated that pick up was scheduled to be Wednesday at 4 AM. Commission stated per Village Code that garbage pick-up is only permitted between the hours of 7 AM and 7PM. Mr. Sah stated that he will call the company to correct the pickup time. Commissioner Keegan asked if there are any tenants in the building, such as a beauty salon. Mr. Sah stated that there are no tenants and there are no plans for any tenants. Commission Martin made a motion to approve the Change of Ownership/ Change of Occupancy for Lakshmi Hospitality Inc, dba Econo Lodge located at 1630 Central Ave. Commissioner Keegan 2nd the motion. VOTE: unanimous to approve Change of Occupancy 1770 Central Ave. Labello Catering Inc. DBA Innovo Kitchen Mr. Adam Leonardo, representative Rosetti Properties and Mr. John LaPosta, owner Labello Catering appeared before the Commission. Mr. LaPosta will be putting in a kitchen that supports his catering/food truck business in the former Verizon space at 1770 Central Ave. The space previously had two overhead doors that were bricked over. They will be opened again to accommodate vehicles. Chairman Dennis asked Mr. Leonardo to address the landscaping at the site. Mr. Leonardo stated that the doors will take away some landscaping, but the plan is to relocate the landscaping that is lost due to the reintroduction of the overhead doors and will provide additional landscaping to retain the current amount of landscaping and therefore not require a greenspace variance. The plan is to push out the curb by Brueggers. They hope to create one lane of traffic to stop customers of Brueggers parking inappropriately. There is an island that will increase in size and be landscaped. The sidewalk along the building will stay. Everything else to the curb will stay green. Plants to be used will be like other plantings on the site. Mr. Leonardo stated they will be putting in grease traps for the kitchen. Chairman Dennis asked if parking was being reduced. Mr. Leonardo stated that parking is not reduced. Parking spots have been moved to allow for the turning radius of the trucks that Mr. LaPosta will be using for his business. Mr. LaPosta stated the largest truck is 23’ with all other vehicles being smaller. Village Engineer Laberge stated concerns regarding a fire lane. Village code states 15’ is needed which the tenant has. Village Engineer Laberge isn’t sure if the fire department would prefer that it be wider. Most of the building is at least 17’. Commissioner Curran and Village Attorney Caponera stated that they didn’t think it was a problem. Commissioner Dennis questioned the curbing that on the site plan stops short of the building. Mr. Leonardo stated that he believes that the curbing does go to the end of the building. Mr. Leonardo will check on the curbing and if it does not go to the rear of the building that will be changed both on the site and on the site plan. Commissioner Martin asked about the floor plan. Chairman Dennis stated that the building and health departments are responsible for the interior of the building. There is concern that the kitchen is not separated from the truck area. Mr. Leonardo stated that they are willing to put up a wall with double doors to separate the areas and address ventilation. Mr. Leonardo has not yet spoken to the health department. Commissioner Kendall asked about the parking of the vehicles inside. Mr. LaPosta stated that they back the trucks in, load them and then plug them in overnight. In the morning they are ready to go. Mr. Leonardo stated that Mr. Meservey, building inspector has indicated that some sort of ventilation will be required for the trucks. They have not determined the location of that yet. Commission has requested a site plan that shows curbing, green space, and landscaping. Commission requested that specifics be provided for the landscaping and that it be all season, all weather and have some color. Change of Occupancy 18 Wolf Road AJW Caribbean Mr. Danny Sanders and the owners of AJW Caribbean appeared before the Commission to address the concerns that the Commission had when previously appearing. Mr. Sanders stated that he had spoken to Village Engineer Laberge regarding the details of the grease traps. Mr. Sanders stated that the inlets and manhole placement need to be finalized, notes need to be added regarding the installation and the existing sewer line. The easement location has been noted on the site plan as well as the site statistics. Village Attorney Caponera pointed out that the easement submitted by the owner only provided an easement for the placement of the dumpsters but did not provide for dumpster access across the property. The Commission decided rather than hold up this tenant, Attorney Caponera and Village Engineer will draft a letter for Chairman Dennis to issue to the owner of the property informing them that no further tenants will be considered until the easement access has been adequately addressed. In addition, a full site plan including landscaping and site statistics has been requested. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the Change of Occupancy for AJW Caribbean located at 18 Wolf Road. Commissioner Curran seconded the motion. VOTE: unanimous to approve Discussion: 134 Lincoln Avenue, AR Powders AR Powders had been previously approved by the Commission. The original approval stated that no exhaust fumes would be generated. However, the operation appears to be generating fumes that are impacting adjacent businesses. The owner proposes to put in an exhaust system to contain and control the fumes from the paint removal process. Information on the exhaust, a floor plan drawing and spec sheet for the chemicals being used was provided by the contractor that will be performing the work. It was decided that AR Powders will need to return to the Planning Commission due to the lack of information regarding the proposed exhaust stack. Commissioner Martin made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:20 pm. Commissioner Curran seconded the motion. Respectfully Submitted, Joan Rueckert - Planning Coordinator