Village of Colonie EDWARD SIM DEPUTY MAYOR AM - @ PM 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, May 16, 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, May 16, 2023. ROLL CALL: Chairman: Chris Dennis Commissioners: John Martin Brittany Kendall Kenny Hart Jim Splonskowski Brian Curran-absent Kerry Bytner Village Attorney: Victor Caponera Village Engineer: R.J. Laberge Liaison: Patty Schwarz Lockart Chairman Dennis opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Commissioner Hart led the Pledge of Allegiance and requested that all electronic devices be turned off or muted. The Commission reviewed the regular meeting minutes from May 16, 2023. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Commissioner Hart seconded the motion. VOTE: unanimous to approve Change of Occupancy 1531 Central Ave Suite 201 House of Flavia Mr. Patrick Campbell, Gersch Real Estate Group and Ms. Flavia Barrett, applicant for House of Flavia appeared before the Commission. Ms. Barrett will be renting approximately 450 square feet of office space for a Boutique clothing store to sell women’s and children’s clothing by appointment only. The space previously was occupied by Hong Kong Tailors. The space is within one of three buildings on the site which share parking. Commissioner Martin stated a completed tenant parking sheet was missing. The application included a parking sheet that listed what each tenant needed for parking but not the square footage or the parking required by code for each tenant. Commissioner Martin stated that the information regarding the code for parking can be found on the Village website. Chairman Dennis noted that one space per 150 square feet is required for retail and one space per 200 square feet is required for office. Any future applications will need to show the parking requirements for all three buildings since they share parking. Commissioner Hart asked if the dumpsters on the property are emptied on a regular basis since they look like they have not been emptied in a long time. A picture that was provided shows debris outside the dumpsters. Mr. Campbell stated that they are emptied on a regular basis, and he would address the concern when he returns to the office. Commissioner Hart asked if the Commission needs something in writing stating that Mr. Campbell represents the property owner. It was agreed that part of the motion will request that Mr. Campbell provide documentation. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the Change of Occupancy for House of Flavia located at 1531 Central Ave. Suite 201 on the condition that future applications include a detailed parking list and for this application and all future applications a letter from the owner of the property allowing the real estate agent to represent the property be provided. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Hart. VOTE: unanimous to approve Change of Occupancy 18 Walker Way Section 2 Renewal Claim Solutions of Upstate New York Mr. Eric Pyne and Mr. Joe Clark, the property owner, appeared before the Commission. Mr. Pyne stated that he opened a dry-cleaning business in Buffalo, NY in 1995. As his business grew, he started doing insurance work for fire and water damage, mostly on the content side of the home, not the structure. As a result of this growing insurance work, Renewal Claim Solutions of Upstate NY needs to have a footprint in the Albany area. This space will be used as a warehouse to stage the work in the Albany area. Most work is completed on site. There are supplies that need to be stored, equipment and office space is required. Commercial front load washers will be on site. No dry cleaning will be done on site. There is no issue with water disposal. Most furniture cleaning will be done on site with some pieces being brought back to the warehouse on occasion. There will be no outside storage. They will have one commercial vehicle. A standard high top Nissan van. Safety data sheets for all chemicals on site have been provided to the building department. Chairman Martin made a motion to approve the Change of Occupancy for Renewal Claim Solutions of Upstate NY located at 18 Walker Way Section 2. Commissioner Hart seconded the motion. VOTE: unanimous to approve Change of Occupancy 12 Walker Way Section 1A Cooking Together LLC Mr. Paul Barrett, Ms. Caroline Barrett, and Mr. Joe Clark, property owner appeared before the Commission. Mr. Clark submitted a new site plan that provides a walkway to allow access from the parking on the westerly side of 12 Walker Way to the tenant’s store. Mr. Clark stated that he believes there is enough parking at 12 Walker Way for the needs of the tenant. Adding the sidewalk does not affect the green space requirements. Mr. Clark believes there is a cross access easement in place between 10 and 12 Walker Way. However, Mr. Clark will contact his lawyer to draw up the cross easement and will forward it to the Village Attorney Caponera for review should one not exist. In addition, he will have a cross access easement written for 12 and 14 Walker Way. There was discussion regarding Feidens parking requirements and how they could affect the parking for Cooking Together LLC. It has been determined that there is enough parking for Cooking Together LLC without being concerned with Feidens parking requirements. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the Change of Occupancy for Cooking Together LLC located at 12 Walker Way Section 1A. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Hart. VOTE: unanimous to approve Sketch Plan Review 1707 Central Ave. Proposed Redevelopment/Restaurant Ms. Caryn Mlodzianowski, from Bohler Engineering appeared before the Commission to present the Sketch Plan to redevelop 1707 Central Ave. Currently there is a two-story office building on the site. The site interconnects with a bank. The proposal is for approximately a 2,300 square foot quick serve restaurant. There will be a drive through lane and bypass lane. The pickup window will be only for pre-ordered food. They are proposing 27 parking spaces with a cross easement slowing access to 5 spaces at the adjacent bank property for a total of 32 spaces. The proposal will close the curb cut on Central Ave. which will give access only through Red Fox Drive or through the interconnect of the adjacent parcel. Green space will be in front of the building will be increased. The buffers to the residential district will be preserved. Ms. Mlodzianowski stated that they believe the proposal is an allowed use for Commercial A and meets all the requirements for code, setbacks, green space, and parking. The current footprint of the existing building is 4% larger than what is being proposed. They are asking the Commission for feedback before making a formal application. The Commission had questions regarding the setbacks, amount of green space (including locations of the trees on the Red Fox Drive side of the building), provision of a landscape plan, the possible reduction of the bypass lane to allow for increased green space in the front, the number of seats proposed, exclusion of outdoor speakers, hours of operation, dumpsters, the location of the clearing bar, retention of the current bus stop, handicap parking, elevations of the finished floor, rendering of proposed building including color schemes, expected traffic flow with timing at the light at Central Avenue and Red Fox Drive, and allowance for snow removal on the site. The Commission asked if Ms. Mlodzianowski could identify the tenant. Ms. Mlodzianowski stated that Chipotle is the proposed tenant. The Chipotle in Glenville is a similar prototype to the plan being discussed. The Commission agreed that the plan can move forward with Chairman Dennis requesting that in addition to answering all questions asked, they submit a plan that shows the existing structure and green space in comparison to the proposed plan and green space, they pursue an agreement with the bank for additional green space, they look at landscaping the front with an elevated slope; so the blacktop is hidden from view from Central Avenue, and hide the HVAC. Village Engineer Laberge stated that a formal application should be made. It was noted that the plan would also need Albany County, DOT, and CDTA approvals. Commissioner Hart made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 pm. Commissioner Martin seconded the motion. Respectfully Submitted, Joan Rueckert - Planning Coordinator