Village of Colonie VILLAGE HALL 2 THUNDER ROAD PLANNING COMMISSION COLONIE, NY 12205 ALBANY COUNTY (518) 869-7562 FAX (518) 464-0389 NEW YORK e-mail: ahart@colonievillage.org MINUTES TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 6:30 P.M. The regularly scheduled meeting of the Village of Colonie Planning Commission was held on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 ROLL CALL: Chairman Chris Dennis Commissioners: John Martin Ann Krause (Absent) Mike Tommaney (Absent) Peter Chudzinski (Absent) Kenny Hart Dan Judge Village Attorney: Victor Caponera (Absent) Village Engineer: R.J. Laberge Chairman Dennis opened the meeting at 6:30. Commissioner Hart led the Pledge of Allegiance and asked that all phones and pagers be silenced. APPLICANT: 20 WOLF ROAD EDUCATIONAL VISTAS, INC. (Temporary Tenant Change) Mr. Scott Crowder from Educational Vistas came before the Commission to present a change of tenant located at 20 Wolf Road. Mr. Crowder stated that there are over 694 school districts in the State of New York and this company works with about 400 school districts scoring State exams for grades 3 thru 8. Mr. Crowder stated that Education Vista’s employ between 150-160 scorers that are usually retired teachers from across the state to grade exams from April 1, 2018 to June 1, 2018. Mr. Crowder showed the Commission a letter from the landlord, Mr. Ralph Brotter, accepting this applicant as a tenant in their building. Mr. Crowder stated that this empty space is located next to DXL and the space is usually rented out to The Spirit of Halloween in the fall. Mr. Crowder stated that the company is taking the space as is and will not be altering the structure in any way. They will be bringing in their own tables and chairs as well as the scorers. Mr. Crowder 1 PLANNING COMMISISON MARCH 6, 2018 explained that the company currently has their headquarters located in Schenectady, and if they like the space at 20 Wolf Road they will be looking to move their headquarters to Wolf Road. Chairman Dennis stated that he was unsure about the parking numbers. Mr. Crowder stated that there are about 150 scorers coming in daily, however it is strongly suggested that they carpool, and this is something they are all use to doing. Mr. Crowder explained that people usually carpool up to 3-4 people per car. Mr. Crowder also explained that he has been in touch with Colonie Center and they would allow scorers to park over in the empty Sear’s parking lot if an overflow of parking spaces is needed. There is a cross walk that employees will be able to cross the street safely. Mr. Crowder stated that he does not foresee a need to use Colonie Center for parking, but it is an available option. DXL will protect its spaces with cones or designated signs and employees will be notified of where they can and cannot park. Chairman Dennis stated that he comes up with a total of 110 parking spaces required by Village Code. Mr. Crowder stated that they will use an estimated 75 parking spaces. Engineer Laberge stated that he counted a total of 128 spaces on the site plan. Commissioner Hart asked if the building owner was in attendance at this meeting. Mr. Crowder stated no, he is located on Long Island, but Mr. Brotter did submit a letter to the Commission that was included in the submission packet. Commissioner Martin asked if it was appropriate for the applicant to arrange parking with Colonie Center with parking across the street. Commissioner Martin stated that the remembered a similar arrangement with a different applicant several years ago with across the street parking that wasn’t allowed. Engineer Laberge stated that in that case it wasn’t allowed because there weren’t any crosswalks. Colonie Center has a crosswalk at that location that would allow for safe pedestrian crossing. Chairman Dennis stated that the Commission is not entertaining cross parking for the application. Mr. Crowder stated that it won’t be necessary, it was just a precaution and an attempt toward building a good relationship with the mall so his employees can go over on their lunch breaks. Mr. Crowder mentioned some green space behind the building that Mr. Brotter, the landlord, said was available for parking. Commissioner Hart stated that there are no parking spaces behind the building, as that is where the dumpsters are located. Commissioner Hart stated that there is no parking on green space and those spaces are not official or designated. Commissioner Hart noted that the Code Enforcement Officer was in attendance and will be checking the site for illegal parking. Chairman Dennis also noted that the referenced area is not part of this property. Mr. Crowder stated that the lease is for 3 months with the option to buy and renovate the space. Chairman Dennis stated that they will have to come back to the Planning Commission if that happens. Mr. Crowder stated he would come back if that happens. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve Educational Vistas, Inc. located at 20 Wolf Road, in the remaining open space in the building. Commissioner Judge seconded the motion. VOTE: Unanimous to approve this application as presented. 2 PLANNING COMMISISON MARCH 6, 2018 APPLICANT 80 WOLF RD 4th FL EMBLEMHEALTH (Tenant Change) Mr. James Rowland from Picotte Company and Mr. Scott Allen from WCGA – Architects were present before the Commission to present a tenant change for the 4th floor of 80 Wolf Rd. Mr. Rowland stated that Emblemhealth is a current tenant located on the 6th floor and is looking to expand into the entire 4th floor, which is current unoccupied. The 4th floor is about 24,000 square feet. Mr. Rowland explained that the tenant is a health services call center. Chairman Dennis asked about the parking designations listed on the site plan. There was a question about which color/ designation is the current Emblemhealth parking and which will be the new Emblemhealth parking spaces. Engineer Laberge clarified that brown is the proposed parking and yellow is the existing. Commissioner Martin asked if the entire 4th floor is currently vacant. Mr. Rowland stated yes. Commissioner Martin asked if there will be enough parking. Mr. Rowland stated that yes, there will be enough parking. They have a formula that calculates the number of employees and customers. Mr. Rowland stated that there are 217 parking spaces, not counting the handicapped spaces. Mr. Rowland explained that Emblemhealth will hire new employees 30 people at a time, train them and then hire another 30 until they are up to a full occupancy. The 4th floor will be fit out to have an open office with cubicles and work stations, conference room, telecom room and a recreation room. The applicant provided a floor plan that showed the proposed locations of offices and cubicles. There are no changes being made to the building shell. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve Emblemhealth located at 80 Wolf Road 4th floor. Commissioner Judge seconded the motion. VOTE: Unanimous to approve the application as presented. APPLICANT 16 COMPUTER DR WEST PATRICIA SCHILLER/SUSAN RICHER (Tenant Change) Engineer Laberge recused himself from this application. A representative from Albany Management was present before the Commission to present a tenant change located at 16 Computer Drive West, suite 103. The representative stated that Ms. Patricia Schiller and Ms. Susan Richer are psychologists and are looking to move their practice to 16 Computer Drive West, suite 103. Chairman Dennis asked if suite 105 was still vacant. The representative stated that it was about a quarter of the building vacant and there should be no issue with parking. Commissioner Martin asked if the Commission treats this application like a medical office when discussing the parking requirements; one patient waiting, one patient in the room and one patient coming out. Chairman Dennis stated that technically this is a medical office, however most 3 PLANNING COMMISISON MARCH 6, 2018 psychologist offices schedule patients and wouldn’t have many people in the waiting room. Chairman Dennis stated that there is adequate parking for this applicant. Chairman Dennis asked about the layout of the building. The representative explained that there is a private hallway that leads to a private interior entrance to suite 103. Commissioner Judge asked if there will be any medication on site. The representative stated no, the doctors will just have scripts to write when necessary. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve Patricia Schiller and Susan Richer at 16 Computer Drive West suite 103. Commissioner Hart seconded the motion. VOTE: Unanimous to approve this application as presented. APPLICANT: STARBUCK’S 1770 CENTRAL AVE (Site Redevelopment) Mr. Nick Costa from Advanced Engineering, Mr. Rich Rossetti from Rossetti Properties and Charlie from CCS Design, the landscaping architect were present before the Commission to present the final landscaping plan. Chairman Dennis stated that he and Engineer Laberge met with the owner, engineer and landscaping architect to review the landscaping layout. Mr. Costa stated that the Maple trees are remaining and everything discussed at prior meetings will remain. There is a 2,000 square foot pad site and reconfigured paring and drive aisles. There is a new path for parking and circulation. Chairman Dennis asked what the salmon color indicates on the site plan. Mr. Costa stated that the salmon color indicates improvements to the existing site. Commissioner Martin asked if there will be underground sprinklers. Charlie stated that no there will not be any need for sprinklers, the plants that they have chosen will not need that kind of watering. Charlie stated that along Central Ave the existing Maples will be saved and Cleveland Pears will be added in both singles and pairs. The interior islands are 3.5 feet and will be flowered with day lilies and junipers. Both flowers can grow without a lot of water and are able to withstand heat and dry weather. Charlie stated that there will be a lot of green vegetation like shrubs and evergreens in areas near the building. This will keep the property green in the winter. Chairman Dennis asked what type of trees will be in the large islands. Charlie stated that there will be Dwarf Alberta because they can withstand the dryness and snow damage. There will also be Spirea trees that double flower in both the spring and fall seasons. The Cleveland Pears flower in the spring and there will also be annual flowers at each entrance to the plaza. Engineer Laberge stated that the flowers near the entrances were labeled optional and the Planning Commission usually doesn’t worry about small flowers. Charlie stated that the North elevation and the main entrance along Central Ave will have the four Maples, two on either side, Spirea on both sides and further away from the entrance will be the day lilies. Chairman Dennis asked what will be near the other entrance off of Karner Road. Charlie stated that the existing Maple will remain. 4 PLANNING COMMISISON MARCH 6, 2018 Chairman Dennis explained that the Honey Locusts on the existing islands are half dead and are lifting the pavement with their root systems. Chairman Dennis stated that he suggested something that would remain green to the applicant. Charlie stated that they will be going with Gold Swords which is vegetation that stays green throughout the winter. Some of the Gold Swords are totally green while some have different colors. Chairman Dennis asked for clarification of where the vegetation will go as depicted on the site map. It is as follows: A: mix of Gold Swords, Yuca and Day Lilies B: Gold Swords, Yuca and Day Lilies C: Gold Sword, Yuca, Juniper D: Sargent Juniper and some Gold Swords E: Gold Sword, Yuca, Juniper Each will have some different quantities of each tree or flower. Chairman Dennis asked the Commission if they had any questions regarding the landscaping or the site re-development. The Commission did not have any further questions or comments. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the EAF, based on the information provided this action does not have a significant environmental impact. Commissioner Hart seconded the motion. VOTE: Unanimous to approve the EAF for this application. Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the site re-development at 1770 Central Ave including Starbucks. Commissioner Hart seconded the motion. VOTE: Unanimous to accept this application as presented. The next Planning Commission will be held on April 3, 2018 due to the March 20th Village Election. Commissioner Martin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Hart seconded the motion. VOTE: Unanimous to adjourn the meeting at 7:15 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Alexandra M. Hart Planning Coordinator Village of Colonie 5