by Lynne Jackson

COLONIE AND GUILDERLAND – Its spring, so, it is construction season in the Pine Bush. The Town of Colonie has seen a number of proposed warehouses in the Pine Bush.

The most recent proposal is 2889 Curry Road, Colonie. Though this parcel is small, about 1.7 acres, it is bounded on the south by land recommended for full protection, and across the road to the northwest, there is Pine Bush Preserve land. The Colonie Planning Board heard a “sketch plan review” on March 25. Three members of Save the Pine Bush attended and objected to the construction of the proposed warehouse. Constructing this warehouse would further fragment the Pine Bush.

The most recent proposal in Guilderland is on 21.9 acre site located in the Pine Bush ecosystem on land recommended for partial protection, and bordered by land in the Pine Bush Preserve. The developer, Frederico Polsinelli, is proposing a 15-house sub-division. A number of members of Save the Pine Bush and the Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth attended both the Guilderland Environmental Advisory Council and Guilderland Planning Board meetings about this parcel. The site plan showed how the developer would place the 15 houses to avoid the large sand dune on the property and to build the houses a safe distance from the creek bank (also known as the “angle of repose”).

At the meeting, the Save the Pine Bush Mapper was first publicly displayed. First I gave my remarks to the Planning Board on why this this parcel should be purchased and preserved. Then, I asked the planner who was running the computer displays, to go to the Mapper so that everyone in the room would be able to view the parcel on the Mapper website. Then, I asked that the layer for the “DEC informational wetlands” be displayed. Up until that point, no one had mentioned that there may be wetlands on the site, but, the Mapper showed that there were definitely DEC informational wetlands present. And how building around the sand dune, creek, and the informational wetlands would be extremely challenging.

The chair of the Planning Board strongly suggested to the developer’s representative that the Planning Board would prefer a cluster development to the traditional subdivision on this site.

Of course, Save the Pine Bush believes nothing should be built on the site and that the Town of Guilderland should acquire it and dedicate it to the Preserve. We plan to follow this proposal closely.

It is extremely important that people attend the Planning Board meetings to object to any proposed development in the Pine Bush. We need to really push to get the last approximately 2000 acres of privately-owned Pine Bush ecosystem in the Preserve. We particularly need people who live in the Town of Colonie to come out to meetings. Please let me know at contact@savethepinebush.org if you would like to be notified of meetings.