{ title: 'The Altamont enterprise and Albany County post. (Altamont, N.Y.) 2006-current, April 06, 2006, Page 4, Image 4', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/2006245259/2006-04-06/ed-1/seq-4/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/2006245259/2006-04-06/ed-1/seq-4.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/2006245259/2006-04-06/ed-1/seq-4/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/2006245259/2006-04-06/ed-1/seq-4/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
•l l-s The Altamont Enterprise - Thursday, April 6; 2006 FRIDAY, APRIL 7 Milk, Eggs, Produce, Cheese, Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, Homemade Baked Goods, Preserves, Dressings, Relishes and Salsas EASTER PLANTS Hanging Baskets • Perennials • Flowering Shrubs Hardy Roses • Herbs & Vegetable Plants w • Mulch & Topsoil Delivery Gift Certificates Available F85FJ fjgp] RT. 20, GUILDERLAND (just past Rt. 146) 869-8019 t Let Hope Live In You t Hamilton Union Presbyterian Church 2291 Western Ave., Guilderland t t t Welcomes all to join us for !•>• Easter Week Services: Maundy Thursday . 7:30 p.m. Communion Good Friday 7:30 p.m. Candlelight Tenebrae Service Easter Sunday 9 & 11 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Bell Choir Processional Easter Brunch 10-11:00. a.m. el April 13-April 30 • 9:00-6:00 • $5 per child See, Pet, & Learn About Baby Farm Animals Chicks, turkey pou)ts, ducklings, goslings, bunnies, lambs, goat kids, alpacas, llamas, piglets, calves...oh my! Easter weekend events include Easter Egg Hunts at 11 & 2 each day, Baby Parade Saturday at I, Pony Rides, Horse-Drawn Wagon Rides.Tractor-Drawn Hay Rides, Llama & Alpaca Walks, Easter Crafts & Games Easter Brunch in the Yellow Rock Cafe Easter Sunday 9 to 4, reservations required Coming up...celebrate Earth Day and Companion Animal Weekend See website for schedule INDIAN 342 Altamont Road x **<&£»» Altamont, NY 12009 LADDER (518)765-2956 13 A1? A/TC www.indianladderfarms.com Jr/UKXVld info@indianladderfarms.com Starting April 13, we are open for the season through the end of December. 7 days a week The Enterprise opinion pages are an open forum for pur community. We encourage readers to express their thoughts Wiout issues that appear in this newpaper or affect the, community. Letters should be- brief (with an outside limit of 1,000 words) and must include the writer's address, name, and phone number for verification. The editors, may reject letters that have been printed elsewhere. Letters concerning elections will be cut off one issue before the election at the editor's discretion. No unsigned letters. Deadline for letters is Tuesday at noon. \yfr*Z>4>*AsCx The zoning board did not protect us from a nightmare To the Editor: We read last week's letter by Mr. Vattimo of Bethlehem who praised the Guilderland Zoning Board for ignoring our concerns and approving a new restaurant on Western Avenue in Guilder- land. Brian Vattimo's letter couldn't have been further from the truth. We take exception to being called a handful of petty, pathe- tic residents who complain every chance we get. Mr. Vat- timo should have learned the facts before he publicly attacked us. We are a group consisting of more than 40 families, the majority of which purchased our homes over 20 years ago, long before the small businesses began lining up along Western Avenue. We are hard-working, tax-paying residents who have every right to defend our quality of life. We are not opposed to growth in our community. But growth is one thing; over-development is another. When we learned that the zoning board was contemplating squeezing a 70-seat restaurant (with an additional eight bar stools, 14 employees, and valet parking) on the property that previously housed Phebe's Florist, we were appalled. Phebe's was a low-intensity business with a few employees, no evening or weekend hours, and minimal customers on-site (75 percent of sales were con- ducted via telephone orders and deliveries). When you compare a florist shop to a restaurant of this magnitude, the adverse impacts are immeasurable^. We were confident that the zoning board would protect us from this nightmare. Especially since it already had a letter from the town planner (Jan Weston) stating that the proposal was not a \comfortable fit\ at this location. We voiced our concerns to the zoning board and the town supervisor, focusing on the in- creased traffic; the noise; the lights shining in the surrounding homes; and the garbage and odors, which will not only be repugnant, but will lure rats, raccoons, skunks, flies, etc. We suggested that the board not approve the two newly-re- quested variances, that five vari- ances relating to a single piece of property were too much. We felt it was more realistic to re-evalu- ate the previous three variances granted to the florist, to deter- mine if they were appropriate for such a high-intensity restau- rant. The board ignored our re- quest. It approved the new vari- ances and passed the three-pre- vious ones on to the applicant. Now we have a small piece of property that doesn't conform to code and will never again be able to stand on its own and accommodate the parking spaces required for the size of the building. To be more specific: — The lot is 17;320 square feet, much less than the 20,000- square-foot minimum in a Local Business Zone; — The rear buffer area is only 15 feet in lieu of the 40-foot requirement; i — The driving aisle is 20 feet rather than the required 26 feet; — The approval of a 500- square-foot addition' at the rear of the building created the need for additional parking spaces; and brought up to code. Once this is completed, we doubt that there will be enough qualifying spaces for parking. What did all this prove? Nothing! Regardless of what we dis- covered and brought forth to the board, it disregarded everything and voted for the over- development of this property. There was one exception — What did all this prove? Nothing! — A minimum of 45 spaces is required (per Zoning Admini- strator Don Cropsey). On-site spaces (alone), cannot support this need. A lease agreement for use of a side parking lot was initiated to provide 28 of the required spaces. We measured the side lot and found that it was not up to code, and some of the allocated spaces were beyond the 300-foot re- quirement from the restaurant. These spaces had to be elimina- ted from the plan, leaving the applicant three spaces short. The zoning board allowed the applicant to move the Dumpster for one space, and allowed the removal of green space and large trees for two more spaces. Note that these two new spaces are back-to-back with two other spaces. Whoever uses them will be blocked in until the other guests leave. We also requested a traffic study be performed to determine the impact the restaurant would have on our residential streets and the dangerous portion of Western Avenue that we have to navigate on a daily basis. The board refused. We suggested closing in the rear parking lot and using the pre-existing entrance on West- ern Avenue instead of on our residential street. The board stated that the state's Depart- ment of Transportation would not allow it. Strange that the new Via Fresca (1666 Western Ave.) was allowed. Other various businesses along Western Avenue used pre- existing entrances that were all residential driveways at one time. As a matter of fact, this proposed restaurant will be the only one in Guilderland, West- mere, and beyond that has its only entrance/exit on a residen- ial street surrounded by private homes. After the board passed the proposal, we discovered that the wrong category was placed on the restaurant's bar. The bar (with the eight stools) was clas- sified as a \service bar.\ The pro- posal should have been classified as a sit-down restaurant with a bar, which would increase.the parking requirement dramati- cally (making it impossible to satisfy* even with the leased lot). In addition, the side lost m«sf be Mr. Chuck Klaer, who came to the location on several occasions, saw the problems first-hand, and understood our dilemma. The remaining board members and Don Cropsey should be ashamed of themselves! All our facts and concerns were legitimate arguments that should have convinced the board how inappropriate this restaurant would be at the proposed site. Instead, our voices fell on deaf ears. Someone needs to hold the zoning board accountable for its bad judgment and total dis- regard of the many taxpayers who will be adversely impacted by their decision. Now Mr. Vattimo, you have a lot of the facts. So if you want to call us names again, try re- sourceful, forthright, or tena- cious for starters. We feel we are worthy of a more extensive vocabulary. Herb and Phyllis Rhoades Adrienne Daniels Mr. and Mrs. Greg Shields Wayne and Mary Campbell Guilderland Dollar $avers in the iJie Enterprise Jaycees Pizza Depot See page 40 Valvoline See page 7 Culligan Water See page 40 The Tan Shop See page 6 Drain Away See page 12 Metro Media See page 9 Helderberg Kiwanis See page 15 Actamont Country Values > v See page 19
