Clarkson/Sweden residents had their say regarding incentive zoning for the latest Brook Field at Clarkson development proposal during a public hearing held by the Clarkson Town Board Tuesday, September 22.
About three dozen people attended the meeting and the majority who spoke were not in favor of rezoning for the project proposed for the southwest corner of the busy Ridge Road (Route 104) Sweden Walker Road (Route 260) intersection. The revised proposal includes eight, two-unit senior duplex buildings; an 87-unit senior apartment building; 12, two-unit villas; six, sixteen-unit apartment buildings; and five mixed-use buildings with eight apartments each and a total of 30,000 sq. ft. of commercial office or retail space.
Some who spoke questioned what benefits the incentive zoning – which includes tax incentives for the developer – would bring to the town.
“What’s in the deal, what is the town getting?” a resident of St. Katherine Way asked. He said focusing on the economic benefits make the re-zoning sound like “zoning for dollars.”
Reuben Ortenberg, an attorney representing the developer – Atlantic Funding and Real Estate, LLC/Al Spaziano – said the town will receive a payment of $375,000 up front under incentive zoning. The development would be constructed in three phases beginning with Senior housing and the mixed use commercial buildings along Ridge Road. Ortenberg said Brook Field will also help the town, “move forward with the hamlet concept,” called for in the town’s comprehensive plan.
The parcel, which runs west of Sweden Walker Road between Ridge Road and East Avenue is currently zoned Highway Commercial near Ridge Road (seven acres) and Suburban Residential along Sweden Walker Road to East Avenue (24 acres). Roads and sewers in Brook Field at Clarkson would be owned and maintained by the developer and not be a burden on taxpayers, Ortenberg said.
Additionally, Clarkson Supervisor Paul Kimball noted the development would bring $150,000 in green acre trust fees (which the town must use for parks development) and $150,000 in building permit fees to the town. He said when fully built out, Brook Field would be assessed at $20 million compared to $4-6 million that would be the likely assessment for a development consisting of only duplexes or single-family homes.
Increased traffic, particularly along Sweden Walker Road in both Clarkson and Sweden, continues to be a major concern. “I see it as a traffic nightmare,” one Clarkson resident said. A Town of Sweden resident who lives on Sweden Walker Road agreed. “It will be a nightmare,” she said and asked, “Is there no accommodation to residents who live nearby and will be affected by it?”
Kimball said Sweden Walker Road and Ridge Road are both state roads and the NYSDOT has given its approvals. “We talked to the DOT and asked for a left-hand turn lane northbound and the DOT rejected it,” he said.
The project, which was initially proposed in 2014, has been downsized following the Town Board’s rejection of incentive zoning one year ago.
Michael Montalto, a project manager with Costich Engineering, said the original 319 residential unit total has been reduced to 265. Additionally, a privacy fence has been added to the west side of the property and access from East Avenue has been eliminated.
Two people spoke in favor of the project – one noting that the long-time owners of the property (now deceased) had expressed a desire for senior housing on the parcel.
A Garland resident said he recently put some money into improving his home. “It’s time we do something with the neighborhood,” he said. “I like the new proposal. I’m for it.”
The Town Board took no action on the incentive zoning application.
