Planning Commission

- Planning Commission NOTICE of PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that the Planning Commission of the City of Troy, New York will conduct a public hearing on th Wednesday, January 24 2018. in the Planning Conference Room, 5 Floor, City Hall, 433 River Street, in order to hear and decide on proposals for development as follows: OLD BUSINESS PC2017-0054 Site Plan Review of a proposal to convert a vacant mill building to 4500 square feet of retail and 90 market rate apartments with 150 parking spaces. Project location is 701 River Street, a B5 Zone, Tax Map ID 90.70-5-8. Applicant is 701 river Street Associates, 172 River Street, Suite D, Troy, NY 12180. Applicant: Parking spaces have increased from 150 to 180 spaces. Commercial space has increased from 4500 to 15,500 square feet. Residential units have decreased from 90 to 80 units. The acquisition from the City of a portion of President Street has been removed from the workplan; should this change, the project will return to the Planning Commission. All units in building will be market rate, with green technology. Public Comment: neighboring business owner (Bella Napoli) is concerned about truck and vehicle access to his business. Applicant responded that the new configuration will not block any access to the neighboring lot. MOTION FOR PLANNING COMMISSION TO ACT AS LEAD AGENCY: Motion by Mr. Thomas, seconded by Ms. Spence. Motion approved by a vote of 4-0. MOTION TO APPROVE PLAN: Motion by Mr. Thomas, seconded by Ms. Spence. Motion approved by a vote of 4-0. PC2018-0003 Site Plan Review of a proposal to build a 69 apartment unit development. Project location is 12- 14 King Street, a B4 Zone, Tax Map ID 101.37-3-6. Applicant is BSF Acquisitions LLC, 298 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110. Applicant: Project received conceptual approval in August of 2017. Since then, 3 units have been added to the proposal. Mr. Thomas: this building, as presented, does not seem to fit into the overall character of the neighborhood. Mr. Vera: what are the challenges to making this building look similar to neighboring buildings? Applicant: largely financial obstacles; additionally, this project has always been a large, mostly single-material proposal Mr. Vera: the largest issue is the Troy Fire Department’s request to widen access roads to 20 feet Applicant: we should be able to make that work; we are meeting with the TFD in a few weeks Mr. Thomas: were there always 5 stories Applicant: no, a story was added when the proposal changed from condos to apartments MOTION TO TABLE: Motion by Ms. Wengert, seconded by Mr. Thomas. Tabled by a vote of 4-0. NEW BUSINESS PC2018-0002 SEQRA and Site Plan review of a proposal to demolish vacant structures and build 80,000 sf of residential, 50,000 sf of commercial space and 95,000 sf of parking. Project location is 141-143 Congress Street, a MULTI Zone, Tax Map ID 101.61-3-2. Applicant is University Partners LLC, 300 Jordan Road, Troy, NY 12180. Applicant: This is a preliminary proposal; renderings and elevations will be forthcoming. Project comprised of 2 parcels, 1.65 acres in toto. 66 market rate apartments, 50,000 square feet of commercial, and 262 total parking spaces. Street architecture and lighting will be added. Options for entrance into parking lot are being considered.  th Ms. Wengert: How many parking decks? Do you think that from 6 Avenue, this will read as one building? Applicant: 5 floors of parking, but one is partially below grade. The project will not read as one building, which is intentional; there will be some staggering of the building envelope. th th Public comment: it’s unfortunate to include an entrance from 5 Ave; totally changes character of 5 Ave block from State to Congress. Public comment: at City Station East, there is retail space around the garage. Will this project reflect that? Isn’t the trend to make parking garages friendlier? th Applicant: felt that queuing and stopping at garage entrance (traffic light at 6 & congress) would be too much th of an issue on 6 Ave. MOTION TO TABLE: Motion made by Mr. Vera, seconded by Ms. Wengert. Tabled by a vote of 3-0 (Mr. Thomas recused himself) PC2018-0001 SEQRA and Site Plan review of a proposal to build an addition to the existing grow center, a new greenhouse and two new parking lots on 11 parcels of land. Project location is 594 River Street, an HWD Zone, Tax Map ID 101.22-2-14. Applicant is Capital Roots, 594 River Street, Troy, NY 12180. Applicant: vacant lot has proposed improvements including parking, greenhouses, expansion of Grow Center and administrative offices. Expansion will introduce community rooms, larger market for fresh foods and an incubator kitchen. Existing facility has parking and loading; this will shift to North end along Rensselaer Street. Center of building will house incubator kitchen and new market. Existing parking area will be used as an occasional public space. Asphalt parking will be removed/replaced with permeable material. Mr. Vera: this site functions similarly to a campus; some wayfinding would be very helpful. An additional handicap space will likely be necessary. Ms. Spence: Jay Street is already very narrow due to on-street parking on both sides. Applicant: this is part of the conversation with CDTA Ms. Spence: what will the hours of operation be? Applicant: potentially, 9 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week, with special events running no later than 12 am. MOTION FOR THE COMMISSION TO ACT AS LEAD AGENCY: Motion by Mr. Vera, seconded by Mr. Thomas. Approved by a vote of 4-0. This will be a Type 1 action. MOTION TO TABLE: Motion by Mr. Vera, seconded by Ms. Spence. Tabled by a vote of 4-0. Should any unforeseen events occur, any of the proposals noted herein may not be reviewed at said hearing. Any proposals previously tabled by the Commission may be reviewed at this hearing without benefit of public notice. Any other proposals reviewed by the Commission at this hearing will receive publication in this newspaper at least five days prior to the hearing date. Auxiliary aids and services are available for individuals or groups with disabilities. Please provide one-week advance notice for such service. For information contact the Troy Bureau of Engineering at 279-7179. Any person having interest in the above matters will be heard at said time and place. Chris Brown Acting Executive Secretary City of Troy Planning Commission