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SARATOGA SPRINGS — Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy will be seeking an area variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals this week that would permit the demolition of a ranch style home and the subsequent construction of a new home upon property he purchased in Saratoga Springs earlier this year.
The Fifth Avenue property was purchased in March by Portnoy’s company, Smokeshowcity LLC of Miami Florida, for $1.4 million, and sites an approximate 1,500 square-foot ranch style home. The property is bounded by the Oklahoma Training Track on the lot’s south side.
Plans call for demolition of the existing home and construction of a new residence.
Recent plans submitted to the city by Balzar & Tuck Architecture depict a dining room, living room and kitchen downstairs, a pool and patio area in the backyard, and three bedrooms and baths upstairs. A fourth bedroom and bath, as well as a fitness room is indicated in the basement, according to plans the architects submitted to the city.
The ZBA meeting takes place 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 24 at Saratoga Springs City Hall.
The Fifth Avenue property would need only the approval of the ZBA to move forward.
Another project on that night’s ZBA agenda - 12 Ballston Avenue Chipotle Area Variance – would require eventual approval from all three city Land Use Boards – the Planning Board and Design Review Commission are the others – before plans for a new restaurant may move forward, according to the city’s building department.
Attorney Update: Nov. 20 Saratoga Springs Gunfight
An incident last November that involved an alleged altercation between three men and an off-duty Rutland County sheriff’s deputy took place in the Caroline Street-Broadway area, with a subsequent police response that resulted in about 20 bullets fired overall in the pre-dawn hours.
The three men - Alexander Colon, 28, Darius A. Wright, 29, and Christopher (AKA Christian) E. Castillo, 28 were each subsequently charged with one count attempted assault in the third-degree, a misdemeanor, in connection with the incident. According to the prosecutor’s filings, the charge specifies each of the defendants “attempted to cause an injury to a person by repeatedly punching him.” Each of the men pleaded not guilty.
The off-duty deputy, Vito Caselnova of Glens Falls is facing eight charges, including attempted murder.
This week, in an update first reported by NewsChannel 13, Caselnova’s attorneys want his alleged victims charged with gang assault, alleging that Colon was the initial aggressor.
A new court filing by Caselnova’s attorneys alleges that prosecutors didn’t let grand jurors know they could also charge Colon and two others with attempted murder and gang assault, according to the news report, and comes a supplement to a defense motion that had asked the court to dismiss the indictment against Caselnova, accusing the district attorney of prosecutorial bias.
Bomb Threat Evac at Live Nation SPAC Show: No Arrests Yet
Arrests have yet to be made in connection with a July 8 bomb threat that saw the evacuation of Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the cancellation of an appearance by show headliner Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Several area law enforcement agencies responded to the bomb threat. The threat was ultimately deemed a hoax.
In a statement made July 9, authorities said the incident was under investigation, and that “this case will be investigated as Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D Felony.”
