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Notebook: Saratoga County Board of Supervisors
BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors held its monthly meeting on Oct. 18 at the county complex in Ballston Spa. The county board operating budget in 2022 is $381 million.
The following were among the resolutions approved on Oct. 18:
• The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved the pursuit of an agreement with Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. of Albany for up to $819,000 to provide engineering services for the design, survey work, permitting and rights of way acquisition for the proposed extension of the Zim Smith North Trail from Oak Street in the Town of Ballston to Saratoga Spa State Park. This follows the Board’s acceptance of $500,000 in grant funding in its approval of the Zim Smith North Extension.
• The Board authorized the payment of just over $88,000 to Saratoga Economic Development Corporation as the third quarter 2022 payment to SEDC, which provides marketing services for the county at an annual cost of up to $225,000.
• The Board authorized the payment of over $118,000 to 12 municipalities regarding its 2022 Trails Grant Program.
These include:
City of Saratoga Springs: The amount of $10,000 to be applied towards the Saratoga Springs Blodgett Park Blueway Trail Improvements, including the creation of parallel street parking dedicated to the park, to place fresh stone dust on the trail and to place new signage for the City’s access to the Kayaderosseras Creek-Fish Creek Greenway.
Town of Greenfield: The amount of $10,000 towards the Brookhaven Park Trail. Improvement to include the improvement of a 0.5-mile portion of the Brookhaven Trail by placing asphalt surface.
Town of Malta: The amount of $8,653 towards the Malta Nature Preserve Trail Restoration to include the restoration of approximately 2,500 linear feet of trail by restoring the trail with crusher run.
Town of Moreau: The amount of $10,000 towards the Scenic Hudson River/Big Bend Trail Phase I Design and Expansion to include the engagement engineering services for site and topographic survey, archaeological services, grant administration services and construction administration services.
Town of Saratoga: The amount of $10,000 towards the Saratoga Boat Launch Improvements Phase II towards the improvements of the boat launch including a kayak/canoe launch, additional picnic tables, BBQ grills, bike rack, picnic shelter and improved parking and access along with added landscaping and signage.
Town of Wilton: The amount of $10,000 towards Southeast Wilton Trail Restoration and Feasibility Study to include repair of a deteriorated boardwalk and trailhead improvements on Neilmann parcel and a feasibility study to connect trails within Edie Road and Ruggles Road area.
Note each municipality provide matching funds or services in-kind.
Blondie Film Gets Local Screening Premiere, Director Q&A
GLENS FALLS — The Adirondack Theatre Festival staged its annual film festival Oct. 13 with a regional premiere of a short documentary featuring the band Blondie performing a culturally path-breaking concert in Cuba in 2019.
The opening night screening of “Blondie: Vivir en la Habana” staged at the Charles R. Wood Theater and included a Q&A between ATF Producing Artistic Director Miriam Weisfeld and the film’s director Rob Roth.
“I realized afterwards how these cultural exchanges are really important,” said Roth, regarding the band’s concert, which was part of an official cultural exchange between Havana and New York City. “It was perfect timing, because the previous administration had opened up a dialogue with Cuba and we just made it, because the next administration just shut it all down.”
It was Blondie co-founder and guitarist Chris Stein who was the driving force behind the journey. “He would tell the manager: ‘Just get us to Cuba. Just get us to Cuba,’” Roth said. Ironically, Stein wasn’t ultimately able to make the trek, due to illness.
Blondie burst out of the Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s scene in downtown Manhattan in the mid-70s with their self-titled debut (most notably featuring the songs “X Offender,” and “Rip Her To Shreds”), and its follow-up LP ‘Plastic Letters.’ It was their third release, ‘Parallel Lines,’ that gained them national attention with the hit “Heart of Glass” in 1979 – and it is from this period and on into the ‘80s with the subsequent hit songs “Rapture” and “The Tide Is High” that the 18-minute documentary focuses its soundtrack.
“I didn’t really know how I was going to shoot in a communist country. It just came to me one day: I’m going to shoot it on film, 8mm and 16mm. And I think that had a much more deep effect, because it’s almost like a lens of time that they’re stuck in, and also the lens of what I call metaphysical; the magic happening around them,” said Roth, adding that he first struck up a friendship with Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry during the 1990s, when they both attended weekly Tuesday night parties at Jackie 60 nightclub in New York City’s meatpacking district.
“Only one time did my cameraman have a problem with officials – I don’t even know who they were, but they came out of nowhere. We were shooting on the street and the camera moved to what I think was a government building of some sort, and they were there like - that!” said Roth, snapping his fingers together for emphasis. “But, they were pretty cool about it. We just had to not shoot that building. I don’t know what the building was. And I don’t even want to know what it was,” he said with a laugh.
Roth - a longtime collaborator with Blondie, has also worked on projects with David Bowie, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, among others.
There was initial interest in using some archival footage tracing the band’s origins to New York City in the ‘70s, but Harry wasn’t particularly keen to the idea. “She doesn’t like to go to the past a lot. I was creative director of her memoir ‘Face It,’ and it was like pulling teeth,” he laughed. “She doesn’t like to go back. And it’s funny because we keep toying with this idea of me directing a film about her - so that would be even harder!”
Just before the entourage’s landing in Cuba, there were expressed concerns about whether the residents of the communist country would even have had the ability to know who the band was.
“While we were going there, Debbie and I were discussing whether they even knew the music,” Roth recalled. “When I was shooting, at one point there was a balcony and a family – from the grandparents down to the grandchildren and: they were all singing. It was ‘Heart of Glass,’ or ‘The Tide is High.’ And they knew it. It was clear. The music had gotten there.”
“Blondie: Vivir en la Habana,” had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021. The Adirondack Film Festival, presented by ATF for the seventh year, ran Oct. 13-15 and presented its programming in a hybrid mode - both in-person and online – with live screenings at the Charles R. Wood Theater and Crandall Library in downtown Glens Falls.
Two Photographers to Exhibit Rarely Seen 9/11 Images at Saratoga Springs Remembrance Ceremony Sunday
SARATOGA SPRINGS – On that blue-sky morning in September 2001, Alex Contreras was in New York City to bury his dad.
“I went to the church and I went to the funeral. On September 11, the city was in chaos. It was bizarre,” recalls Contreras, who grew up in Washington Heights on the north end of Manhattan as the twin towers of the World Trade Center towers were being built, anchoring the island’s southern end.
“I remember going there on a class trip when I was a kid, standing in front of those buildings and thinking: that’s impossible. They looked like they reached up into the sky,” he said.
An amateur photographer with skills as a firefighter and experience in construction, Contreras was filled with angst as he watched the smoke rising above downtown Manhattan on Sept. 11. “I had to do something,” he said. At midnight, he made his way to Ground Zero, donned gear he borrowed from members of the New York Fire Department and went to work.
“I stayed there for the next five days,” Contreras said. “I didn’t want to leave. I went there to help search for people who were alive – but, that didn’t happen. When I walked away after five days, I had a feeling of failure.”
During a visit to a nearby drug store to buy saline solution to clean his contact lenses, Contreras purchased a disposable camera. He said taking pictures initially seemed a grotesque thing to do, but a conversation with his teenage son, who was back home in Florida, convinced him otherwise. “He said, ‘Dad, the whole world is watching you guys.’ I felt we were their only hope.”
Contreras returned to Ground Zero and captured 37 images over a five-day period immediately following the attack. Approximately half those images will be displayed for the first time in New York on Sunday at the Saratoga Springs 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony. Renowned locally based photographer Lawrence White, who operated a gallery in lower Manhattan in 2001, will showcase a series of his images taken on Sept. 11 at the ceremony as well.
“I’ll have images before and during the attacks and Alex has Ground Zero itself, so It will go full cycle, as the sculpture does,” White said.
The sculpture, which represents a creative metamorphosis and the healing power of art to transcend grief and sorrow was crafted from five pieces of World Trade Center steel by artists John Van Alstine and Noah Savett. One beam is from the south tower and four pieces are from the north tower, including a core beam that stood on the 108th floor. The sculpture stands about 25 feet tall, weighs 14 tons and was permanently sited - after much public debate - at High Rock Park in 2012.
Fifteen years after the attack, the memories of that blue-sky morning in September 2011 continue to haunt. “You know how they say: That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? No. That which doesn’t kill you scars you for life,” White said. “You’re affected.”
“There was a constant siren in your head; like having an accident and afterwards your horn just keeps sounding, on and on and on,” said Contreras, recalling his five days at Ground Zero. “It still is emotional. Even right now I’m ready to break down and cry. But, I didn’t realize how important those pictures would be. They became a big part of my healing.”
The Saratoga Springs Remembrance Ceremony will be staged at the 9/11 memorial in High Rock Park, beginning at 8:35 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. Local musician Rick Bolton will perform the national anthem, Rabbi Jonathan Rubenstein will deliver the invocation, and retired Army Col. Don Britten will be the keynote speaker. Alex Contreras and Lawrence White both plan to attend the ceremony.
Foreverly: A Place For Veteran Moms & Their Children
BALLSTON – Members of the locally based Veterans & Community Housing Coalition (VCHC) will stand in front of the town of Ballston Planning Board on Wednesday Oct. 26 in the hope of securing the go-ahead to develop transitional housing for Veteran moms and their children.
If approved, it will be the first facility of its kind in New York, according to VCHC. It is an idea born out of a conversation in a West Ave. eatery three years ago when Veterans Ball Honorary Chair Ray O'Conor, Tiffany Orner – a veteran of the Air Force, and Cheryl Hage-Perez - who had served as executive director of VCHC, shared a conversation during breakfast at Shirley’s Restaurant.
“We were talking about women who come out of military service who have children. If they’re struggling in any way making the transition from military to civilian life, they have few options,” O’Conor recalled.
Moms are still a rarity in the military. Women make up 16 percent of enlisted forces and 19 percent of the officer corps, and a minority of those women have children under 18, according to a November 2020 article “The ‘Gut Wrenching’ Sacrifice of Military Moms,” written by Jessica Grose and published in the New York Times.
“Option one is to get a voucher from the VA and go off and find an apartment someplace and fend for themselves and their children - and they don’t necessarily have access to services they may need if they’re suffering from anything from PTSD, to sexual trauma in the military, or if they’re just trying to find a job,” O’Conor said. “Or, if they want to go to a place like Guardian House (for female veterans) they could give their children up to a family member if there is one willing to do that or put their children in foster care to get the services they need.”
Tasked with providing housing and support services to all homeless military veterans, VCHC had opened the transitional housing program Vet House for homeless male veterans on Church Avenue in Ballston Spa. More recently, it opened Guardian House, located nearby on Saratoga Road, to serve homeless female veterans. VCHC points out that while homeless women veterans face the same issues as the male veterans, a large percentage are additionally living with the pain of military sexual trauma.
“As we sat there at breakfast, we said, ‘Gee, we ought to build a place where these veteran moms and their kids could live while they’re making their transition from military to civilian life. So, that was the start of it,” O’Conor said.
They began to explore options to develop housing atop the four acres of land where Guardian House is sited and VCHC initiated a grassroots fundraising campaign, partnering with businesses, individuals, community groups and leaders. That needed funding, estimated at about $700,000 is now nearly all in place. Plans call for the construction of a duplex that will serve as transitional housing for veteran moms and their children. It will be called Foreverly House – named after the song “Foreverly,” written by local singer-songwriter Jeff Brisbin.
“That was Cheryl (Hage-Perez’) idea,” says O’Conor. “I knew who Jeff Brisbin was from his performing in different venues in this area but never formally met him.” O’Conor was working on a screen adaptation of his book “She Called Him Raymond,” published in 2015. A random meeting at a Broadway eatery introduced O’Conor and Brisbin to one another.
“I happened to be at Druthers in Saratoga Springs with my family. Jeff came over and said: Hey, are you Ray O’Conor – the guy who wrote that book ‘She Called Him Raymond’? Jeff introduced himself and said, I’ve written a song, the melody and lyrics fit your book hand-in-glove. Can I send it to you?” O’Conor said. “It’s beautiful song and he was absolutely right, the song and lyrics – a perfect fit.“ O’Conor went on to write his award-winning screenplay with the title: Foreverly The Movie – a screenplay adaptation of “She Called Him Raymond.”
Pending this week’s town approval, VCHC hopes to break ground in December – weather permitting – and to have a fully operational Foreverly House in 2023.
City Tries Again: Seeking a Permanent Homeless Shelter on West Side
SARATOGA SPRINGS — City Mayor Ron Kim announced a comprehensive initiative this week to address the city’s homelessness. The plan would site a permanent 24/7 year-round shelter at the soon-to-be-vacated Senior Center on Williams Street and may potentially add a second building to house people transitioning through a continuum of care.
It is a plan city and county officials began discussing earlier this year. The search for a permanent shelter site has been ongoing for nearly a decade.
Plans call for the development of a permanent low barrier shelter and navigation center in early 2023. The location is the longtime home of the Saratoga Senior Center, a structure developed by the city on city-owned property in the 1970s. The Senior Center is relocating to 290 West Ave.
The hope is that when it becomes fully operational, that permanently sited “Code Blue” shelter could extend its operations to 24/7 year-round. The city expressed interest in also pursuing the possibility of adding about 40 affordable housing apartments in an adjacent space on the parcel that would assist residents in their transitioning process - a continuum of care with the ultimate goal of helping people move from homelessness to sustained housing on their own.
The specific definition of a “low barrier shelter” and of a “navigation center” vary from state-to-state.
Recent legislation in California details “navigation centers” as providing temporary room and board while case managers work to connect homeless individuals and families to income, public benefits, health services and permanent housing or other shelter.
Meanwhile, having a “low barrier” points to things such as eliminating curfews and not requiring background checks, sobriety or mandatory treatment. It is not clear at this time whether any of these points would be put in effect in Saratoga Springs.
Rules and restrictions common to shelters - such as those barriers to entry - can make shelter services inaccessible to those in need by keeping vulnerable individuals and families from accessing the shelters, according to a 45-page report published by Seattle University School of Law in 2016 entitled “Shut Out: How Barriers Often Prevent Meaningful Access to Emergency Shelter.”
“In small communities or communities with few shelter options, no tolerance policies effectively keep those struggling with substance abuse outside,” according to the report.
On the financing side, Ed and Lisa Mitzen have pledged to pay the costs to revamp 5 Williams St. so that it can serve the needs of the homeless population; William Dake of Stewart’s Stores donated $3 million dollars to support the construction of the senior citizens’ new home in conjunction with the rehabilitation and expansion of the Saratoga YMCA. That relocation is anticipated to take place in early 2023, freeing up the current Senior Center space.
“Code Blue” shelter and shelter services are provided to the homeless community whenever inclement winter weather temperatures are at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, inclusive of National Weather Service calculations for windchill. The current lease for the temporary Code Blue shelter on Adelphi Street runs through April 30, 2023 at a cost of $8,000 per month. The city is looking to work with the county to come up with about $65,000 to extend the current emergency shelter hours and season on Adelphi Street.
Motivated to action in the wake of the death of a city woman exposed to a winter’s elements on a December night in 2013, a temporary homeless emergency shelter was launched in Saratoga Springs that Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Parish Center. A series of temporary winter shelters sited at a variety of venues across town followed: the Salvation Army building west of Broadway, Soul Saving Station Church east of Broadway, and the building at 4 Adelphi St., among them.
A permanent shelter site was thought to be secured in 2017 after local business owner Ed Mitzen offered to pay the costs of a new Code Blue homeless shelter to be built on Shelters of Saratoga property on Walworth Street. Initial plans call for a two-story building with a large kitchen, laundry room, men’s and women’s sleeping rooms, multiple showers and bathrooms, a large storage area for donated food and clothing, and a small Code Blue office. Local firms Bonacio Construction and the LA Group were to be involved in the development of the building and both agreed to forego any profits to keep the costs as low as possible.
Those plans were scrapped, however, following a lawsuit filed by local residents challenging the proposed shelter expansion as not being in accordance with zoning regulation. A Saratoga County Supreme Court judge subsequently nullified approvals granted by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board which would have allowed the shelter to be built.
Correction: Note, the initial posting of this story mis-identified the explored location of the shelter as being east of Broadway. The potential location is on the West side of Broadway. The headline has been corrected and its author - who has, for some unknown reason, endured a lifelong struggle of discerning "east" from "west" - regrets the error. - TD
Wesley Community Celebrates 50th Anniversary
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Wesley Community celebrated its 50th Anniversary at the Saratoga Springs City Center last month with a fundraising dinner attended by about 150 people.
“It was a nice crowd with some folks who dated back quite a bit and it was a wonderful evening of reminiscing and acknowledging what Wesley has meant to the community,” said CEO J. Brian Nealon. “We got to catch up with a lot of board members from some years ago and also see some folks we don’t see enough of.”
Original board member Bill Dake spoke about the community’s earliest days and the trials and tribulations involved getting the project off the ground, Nealon said. The nonprofit organization has supported seniors in the community since opening its doors in 1972.
In 1966 a motion approval established what was called the Saratoga Retirement Center. Groundbreaking for the Embury Apartments took place in 1969 and the doors opened in 1972. Mrs. Selma Ogden was its first resident. The Victoria Building expansion came in 1985, the Wesley Health Care Center opened in 1973, an 80-bed expansion - the Hathorn building – was added 21 years later. Woodlawn Commons opened with 60 independent and 40 assisted living apartments in 1999.
In all, the Wesley Community is a 37-acre, not-for-profit agency which serves the needs of the elderly, as well as active seniors, adults and pediatrics. It is comprised of Wesley Health Care Center - the nursing home, Embury Apartments – subsidized senior apartments, and Woodlawn Commons - assisted living and market-rate senior housing.
“All told, that’s 11 buildings. A little over 600 folks live on campus,” said Nealon, who first began working in the community in the mid-1980s. He became the organization’s third CEO after succeeding Neil Roberts in 2003.
An aging population across the country has resulted in changes in both needs and services over the past half-century since the Wesley Community first opened its doors.
The life expectancy 50 years ago was just over 71 years of age in America, the National Center for Health Statistics reported. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019, life expectancy had increased to nearly 79.
Citing declining fertility and aging baby boomers by the year 2034 older adults are projected to outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history, according to a 2019 U.S. Census report titled “The Graying of America.”
“As one of the largest generations in the country, boomers leave a substantial imprint on the population. They swelled the ranks of the young when they were born and then the workforce as they entered adulthood,” according to the report. By 2060, it is anticipated nearly one in four Americans will be 65 years and older, the number of 85-plus will triple, and the country will add a half million centenarians.
A larger number of people living longer is coupled with people expressing the desire to live on their own to a greater age.
“People are living at home longer and that’s a significant change,” Nealon said. “Now, folks are typically older and more frail than we were seeing 40 or 50 years ago. That’s also a trend nationally, and I do think that trend will continue as boomers want to be as independent as possible,” he added. “In housing at Woodlawn, an average move-in age is in the mid-80s, at Embury it’s a little bit younger, I would say mid-70’s, and the nursing home tends to be older.”
The continuum-of-care campus provides independent and assisted living for seniors, affordable independent senior housing, short-term rehabilitation and long-term care, as well as home care services and outpatient therapies available for people of all ages.
The organization is looking at meeting the changing needs of modern-day and future populations, which includes expanding certain practices, remodeling existing buildings and exploring services it can provide to help people remain independent as long as possible.
In conjunction with its 50th anniversary, a commemorative book and video that chronicle Wesley Community’s journey have been issued. For more information, go to: www.wesley50.org.
Historic Saratoga Church Kicks Off Organ Replacement Drive
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The First Baptist Church of Saratoga was established in October 1793. Saratoga Springs’ oldest church has provided services at 45 Washington St. since 1855. This weekend, the church is kicking off a drive aimed at replacing its near 50-year-old organ.
“We always celebrate our birthday in some unique way - to let people know we’re here, that we’re excited do our ministry for our congregation as well as the community, and to help those around us,” said Doris Seagrave, chair of the board of Deacons at the church.
On Sunday, Oct. 16, organist Farrell Goehring will feature the music of Bach, Mendelssohn and others in a fundraising event that begins at 2 p.m.
“This marks the start of the organ fund, and on Sunday there will be a good will offering after the concert,” said Seagrave. The church has begun reaching out to the community and will be pursuing donations and potential grants during its drive to replace the organ, which Seagrave estimated at a minimum cost of approximately $50,000.
Over the past few years, renovation projects on-site have resulted in restoring some of the church’s stain glass windows, after being awarded grants from The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Alfred Z. Solomon Testamentary Trust.
The mission of the First Baptist Church in Saratoga focuses on three areas: homeless students and homeless adults, families subjected to domestic violence, and migrant workers at local dairy farms and racetrack.
“We’ve been a very active in the community and we do a lot of ministry with the homeless shelter, with Wellsprings, and many of the other organizations in the area,” Seagrave said.
For more information about First Baptist Church, go to: fbcsaratoga.org, or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Reimagining Wilton Mall with 382 Luxury Apartments & Townhomes
WILTON — A proposal initiated last year that would see the development of nearly 400 apartments and townhouses alongside the Wilton Mall continues on its path forward.
The parties behind the development proposal recently launched the website “Reimagine Wilton Mall” that points to a detailed timeline of upcoming public meetings with local and regional officials for the purpose of seeking approval for the project.
The project, proposed by the Macerich Corporation and Paramount Development, includes 382 new “luxury, market-rate rental residences,” including both apartments and townhomes, and will feature “premium resident amenities with a sophisticated design,” according to the companies.
“What we see in the Wilton Mall is something that’s got some momentum. We do really well around retail,” Tom Snell, a partner with Paramount Development, told Wilton town officials during a public meeting earlier this year, when Paramount announced its plans to purchase two lots totaling just over 13-1/2 acres on the northeasterly side of the mall for the $100 million-plus project.
Santa Monica, California-based company Macerich has owned and operated the mall land since 2004. They own about 95 acres in all; JC Penney – owns just over two acres, and LBW Saratoga – occupied by BJ’s, owns just under four acres.
Paramount Development, based in Florida, has developed 200 rental apartment communities in dozens of states.
The potential project, which would be developed in two phases, would occur on the northeast side of the mall past Dick’s Sporting Goods, and see the removal of the former BonTon location, which closed in 2018. That was followed by the closure of Sears two years later.
At its peak in 2016, the mall generated about $95 million in sales. Figures provided by Wilton Mall Property Manager Mike Schafer earlier this year showed those figures were down to $55 million. “That’s about a $44 million sales tax loss with the retailers that we’ve lost,” Schafer said. “The sales in the mall dropped in half.” The addition of hundreds of residents to a new space is being viewed as a catalyst for growth, he added.
An application for establishing a Planned Unit Development District (PUDD) at the Wilton Mall to allow the development of 382 luxury rental residences was forwarded for review to the Town of Wilton Planning Board. Upcoming meetings to discuss the project are anticipated to take place at the Wilton Planning Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, the Saratoga County Planning Board on Oct. 20, and at the Wilton Town Board meeting at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. All meetings are open to the public.
Temple Sinai Community Places A Time Capsule
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Members of the Temple Sinai community were joined by religious school students and their families Oct. 2 to seal and place a time capsule on the synagogue grounds on Broadway.
According to the Hebrew lunar calendar, every 7 years is known as a shmita, or sabbatical year. The cycle of Jewish time points to this year as a shmita year, a year of “release”
and regeneration.
The cycle of shmita invites all to reflect, contemplate, and recharge every seven years, said Sylvia Bloom, the director of education for the Temple Sinai religious school.
“In addition to all the challenges of COVID and this year’s hopeful emergence from its shadow, our Rabbis of 36 years will be retiring in December. It’s a good moment to take stock of who and where we are, and where we’d like to head as a community,” said Bloom. Rabbis Jonathan Rubenstein and Linda Motzkin are retiring this year.
More than one dozen objects that represent something important from the past year, or something individuals wish to release, were prepared for the capsule. The goal is to capture this moment in time.
Planning Board Proposes: Apartments, Townhouses, Workforce Housing
SARATOGA SPRINGS — An application proposing a multi-family residential project that would site four apartment buildings with more than 300 units in addition to nearly 50 new townhouses at Route 29 and Station Lane is under consideration by the city Planning Board this week.
Proposed Action:
Construction of multi-family apartments and townhouse dwelling units on 17 acres, located between State Route 29, and Station Lane. Proposed by: Prime Companies.
Specifics: Apartments - Four multi-family apartment buildings having a total of 338 units. Buildings would stand four stories tall with garage parking below each building. 184 one-bedroom units, 104 two-bedroom units, and 50 three-bedroom units. A recreation space for tenants only would include a swimming pool, outdoor putting green, outdoor pavilion and other amenities.
Townhouses -constructed in pods of 6 units over 8 pad sites, a total of 48 units. Townhouses would stand two-to-three stories high, garages located at the rear.
Additional applications under consideration include Site plan review of a proposed workforce housing project at Excelsior Avenue (Excelsior Avenue Apartments), a sketch plan review of a proposed five-lot conservation subdivision at 274 Kaydeross Avenue East, and sketch plan review of a proposed reconfiguration of a subdivision resulting in 16 new residential lots at Bemis Heights Road.
The Saratoga Springs Planning Board typically meets twice every month at City Hall. For meeting times and dates, go to: saratoga-springs.org.
