Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
At its Monday, April 15, meeting, the Moreau Planning Board, by a 4-2 vote, made a favorable determination on the 191-unit mixed residential district proposed by Cerrone Builders for abandoned agricultural land west of Moreau Recreational Park on both sides of Lenox Boulevard.
But Board Chair John Arnold noted, “We have a detailed list of items that we wish the Town Board will consider in their decision making.”
The project will next go before the Town Board. Another public hearing will be held there before a decision is made.
Dubbed ‘Jacobie Park Side Farms,’ the project would consist of two park-front apartment buildings with a total of 100 units plus 22 townhouse duplexes and 47 single-family homes.
Voting to give the project a favorable determination were Mr. Arnold, Adam Seybolt, Ann Purdue and Matt Abrams.
Voting against were Mike Shaver and Bradley Nelson, who expressed opposition to the project. Board member Bradley Toohill was not present.
Seven members of the public also spoke against the project. (See sidebar.)
Mr. Nelson said, “We’re going to have a lot of people moving into the area, and they’re going to be around where our kids play. You don’t know if they’re bad people until they get caught. I don’t know if I feel comfortable putting in this kind of density, especially a third level looking down directly next to the park.”
“I don’t think we should have any commercial,” Mr. Shaver said. “We have all kinds of places up in our community.”
Part of the plan is to reconstruct most of Moreau Rec Road, enhance the park entrance and provide streetscape with street trees, sidewalks and street lights.
Also proposed is some kind of community recreational space, such as a hobby barn, to be operated and maintained by the homeowners association.
Joe Dannible, a landscape architect speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the apartment units would be “very conducive to a senior living community.”
He said, “They will not be age restricted, but they certainly are age targeted. We find that this type of unit is very much geared towards the seniors within the communities, as well as some of the young professionals who have not yet started to establish families.”
Foes of project call it too dense, not right for Moreau
At the public hearing during the April 15 meeting of the Moreau Planning Board, several people spoke against Cerrone Builders’ proposed 191-unit ‘Jacobie Park Side Farms’ development.
Keith Gilligan said, “When I look at the designs and stuff, I say to myself, go 15 miles south and build it down there. This is nothing that belongs here.”
Mary Weeks said, “We have become a transient town. You have allowed way too many apartments in this town. What happened to single-family homes?”
Elizabeth Bennett said, “I like that they want to put something here. But I have a hard time with the density. I have a really hard time with 191 units in that space.”
Starrla Williams said, “This area has been a right-to-farm area, and not a city. We’re overcrowding this area, and not in a way that it’s meant to be inhabited. I’m all for building single-family homes to get more people in here, but we have too many apartments.”
She argued for single-family homes “on appropriately sized lots that fit the demographic of what we have.”
“Most of us who live in this area have about half of an acre lot, and I’m just concerned that it’s turning into a Saratoga, a Malta or a Clifton Park,” she said. “And that’s not what we are.”
Shandra Hays said, “The families that we want to bring into this community are families that are going to commit to this community to keep it what we have here, and what we’ve built and what we’ve maintained. And to keep bringing in apartments and people that have no vested interest in this community is not fair.” — Ben Westcott
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