The Town of Montgomery’s August 28 planning board meeting featured a lengthy public hearing on Real Deal Management’s warehouse site plan, among other projects proposed for the area.

Justin Ferrazano, senior project manager of Collier’s Engineering and Design, spoke on behalf of RDM and gave a presentation on the project. RDM proposes a 250,920-square-foot warehouse to be built near Bracken and Barron Roads that would be used for storing and distributing medical supplies. Some of the project’s features include 46 tractor-trailer loading docks, five loading bays for box trucks, a 158-passenger vehicle parking lot and stormwater facilities.

Additionally, Ferrazano showcased that the developers will construct a barrier wall and add a vegetation buffer to mitigate visual and sound disturbances for residents living in the area.

“It runs along the north of the property, and then it surrounds the parking area to the east, every view more or less facing Barron Road. Where you see a yellow, dark bold line would be a 12-foot high, solid barrier wall,” Ferrazano explained the barrier as he presented a map of the project.

After the presentation, several residents gave their input on the project, ranging from suggestions to issues they had. Joe Keenan, a local resident and firefighter, stated that the project’s size and positioning, despite the barrier, still create environmental issues and disturbances, and does not allow for enough collapse zone space.

“The plan as it’s proposed does not allow enough space for the proper establishment of a collapse zone for the warehouse in the event of a fire, specifically on the west and south sides of the building,” Keenan said.

To amend these problems, Keenan suggested that the warehouse should be flipped around to redirect pollution and disturbances away from residents, and scaled down to allow for adequate collapse zone space.

“I believe the warehouse should be flipped, with the docks facing Bracken Road and all the i-1 zone properties and existing warehouses…it will reduce the air, noise and light pollution. The stormwater drainage, you mentioned there’s a trench, pretty deep. It already has water flow into it from 84, it’s a natural water management flow,” Keenan continued, explaining the flip.

Patrick Sandage, another resident, discussed the damages that the project’s construction has caused in his neighborhood, focusing on a temporary road that has increased flooding and killed wildlife.

“It’s caused flooding. It’s killed turtles, snakes, other animals that aren’t brought up in this, but we’ve seen it. I had to call Central Hudson to shut them down; they had no permission to come in off of Barron Road. It shut down for about a month,” Sandage said, stressing that the temporary road has been in his neighborhood for two years.

“Nothing’s done, do something about it please. That’s all we ask,” he continued.

Chris McCracken, a member of Advanced Testing Company, complimented RDM for its previous work in the county, including revitalizing old property while still meeting local needs and standards.

“We’ve seen them take a very dilapidated building in the city of Middletown and restore it to something to give it some new life. We’ve seen them build a new industrial facility in the village of Goshen and two under construction in Hamptonburgh and Wallkill…this facility could be a positive addition to the town’s economic development efforts,” McCracken said.

Tom Weber, a fellow resident, brought up other projects in the area to highlight that RDM’s warehouse will only worsen the town’s development issues.

“The Dunkin’ Donuts you’re going to put out there? What a disaster that’s going to be. You want to put in a gas station outside of Scott’s Corners? What a disaster that’s going to be…I just don’t want it anymore,” Weber said.

Connor Eckert, a member of Orange County Partnership, expressed appreciation for the time RDM has put into refining its site plan and buffering.

“Out of all the industrial projects I’ve worked on, I think this is the most robust landscaping buffering plan I’ve ever seen. Six hundred feet of buffering, which comes out to roughly two football fields. Plantings, trees, 200 yards,” Eckert said.

After the discussion concluded, the board motioned to reconvene the hearing to Wednesday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Following RDM’s warehouse was Botrac Properties LLC’s 5-lot residential subdivision on Browns Road. Ryan Smith, the applicant’s representative, stated that no changes were made to the project since their last public appearance. With no other comments, the board motioned to the close public hearing and adopt a negative declaration for the project.

Next up was Semioli’s three-lot residential subdivision proposed for South Searsville Road. Thomas Ali, the applicant’s representative, briefly discussed tree clearing with the board before they motioned to continue the project’s hearing on Wednesday, September 13 at 8:50 p.m.

Closing off the meeting, the board motioned a 12-month extension to United Natural Food Inc.’s project on 525 Neelytown Road.