Members of the Lloyd Planning Board recently voted 5-2 to forward a memo to the Town Board, urging them to approve a Planned Residential Retirement Development [PRRD] zoning change for the Villages project. Voting yes were Chairman Scott McCarthy, Lawrence Hammond, Carl DiLorenzo, Charley Long and Franco Zani and voting no were Sal Cuciti and Gerry Marion.

The yes vote in favor of the zoning change prompted the Town Board to schedule a Public Hearing on this matter for their January 18th meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 12 Church St. The public will have a chance to comment on the record about this zoning change to the Town Board.

The Villages project is slated to be built on the west side of Route 9W opposite the Bridgeview Shopping Plaza. As presently proposed, the entire project consists of an Assisted Living Center that will be 340 feet in length and 197 senior independent living units, along with additional amenities such as a pool/clubhouse. Most of the cottages are duplexes, at 1,000 to 1,400 sq/ft in size, and initially were to number 174 and be set 10 ft apart, but the final plan pushes the number up to 197 and has them at 5 ft apart. The attorney for the developer, John Furst, said they asked for this increase because the developer has to provide 10% of the total number of units as affordable housing.

The Planning Board also voted to give a Negative Declaration to the overall project, with the same vote tally by its members on forwarding the memo to the Town Board. This means that a majority of the Planning Board believes this project will have little to no impact upon the environment and therefore developer, Owen Marc Sanderson, does not have to prepare and file an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS]. If the Planning Board, instead, had voted for a Positive Declaration, it means they believe the project, in its current proposed form, may pose significant adverse impacts to the environment and would require the developer to prepare and file a full EIS.

In this case, a full EIS document would spell out the impacts of the project and delineate ways to mitigate such issues as density, avoiding steep slopes, minimizing traffic impacts, ensuring proper fire department access, guarding against soil erosion and potential impacts to surface water and visual aesthetics, to name just a few.

Town Engineer Andrew Learn said the Villages still has to provide an updated water and sewer engineering report with a detailed water supply design. Learn has received the fire flow pressures and a complete Storm water Pollution Prevention Plan [SWPPP] from the developer, calling it “very comprehensive” and that he is satisfied with the design.

The town’s Land Use Attorney, Paul Van Cott has stated on a number of occasions that the Town Board has the authority to require the developer to make modifications to the project as they see fit prior to granting the requested PRRD zoning change.

Van Cott said if the Town Board approves the zoning change, the developer then has to return to the Planning Board for a complete site plan review.

In the December 1 memo that was forwarded to the Town Board, the Planning Board and the town engineer compiled a list of issues they feel the developer has addressed concerning the project: they have demonstrated the need for independent housing and the Assisted Living Facility in Lloyd; there is sufficient water and sewer capacity to service this project; traffic impacts will be minimized through design measures; the roadways on the site will be owned and maintained by the Villages; pedestrian circulation on the site will be sufficient and safe for the residents, the project is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood character and all of the proposed buildings comply with the dimensional requirements in the town’s zoning code. In addition, the Planning Board stated that the project will have a minimal impact upon local governmental services; impacts on environmental resources will be avoided, minimized and/or mitigated and that any potential impacts will be addressed during the project’s site plan review. The Planning Board understands that development on steep slopes should be avoided to the maximum extent possible and that adequate storm water erosion controls will be put in place. The board also noted that measures will deal with the soil contamination due to the site’s past long use as an apple orchard.

Redevelopment of the property will adhere to the developer’s submitted Soil Management Plan, which must address the removal and relocation of the contaminated soils in a way that protects public health and the environment.

The Planning Board urged the Town Board to consider their Negative Declaration with respect to the PRRD and the Planning Board’s review of the Special Use Permit and Special Use Permit Findings issued for the Assisted Living Facility with Adult Day Care.