The Planning Board on Monday recommended approval of both a luxury housing development off Pine Road and a 100-foot, seven-story retail and office building off I-77 Exit 30. Both projects now go to the Town Board for approval at a meeting Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
The Planning Board voted 10-1 in favor of recommending the Pine Road project, called Davidson Hall. The development, proposed by property owner Lawrence Kimbrough and developer Ray Killian, would include 34 luxury homes on 17.1 acres. The approval came with a long list of conditions, including requirements tree preservation throughout the site.
Planner Lauren Blackburn, who has been working on the Pine Road project, said after Monday’s meeting that the conditions “are a step in the right direction.” Among other things, the developer agreed to a specified tree save zone around the whole site, not just on those lots backing up to existing homes on Pine Road, she said.
Ms. Blackburn said the planning staff “would still prefer to have had some specific trees identified to save throughout the site. That way we know what to target our resources on. … They don’t seem interested in having staff participate in the decisionmaking process about which trees would be saved.”
TOWER PLAN SURVIVES
The vote was a much narrower 6-5 on Meeting Place, the office and retail tower proposed by developer and architect Rick Mack. A minority of the board expressed concerns about the building’s height.
Mr. Mack has requested a conditional zoning for his building, which exceeds the 75-foot height limit in the Exit 30 area.
Both the Design Review Board and the town planning staff have recommended the proposal be rejected. The Planning Board recommendation Monday came with a list of conditions, including a requirement that the building adhere to a “stepped” design in drawings shown to the board Monday night (see rendering above).
It’s not clear how the Town Board will vote Tuesday on the Meeting Place proposal. Some commissioners have previously expressed concerns about the building’s height, and worried about setting a precedent for building heights that exceed the permitted 75-foot height around Exit 30.
For more about the two projects recommended Monday, see our previous story “Exit 30, Pine Rd. projects up for approval.”
TWO VACANCIES ON BOARD
Monday’s meeting was the last for Planning Board chair Bill McCoy, who has decided to step down. It also was the final meeting for member Laurie Venzon, who was elected to the Town Board on Nov. 7 and will be sworn in early next month.
