ROTTERDAM Apartment plan upsets neighbors Fuez Road homeowners oppose zone change request BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net
Elizabeth and Phil Contompasis proudly talk about how they chose their home in Country Walk Estates. They lived in modest home off bustling Altamont Avenue until saving enough money to buy a newer home in the suburban enclave. Now, they live in a home with a wooded backyard. “We knew there was vacant land around and near us, but we’re surrounded by established and newly developed houses,” she said. “We had a reasonable expectation that the zoning would not change.”
Now a developer is seeking a zone change that would allow him to turn six acres of the vacant land into cluster of apartment buildings in an area they fear will disrupt their neighborhood. The Contompasises say the new complex off nearby Fuez Road will drastically change the neighborhood they chose to raise their family. not add value to the area,” she said. “It would destroy the character of the existing neighborhood of single family homes.”
And they have support from dozens of residents within their neighborhood. Already, nine of 10 property owners living close to the acreage have signed a petition in protest of changing the zoning from agricultural uses to multifamily residential.
Residents turning out to a public hearing on proposal blasted it as another example of a developer trying to goad the town into spot zoning. Others questioned why the town would bring in a population that might lack the same pride of ownership they share. “This, in fact, is the antithesis of comprehensive planning,” said Richard Malaczynski, a resident of Deer Path Lane in the nearby Eldorado Acres neighborhood.
NO SHORTAGE Others questioned why Rotterdam needs more apartments. Long Pond Village added 192 units, plus there is a proposal in the works to build a 248-unit apartment complex off North Thompson Street. “We can’t fill the apartments we already have and there’s too many new ones on the horizon,” Contompasis said. The proposed zone change is needed for a proposal to build fi ve apartment buildings with a total of 18 units. Plans were once in the works to build fi ve single-family homes on the property several years ago, but the developer never completed the application. Developer Bill Barber disputed claims by the residents. He said they sounded “snobbish” for not wanting to allow a development where people who can’t afford homes can rent. “This is a viable alternative to owning a house,” he said. The property is located immediately east of where McLane Foodservice had once hoped to build a 168,000-square-foot distribution center on 27 acres straddling the border of Rotterdam and Princetown. The company abandoned the project while nearing the end of the approval process in 2008, citing delays and the downturn of the economy. Rotterdam’s Planning Commission gave the apartment complex zone a positive recommendation last month, forwarding the proposal to the Town Board. During the public hearing Wednesday, members of the board seemed taken back by the number of residents speaking out against the project. ...................>>>>.................>>>>..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....ppName=1
this property is owned by Iovanelli and Larned...right? It'll pass!! This present rotterdam bunch gave BI a zoning change on property he owed back taxes on. You can bet, they'll pass this too!!!
Come on rotterdamians..........vote whoever you can out this november and DON'T VOTE FOR ANYMORE DEMS OR ANYONE ALREADY ON THIS BOARD!!!! Rotterdam is a disaster!!!
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
Statistics from the National Association of Realtors -
Homeowners are 15% more likely to vote, 12% more like to maintain a garden outside their home, 10% more likely to have worked to solve local problems, LIVE 4 TIMES longer in a community. Homeowners are less likely to have alcohol and substance-abuse problems. Being a homeowner also has a positive economic impact in your neighborhood, town, city and even on a national level. That's because home ownership CREATES JOBS: REMODELING, LANDSCAPING, LAWN AND POOL SERVICE, HOME IMPROVEMENT. The list goes on and on. In fact, each home purchase generates as much as $60,000 of economic activity in the local and surrounding areas.
this property is owned by Iovanelli and Larned...right? It'll pass!! This present rotterdam bunch gave BI a zoning change on property he owed back taxes on. You can bet, they'll pass this too!!!
Come on rotterdamians..........vote whoever you can out this november and DON'T VOTE FOR ANYMORE DEMS OR ANYONE ALREADY ON THIS BOARD!!!! Rotterdam is a disaster!!!
Property is owned by Gallucci family & Rose Wiggins. Developer is a 36 yr. old kid from Loudonville, (an unknown in Rotterdam).
Property is owned by Gallucci family & Rose Wiggins. Developer is a 36 yr. old kid from Loudonville, (an unknown in Rotterdam).
Oh, I thought it was the 'same' property where mclanes was proposed. When the entire town board voted in favor of the rezoning for BI's property, it opened that area up for other developers who desire mfh or any other form of rental.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
From what I have seen of the proposal, it looks like a good project.
“And yet our opponents tell us not to interfere with abortion. They tell us not to impose our morality on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of the life of infants before birth. Yet no one calls it imposing morality to prohibit the taking of life after a child is born. We’re told about a woman’s right to control her own body. But doesn’t the unborn child have a higher right, and that is to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” – Ronald Reagan
Not according to the people who have to live there.
They have a right to their opinion and I have a right to my opinion. We need projects like this to expand our tax base and lower property taxes for everyone in the town.
“And yet our opponents tell us not to interfere with abortion. They tell us not to impose our morality on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of the life of infants before birth. Yet no one calls it imposing morality to prohibit the taking of life after a child is born. We’re told about a woman’s right to control her own body. But doesn’t the unborn child have a higher right, and that is to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” – Ronald Reagan
We need projects like this to expand our tax base and lower property taxes for everyone in the town.
Apartments lowering property taxes? I would rather see Townhouses or Condo's...But apartment? We're really classing it up here in Rotterdam. What's next, halfway houses?
A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier. ~ H.L. Mencken Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. ~ H. L. Mencken The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. ~H. L. Mencken
They have a right to their opinion and I have a right to my opinion. We need projects like this to expand our tax base and lower property taxes for everyone in the town.
your joking right??? so for the amount of new kids the school would need to expand increasing taxes...the increase in the number of cars on the road and road wear and tear costs,,,,the water tap in costs......and you stop thinking when???? when your pocket gets lined with the $$ never caring about the impact.....short sighted selfishness.....the gumbas are at it again....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
From what I have seen of the proposal, it looks like a good project.
What exactly does "from what I have seen of the proposal" mean? I doubt you reviewed the file on this proposed rezone because if you did, you would know that there was nothing of any value or substance that was submitted by the developer. He didn't even have a presentation at the public hearing...no sketches, etc.
DVOR -- don't make statements unless you can substantiate your claims.
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