A letter to the Schodack Board

Date: Thursday, December 29, 2011, 5:55 PM
 Dear Schodack Board Members,
    
    I hope you all had a quiet,  peaceful, safe and enjoyable holiday  season.   I wish that I could say that I did,  however with the proposed plan of Dollar Tree building a  storage facility in my backyard (albeit the size of Yankee  Stadium), I've been a bit stressed.


      I only hope you all have been more diligent at continuing to address the concerns that the
 residents of Schodack presented at the meeting than you have  been at returning e-mails that have been addressed to you.

     Please keep in mind the comprehensive plan  you all created for 2011 when you continue to address these  concerns. A few of the highlighted points are below if  you have lost your copy or have blatently disregarded the  principles that were within.

     Principle 2 states, "promote quality of life  assets in the town which are consistent with the rural  nature of the town and which maximizes use of it's natural  resource features, assets and history.". "The town should  pursue with developers, the design of all development  projects to promote reasonable aesthetic harmony with the  characteristics and nature of the surrounding area".  (woodlands to  one million square foot warehouse?  I doubt that is what the previous statement is meant to represent). "The town should ENSURE that all projects  affecting transportation protect the public's safety, and, to the extent reasonable, provide a family friendly  environment, quiet and safe residential neighborhoods and  easy safe access to transportation and major highways. (I  would believe a report from the department of transportation  should be required to ENSURE that despite the increase of  eighteen wheelers on our roads, that we will still be  provided not only a safe but quiet neighborhoods as well).

        Principle 3 states,"  Protect vital natural assets, particularly the water  resources of the town.  Public water supply wellhead  areas should be RIGOROUSLY protected and system developed to  monitor water quality and supply from the major sources of  public water (I hope a complete environmental research study  has been performed.  If not, I think we would do well  to be more RIGOROUS with our approach). The town should work  toward Inter-municipal Watershed Management Organization  with the nearby towns of North Greenbush, East Greenbush,  Kinderhook, Villages of Castleton and Rensselaer, and  Columbia counties, all of which share responsibility for the  protection of the aquifer and the streams and other natural  bodies of water which flow through the aquifer in town (I assume you have contacted all these districts about the  proposed building over the aquifer to ensure the safety of  all our water?  If not, a full and thorough  environmental impact study should be performed by an  impartial third party provider).

        Principle 4 states,  "Encourage and target business growth to build a strong tax
 base for public services and to provide appropriate retail and service businesses for residents.  Business growth should be target to areas that already exhibit this type of  development characteristic.  (Exit 12 has distribution  centers already, Exit 11 does not.  This project is  best suited for the southern corridor).  Consideration should be given to business types which reflect both the  needs of citizens and the economic assets of the area.  For example, the extent that there are major residential  areas in close proximity to the commercial areas, businesses  therein should reflect retail and service need. (they will
 be providing no retail needs nor providing any  services).  To the extent that the economic assets are  characterized by the proximity to major transportation  routes and offer NO (that means zero and/or none) disruption  to major existing residential areas (It is clear that the  current proposed location would greatly disrupt current  residential areas, particularly those of Richwood, Star Terrace, and Julianne Drive.  It is also likely that  this location would cripple land and home values of existing  and nearby neighborhoods.  Again, the southern corridor  is more suited for this business) larger scale business  operations that are regional or interstate should be  considered.  (I don't known what the board meant by
 larger scale here but a distribution center of this magnitude is not large, it's massive, again, it's the size  of Yankee Stadium).

    As mentioned above, we are not only obligated to examine the Proposed plan set forth by Dollar  Tree, but also RIGOROUSLY ENSURE that we follow our town's  comprehensive plan.  We should slow down, examine the  past, present and future economic pros and cons of this  facility (I'm not positive but I don't believe the Hannaford  distribution center turned out well for Schodack).  If  we were to proceed with Dollar Tree, perhaps a separate  location in the southern corridor would provide them with an  adequate property while ensuring that we protect our  aquifer, our home and land values, and our community, while  simultaneously growing Schodack's economy.
 
Sincerely, 
Don Wood
1675 Julianne Drive