ALBANY COUNTY PLANNING BOARD

NOTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION DATE: December 20, 2016

Case #:
Applicant:
Project Location:
Referring Agency:
Considerations:

1-161202695
City of Albany Zoning Ordinance Amendment-Residential
Multifamily Village Overlay District
2-12 Sandidge Way & 263-275 Fuller Road
Legislative Board (Bradley Glass)
An amendment to the City Zoning Ordinance to create an
overlay zoning district called Residential Multifamily
Village (RMV) assigned to an area of single family
residential properties located along Sandidge
Way/Loughlin Street and two properties along Fuller
Road/CR 156 to the south of Sandidge Way. The proposed
ordinance language states that the purpose of the RMV
zoning is to "provide for neighborhoods containing groups
of multifamily structures...a village within a city, when
located near centers of employment...to provide more
housing within walking distance."
The permitted uses in the zone include the uses allowed in
the original zoning for Single Family Low Density,
townhouses, multi-family, and community residential
facility. The maximum building height is 5 stories with
yard setbacks ranging from 10' to 20' and maximum
impervious coverage of 50%. Parking regulations are 1
space per unit, but parking may be reduced at the discretion
of the planning board. There are landscaping standards and
a 10' required buffer to adjacent single family uses.
Stormwater management is specifically addressed as being
under the City Water Board's jurisdiction to determine
adequacy of the infrastructure related to proposed
development, but provides the caveat that a development
can pay for the cost of installation of the required
infrastructure improvements needed for the project rather
than be modified.

ACPB Recommendation

Disapprove without prejudice:

An amendment to a municipal zoning ordinance that
significantly changes the density level allowed on specific
properties mapped in the amendment needs to be evaluated
for the impact to surrounding land uses and roads as well as
the impact of future build out under the new zoning.

The proposed Residential Multifamily Village (RMV)

overlay zoning district allows multifamily housing that is
very urban in scale, characterized by buildings allowed up
to 5 stories, with very small setbacks for buildings from the
property lines and gives no maximum number of units
allowed. Maximum impervious coverage is 50%, but
pervious coverage could include porous pavement for
parking lots. The high density zoning district overlay
appears to be the highest density level allowed in the city
code, but is not being placed in the urban core with
supporting infrastructure. Instead it is being assigned to
properties along a dead end street with a single access point
to a suburban road corridor (CR 156/Fuller Road).
CR 156 is an important principle arterial between SR 20
and Washington Ave.; but has very limited potential to be
expanded, due to physical conditions, in order to
accommodate increased traffic from surrounding
development. Due to the lack of a direct connection
between I-87 and Washington Ave, traffic cant divert to
alternate routes.
The properties along Sandidge Way proposed for rezoning
are adjacent to two expanding State university campuses.
The campus on the west side of CR 156 has limited access
to surrounding roadways and uses CR 156 as its main
access. The most recent traffic analysis done for the
expansion of a parking garage and a student housing
building along Tri-Centennial Drive on the campus
predicted low levels of service at the roundabout on CR
156 at the pm peak as a result of the project.
The adjacent Town of Guilderland has established single
family residential neighborhoods to the south of Sandidge
Way. These neighborhoods have had issues with
groundwater and surface water on their properties due to
the build-out of surrounding lands. Currently the CR 156
drainage systems capacity is reduced due to the infiltration
of groundwater throughout much of the year, as well as
continual flow of surface water from the surrounding area
during wetter conditions. These conditions are due to a
high water table in the area. Transferring runoff from
development projects into the ground does not really
remove it from the system; the water re-emerges
somewhere else in close proximity.

While the city comprehensive plan may encourage housing

near employment and activity centers the city should not
significantly increase the allowed density on a specific
street to accommodate development without consideration
for the impacts from a significant change to traffic,
limitations of the road network and available infrastructure,
stormwater issues and adjacent land uses. By
significantly changing the density level allowed on over 6
acres of property the city should expect a certain number of
parking spaces and generated traffic, even if some residents
use the bus or walk to work. There is no surrounding
network of city streets for parking. These considerations
should not be deferred to the site plan review stage.
The density level proposed for the RMV overlay zoning
district should be reduced for placement on Sandidge Way
for all the reasons explained above.

___________________________
Leslie Lombardo, Senior Planner for the
Albany County Planning Board
NOTE:

This recommendation is rendered in compliance with applicable requirements of Section 239 of New York
State General Municipal Law. Final determination on this matter rests with the appropriate municipal body.

A recommendation of APPROVE or MODIFY LOCAL APPROVAL should not be interpreted as a

recommendation by this body that the referring agency approve the matter referred. Such recommendation
does not indicate that this body has reviewed all local concerns; rather the referral has met certain countywide
considerations. Evaluation of local criteria is the responsibility of the referring agency.

General Municipal Law Section 239 requires that the local agency notify the county within thirty days of its
final action. Please use the OFFICIAL NOTICE OF LOCAL ACTION form that is attached for this purpose.

General Municipal Law Section 239 sets forth the procedural requirements for taking local action contrary to
the County Planning Boards recommendation of objection or conditional approval.

Albany County is designated as a regulated Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) and must
comply with the provisions of the NY SPDES General Permit for stormwater discharges from Small MS4s
(GP-0-10-002 or as amended) in accordance with the Clean Water Act. The NY SPDES General Permit for
stormwater discharges from Construction Activity GP-0-15-002 or as amended is also required for activity
with soil disturbances of one acre or more. The Clean Water Act requires Albany County to control point
source discharges to ground water as well as surface waters.

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