Town working on master plan for Freemans Bridge Road area

Glenville. A colorful map jam-packed with information on potential new roads, trails, and different land uses is the first publicly disclosed installment of an ambitious town plan to control development in the Freemans Bridge Road area.

Town officials say there is development pressure on the 650 to 700 acres of and bordered by Wal-Mart to the north, Sunnyside Road to the south, Maple Avenue to the east and Saratoga Road to the west because of the big box store.

Synthesis worked with the Town to develop a viable plan that balances economic development with residents' concerns, suggesting specific areas to be developed for mixed use, as well as areas targeted for particular types of development.

Historically, where Wal-Mart has gone, other retailers have followed. Anticipating that, Glenville officials decided to create a separate master plan to guide future development of the area.

“We needed structured development on the Freemans Bridge [Road],” said town Supervisor Clarence Mosher. A key element of the plan is the 200 acres owned by the Piotrowski family, which the town plans to develop into an office-technology park if the family turns over the land. So far there have been only discussions on the land transfer but no agreement.

The town was awarded a $75,000 Build Now New York grant from the state and a matching grant from the county Industrial Development Agency, and Mosher recently learned the town has only three more months to decide how to use the money or it will lose it. However, he said the state will allow the money to be transferred to another project – such as the Scotia-Glenville Industrial Park.

The grant money would allow the town to make the land “shovel-ready” for businesses, which is important because the town wants to take advantage of the high-tech boom expected to hit the region because of International Sematech’s research center in Albany. “We can get Sematech-allied industry to come here. There is no better place,” Mosher said.

Besides the new tech park, the master plan includes several new roads, including a new “spine” from Maple Avenue, across Freemans Bridge Road and down to Sunnyside Road. The plan also calls for more pedestrian and bike trails along the Mohawk River and up into the northern part of the town, while preserving several parcels of open space, wetlands and flood plain.

There are also areas where the plan suggests multifamily housing and office space – also included on part of the Piotrowski parcel. The appearance of Freemans Bridge Road would also begin to change if the plan is implemented. Town planner Kevin Corcoran called the new design a “neo-traditional” pattern, giving the corridor a more urban look and feel. Buildings would be moved closer to the road, there would be sidewalks, common open space, parking in rear lots and streetscaping. But it’s not going to happen overnight, he said. “That will take time, certainly,” he said.

The state Department of Transportation is also playing a big part because of its plans to reconstruct Freemans Bridge Road – expanding it to four lanes from its intersection with Maple Avenue north to Route 50 – over the next five to 10 years.

Right now the plan is only in map form and there is no written document ready for public review other than a few reports and charts. “It’s a concept and it doesn’t specify in detail how land will be used,” said Mosher. “There will be [a] physical plan and it will be accepted by the town board [in November].”

“We know the plan is ambitious,” said Corcoran, adding it will take years to fulfill. “We also know we can’t meet everyone’s demands.”

The master plan will be a guide for development, but it does not carry the force of law. The town will have to change or amend its zoning regulations to implement the design controls.

There is a moratorium on building that is expected to be lifted after the town board vote, but it will take time to change the zoning, leaving the town vulnerable to development that doesn’t fit in with the master plan. Corcoran said the planning board had recommended keeping the moratorium until the zoning was changed, but politically it would be difficult. Part of the moratorium has already been lifted, allowing developers to submit plans and make applications for development in the area.