Approvals Extended for Patterson Crossing
Developers have a little longer to get Patterson Crossing off the ground in Kent.
With the project to bring Costco and other retailers to a complex located at exit 18 off Interstate 84 not taking shape quite as quickly as originally planned, the Kent Planning Board on Jan. 9 voted to extended site plan approval for the project so developer Paul Camarda may continue with plans to construct a 400,000-square-foot retail center on Route 311.
According to Jeffrey Contelmo, senior principal engineer at Insite Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architects, P.C., in Carmel, who was at the recent Planning Board meeting to represent the applicant, the various approvals granted in the original site plan resolution have been partially addressed “for quite some time.”
“We’ve addressed a majority of conditions of approval,” he said, adding that there are some bonds required that would enable the start of construction.
Therefore, the applicant was seeking a six-month extension on the approved site plan.
Contelmo said stormwater improvements have already been constructed, and a stormwater maintenance agreement is in place. In addition, paperwork has been filed with East of Hudson Watershed Corporation, “so we’re in full compliance there.”
According to Contelmo, load improvements have been made to the drainage system that services Route 311, in which the Town of Patterson partnered with the applicant and New York State.
Between road and drain improvements, and stormwater improvements, “there’s already been substantial efforts made to set the table, so to speak, for the project to move forward,” he said. “The plans haven’t change, the conditions on site haven’t changed. We’ve addressed 90 percent of the conditions of approval…We only have to deliver bonding to break round.”
Contelmo told the Planning Board that the applicant does not yet have a groundbreaking date set.
He said that, throughout the past several years, with retail shrinking due to e-commerce, “that has put a tremendous headwind on finalizing the deals” with businesses who may occupy the retail space.
“We worked diligently starting 18 months ago to fulfill the conditions of approval… unfortunately the final details didn’t come together,” said Contelmo. “Some users won’t even talk to you unless the approvals are in place. So this is a very important part of keeping the momentum going in an effort to finalize a deal, but unfortunately I can’t tell you that will happen soon, or when that will happen.”
Liz Axelson, the town’s planning consultant, explained that the site plan was approved in November 2017 and had an expiration date of January 2020. She recommended that the board approve the extension, saying that she and the town’s environmental specialist and consulting engineer confirmed that nothing has changed from the original plan.
“We went over this in detail to make sure this resolution represents the current status,” she said. “With the work that has been done, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to go ahead and do the updated approval.”
According to the resolution, “Site plan approval shall be void if construction is not started within one year of the date of Planning Board approval and completed within two years of the date of such approval prior to its expiration.”
Therefore, “All approvals granted herein shall accordingly expire unless construction is stated no later than Jan. 8 2021, and completed no later than Jan. 8, 2022.”
