Crossroads Project Vote Could be Upcoming in Southeast
The Southeast Town Board is planning a vote regarding the proposed Crossroads project for its Nov. 20 meeting.
According to Town Planner Ashley Ley, the town received a revised Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on Oct.17 and subsequently met with representatives for the applicant, Crossroads 312 LLC and the developers, JPH Development Corp. to discuss any concerns. Assuming the applicant is able to address these concerns over the next few weeks, the town will vote to declare the document complete and can schedule a subsequential vote on the zoning change that would be required for the project.
“From what I heard at the meeting, it appears that there was an accord as to how we were going forward and how the applicant is going to have to respond to all of the comments that were made by consultants for the town,” said Councilwoman Liz Hudak. “My intention right now is to say this will be placed on the regular meeting for a vote on the completeness of the FEIS on November 20.”
According to Ley, one of the major issues consultants had with the revised FEIS presented last month was a proposal by the developers to do infiltration of an area of the six acre property on Route 312 which has slopes with in incline greater that 15 percent. Ley stated that whether or not this can be done is currently under investigation and the applicant will present an alternative proposal if infiltration is not allowed in the area.
Ley added, several changes have been made to the project, which will consist of a four story, 100-room hotel as well as 143,000 square feet of space for four retail stores. Originally, site plan and special permit approval was given to the town board, as opposed to the planning board, but the revised statement clarified that the town would also oversee all discretionary permits, including those for subdivisions and wetlands.
In addition, the proposed hotel will be added as a special permit use, after concerns at the Draft Environmental Impact Statement public hearing. The hotel would be permitted to have a maximum height of four stories, or 50 feet, which is higher than the two stories or 35-foot height limit currently allowed in the zoning code.
Ley explained that once the town board declares the FEIS complete, they have ten days to issue a finding statement and could then hold a vote to approve the zoning change from the current RC (rural commercial) to HC (highway commercial). The town board could potentially vote on this zoning change on the same night as they release their finding statement, as an additional public hearing is not required, although residents at the meeting did request that the board hold a public hearing regarding the change before a vote is taken.
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