HomeMy WebLinkAbout20200735 Excelsior Ave Apartments Planning Board Letter ,``�i c>�;,t ��, City of Saratoga Springs Anthony 1. Scirocco
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To: The City of Saratoga Springs Planning Board
Mark Torpey, Chair
Jason Doty
Kerry Mayo
Lexie Bonitatibus
Ruth Horton
Sara Boivin
Todd Fabozzi
Shawna Jenks
FR: Commissioner Scirocco
DA: 9/2/2021
RE: Excelsior Avenue Development
Members of the Planning Board,
I first want to thank you for your time serving the City of Saratoga Springs in your capacity as
members of the Planning Board. It often goes unnoticed that you are volunteering your time in
an effort to make our City the best it can be, and carefully reviewing complex projects is not an
insignificant task.
The main purpose for this correspondence is to bring your attention to residents" concerns
related to development along Excelsior Avenue and Ormandy Lane and to urge you to do a site
visit and meet with residents to review the development that is occurring in this area. I recently
met with concerned residents on-site, and observed first-hand some of the potential issues that
might arise as this area of our City continues to grow at a rapid pace.
One item that immediately jumped out to me was that there is only one point of emergency
access, via Excelsior Avenue at Veterans Way, which could be blocked in a severe weather
event. Not planning a secondary emergency access point would put at risk a significant number
of current and future residents. Other issues that need additional thought revolve around
limited parking in the area, the increase in traffic, and the planned uses for some of these
undeveloped parcels that could create unintended problems if not considered with a holistic
approach.
I believe it would be beneficial for members of this board to conduct a site-visit, as I did, and
observe for yourselves potential problems that arise from legitimate concerns of these
neighbors. There are certainly options to mitigate these concerns and preventing them from
becoming real-world problems.
Planning board project#2020735 is currently under your review, scheduled to appear at a
workshop this evening (9/2/21} and is slated to appear on the board's agenda on 9/9/21. While
I do not have anything specific to this project or others under consideration in the area, but the
above outlines general concerns that should be addressed during this planning process.
Thank you for your consideration,
Skip
Anthony "Skip" Scirocco
Commissioner of Public Works
CC: Susan Barden, Principal Planner
Vince Deleonardis, City Attorney