HomeMy WebLinkAbout20230216 118, 121-125 Woodlawn Special use Permit Public Comment (19)Date: August 3, 2023
To: City of Saratoga Springs Planning Board
From: Eriko Fujita 16 State St Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Re: 118 Woodlawn and 121 Woodlawn special use permit
My name is Eriko Fujita and I live at 16 State St. I wish to state my objection to the development of 118 Woodlawn
and 121-125 Woodlawn as a private/social club. The Supplemental Submission dated July 6, from the attorneys to
the Planning Board provides no clarity about the yet to be named not-for-profit behind the proposed Woodlawn
Club. The club does not seem to really exist - two people are named in the letter but there is no mention of an
existing membership roster or a mission. So, how is it already known that the existing boardrooms or spaces in the
downtown offices, hotels, and restaurants aren’t flexible enough for the existing members?
And, if there were supposed like-minded business professionals who have a vested interest in the Saratoga Springs
community who are members – is there not a single Saratoga Springs bar/restaurant/hospitality business
professional or owner in this club? Or engineers? Or property builders/developers or real estate professionals? I
cannot believe those professionals would support investing in a location with very limited parking at the
intersection of Woodlawn and Van Dam, a familiar busy traffic area and truck route, as a practical location for a
“club house.”
The Supplemental letter also suggests that my neighbors, the residents who live north of 118 Woodlawn and who
also object to granting this special use permit, aren’t looking at the “entire” neighborhood. Yes, it is true that there
are properties with non-residential and non-conforming uses near the intersection of Van Dam and Woodlawn.
But I have lived in the neighborhood at 16 State St since 2004, and none of the multi-family residences, current
businesses or former businesses, which included a bike shop, dog boutiques, skin treatment salon, hat shop,
consignment shop, bridal salon, etc., at 115 Van Dam and 99 Woodlawn, nor the former church, have never
operated in a manner that caused me to question their compatibility or appropriateness in my neighborhood.
These businesses have or had reasonable business hours. Even at their busiest times, none have ever come close
to overwhelming the area with pedestrian and vehicle traffic or parked cars on Woodlawn and the surrounding
streets, which is definitely a concern with the proposed used of 118 Woodlawn. But the proposed hours for the
club to be open seven days a week starting at 8 am until late at night (10 or 11 pm.) in a mostly residential
neighborhood is curious too. The letter suggests that members would come after work to have dinner and drinks,
so why would the social club open seven days a week at 8 am? I don’t feel the proposed social club is being truthful
in their intended use of the property at 118 Woodlawn. A club with no “real” members and nor a mission does not
need a physical club house location anywhere in Saratoga Springs and especially not at 118 Woodlawn. The fact
that there are so many unknowns surrounding the current proposed use of 118 Woodlawn and the properties
across the street should be troubling to the Planning Board.
I hope my feedback plus all of the feedback from my neighbors, convinces the Planning Board that a social club
that would be open seven days a week and closing late every night, after all of the neighboring businesses are
closed is not in harmony with the area and would adversely impact the surrounding properties and community
character of my neighborhood. I ask the Planning Board to please deny this special use permit request. Thank you
for your time.