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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20251108 Crescent Ave & Jefferson St Site Plan Modification Narrative December 4, 2025 Mark Pingel, Chairman City of Saratoga Springs, Planning Board 474 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 RE: Liberty at Saratoga Liberty Way Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 LaBella Project #2224112 Dear Chairman Pingel: On behalf of the Applicant, Liberty Affordable Housing Inc., we are pleased to submit the following materials for the Site Plan Amendment application, review and approval. 1.0 SITE ADDRESS The proposed project is comprised of one parcel, as follows: Parcel Number Parcel Address City of State Zip Code 179.-5-8 Liberty Way Saratoga Springs NY 12866 2.0 PROJECT TEAM Applicant Liberty Affordable Housing, Inc. 117 West Liberty Street, Suite 3 Rome, NY 13440 Contact: Randell Denton Randell.Denton@LibertyAffordable.org Civil Engineer LaBella Associates 4 British American Boulevard Latham, NY 12110 Contact: Sara Drury, EIT sdrury@labellapc.com Attorney Ferradino Firm, PLLC 63 Putnam Street, Suite 202 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Contact: Stephanie Ferradino, Esq. Stef@FerradinoFirm.com Architect Phinney Design Group 142 Grand Avenue Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Contact: Steven Dodds, RA AIA sdodds@phinneydesign.com 2 3.0 PROJECT NARRATIVE Project Description The Applicant, Liberty Affordable Housing Inc., is proposing to develop one (1) parcel, at the intersection of Crescent Avenue and Bunny Lake Drive, to construct two (2) four-story apartment buildings. In total, the buildings will provide 216 affordable workforce housing apartment units. All units in these buildings will be reserved for households earning between 30%-130% of area median income (AMI). The target population includes individuals and families, which is reflected in the unit mix. The unit/AMI breaks down to 10 units at 30% AMI (see below), 141 units at 60% AMI, 21 units at 90% AMI, 44 units at 130% AMI, all which target the local workforce that has been priced out of the Saratoga Springs housing market. The 30% AMI tier consists of 10 units set aside for CAPTAIN Community Human Services, a local non-profit. The Supportive Housing Program is for young adults ages 18 to 25 who have aged out of the foster care system. These 10 units will be a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments supported by CAPTAIN’s case management. Participants are responsible for contributing 30% of their income toward monthly rent and will be supported with monthly rental assistance. Participants will also be supported in maintaining stable employment through job skill development, resume writing, interviewing and communication. Access to affordable housing is key to recruiting and retaining employees for local Saratoga Springs businesses. The project’s goal is to supply housing to a population of workers that power Saratoga Springs’ economy and help close the socioeconomic gap in a high-income area. Project History The project required rezoning, in the form of a zoning map and comprehensive plan map amendment, of the parcel from the Rural Residential (RR) zoning district to the Urban Residential (UR-4) zoning district. As such, the City Council declared lead agency in 2022 under SEQR. The project received feedback from the City Planning Board, City Zoning Board of Appeals, Saratoga County Planning and the public. The project received a negative declaration from the City Council in January 2023. After receiving the City Council’s negative declaration and map amendments, the project moved on to the City Zoning Board of Appeals for a height variance. The maximum height allowable in the UR-4 zoning district is 40 feet and the project requested an eight (8) ft variance to allow a building height of 48 feet. This variance was granted in May 2023.Site plan review and approval followed with the City Planning Board. Initial application was made to the Board in January 2023, following the SEQR negative declaration, and was presented for site plan review in May 2023. The project was in front of the Board from May 2023 to December 2023, at which time the Planning Board voted for conditional approval of the project. Since receiving conditional approval from the Planning Board, the project team has been working with Homes and Community Renewal, the agency ultimately funding the state’s portion of the project and has been receiving their feedback to ensure the project is competitive against other applications and is set up for success. During this time, it became evident to the project team that a significant funding gap existed between what could be funded and the estimated cost of the project. An unanticipated and significant federal funding gap occurred following the 2024 election. As such, the project team has been working to reduce costs while maintaining the vision of the site previously approved by the Planning 3 Board and proposing changes that would not only work to reduce the funding gap but also to make beneficial changes to the project site consistent with present city objectives. As such, the project is in front of the Planning Board at this time requesting a site plan amendment to the previously approved application, that reflects the changes made to address the funding gap and improve the site plan. 4.0 AMENDMENT REVISIONS Unit Count and AMI The conditionally approved application included 212 units and required 21 of those units to be at or below 30% AMI.. The proposed amendment increases the total unit count to 216 units, and shifts the unit requirement to 10 units which will be reserved for CAPTAIN Community Human Services Supportive Housing Program. In addition, the AMI has shifted to increase the AMI cap from 90% to 130% AMI, consistent with other actions the city council has taken in the last year. The unit and AMI increase is a result of the need to maximize the number of rentable units and income it generates within the existing building footprint. This is the minimum solution to ensure the funding model works. In upper floors of the approved site plan application, there were areas above the ground floor lobby that had flexibility in how they were used. Minor plan adjustments to those areas allowed for the addition of studio units that are ideal for CAPTAIN tenants. Parking The prior approved application included 318 parking stalls, of which 8 stalls were designated ADA accessible and 8 stalls had access to an EV charger to meet ADA parking requirements and the City UDO requirements. The 318 parking stalls provided a 1.5:1 parking to unit ratio, as required by the UDO (318 stalls/212 units). After meeting with planning staff in November 2025, it was recommended that the overall parking count be reduced to a 1:1 ratio in an effort to conform to the City’s long-term goals and initiatives for connectivity and transit opportunities. In addition, it was noted to planning staff that the 10 units designated for the CAPTAIN supportive housing program are for tenants who are unlikely to have cars. Based on this information, we removed those units from the parking calculation. As such, the amended application includes 206 parking spaces (216 units – 10 CAPTAIN units). This reduction in parking is a value benefit to the project and significantly increases the green space surrounding the project. By eliminating 112 parking spaces (318 spaces – 206 spaces), the required grading and earthwork on the site is reduced, as further explained under Stormwater Management. All parking spaces remain porous asphalt, consistent with the conditionally approved application. In addition, the amended plan set has revised the boulevard parallel parking stalls and loading space to be porous asphalt, whereas under the prior approved application these areas were standard asphalt. 4 Pedestrian Connectivity and Safety The conditionally approved application considered pedestrian connectivity and safety as much as feasible at the time. Due to the number of parking spaces, it was infeasible to have traffic calming measures on the larger loop drive around the site. The boulevard included a speed hump with raised crosswalks and an island in the middle of the boulevard to provide safe access between buildings. Crosswalks were added in areas close to parking stalls at the boulevard/loop drive intersection. The design included 5 ft concrete sidewalks throughout the site for walkability between buildings and access to Bunny Lake Drive. After meeting with the planning staff in November 2025, it was recommended that the project take a closer look at pedestrian safety, primarily on the loop drive. With the reduction in parking, the amended application now includes four (4) speed humps on the loop drive as a means of traffic calming. The intent of the speed hump is to slow traffic speeds on low- volume, low-speed roads. Speed humps reduce speeds to 15 to 2o mph. In addition, the vast majority of the sidewalks from the conditionally approved application remain. The primary loss of sidewalk is from the walks necessary to reach the bus shelter which was previously located on the rear side of the project site and has been moved to Bunny Lake Drive, as explained more fully in the Traffic section below. The addition of the speed humps, decrease in parking spaces, and retention of the majority of the 5 ft concrete sidewalks increase walkability within the site and pedestrian safety. Traffic The conditionally approved application proposed a bus shelter at the end of the boulevard in the rear of the proposed development. The shelter would provide refuge for passengers waiting for the bus as well as long-term bicycle storage, as required by the UDO. A paved bus drop was proposed next to the shelter and a cul-de-sac for any necessary bus turnaround movements. A sidewalk was proposed around the cul-de-sac, extending past the bus drop to the bus shelter and then along the outer parking stalls on the loop drive connecting to Bunny Lake Drive. At the time, the intent was for CDTA to add a bus stop along their route to stop internal to the project site. Since the conditional approval, CDTA announced it will be replacing routes 451 and 452 with FLEX On Demand Service (similar to Uber or Lyft), with route 450 remaining in service as it presently exists. Route 451 runs between Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs Rail Station via Downtown Saratoga Springs, including the Saratoga Regional YMCA. Route 452 runs between Skidmore College, downtown Saratoga Springs and Wilton via Route 50. Route 450 runs between downtown Schenectady, Saratoga and Wilton via Route 50. Route 452 would still run service Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. During the summer season, the summer trolly and Route 875 service the Saratoga Casino and would be an additional option for Liberty residents. The new Saratoga Springs FLEX area will provide riders with more frequent service, around 30 minutes or less of waiting time, as well as direct connections between any two points. Customers can book their FLEX rides on the navigator app or over the phone and the service would operate from 6:00am to 9:00pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and 8:00am to 7:00pm on Sundays. This change is a value add for the project allowing residents more direct access to public transit. Based on the above CDTA changes, condition 9 of January 8, 2024 decision as extended on July 17, 2025 is no longer feasible and must be removed. 5 The amended application removes the bus shelter at the end of the boulevard and provides a simpler structure directly on Bunny Lake Drive. It was determined that a larger bus shelter is no longer needed as passengers would not be gathering to wait for a regular bus service with the FLEX service in place. This also allows for the removal of the cul-de-sac, bus drop, and sidewalks from the former bus shelter to Bunny Lake Drive, ultimately reducing impervious cover, earthwork, disturbance and mature tree removal. Long-term bicycle parking has been relocated indoors, which is more convenient for residents. The relocation of the bus shelter to Bunny Lake Drive is a value benefit to the project. Stormwater Management The project disturbs greater than one (1) acre of land. As such, the project requires coverage under the NYSDEC SPDES General Permit for Construction Activity. At the time of application and conditional approval, the project was designed in conformance with the 2015 NYSDEC Stormwater Management Design Manual and the active general permit at the time (GP-0-20- 001). A new design manual was released by NYSDEC in July 2024 and a new permit in January 2025 (GP-0-25-001). The Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan has been brought into compliance with the requirements of the updated GP-0-25-001. The design remains in conformance with the 2015 Design Manual. Per Part III.B.2 of GP-0-25-001, the project is permitted to continue under the 2015 Design Manual as it meets the necessary criteria. The project is required to submit the electronic Notice of Intent (eNOI) to NYSDEC prior to January 29, 2027. The conditionally approved application utilized conservation of natural areas and porous asphalt to meet the water quality and quantity objectives outlined in the General Permit. These runoff reduction techniques allowed for the entirety of the required water quality volume to be reduced and stormwater runoff rates to be at or below pre-development conditions. The amended application continues to propose conservation of natural areas and porous asphalt to meet the water quality and quantity objectives. In addition, due to revisions such as the reduced drive aisle width (refer to Fire Protection), elimination of the cul-de-sac in favor of moving the bus shelter to Bunny Lake Drive (refer to Traffic section), and the addition of the parallel parking spaces and loading space as porous asphalt (refer to the Parking section), the stormwater design not only meets the requirements of the General Permit but exceeds the previous design standards in the conditional approval set by reducing the amount of disturbed and impervious surface on site. Below is a table summarizing the value benefit to the project because of the amended changes Area of Disturbance Mature Tree Clearing Proposed Impervious Proposed Porous Asphalt Proposed Conservation Area Conditionally Approved Application 9.1 acres 9.1 acres 4.0 acres 1.1 acres 16.4 acres Amended Application 8.1 acres 8.1 acres 3.0 acres 0.8 acres1 16.4 acres 1The total proposed porous asphalt is less in the amended application due to the 112 parking space reduced from the conditionally approved application. In the conditionally approved application, those parking spaces were porous asphalt. This is offset by the reduced area of disturbance by removing the 112 parking spaces and 2 ft from the drive aisle width. 6 Fire Protection The conditionally approved application included plans demonstrating firetruck maneuverability, using a firetruck model provided by the City Fire Department, and hydrant locations. Hydrant locations and maneuverability were coordinated with the City Fire Department and the project received fire department approval in August 2023. The amended application proposes reducing the drive aisle width from 24 feet to 22 feet after discussion with planning staff in November 2025. As requested, updated firetruck maneuverability plans, using the same firetruck model as the conditionally approved application, have been provided with this application. The plans demonstrate that the City firetruck would still be able to maneuver throughout the project site unincumbered. In addition, the coordinated fire hydrant locations remain unchanged. Landscaping and Lighting The conditionally approved application maintained as many mature trees as the design allowed while clearing approximately 9 acres. The plan provided landscaping in compliance with the UDO and design in an effort to offset the amount of mature tree clearing needed for the project. The landscaping plan at the time proposed 148 trees and 611 shrubs. The amended application proposes reducing the number of proposed trees and shrubs due to the preservation of an additional acre of mature trees. The amended application now proposes clearing approximately 8 acres of land, allowing 1 acre of land previously proposed to be cleared to remain as mature forest. The project proposes planting 67 trees and 559 shrubs, in conformance with the UDO. The redesign of the site focused on preserving natural visual buffers with the removal of parking along Bunny Lake Drive which allows the mature trees to screen the site and conserving more of the overall project site. In addition, the conditionally approved application proposed 57 LED dark sky compliant light fixtures at a height of 15 ft, consistent with the requirements of the UDO. The amended application continues to propose LED dark sky compliant fixtures but has revised the fixture selection to be more efficient for the project site while maintaining similar light levels to the conditionally approved application. The amended application proposes 49 LED dark sky compliant light fixtures at a height of 15 ft. Municipal Water Consistent with the conditionally approved application, all domestic water for the proposed development will come from a new tapped connection made to the existing 10-inch water main within Crescent Avenue, west of the Crescent Avenue/Bunny Lake Drive intersection. As stated above, the difference between the conditionally approved application and this amendment is 4 dwelling units. However, when calculating the demand on a municipal water system, the anticipated average daily water demand can be calculated by correlating water supply to wastewater generation using Table B.3 of the NYSDEC Design Standards for Intermediate-Sized Wastewater Treatment Systems, March 2014. As mandated by Section 15-0314 of the Environmental Conservation Law, plumbing facilities in new and renovated buildings must use water-saving fixtures and, therefore, the demand per Table B.3 is representative. Under Table B.3 residential uses are calculated on a per bedroom basis rather than per unit and applying a 110 GPD demand per bedroom. When comparing the conditionally approved bedroom count of 292 bedrooms and the amended bedroom count of 298 bedrooms, the amendment would result in a marginal increase in demand on the municipal water system by having six (6) additional bedrooms or 660 additional GPD. 7 Municipal Sewer Consistent with the conditionally approved application, all sanitary sewer for the proposed development will be directed to the sanitary sewer main within Jefferson Street. The project will use a gravity flow sanitary sewer from the buildings to an on-site, privately owned and maintained, pump station. The pump station will then be discharged to a force main and connect to the existing sanitary sewer main within Jefferson Street. Since receiving conditional approval, LaBella has worked with NYSDEC to receive a Freshwater Wetlands permit, requiring the force main to be directionally drilled underneath the freshwater wetland and its 100 ft adjacent area between the project site and Jefferson Street. In addition, since receiving conditional approval, LaBella has been working directly with Saratoga County Sewer District and NYSDEC to address NYSDEC concerns regarding the County sewer lines between the project connection point and the Crescent Avenue Pump Station. LaBella continues to work with NYSDEC and the unit count amendment has been factored into the revised documents being submitted to NYSDEC. Once the project receives approval from NYSDEC, LaBella will forward the approval onto the City for record. Furthermore, as stated above, the difference between the conditionally approved application and this amendment is 4 dwelling units. However, when calculating the demand on a municipal water system, the anticipated average daily water demand can be calculated by correlating water supply to wastewater generation using Table B.3 of the NYSDEC Design Standards for Intermediate-Sized Wastewater Treatment Systems, March 2014. As mandated by Section 15-0314 of the Environmental Conservation Law, plumbing facilities in new and renovated buildings must use water-saving fixtures and, therefore, the sewer loading per Table B.3 is representative. Similar to the water analysis above, under Table B.3, residential uses are calculated on a per bedroom basis rather than per unit, applying a 110 GPD demand per bedroom. When comparing the conditionally approved bedroom count of 292 bedrooms and the amended bedroom count of 298 bedrooms, the amendment would result in a marginal increase in sewer loading on the County sanitary sewer system by having six (6) additional bedrooms or 660 GPD. City Fees At the request of the applicant during the site plan approval process, the conditional site plan approval notice of decision reflected the ability to make the payment of the city sidewalk fee due at building permit issuance instead of site plan signing. This is necessary as the project will not be funded at the time the site plans are signed by the chair. However, later in the decision, the letter of credit fee is not matched up to the same timing. We would request that the letter of credit payment be similarly tied to issuance of the building permit rather than site plan signing by the chair. 8 5.0 CONCLUSION This narrative is intended to provide a brief summary of the proposed site plan amendment application. The information provided is believed to be accurate and true. Based on the information provided in the application, it is our opinion the amendments consist of beneficial improvements to the approved site plan while enhancing the ability for the applicant to fund the project. If you have any comments or questions regarding this application or if you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at 518-266-7307. Respectfully submitted, LaBella Associates Sara Drury, EIT Civil Engineer