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Lots of buzz lately about the proposed Dollar Tree (DT)  MILLION-PLUS SQUARE FOOT warehouse locating within 200 feet of an established Schodack neighborhood. Over 50 homes in Birchwood Estates (Richwood Drive, off Route 9 south of the 9 & 20 split) are now threatened by the Dowds administration’s unchallenged decision about their future. With expected Planning Board approval, they’ve encouraged this new business, under the guise of building our tax base.

DT will receive tax abatement under the County IDA program, where most of the tax revenues will go. Warehouses typically have lower assessed value because the structures are inherently less valuable. If DT’s approved, everyone in Birchwood Estates will likely challenge their assessments: their property values will plummet by approximately 30 to 40%. What the Town expects in taxes from DT could ultimately be a revenue loss for Schodack.

DT would locate directly over our aquifer. The building and blacktop will cover over 60 acres in the recharge area. Birchwood Estates gets its well water here, where the soils are sand and gravel. Anything rain washes off pavement, trucks, and rooftop will go into the aquifer. By their own admission, DT will only be filtering out the solids in their detention ponds. Any dissolved substances, like road salt and de-icing compounds, go directly into the aquifer and their wells.

Noise created by this 24/7 facility is unfixable. DT expects 165 trips daily, many of them double tandems, if approved by NYSDOT. DT has proposed mitigation, but when fork-lift back-up alarms sound at 3:00 a.m. do we really believe 200 feet of distance and a 10 foot noise-abatement fence will block the beeping?

This project will change our town irrevocably and steer future development in one direction.

Last November, I wrote a letter to the Advertiser stating that Schodack Democrats support businesses in town, as long as they comply with our laws (e.g.Aquifer Protection) and don’t destroy neighborhoods. Who knew this project was then pending and had been for some time prior to last year’s election?

This situation is a direct result of one group of people in charge with no one in elected office to challenge their decisions. Birchwood Estates pays the consequences.

Elizabeth Gable, Schodack resident and Town Democratic Committee Chair

 

 

 


Comments

Al Adams
03/05/2012 10:25am

I have read many of the comments posted by the opposition to the "warehouse mentality" of our local government. At first thought, one might say, fair enough, let's deny the Dollar Trees of the world and go with Plan "B" which would be smaller retail/professional business operations.
Oh wait, there are no plan b's looking to come here. The current merchants are dying on the vine. Just look at Columbia Turnpike vacancies and other businesses hanging on by a thread. Retail needs a population base to sell to. Schodack does not have a strong base nor the infrastructure to attract retail in the near future. At this rate, Schodack will eventually become a group noisy farmers and or well pensioned retirees (from Albany businesses)looking to preserve a barren wasteland.

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Ray Ludwig
03/07/2012 6:24pm

Al, I understand your frustration. I have been in this town 26 years and other than Hannaford and Pilot, the main arteries have seen no growth. The limitations of water and sewer has driven some of the stagnation. However the citizens of this town have on many occasions over my time in town tried to get a Master Plan Vision for the Town. Our elected officals, all cut from the same mold, have been reluctant to commit to anything concrete. This causes confusion for the interested business and anger on the part or the surprised homeowners affect by a proposal. It's unfortunate.

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Linda Underwood
03/10/2012 11:05am

I agree that there is no “plan B” in Schodack but that is not the fault of the people who don’t want our town to become wall-to-wall warehouses. It is the fault of Schodack’s power brokers, elected officials and appointees. It is they who do not reach out to anyone but those who would build warehouses. It is their lack of imagination and foresight that has resulted in a Master Plan that isn’t a master plan and zoning laws that can be manipulated to be whatever they want them to be.

Only when the residents of Schodack have a real voice in town government will we have the kind of collaboration it takes to create a town that everyone will be proud to call home.

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