Jarrett Engineering via Qby Planning Board (2021)
In one option, the 72-unit building is a U-shape. Baybridge Drive runs along the bottom of the image. Bay Road is at right.
The Queensbury Planning Board gave a very preliminary nod of approval to a 72-unit, senior housing building just off Bay Road near SUNY Adirondack.
On Baybridge Drive, near the Northeast Surgical Specialists and part of the Fairfield Professional Office subdivision, the three-storey building would replace a similar, but smaller, building that was approved in 2016. That 27-unit building was never built, and the property is vacant.
Representatives for Legacy Land Holdings, LLC, said they were asking for the change in the size of the approved building because COVID has changed the way people work. They believe less office space and more residential space will be needed in the future, and they mentioned the lack of affordable housing stock, especially smaller houses for older people without children in the home. The apartments would be for people 55 and older.
The one hitch: the new building would sit closer than 600 feet from Bay Road, breaking a rule found in a zoning overlay along that stretch of the road. It says that residential properties can not be that close.
Representatives speaking for the owners of the property said they had reached out to the Town of Queensbury which told them to ask the Planning Board for unofficial guidance.
Unofficially, the board approved.
"Those setbacks have changed so many times on Bay Road,” said Planning Board member Brad Magowan. "I've always had a problem with that."
Much of the conversation surrounded the shape and location of the building. Tom Jarrett of Jarrett Engineering brought two plans, one L-shaped and one U-shaped. They have parking for 144 cars, which is more than code requires. Maps provided to the board show that Legacy Land Holding LLC owns much of the undeveloped property along Baybridge Drive.
"Our intent is to try to preserve some commercial space along Bay Road," a representative said.