At the last Planning Board meeting on July 25th, Siena Heights, a 21 single family residential development seeking final approval was on the agenda. Sited on hilly, wooded terrain with ground and surface water issues, it stood to be a bone of contention for surrounding neighborhoods.
Members of SAVE contacted developer Frank Barbera, who agreed to meet with neighbors. In the first meeting he responded to concerns about the loss of mature trees on site. He responded by provi...ding designs that left a buffer of trees for the first concept. He addressed neighbors’ concerns about serious existing groundwater issues in and around the Campus View homes with comprehensive designs to redirect water to the new Siena Heights storm water containment. The final design will very likely improve the issue of water on Campus View Drive.
This cooperation between the existing neighborhood and the developer is an example of how early communication among those most impacted can work to the benefit of all. The developer met early in the project; he heard and considered the neighbors’ valid concerns. His plans changed to address them. The neighbors were largely satisfied and did not oppose the final approval by the Planning Board. This should be a lesson to the Town and to developers: work with the neighbors early on, and everyone wins.
I grew up in the house I live in on Campus View Drive. In my life time, the wooded lot behind my house where Siena Heights development will be sited has gone from an open farm field to softwood trees such as White Pine (Pinus strobus), Japanese Barberry shrub (Berberis thunbergii), Japanese Honeysuckle shrub (Lonicera japonica), Chinese Bittersweet vine (Celastrus orbiculatus), that has overtaken American Bittersweet. It is not an old growth forest by any stretch of the imagination. If I had my choice, I would keep the land undisturbed for the sake of the wild life that lives there. But this is a transitional area without special ecological value, and cannot be saved.
As a member of Save Colonie: A Partnership for Planning, I have been known to voice opposition to plans for development in our Town. We seek to protect our undeveloped spaces, implement smart development concepts, and demand that development decisions put residents’ needs and quality of life first. This can happen through cooperation among the various interests, as the Siena Heights project may demonstrate.
Suzanne Maloney