6 Chatham Street

Kinderhook, New York 12106

(518) 758-9882

Fax (581) 758-9869

November 14, 2002

Mr. Edwin Simonsen, Chairman

Town of Kinderhook Planning Board

PO Box P

Niverville, NY 12130

Re: Draft Environmental Impact Statement for

Widewaters Commons Shopping Center

Dear Mr. Simonsen:

The following are the Kinderhook Village Board’s comments on the subject Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

The DEIS does not cover the increase in traffic in the Village of Kinderhook due to this proposed commercial development. This increase should be quantified and its impact assed.

According to Figures 3 and 6 in the Traffic Impact Evaluation in Section B of Volume II – Appendices, there is 20% increase on the southerly Route 9 leg of the Route 9/Main Street intersection in Valatie. Since there are essentially no generators of traffic between the villages of Valatie and Kinderhook, almost all of this increase in traffic will also occur on Route 9 at the signalized Route 0/County Route 21 (Albany Avenue and Hudson Street) intersection in the Village of Kinderhook.

In addition, most traffic on Route 9 through and from the Village of Kinderhook will access the Widewaters development via Route 9H and the Route 9/9H interchange, not via the more congested, less direct Route 9 through Valatie. Therefore, a substantial portion of the 20% of the traffic increase on the southerly Route 9H leg, at the Route 9H/Keegab Road intersection will also occur on Route 9 at the Route 9/CR 21 intersection in the Village of Kinderhook.

The traffic analysis should be extended south to cover the Village of Kinderhook, especially the Route 9/CR 21 intersection in the center of the village. Levels of service with and without the project should be provided, any needed improvements described and their impacts assessed.

In addition, traffic projections and an assessment of the interests should be made for County Route 21 from Route 9 to Old Post Road (including Albany Avenue in the Village of Kinderhook) and for Old Post Road from CR 21 to Route 9H.

The village is especially concerned that there may be an effect of the project on the quality of groundwater because the proposed septic field and storm mitigation basin are upgrade from the village’s well system.

The U.S. Geological Survey Report, “Hydrology of the Schodack-Kinderhook Area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, Open File Report 97-639” by Reynolds, 1999 should be used and referenced to assess the effect of the subject project on the Village Kinderhook Wells.

A similar concern may also apply for the Village of Valatie wells, which are southeast of this project.

The Town of Kinderhook Comprehensive Plan in several places, such as the first goal under Land Use Recommendations on page 73, mentions the concern of the effect of development in the town on the Villages of Kinderhook and Valatie. The impacts of an essentially, suburban project of this size on two villages should be identified and assessed. Effects on quality of life and the existing businesses should be evaluated.

Preservation of the town’s unique historic character is the first item mentioned in the Vision Plan in the Town Comprehensive Plan.

Of particular concern, for the Village of Kinderhook, is the impact on its National Register of Historic Places Historic District, which includes more than 150 properties – each property containing one or more historic buildings. It is customary for a DEIS to include a full listing of buildings on the National Register (as well as those that are eligible or likely to be eligible for such listing) within a five-mile radius of the project site, a statement of their individual significance and a description of what impacts will be experienced by each building if the project were to occur. The applicant has not consulted with SHPO nor with the municipal historians for preliminary information. Besides the Kinderhook Village National Register Historic District, there are several sites in a five-mile radius in the Town (including the National historic Landmark Van Alen House) of historic importance. Several properties in the Villager of Valatie are on the National Register and others are likely eligible for such listing.

The effects of lighting should be assessed on adjacent residential areas such as the Village of Kinderhook. Mitigation should be proposed to minimize the effects of lighting from this shopping center.

In addition to the above comments, attached are the comments from the Village of Kinderhook Planning Board, as provided in Planning Board member Bonnie Shannon’s September 20, 2002 memo.

Sincerely,

James C. Dunham

Mayor

To: Village of Kinderhook Trustees

From: Bonnie Shannon, Village of Kinderhook Planning Board

Re: Widewaters Draft EIS

September 26, 2002

I find it disconcerting that the Town of Kinderhook Planning Board accepted the DEIS while so many inadequacies identified by Town Engineer and the Planning Board itself were not yet addressed. As stated in the letter to Mr. Marco Marzocchi dated August 22, 2002 and the letter to the Planning Board from James Green, Spectra Engineering, dated August 19, 2002, many statements appear to be unsubstantiated by data and numerous contradictions appear throughout the document.

In addition to these problems with the DEIS, I find the following impacts to be ignored or understated:

Traffic in the Kinderhook Village area. Where is the traffic study of the flow through Kinderhook from the north and the south?

Footprint dimensions of the project. Accessory structures (496 sq. ft. entry, 30’ diameter tank, storm water catch basin) do not seem to be accounted for in the total coverage figures.

Scale of the project: Using the Ichabod School campus for scale comparison seems inappropriate, as that is not a commercial structure.

Cost of services to the community are given as $4,180 annually. What is the breakdown of these costs and what about the impact on state services (highway maintenance and repair) which come out of local pockets indirectly?

Effects on groundwater with changes in the type of pollutant run-off as it shifts from agricultural to commercial use.

Mosquito and other pest control in the area of the storm water collection basin.

Visual impact seems to be dismissed because of the architectural inconsistency in the area, but the developer left out recent structures which were developed with some care such as Hudson River Bank and Trust and Keebler Agency Complex. Repeating the design mistakes of the past that created the hodgepodge is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.

Impact on further development is understated. Retail development by its very presence attracts other retail development. Stewarts and Cumberland Farms, Rite-Aid and CVS. These seem to attract each other. A look at Greenport is enough to confirm that. Nearby residential structures become less attractive and gradually shift in use.

The developers have attempted to propose a project which does not obscure the view of the Catskill Mountains from this intersection, but the design itself is aesthetically poor and does reveal thinking “outside the box.”

NIVERVILLE--Valatie Mayor Jason Nastke paid a visit to the Town of Kinderhook Planning Board last week during its workshop session.

      He was at Town Hall Thursday, February 14, to offer advice on the Hannaford grocery store and plaza proposed for the intersection of Routes 9 and 9H, a project already vexing some people here.
      The Widewaters Group of Dewitt has been meeting with the Planning Board for several months, as architects make attempts to meet the standards of officials here while working within the guidelines of zoning laws.
      Which laws the developers are required to meet is the subject of some disagreement, as Widewaters believes the whole project falls under the old town code and planners say much of it is subject to the more comprehensive new code.
      Whatever the case may be, Mayor Nastke wants Kinderhook officials to do all their homework when reviewing the Hannaford proposals to ensure the entire town and its two villages get something all can live with.
      "When it's built, the question you want to ask when you drive by is 'Am I proud of this? Do the people really enjoy this?'" said the mayor, who told planners of the Valatie Village Board's neutral position on the plan.
      He said village trustees don't know enough about the Widewaters application to form an official opinion, but the board has a lot of experience with tough planning issues thanks to the troubled history of the new Valatie Post Office.
      Mr. Nastke said the Post Office, which is under construction next to Stewart's on Route 9, was planned in haste and later rejected by a judge when challenged in court because the public was not adequately involved.
      The mayor, who said village officials feared the U.S. Postal Service would pull out of the plan if the project didn't move through municipal channels quickly, is pleased with the finished product of the whole ordeal.
      "We got a project that was much more architecturally pleasing, and it made the project better as a whole," said Mr. Nastke, who submitted a letter to the Kinderhook Planning Board requesting Valatie's involvement in the review process of the Hannaford proposal.
      He said the state's Environmental Quality Review phase, which the development is subject to as a Type I action, makes provisions for visually and environmentally suitable buildings despite the review's rigors.
      And, said the mayor, Kinderhook has the opportunity to avoid the type of sameness along commercial strips that afflicts more and more towns across the country.
      "There's ways we can do this so it blends with the rest of the community," he said, echoing the Planning Board's desire for specific roof lines, masonry products, colors, grounds and the like on the major development.
      Mr. Nastke also reminded town planners to consider the plaza's impacts on a variety of town assets, including aquifers, wells, Valatie's water supply, traffic on busy Routes 9 and 9H, local and county sales tax revenues, and businesses in the parking-poor villages and hamlets.
      A $10 million plan, he said, represents one fifth of the Village of Valatie's total assessment.
      Mayor Nastke wondered what one more pizza shop in a town of about 8,200 people will do to the other pizza shops in the area. And he speculated that the town's new town code and its rules for multi- acre parcels would put a cap on any substantial population growth in the future.
      One spectator in the audience of a dozen, however, said the town has plenty of room for expansion to support new businesses given regulations for cluster developments, conservation zoning and the space left in the many existing subdivisions throughout the Town of Kinderhook.
      But Valatie, said Mr. Nastke, is at an economic disadvantage because of its population density, older buildings and lack of plaza-style parking.
      He warned the Planning Board, however, not to become predatory with Widewaters and Hannaford during what is sure to be the drawn out application phase.
      "The worse thing you want is to have an us-versus-them mentality," said Mr. Nastke.
      Planners did not engage him in a discussion, as they had a long night ahead of them looking over drawings and talking shop with Widewaters.
      But the board, which has a regular meeting Thursday, February 21, here at 7 p.m., agreed it would seek as much input as possible from residents.