On page 87 the SDEIS quotes the Town’s zoning and design standards which say "Buildings shall relate in scale and design features to the site and surrounding features." Widewaters’ "design response" is "Not Applicable to this Project". That’s just not true-- the standard does apply, and this strip mall fails to comply with it. There is nothing anywhere in town that’s on the same scale as this project. At a recent planning board meeting, a representative from Hannaford said it would be impractical to take architectural design elements from existing structures in town and apply them in any fashion on his building, because they would look odd on such a large structure. That statement confirms that this project is out of character with the rest of the town. In addition, several members of the planning board couldn’t think of any existing areas in town that are comparable in scale to the Widewaters proposal. The fact is, there aren’t any. The project’s non-conformance to the scale of the rest of the town was ignored entirely in the SDEIS. It should be discussed at length.

· If it is built, construction of the strip mall will take from nine to eleven months, the greater part of a year. The proposed hours of construction are 7 AM to dusk (SDEIS page 23). That means that no matter when the project is started, we will have to contend with the noise and other inconveniences of construction well past 8 PM for at least several months. Construction should stop by 5:30, at the latest, and there should be no construction on weekends or holidays. We’re entitled to the quiet enjoyment of our town.

· The SDEIS doesn’t address how traffic at the 9/9H/State Farm Road intersection will be handled during construction of the roundabout. It merely says construction will be "staged". What does that mean to those of us who have to deal with the disruption?

· After construction, the retail stores in the strip mall will close at 9 PM, seven days a week. The Hannaford store will operate until 11 PM. The restaurant won’t shut down until 2 AM. (SDEIS page 23.) Widewaters doesn’t say in the SDEIS what the nighttime lighting levels will be when these businesses are open. As businesses close, the lighting in those areas should be turned off to minimize light pollution. Townspeople shouldn’t have to suffer full lighting of the strip mall until 2 AM every morning.

· There is no discussion of how left turns onto Route 9 at both the Maple Lanes and Rapp Road will be affected by the absence of traffic lights at State Farm Road. Those signals regularly break up northbound traffic. Every workday morning I have to make a left turn from Maple Lane North onto Route 9. At that time a lot of traffic is southbound, and even more is northbound. Currently, the lights at Route 28 (at the old Diekelman’s store) and at State Farm Road break up both flows so it’s possible to safely make that left turn. Without the lights at State Farm Road the solid flow of northbound traffic will make it difficult to do so safely.

· The SDEIS says that if a 1-lane roundabout fails to accommodate future traffic levels (and that is sure to happen), a second lane can be added (SDEIS page 77). It goes on to say that the bigger roundabout can be shifted slightly westward onto Widewaters’ property so it will fit inside the existing right-of-way.

· Future traffic volumes are calculated by applying a 2% annual growth factor to the existing volume (page 74) even though the actual growth rate since the late 80’s has been 2.4% (page 42). Widewaters provides no justification for using the lower rate. From the personal experience of those who live here, it could easily be argued that the current growth rate is even greater-- more people are moving into Columbia County and commuting to Albany now than in even the recent past. The larger rate should be used as a lower bound on the growth of traffic volumes. The impact of faster growth rates should also be discussed in the SDEIS.

· Widewaters argues that one of the benefits of a roundabout versus traffic signals is that it slows down traffic. But according to the SDEIS, it is speed-limit signs on the approach that will calm the traffic, not the roundabout itself. The same effect could be achieved by installing lower speed limit signs on the approaches to the current signalized intersection. The SDEIS should discuss this alternative.