Westerlo honors Hometown Heroes in closing ceremony

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

COEYMANS — Local residents voiced frustration and anger over the clearcutting of trees from a plot of land on Bronk Road owned by Carver Laraway during Thursday’s meeting of the Coeymans Town Council.

Laraway is also owner of the Port of Coeymans.

Rumors have been circulating around the community about what the land will be used for moving forward, with some speculating that the site will be used as a future landfill to discard of waste, tires or other debris.

Robert Rosenberger, environmental health and safety manager for Carver Companies, and Sydney Kane, marketing and public relations manager for the company, appeared before the town board and said the rumors are untrue.

“We are here tonight to provide a statement on that Bronk Road project. There is a lot of miscommunication and a lot of rumors and we’re here to debunk some of that information,” Rosenberger said. “The two major rumors that we have heard… are concerns about it being a waste site, a tire facility, and a C&D (construction and demolition) debris site. That is completely not true. That is false information.”

Rosenberger contended the property will be a “homestead” with a barn and pastures, and that there are no plans to use the site for dumping waste materials.

“It’s a residential area, it will stay a residential area,” Kane added. “It won’t be a C&D facility, tire facility, none of that.”

The site is roughly 56 acres, according to Town Councilwoman Marisa Tutay. Rosenberger said he did not know how many acres of trees were cut down, but Town Supervisor George McHugh said the permit allowed for up to 30 acres to be cleared.

Bronk Road is zoned as an R-1 district, designating residential use, but because there is no access to public water or sewer at the property it “defaults to R-A” zoning under the current code, McHugh said.

A resident asked what types of projects are permitted in an R-1 versus an R-A district. McHugh said he did not know offhand but that the zoning information was available on the town website.

According to the town website, R-1 is designated “Single-Family Residence” and R-A is “Residential and Agricultural.”

Under the code, “Dumps” are not permitted in R-1 districts; they are permitted in R-A districts with the issuance of a special permit.

Rosenberger contended the site will not be used for waste disposal.

“It won’t be that,” he said. “The property is a home with a barn and pastures.”

Rosenberger said a house is already on the land, but he did not know who would live in the home, which is currently vacant.

He said he did not know how many trees had been cut down but that Laraway had received approval from the Department of Environmental Conservation for the clearcutting project.

“All the necessary approvals were in place to proceed with the work,” he said. “Carver was granted all necessary stormwater and work permits from New York State DEC for the work occurring onsite. We verified no other permits or authorizations were required from the town of Coeymans before commencing with the work. The use of the property will be consistent with all the zoning laws.”

Resident Sara Pruiksma asked about a machine that was seen on the site earlier in the day and what is was used for. Rosenberger responded that it is used when there is soil erosion.

“We are being compliant with the New York State DEC. When you have erosion, you have to make sure that that erosion is controlled,” he said. “That is a practice that you have to do — you spray hay or straw on it so it can’t erode any more and that is recommended, and actually you have to do it through DEC. That’s what we were doing today. It’s just hay.”

McHugh noted that the property is privately owned and that the town does not have regulations against cutting down trees on private property.

But residents remained skeptical.

“Town residents, when we see a bunch of trees cut down, there’s going to be questions,” resident and planning/zoning board of appeals member Melissa Stanton said. “I understand it’s his property, he can do what he wants. We just want to breath fresh air. You are cutting down a lot of oxygen right there. It’s a lot of trees.”

The clearcutting is permitted under town and state law, Rosenberger responded.

“All I can say is it is permitted for that property. It’s been engineered with our consultants and we went through the right steps,” Rosenberger said. “I can’t tell exactly why the trees were cut down. The property owner decided to do that and that’s what he did, and we went through the proper channels to do that.”

Town Councilman Stephen Schmitt said there is little the town can do because “there haven’t been any rules broken.”

“I think everybody’s asking great questions and I think that the people that live in that area want to protect what they have and when they see things going on they want to ask these questions and I totally understand that,” Schmitt said. “But I think we also have to remember that this is personal property.”

The town’s zoning code does not have restrictions on cutting down trees, he added.

“He privately owns that property,” Tutay said. “You wouldn’t want somebody telling you what you could or couldn’t do on your property… He is within the legal rights of ownership, he’s  not falling outside of any zoning restrictions, so while I understand your concerns, it still goes back to what Mr. Schmitt said — it’s his property.”

Resident Adam Derway expressed concern over the effects of the loss of trees on the surrounding environment.

“You are destroying the trees that have been there and you’re saying a hundred years ago there was a farm (pasture) there. Why are you now trying to switch that back?” Derway asked.

“Because the owner of the property decided to do that. Period,” Rosenberger responded.

Town Councilwoman Linda Bruno said Carver Companies’ projects are strictly overseen by the state DEC, and that over the years, Laraway has brought improvements to the community.

Resident Carol McDonald said the clearcutting was a dramatic change for the community.

“This was a very horrible thing that happened to a lot of people,” McDonald said. “People are very upset and I think it is wonderful that you came because it helps alleviate some of the concern — maybe — but still, visually it is a very dramatic or drastic change for everyone and if I were living there and that were now my backyard, I’d be very upset.”

McDonald suggested the company try to find a middle ground and create a buffer, with plantings, between the Laraway site and its neighbors.

Rosenberger said they would take that into consideration.