Schodack

Neighbors who live next to where Amazon is planning to build a one million-square foot distribution center on Route 9 in Schodack say they feel let down by the town Planning Board's decision to OK the project without further environmental study.

But they have yet to decide if they will take legal action against the town.

"Our reaction is disappointed," said Adam Brunner of the Birchwood Association, a group of homeowners who live in the Birchwood Estates neighborhood next to the Amazon site. "Residents have less rights than big businesses. It's very wrong and upsetting."

Brunner and other members of the Birchwood Association had urged the board to issue a so-called positive declaration for the project that would have required an in-depth environmental and planning review study known as an environmental impact statement. They have also created a web site called Save Schodack that outlines their concerns.

However, upon the recommendation of the town's engineer, Richard Laberge of Laberge Group, the Planning Board voted July 2 to issue a negative declaration that moves the project forward without the need for the study, which would have significantly added to the cost of the project and the time it would take to build the facility, which is expected to open by next year.

The Amazon facility is expected to employ 800 or more people with shifts around the clock, and it is designed to handle large household items, ranging from kayaks to household appliances . There would be more than 1,000 parking spaces for employees.

Rensselaer County officials are offering to reduce the taxes on the site by 50 percent to ensure that Amazon comes to the site. Amazon has yet to respond to multiple requests for comment from the Times Union about the project, and it is believed that the state is also planning to offer Amazon economic incentives as well even though the project appears to be on the fast track for completion by next fall.

Brunner did not say if the Birchwood Association would file a lawsuit against the town or the Planning Board to force a reconsideration of its decision. An Albany environmental attorney, John Privitera with the law firm McNamee Lochner, had previously said during a public hearing for the project that a positive declaration was required under state law for a project of that size.

"We are still weighting options." Brunner said.

However, McFarland Johnson, a Saratoga Springs engineering firm hired by Scannell Properties, says that such large facilities have moved forward recently in upstate New York without a positive declaration.

A June 28 letter sent to the Schodack Planning Board in advance of its June 2 vote by McFarland Johnson cites a 930,500 square-foot distribution center being built by Tractor Supply Co. in the Herkimer County town of Frankfort. The letter notes that the town's planning board issued a negative declaration in that case as well. A year ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to offer Tractor Supply Co. $3 million in state tax breaks for building the project, which is expected to create 350 jobs.

The proposed Amazon site is located on two parcels totaling 116 acres that is just south of Exit 11 of Interstate 90.

Scannell Properties

The most recent plans submitted by the project's real estate developer, Scannell Properties, shows that truck traffic out of the facility would have a right-turn-only exit, forcing truck traffic south on Route 9 toward Exit 12 to get onto I-90.

The Town Board would still need to approve sewer and water line extension to the Amazon property for the project to move forward as well.