I. Introduction

a. Purpose

Defining a clearer land use vision with applicable transportation considerations for the complexity of issues facing the Weibel Avenue – Gilbert Road intersection area on Lake Avenue in the City of Saratoga Springs was the premise for the Weibel Avenue – Gilbert Road Study. The study was proposed by the City of Saratoga Springs as an implementation action of The Saratoga Springs Comprehensive Plan adopted in July 2001. The comprehensive plan proposed that immediate action be initiated to:

“Prepare master plan for Gilbert Road/Weibel Avenue intersection area. A consultant should be retained to assist the City with the preparation of land use plan for the area near the intersection of Gilbert Road and Weibel Avenue. The plan should be developed with significant public participation. It should address design standards, traffic calming actions, road realignment and mixed land uses.”

---The Saratoga Springs Comprehensive Plan, July 17, 2001, page 54 of 66.

An eight-member advisory committee led the study process through its closely defined scope of work, guided by the city’s planner/community development director, and a professional consulting team consisting of Behan Planning Associates, LLC, Erdman, Anthony & Associates, Inc., and Cynthia A. Behan, Landscape Architect. The advisory committee consisted of a representative from the city’s planning board, zoning board of appeals, design review commission, department of public works, department of public safety, as well as three study area property owners.[1]

The committee approached its work with the objective of encouraging and facilitating public discussion to involve the public and obtain direction on the community’s development and protection goals for this sub-area of the city. Committee members listened to, synthesized and have taken into account extensive public input, including a presentation of proposed design alternatives by the City in the Country Land Protection Committee at a committee meeting on September 10, 2003. Evaluating the full spectrum of the public comments and recommendations, coupled with consultant technical input and committee discussion, the Weibel Avenue – Gilbert Road Study Advisory Committee members achieved considerable consensus on the appropriate land use vision for the study area, and developed recommendations for the comprehensive plan, zoning, and for design guidance.

Funding for the study was provided by the Capital District Transportation Committee’s (CDTC) Community and Transportation Linkage Planning Program, a grant program requiring a local match.[2] The CDTC is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization responsible for carrying out federal requirements for cooperative transportation planning and programming within the Capital District area.

b. Location

The comprehensive plan reads ambiguously on the definition of the study area. As a result, agreeing on the boundaries of the study area proved difficult to achieve among committee members. The “study area” was finally interpreted to be the parcels along the Lake Avenue corridor from Gilbert Road to the I-87 overpass. A number of these parcels are large – and whole parcels were included. The resulting Weibel Avenue – Gilbert Road Study area consists of approximately 200 acres of largely undeveloped land east of I-87 between Northway Exits 14 and 15. At the onset of the public participation process, some members of the public commented that the study area was larger than what was called for in the comprehensive plan’s implementation recommendation.

A figure of the study area boundaries is shown below. The area is bisected by Lake Avenue (County Route 29), and includes the section of Lake Avenue identified as a city gateway. The study area experiences local and regional traffic en route to Union Avenue/Exit 14 and the retail establishments and malls at Exit 15, and cross-city traffic along Lake Avenue. The study area includes extensive wetlands, a protected stream corridor, and is adjacent to the city’s Union Avenue rural gateway and the Bog Meadow Nature Trail.

c. Scope and Approach

The study included the following major tasks performed by the consultant team on behalf of the advisory committee:

§ An assessment of existing conditions;

§ Identification of major issues;

§ Design and execution of three public workshops and public outreach;

§ Preparation of draft conceptual plans;

§ Review of study progress with the advisory committee and staff; and,

§ The preparation of a report with recommendations for the comprehensive plan and zoning code.

The findings of this report reflect the highest level of consensus available at the time among the range of views of committee members and their understanding and synthesis of the public input.

d. Public Participation Process

The advisory committee actively involved members of the public throughout the study process. Meetings were announced in advance via the city hall bulletin board, the city’s website, at city council meetings, through advertisements in the local media and at committee meetings. In addition, advisory committee meetings were open to the public, and a public comment period was included as part of each meeting. Upon request the consulting team also met with individual members of the public and the committee outside of regularly scheduled advisory committee meetings and public meetings to gather more input on issues and perspectives. Participants at the public workshops and citizens who provided comments included residents, representatives of Saratoga PLAN, business owners, retirees and employed citizens, residents from the eastern part of the city and the western parts of the city, residents from Gilbert Road, residents from Lake Avenue, local officials, a law student, landowners in the study area and near the study area, committee members. Finally, media representatives reported on the public meetings and the study progress throughout the project.

At the first public workshop on May 22, 2003 at the City of Saratoga Springs City Hall Music Hall, a summary of the existing conditions and issues about the study area was presented to the public. Public input was invited and recorded during break-out discussion groups led by teams of professional planners and designers. Each group reported its findings back to the whole group.

The second public workshop on May 31, 2003, a “hands-on” planning charrette, was held on a Saturday morning at the Lake Avenue Elementary School. Break-out groups consisting of public participants, professional planners and facilitators brainstormed potential alternatives for land use and transportation solutions.

At the third public workshop held on June 26, 2003 at the City of Saratoga Springs City Hall Music Hall, eight alternative scenarios of preliminary concepts for land use and traffic improvements alternatives were presented by the consultant team to the public for feedback and comments with the goal of narrowing down the alternatives to arrive at a consensus.

In addition, representatives of the City in the Country Land Protection Committee presented their ideas for design alternatives to the study area advisory committee in a presentation entitled, “Design Alternatives for Consideration in the Weibel Avenue – Gilbert Road Study” (September 10, 2003). The desired vision and land use of the City in the Country Land Protection Committee is largely that the city should make no changes to the existing RR-1 zoning which is one of the options the advisory committee has set forth. Further, their ideas included input on road alignment of Gilbert Road and other transportation solutions, and about open space for the study area.

E-mail and other written comments were also received by the advisory committee and consultants. Each public comment was carefully reviewed and considered in the study process and in developing the committee’s recommendations.

II. Land Use

a. Existing Conditions

Regional & City Setting

Residential and commercial growth

The City of Saratoga Springs is a growing community, experiencing infill residential development within the “downtown” as well as new development to the west and east sides of the city’s downtown core. About half of the traffic using Lake Avenue and Weibel Avenue travels to and from the west, while the other half is traveling to and from the east, and is attributed to the extensive residential development near Saratoga Lake and other eastern areas of the city. Traffic using Gilbert Road, likely as a route to and from the Route 50 Wilton shopping corridor and malls is attributed also to east side residential development. With the demand for housing in Saratoga Springs and the attractiveness of the community, the growth in the city and its environs is anticipated to continue and will place pressure on the existing transportation system and on the study area. The transportation system and traffic issues within the study area are discussed in more detail in Section III of this report.

Open space lands and protection initiatives

Notably, this study area is part of the remaining 7,000 acres[3] of primarily vacant, unimproved open lands in the Outer District of the City of Saratoga Springs. Extensive efforts have been made to build support for the protection of open space on a city-wide scale, culminating in voter approval of a $5 million open space bond authorization in 2002.

Nearby development and recreation uses

North of the study area along Weibel Avenue are the following land uses and traffic generators: two city ice rink facilities, the city transfer station, Police Benevolent Association facilities, and existing commercial development. This area has significant potential for additional commercial development within the Northern Weibel Avenue area. A speed skating hall of fame is also proposed in the Northern Weibel Avenue area. The Northern Weibel area and the study area, as well as other locations throughout the city are under consideration by a separate recreational facilities committee for siting additional active recreational facilities (indoor and outdoor).

Few north-south roadway options

The study area’s roads are attractive to residents and under pressure because there are few north-south options between the eastern part of the city and the Northway.

Comprehensive Plan

Historically the study area has been largely open lands (not developed) and zoned for low-density residential use.

In the 1999 City of Saratoga Springs Comprehensive Plan, the portion of the study area south of Lake Avenue was identified as a unique area of economic potential coupled with environmental constraints, resulting in a designation as an “impact” and later as a “special development” area. The area north of Lake Avenue remained designated for low-density residential use.

In The Saratoga Springs Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2001, the community identified the east side of the city as the “country” beginning at the Northway (Interstate-87), and ultimately removed the “special development” designation from south of Lake Avenue following much debate and split voting. The 2001 comprehensive plan designated the study area as part of the “Conservation Development District” allowing a base density of one residential unit per two acres of unconstrained land. However, the consensus on the land use vision for the area was still not clear. Thus the current comprehensive plan called for this study to be performed as an implementation action item (p. 54):

Open Space Plan

Citizens previously identified rural character features within the study area in the development of the City of Saratoga Springs open space plan entitled, City of Saratoga Springs Open Space Resources 2002: An Update to the 1994 Open Space Plan. The study area includes a “Signature Gateway” area on Lake Avenue between its intersection with Weibel Avenue and I-87 overpass. The open space plan also identified Lake Avenue, Gilbert Road and nearby Old Schuylerville Road as “Rural Road Corridors.” South of the study area, Union Avenue (NYS Route 9P), is also identified as a Rural Road Corridor. Further, Union Avenue at Exit 14 is considered another “Signature Gateway.” A “Scenic View” is identified along Union Avenue as well. These features are summarized in a graphic on the following page.

Also relevant for the Weibel Avenue – Gilbert Road Study are two nearby “Agricultural Heritage” areas identified in the city’s open space plan. One agricultural heritage area is located about midway on Gilbert Road, just east of the study area, along the east side of the road. Another agricultural heritage area is on Lake Avenue where a small horse farm exists across from the Bog Meadow Trail.

Current Zoning

Applicable zoning code for the City of Saratoga Springs is found in Chapter 240 Zoning Ordinance of the City of Saratoga Springs, New York. The entire study area is within the Rural Residential (RR-1) Zoning District. A significant portion of the city east of the Northway is zoned RR-1. The intent of the current RR-1 zoning is as follows: “…to provide low density residential and agricultural uses in order to preserve open space and a rural character. Limiting topography, soil condition, slopes, and lack of public infrastructure warrant the low densities.” [Chapter 240, Article II]

RR-1 is two-acre zoning, meaning the allowable density per parcel is one unit per every two acres. For example, a 60-acre lot would yield approximately 30 housing units. A zoning amendment for a portion of the study area was adopted by the City of Saratoga Springs City Council on May 20, 2003, following a period of time when a portion of the study area was zoned for higher density and mixed use.

A portion of the study area – the lands along the Lake Avenue corridor – are also subject to the architectural review portion of the zoning ordinance (Chapter 240, Article VIII) as administered by the City of Saratoga Springs Design Review Commission.

Conservation Subdivision Regulations

Further, all applications for subdivisions within the RR-1 Zoning District must comply with the new conservation subdivision regulations, Article IV – Conservation Subdivision Regulations (Added 5/20/03). Conservation subdivision regulations are intended by the city to preserve tracts of environmentally and scenically significant undeveloped land in the “country” part of the city in accordance with the comprehensive plan vision.

The procedure for creating a conservation subdivision requires a conservation site analysis as part of the site layout design process – resulting in the protection of the “constrained lands” of conservation value identified as a first step in the process, and additionally the setting aside of 50% of the “buildable land” as open space. Constrained lands include: floodplains, wetlands, steep slopes, open space and recreational resources described in the city’s open space plan, buffer areas for screening new development from adjoining parcels, and land exhibiting present or potential recreational, historic, ecological, agricultural, water resource, scenic or other natural resource value. The development is focused in a more clustered layout of structures on the remaining footprint of buildable land. In accordance