Zoning change urged for site

PHOTOGRAPHER: Lee Coleman

The owner of the Coburg Village senior living complex wants the town to change the zoning at Grooms and Vischer Ferry roads so that a $26 million, 78-unit senior apartment building can be located there.

Representatives of developer Wartburg Lutheran Services (WLS) attended a public hearing Monday night in Town Hall on the requested zoning change on the 8.2 acres from neighborhood business to senior citizen apartments.

There are currently 210 apartments on the Coburg Village site. These apartments rent for between $2,800 and $3,200 per month depending on their size. The price includes meals, housekeeping, and transportation to and from shopping. Town officials say there is currently a waiting list to get into these units.

The corner property to be developed includes two old buildings that the developer said are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. One of the vacant buildings is a former tavern and stagecoach stop that dates back to the 1820s.

The other old building is a carriage barn.

Ryan Herchenroether, corporate planner for Wartburg Lutheran, said plans for the three-story, 78-unit apartment building do not include moving the old structures. He said the corporation would welcome a partnership with a local or state historical restoration group to restore the old tavern and carriage house.

The Town Board took no action on the rezoning request but did ask some questions about the project.

Supervisor Philip Barrett asked the developers if the proposal included any improvements to the busy Vischer Ferry Road-Grooms Road intersection.

Gavin Vuillaume, a landscape architect with Environmental Design Partnership, said he didn’t think the addition of the 78-unit apartment building would warrant any changes to the intersection.

Barrett said the developers also own 9.5 acres across Grooms Road from Coburg Village. Herchenroether said there are no current plans to develop this into a nursing home or senior apartments, for which it is zoned.

The developers plan to have a traffic study done to see if intersection improvements are warranted. Barrett said a traffic light at the intersection or the widening of the intersection may be in order if all parcels were eventually developed.

Norman Goldman of London Square, a regular at board meetings, said he was hoping to see government-subsidized rental property for senior citizens at Coburg Village.

“This is nice for people who have a lot of money,” Goldman said about the proposed Coburg Village rental units. “The people who can afford this, they don’t need any help,” he said.