Malta to hold second public rezoning hearing September 17

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

View of Route 67 in Malta looking east with residential property at right. The second and probably final public hearing on a proposed commercial rezoning of state Route 67 will be held at 5:45 p.m. Sept. 19, the Malta Town Board decided.

The second and probably final public hearing on a proposed commercial rezoning of state Route 67 will be held at 5:45 p.m. Sept. 19, the Malta Town Board decided.

The plan to rezone a busy two-mile stretch of highway from residential use to commercial is controversial – residents of Route 67 support the plan, but those on Raymond Road oppose it.

The first hearing, on Aug. 15, lasted more than an hour, with strong feelings expressed on both sides. A decision is possible on Sept. 19.

Town Board members generally support the change, which would allow offices, restaurants and other commercial uses on the highway frontage between Northway Exit 12 and Ballston Spa.

On Wednesday, the board tentatively agreed to a proposal by Town Supervisor Vincent DeLucia for a one-way road coming off Raymond Road. If the land in between is commercially developed, that would allow Raymond Road residents to access Route 67 through the development at a roundabout by the Malta medical complex.

DeLucia said his plan would address residents’ concern that making a left turn from Raymond onto Route 67 is dangerous, due to heavy and fast-moving traffic.

“I feel that rezoning would be to the advantage and safety of the people on Raymond Road,” DeLucia said. “The traffic is only going to get heavier over time, we know that.”

Other board members said the idea may have merit, but they wanted to hear the reaction at the public hearing.

One Raymond Road couple said they didn’t like the idea, and feared the one-way road would lead to more traffic on their road.

“This kind of puts the nose under the tent,” said Bruce Carlton. “What’s to stop them at some point in the future making it two-way?”

Route 67 resident Tom Hickey urged the board to remember why highway residents sought to change the zoning – Route 67 has become a dangerous place for families to live, he said, and residential property values have dropped.

The stretch of highway was zoned residential in the 1960s with the concept that it would give the town more latitude to turn down or modify commercial proposals along the highway. Since then, it has become a major route to the Northway as western Saratoga County has grown in population.

Also Monday, the Town Board asked the Saratoga County Board of Elections to put a library funding referendum on the Nov. 8 election ballot.

The Women’s Round Lake Improvement Society, which operates the Malta-Round Lake libraries, is seeking a $48,000 increase in funding, bringing total funding to $339,000 annually. The funding must be approved by referendum.

The library has received $291,000 in funding since 2011, when a voter referendum established the library tax.

Library officials said the requested increase would raise the library tax by three cents per $1,000 assessed value.

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.