Save the Pine Bush Press Conference
We discussed the judge's ruling overturning the flawed environmental review of the Pyramid scheme proposed in the Albany Pine Bush.
Sunday November 22, 2020 — Save the Pine Bush
Save the Pine Bush – SBP, GCRG & Westmere Ter Residents Press Conference
It seems that the Pyramid scheme and its enablers, the local revenue addicts got the book thrown at them by the judge.
Judge denies development of new Guilderland Costco and Rapp Rd. apartments | WNYT.com
An Albany Court Judge rules the challenged approvals of a future Costco near Crossgates Mall and the development of more than 200 apartments on nearby Rapp Road “arbitrary and capricious, null and void.”
Save the Pine Bush and the Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth says they’re pleased to announce this court victory against the Guilderland Planning Board.
Guilderland’s Environmental Approval for Costco and Rapp Road Site Plan Approval for Apartments in the Pine Bush Ruled Null and Void�by Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch | Guilderland Coalition for Responsible�Growth
Save the Pine Bush and the Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth are pleased to announce a court victory against the Town of Guilderland Planning Board. Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch stated in his decision that the Town of Guilderland Planning Board’s SEQRA process for the Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects “violated SEQRA procedure and the ‘hard look’ test, rendering the . . . approvals arbitrary and capricious, null and void.”
The 77-page decision meticulously reviewed the entire State Environmental Quality Review (SEQRA) that the Town of Guilderland Planning Board applied to this project proposed by Rapp Road Development, LLC (aka Pyramid). Throughout the decision, the judge noted the many places where the actions of the Board were “arbitrary and capricious” and did not take the SEQRA required “hard look” at the proposed project.
The criticism began almost immediately, with the decision stating “On scrutiny, the record herein is replete with conclusory self-serving and equally troubling representations made by the project sponsor [Pyramid], without the support of empirical data, which, unfortunately, the Planning Board relied on. That is not the stuff that the SEQRA hard look test is made of.” [emphasis added]
The decision noted in great detail how the project would harm the Rapp Road Historic District and the Westmere Terrace neighborhood. Several times, the decision observed that the project sponsor merely stating that their proposed project was allowed by the zoning, that did not constitute a “hard look.”
The lawsuit was brought by four residents of the Westmere neighborhood and Red-Kap sales.
Lou Ismay – For the People Episode 7
Lou Ismay formerly of the SUNY Albany Protect Your Environment Club now has a very interesting podcast.
