Concerned Citizens For Smart Growth

Smart Growth for a Smart Future in Ballston

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This entry was posted on 5/21/2006 9:20 PM and is filed under Smart Growth.

Welcome to the Concerned Citizens For Smart Growth. We have setup this Blog for our community to share their comments. 

For a year and a half the residents of Ballston have participated in the process of developing a master plan and zoning to protect our town. This plan was developed using the input of our residents and the plan seemed to be on target in preventing large scale commercial development. We had a size cap, protection of our lake corridor and in the 11th hour our town board voted out size cap restrictions and replaced them with having to apply for a PUD (planned unit development) for projects over 90,000 sq ft. Well that isn't really true, it hasn't been decided if it is just individual buildings over 90,000 sq ft or an agrigate of all the buildings square footage.

Call the Town Board and ask for size caps to be restored to the Plan and zoning to enforce the intent of the plan. To protect Ballston from uncontrolled growth and sprawl.

 

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    • 5/31/2006 11:38 AM john marra wrote:
      Please let them built the walmart, it will help with growing a retail business tax base.
      Reply to this
      1. 7/28/2006 11:50 AM Margie Oliveira wrote:
        Dear Mr Marra, I would like to respond to your comment about the issue of Wal-Mart. First Walmart doesn't care about it's employees, the consumer, or any community where it builds their stores.The only thing the board of directors care about is their stockholders. Second, the R... family doesn't care about the community either. They only care about the size of the check walmart will give them. Third, PLEASE think how many businesses will go out of business if walmart builds. Let see, Agway,pharmacies,gift stores,beauty salons,photography stores, stations that service cars. How long will Aldi's, CVS, and stewarts survive after walmart is built. Please remember that Walmart's philosophy is one stop shopping. Shop walmart and you don't have to patronize any other store. That the bottom line. Please give that a serious consideration before you support Walmart. The are in the business of putting others out of business!!!!!
        Reply to this
    • 5/31/2006 12:54 PM CCSG wrote:
      While we don't agree with your desires to have Big Box Stores in Ballston. We do respect that you have the right to voice your opinion.
      Reply to this
    • 6/2/2006 12:04 PM Sarah Shipway wrote:
      Hello. I am 100% with you and am astounded that the caps have been removed. Ballston will be a shadow of it's former self if Walmart and other big box stores come in! I have emailed a NYC-based group that is campaigning against this type of big-box encroachment on small towns and independent retailers. Perhaps if others invite them too, they will make the trip north? Read more at revbilly.com. (I happened to run into a friend that is involved at my college reunion).
      Reply to this
    • 6/3/2006 7:02 AM Jo-Ann wrote:
      Contact Al Norman from www.sprawlbusters.com. He is a wealth of information and can be a great help. I have been in contact with him via phone to possible statagies in helping us in Rotterdam.
      Although, I must say, the people of Ballston are doing much better than Rotterdam. DONT EVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!! EVER!!
      Reply to this
    • 6/8/2006 6:38 AM Cathy wrote:
      Hello People of Ballston,

      Please go to this website http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/ and learn some facts about the walmart that some of you think you want built....especially the section about Community Impact. Ignorance will allow for this big-box store and others to destroy our community! Just drive 10 miles in any direction if you want to go to one so bad...otherwise shop local, keep taxes lower, keep the area nicer and quieter, and protect the environment. Would it help to make a giant poster board listing some educational websites for town people to read? I am all for it!
      Reply to this
    • 6/8/2006 6:48 AM Trevis wrote:
      Wal-Mart Facts and Links
      Here are facts about Wal-mart, taken from Bill Quinn's How Wal-Mart Is Destroying America (and the world) and What You Can Do About it. Below are links to web pages about Wal-Mart.

      As Wal-mart moved into America's urban areas (as opposed to suburban, where Wal-Mart began), it racked up over 12,000 lawsuits.
      In the 1970s Wal-Mart promised to keep its stores closed on Sundays, in the 80s began to keep its stores open Sudnays, and later it kept some stores open 24 hours a day.
      Wal-Mart promised it would never sell alcohol, and it is now the largest retailer of spirits in the United States.
      Wal-Mart now has a massive presence in Canada, Britain, Germany, and Mexico, as well as stores in Brazil, China, Korea, and Puerto Rico.
      Close to 900,000 people are employed by Wal-Mart in America, and no Wal-Mart stores are unionized, except in China. (Thanks to Amy for pointing out that most Wal-Mart stores in China are unionized.)
      Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the world, and it did over $165 billion in sales in 1999.
      An article in Forbes magazine's 1991 "400 Richest" issue described Wal-Mart's basic concept as "Discount stores in small towns and rural areas, each big enough to freeze out competiton."
      Wal-Mart dodges taxes. A lot.
      New Wal-Mart stores study what local independent stores sell and sell it for less--often at a loss--with the aim of forcing independent businesses out of business.
      a 1995 survey in Iowa revealed what had happened in that state since Wal-Mart had arrived in 1983:
      50% of clothing stores had closed
      30% of hardware stores had closed
      25% of building materials stores had closed
      42% of variety stores had closed
      29% of shoe stores had closed
      17% of jewellery stores had closed
      26% of department stores had closed
      On average, about 100 stores go out of business in the area surrounding a town with a new Wal-Mart store.
      According to Residents for Responsible Growth of Lake Placid, New York, for every job created by Wal-Mart, at least 1.5 jobs are lost, and numerous other studies give similar figures.

      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      ALl OF THIS INFORMATION AND DIRECT ACCESS TO THE BELOW LINKS CAN BE FOUND AT THIS WEBSITE:www.babelloyd.com/walmart.html

      Anti-Wal-Mart links:

      Boycott Wal-Mart
      Boycott Wal-Mart more!
      Sprawl-Busters
      Wal-Mart Employee Abuse Forum
      Victory! Stop the Wal!
      The Wal-Mart Associate
      Wal-Mart Personal Injury Survivor
      INC Magazine archive
      Business Journal of Milwaukee archive
      Ithaca, New York ponders the cost of yet another giant Wal trying to invade their community.
      A Sierra Club article on Wal-Mart
      Eight Ways to Beat Wal-Mart
      Ready or not, here comes Wal-Mart
      Wal-Mart and the bible belt

      I hope you take this information seriously as it will affect us all!!
      Reply to this
    • 7/5/2006 11:23 AM Matthew wrote:
      I appreciate all the information that has been posted to this blog. I have a strong dislike for Wal-Mart (although I used to be a customer) now that I've seen what the company has done to neighborhoods across the country. I live in Ballston Spa and support the sprawl mart movement. Let's keep up the fight!
      Reply to this
    • 8/4/2006 9:32 AM Jack Mehoffer wrote:
      I think that the Town should offer subsidies to allow local businesses to sell products at the same price as wal-mart. This way no one can be upset about the decision to not allow wal-mart. I wonder if Ballston, Ballston Spa and Milton could look into this.

      I also think it was wise for the Town Board to review large projects rather than the Zoning Board of Appeals.
      Reply to this
    • 8/10/2006 6:24 AM Ron Allen wrote:
      Perhaps the Town should consider a special taxation district for the Mixed Use and surrounding Hamlet Residential zones. This would allow funds to be collected from both the commercial developers and benefited residential users. These funds could be collected by the Town and help pay for roadway improvements, sidewalks, streetscape improvements and even parkland/recreational trails. These residential users are concerned about change and can help build and pay for what they want. It appears that a tax rate of $10 per $1000 assessed valuation would provide enough money to really move forward in a positive direction. Although a home of $200,000 would pay $200 per year a commercial development of moderate scale would pay $65,000 per year.

      Let's face it; this is a tax in a Town with no taxes (excluding utility taxes). Those speaking out against large-scale development must encourage the Town to move forward and implement a mechanism where we can all pay our share. Otherwise your efforts will be considered more as "Not in my back yard" rhetoric. You must be willing to participate in the solution. This is a good cause to get behind.

      If you are not willing to participate in the solution you will lose your fight against large-scale development.
      Reply to this
    • 8/10/2006 7:52 AM David Stern wrote:
      Ron, Your comments are appreciated as constructive however. There is already a parks and recreation fee on new projects in the town. Where that money is being used is a mystery since we have don't have a parks and recreation committee. Jenkins Park is supported by about 200 families in a seperate tax. We have the Dock (a park?) Not much goes on there, no grass cutting no cleaning out the weeds and a couple pocket parks that service a miniscule section of our community. Commercial development is here and is coming - I ask it to fit the size of our community. The Schultz Project is an example of a developer listening and following the direction of the Master Plan and implementing a Smart Growth approach to there development. Wal-Mart, Widewaters and future developers need to follow suit or move on.
      $10 per 1000 is a lot more than the survey showed people were willing to contribute. I believe $25 -$50 yr was recieved positively in the survey. This money was to be allocated to parks, trails and open space, not roads...
      Taxing Residents in the Hamlets to support expanding roads and adding circles they don't want seems off target to preserve our quality of life. Show me a plan to beautify Ballston while protecting our children. Show me a plan where a developer is offering a benefit to the community to build in Ballston.
      The response from all of Ballston shows this issue is Townwide and not just an issue of "Not in My Backyard."
      Reply to this
    • 8/19/2006 12:47 AM G Toffer wrote:
      Perhaps we can leverage developer's deep pockets to preserve rural lands rather than having them pay to improve the commercial areas. Commercial development along 50 &67 makes sense.
      Reply to this
    • 12/28/2006 5:45 PM Anonymous wrote:
      Wal-Mart gives police little to smile about

      3-year-old Bethlehem store proves to be more of a drain on department resources than anticipated

      By MARC PARRY, Staff writer
      Click byline for more stories by writer.
      First published: Thursday, December 28, 2006

      BETHLEHEM -- The pitch for a new shopping center predicted a modest impact on police: maybe four or five calls a month.
      The reality is the Wal-Mart that came to town sometimes generates that many calls a day.

      After three years in business, the largest store at Bethlehem Town Center is now a constant destination for police in this affluent Albany suburb.

      The Wal-Mart supercenter, which enjoyed a property tax break of nearly $50,000 in 2006, has taxed cops to the tune of 1,175 calls for service since 2004.

      Shoplifting. Lockouts. Drugs. Accidents. Fights. Guns.

      These are a sampling of the calls Bethlehem police get on average more than 30 times a month, according to a Times Union analysis of three years of calls for service to the store on Route 9W in Glenmont.

      "He was extremely low on his estimate," Bethlehem Police Lt. Thomas Heffernan said of the police call projection from the developer, Nigro Companies.

      Bethlehem's experience with big-box crime offers a lesson for other towns facing Wal-Mart proposals. The world's largest retailer has 14 stores in and around the Capital Region. It recently abandoned plans for a supercenter in Rotterdam.

      Nationally, one union-backed group often critical of Wal-Mart raised the issue of police calls in a study titled "Crime and Wal-Mart -- 'Is Wal-Mart Safe?' "

      The review of 551 stores, condemned by Wal-Mart as a selectively sampled attack, found an average of 269 reported incidents per Wal-Mart in 2004. The Glenmont Wal-Mart exceeded that by more than 100 calls, with a yearly average of 392.

      In part, the calls are growing pains that come with a broader transformation along the Route 9W corridor -- the primary growth area in recent decades for a town eager to expand its commercial tax base.

      "It's turning from the bedroom community into more of a commercial community such as Colonie," said Officer Michael Berben, vice president of the Bethlehem Police Officers Union. "I could see within 10 or 20 years 9W being like Wolf Road."

      Today, what was vacant land is now a 200,000-square-foot store. Within Wal-Mart's warehouse-style walls, you can have a pedicure and grab some Dunkin' Donuts, buy a 61-inch television for $2,300 or an eight-pack of hot dogs for 68 cents.

      The advantages for Bethlehem amount to much more than cheap wieners, though.

      Wal-Mart contributed more than $240,000 in school taxes in 2006. It also generates sales tax, brings in customers who spend their money with other local businesses and attracts new retailers.

      The Bethlehem Town Center -- home to Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and three smaller tenants -- will expand in January with Staples, PetSmart and Panera Bread.
      Reply to this
    • 2/7/2007 12:34 AM Kelli wrote:
      Quoting Frank Rossi, about the Boards decisions on commercial development for his land. "What they've done was politically motivated and wrong,"
      My contention is that the village leaders are elected by "US' the people who live here, and if they voted that way it is because we feel that way.
      Mr. Rossi's motivation is obvious, money and a lot of it.
      I for one do not want a Wal-Mart here and feel it will hurt my quality of life. I believe if I am right his property is still zoned commercial. So sell it to someone who will help our village instead of killing our downtown off. Is Mr. Rossi going to do something to help keep the small shops and our pharmacy open downtown, is he going to donate part of his proceeds?? What about the merchants who have sunk their lives in to making our downtown what it is? Where can you drive to past 10Pm and see the traffic lights blinking?? If Wal-Mart were to be voted in by the elected officials of the village, then I would have done my best to make sure they were not re-elected. Everyone who opposes Wal-Mart needs to make sure they are heard, and don't stop because you think we have won.
      Reply to this
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