Prop residential project up against historic Shaker family site

Major high-density housing prop in Colonie historic district seeks zoning change

COLONIE – Developers of a high-density housing and commercial complex proposed for the open fields and wetlands of the over 200-year-old historic West Shaker Farm property are pursuing a possible change to the zoning laws.

The project, introduced by Rosetti Acquisitions to the Colonie Planning Board in December 2022, proposes 338 residential units in 15 new buildings, as well as a 15,000-square-foot retail space and 24,000-square-foot office building.

The proposal, which is still in the early sketch plan review phase, has raised concerns among the public and the board given its location in the Watervliet Shaker Historic District.

The plan also includes a clubhouse and convenience store as well as 1,003 parking spaces.

On Sept. 24, the developers approached the Planning Board asking them to consider a change in the zoning of the nearly 38-acre site from a Commercial Office designation to a Planned Development District, as the latter allows for more density and flexibility than other zoning options.

Once the project finishes the sketch plan phase, a formal PDD application must be approved by the Town Board before the project is returned to the Planning Board for further recommendations and development planning.

The property, owned by Rosetti Acquisitions, sits along Watervliet-Shaker Road between the BOCES Career & Technical Education Center and Afrim’s Sports Park.

Daniel Hershberg, of Hershberg & Hershberg, the land consultant firm representing Rosetti Acquisitions, told the Planning Board the project includes four fewer residential units than the last sketch and will also likely see a decrease in parking spots from the 1,003 spaces now proposed in the sketch plan.

Of those parking spaces, 779 are surfaced, above ground, and 224 are garage parking.

Hershberg added that the site contains several wetlands that may require some of the buildings to be moved back to comply with new amendments to New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act.

Several Planning Board members shared concerns that the project could hurt the integrity of the Watervliet historic district, which was home to the first settlement of Shakers in the United States and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It just seems like a tremendous amount of over-building on a historic site that goes back 200 years,” said board member Richard Barlette.

Planning Board Chairman Steven Heider echoed this concern, saying the current project proposal “creates the look of a lot of apartment buildings,” diminishing the public viewscape of the historic area.

The Shaker Heritage Society, a nonprofit that works to preserve the integrity of the 770-acre historic district, raised opposition to the proposed project. In a letter submitted to the Planning Board, Johanna Batman, the society’s executive director, said the project is on the Watervliet Shaker West family site, one of the original Shaker villages, which still contains five historical buildings including a dwelling house, granary and barn. While Batman believes only the barn will be taken down under the current proposal, she said the density of the project threatens the historic landscape of the area.

“By eroding the physical context of this historic site, it will effectively be destroyed,” she wrote.

Hershberg said the majority of the historical buildings on the West Shaker Farm parcel will remain.

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