The Town of Saugerties Planning Board voted to grant conditional final approval to Elna Magnetic’s plan to add a building to its complex on Malden Turnpike. The plan must still include a final lighting plan that uses fixtures that direct the light down to avoid lighting the night sky.
The plan includes a 15,000-square-foot manufacturing building, which would connect to the existing building via a breezeway and a storage building of just under 19,000 square feet. The plan calls for extending the parking lot by 10 to 13 spaces.
At the planners’ regular meeting on Tuesday, May 17, Engineer Bruce Utter said the main item still outstanding is the lighting plan. He told the board that the lights will be downward facing to prevent glare on nearby properties, as are all the lights now in the complex.
The Ulster County Planning Board had commented on the lack of a lighting plan. Utter said he did send a partial lighting plan to the planners’ consultant, Adriana Beltrani, which shows the replacement of the metal halide lights with LED lights on the parking lot, and adding an additional light pole, Utter said.
The other comment had to do with a new energy code, which Utter said he was not sure was in effect in Saugerties yet. “But anything we have to do to come up to code and get a building permit, that’s something we are going to take care of,” Utter said.
Given that nearly all the issues the board had with the plan have been resolved, Chairman Howard Post suggested the board could grant conditional approval, subject to the submission of an acceptable lighting plan.
One condition was the provision of an electric vehicle charging station. Utter said a charging station is shown on the plans. He also addressed Planning Board member Carole Furman’s assertion that the plan should include a solar power source. A requirement that the building be constructed in a manner to allow a future solar power installation may be included in the state plan, he said.
The board voted unanimously to grant conditional final approval to the plan, subject to the completion of a lighting plan.
Still looking forward to the solar,” said Furman. Board members Mike Tiano and Len Bouren both complimented Utter on the quality of his plans and his discussion with the board.
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