By Jared Castañeda
The Town of Montgomery planning board held a brief but eventful meeting last Monday, March 30, approving the negative declarations for European Outdoors’ multi-tenant commercial development proposed for Hawkins Drive and Yum & Chill’s Wendy’s restaurant proposed for State Route 208.
The meeting opened with a public hearing for European Outdoor’s project, a 74,290-square-foot multi-use building proposed for Hawkins Drive near the ShopRite Plaza. The building would be two stories tall and comprise retail space on the first floor, office space on the second floor, storage space at the rear of the building, and six loading locks for truck deliveries.
Lauren Monroe, an engineer representing the applicant, stated that the project last appeared before the planning board on February 9. The board was originally going to continue the project’s hearing on February 26, but postponed it due to weather conditions. Since February, the developers have resubmitted the project plans and addressed comments they received from planning agencies.
“We were last before the board on February 9 for the continuation of the public hearing. Since then, we’ve resubmitted and addressed comments,” Monroe said. “We were on the agenda for February 26, which got cancelled due to weather so we postponed the hearing until today.”
Following Monroe’s update, the planning board closed the public hearing and adopted the project’s negative declaration. PB Chairman Jay Beaumont stated that his board, after careful review, determined that the project would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. Beaumont noted that he and the board were unable to prepare a site plan approval resolution for the meeting due to staffing and health issues, but assured that a resolution would be ready by their April 13 meeting.
Following European Outdoors was Yum & Chill’s project, a 2,200-square-foot Wendy’s restaurant proposed for 2102-2104 State Route 208, across the street from the town’s Taco Bell. The restaurant would include a drive-thru, parking, and an outdoor seating area, and would be accessible from NYS Route 208 and a private drive.
Isabelle Hayes, an attorney of J&G Law, and Andrew Mailloux, director of development for Yum & Chill, represented the applicant during the meeting. Neither had outstanding updates for the project, however, other than mentioning their project’s postponement in February due to weather.
Similar to European Outdoors’ development, the planning board closed the public hearing and adopted Wendy’s negative declaration, under the determination that the project would not have a significant adverse effect on the environment. Beaumont added that he and his board would have a site plan approval resolution ready by April 11.