Public hearing on revised plan set for May 28

A company seeking approval to build offices and a warehouse at Route 9 and East Mountain Road North is proposing signage, an electronic speed indicator and the donation of land for a right-turn lane to assuage safety concerns.

During its April 23 meeting, the Philipstown Planning Board scheduled a second public hearing for May 28 on Krasniqi Plaza LLC's scaled-down proposal for 9,500- and 5,300-square-foot buildings at 3626 Route 9 for its fencing and heating-oil businesses, and spaces for contractors.

First introduced in October 2023, Krasniqi's project no longer includes three 29,000-gallon tanks for heating oil. They were removed in February 2024 after an outcry that led Philipstown to pass a moratorium on large petroleum storage containers. (The town eventually adopted a law banning big tanks outright and limiting smaller containers to south of Routes 9 and 301.)

In May 2024, the Planning Board held a public hearing on the revised plan, which calls for a larger building with storage and warehouse space for Krasniqi's businesses, offices for contractors and an 8,800-square-foot outdoor equipment area in the rear. The smaller structure contains four units of up to 1,000 square feet that contractors could use for storage, and renters can request a 325-square-foot mezzanine in their unit for office space.

Since that hearing, Krasniqi has shifted its driveway 5 feet to the north, away from a curve south of the property and a utility pole that had sparked concerns about sightlines and the ability of northbound drivers to stop in time for vehicles exiting the property's driveway.

Adam Thyberg, a senior associate with Insite Engineering and one of the project's representatives, said the state Department of Transportation did not consider traffic heavy enough to warrant a traffic light at Route 9 and East Mountain North, but approved the driveway relocation and supports a sign warning northbound drivers of an impending driveway and an electronic sign displaying the speed of those driving above the 45-mph limit.

In addition to those measures, Krasniqi would also be willing to donate land if the town wanted to request from the state the addition of a dedicated lane for northbound drivers turning right onto East Mountain Road North, said Anthony Russo, a regional manager for SLR Engineering, Landscape Architecture and Land Surveying, the Planning Board's consultant.

A turn lane "would facilitate a movement that can be executed without having to turn from the northbound through lane on Route 9, where vehicle speeds can be high, and provide adequate space where vehicles can reduce their speed more safely to execute the near 90-degree turn" onto East Mountain, Russo wrote in a memo to Neal Zuckerman, the Planning Board chair.

Traffic data compiled by SLR Engineering in September 2024 seemingly supported residents' concerns when the firm estimated higher traffic volumes than Krasniqi Plaza and waits of up to one minute and 22 seconds during the morning peak and up to two minutes and 44 seconds during the evening peak to turn south onto Route 9 from East Mountain Road.

But the Department of Transportation later determined that SLR's counts were inflated because they were taken during the renovation of the Breakneck Tunnel, when drivers used Route 9 to avoid delays on Route 9D. One Planning Board member, Heidi Wendel, still had doubts about the accuracy of the state's crash data for Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2023.

Five accidents were reported at Route 9's intersection with East Mountain and Old Albany Post Road, but none involved vehicles turning left from East Mountain and none were in the area of Krasniqi's proposed driveway, according to the company.

Krasniqi agreed to provide updated crash data for the hearing.

"It doesn't seem likely that this is not a dangerous area for people turning south off of East Mountain," said Wendel. "I'm befuddled how it could be the case that this is no...