To the Editor:
I am a resident of Meadowdale Road, Altamont. The following letter refers to the possible approval by the town of Guilderland of a special-use permit for property Ben Radtke is contracted to buy, on Frederick Road, between Gardner Road and Meadowdale Road, to be used by his Dumpster container business which is B&B Containers Inc.

His business is a valuable asset to the community’s needs, but locating it in a rural/agricultural setting primarily occupied by family homes and farms would be out of place and destroy the character of the community that already resides there. That kind of Dumpster business should find a home in an industrial type setting.

I asked Mr. Radtke why he would introduce such a business into a neighborhood where he lives.

I also asked him why he would risk alienating his neighbors by subjecting them to any increase in local truck traffic.

He responded, as I remember, that he didn’t understand the merit of my questions. In the December minutes of the Albany County Planning Board, I understood the board disapproved of Mr. Radtke’s proposal and recommended that Guilderland do the same.

It is clear that the special-use permit would be inconsistent with nearby land use and incompatible with the surrounding Black Creek Marsh wetlands.

The proposed site is at the head of the Black Creek watershed. Is there going to be a containment pad for all the Dumpsters to catch rainfall that will ultimately wash over potentially contaminated Dumpsters before runoff gets into the groundwater?

What about the viewshed that was mentioned in the Helderberg Escarpment Planning Committee Planning Guide and recommended by the vice chairman of the committee, Lindsay Childs, who was then a member of the Guilderland Zoning Board in 1995?

In last week’s Altamont Enterprise story, “Area residents come out against proposed contractor yard in rural Guilderland” [titled “Contractor yard raises rural brows”], it states that a zoning board member remarked that Mr. Radtke’s project “just sounds like there might be a lot of driving around on this road in Guilderland, is that correct?” To which Mr. Radtke answered, “No not at all, that’s where everyone is getting confused.”

He then portrays the eventual traffic from Dumpster trucks as only being himself coming and going in the morning and evening once a day!

This I believe is false representation!

Last year, in 2021, Mr. Radtke’s Dumpster trucks were often and regularly traveling Meadowdale Road during the day. I thought they were working locally and the increased traffic would eventually end. Mr. Radtke currently resides on Meadowdale Road, as do some of his family members at different locations. Mr. Radtke states that, at any given time, between half and three-quarters of his Dumpsters are in use so they won’t all be on the property at one time.

How do we or the town know that this will continue to be true at all times in the future?

What if he expands his business and his Dumpster-container inventory doubles or triples from 100 Dumpsters to 200 or 300 Dumpsters? 

What guarantees do the residents of Frederick and Meadowdale roads have regarding changes to the nature of Mr. Radtke’s business concerning its future growth and frequency of traffic generated by his business, as well as by his trucks and his customers?

He has said he will be selling construction and Dumpster equipment there, and also selling topsoil, which will require dump trucks that I haven’t even heard mentioned.

Guilderland’s highway superintendent has already signed off on the proposed quantity and weight of the trucks that are going to utilize the town roads.

What you may not have heard is that Mr. Radtke was told that he will not be permitted to turn left when leaving the proposed property, which will spare residents on the western portion of Frederick Road and on Gardner Road from having to endure the eventual truck traffic resulting from the special-use permit.

It was explained to me that this was because the Guilderland Highway Department wanted Mr. Radtke to utilize the shortest route to a more substantial roadway, being Depot Road.

This does not prohibit Mr. Radtke’s trucks from using all of Meadowdale Road, to not only access Depot Road, but also Route 156 at the other end.

So why infringe on the lives of some Guilderland residents while sparing others if the truck traffic is not problematic?

And who pays for the increased wear and tear on these public roads that is created by one man’s business? Residents who obviously would be affected by this project were not adequately notified, in my judgment.

The chief building and zoning inspector for the town of Guilderland said mailers were sent to neighbors as a courtesy and that what is required by law is a notice in the newspaper, which we all know would take an aggressive reader to be constantly scanning the finer print of the legal notices to find one that affects somebody personally. Last week, the legal notices amounted to 7½ pages of reading.

Common sense almost never comes into play with government. All that was simply needed was a local tax parcel map, which the tax collector uses to send out school and property tax statements and anybody could easily assess who would be affected by a project like Mr. Radtke is proposing.

Since it includes increased truck traffic, it should include everyone on the immediate local roads, like Frederick Road, and all of Meadowdale Road, while also including maybe Hawes Road and Gardner Road.

Lack of transparency often looks like it’s covering impropriety. Government must work harder to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

The zoning board takes issue with Albany County’s disapproval of Mr. Radtke’s project, partly citing a minor clerical error regarding the town’s name and claiming the county was trying to “once again” “usurp” the town of Guilderland’s authority.

What trivial and petty claims to combat the county’s findings! Are you kidding?

To me, if Mr. Radtke needs a special-use permit in this area of town then by definition of a “special use” the planning board and zoning board members better do their diligence when they are coming to a final determination. 

That would include the opinions of all the residents who are going to have to live with the consequences of their determination.

Why would the appointees of the town of Guilderland go against the wishes of a vast majority of residents against this project and the Albany County Planning Board to find in favor of one individual who is trying to put a business where it obviously doesn’t belong?

The code does not say they have to vote to approve! So why would they?

Timothy J. Albright

Meadowdale

Editor’s note: The Enterprise prints notices from local towns and school districts together each week under the heading “Public Notices” as distinct from the many pages titled “Legal Notices” for companies forming a limited liability company, or LLC, so that the local government notices may be easily accessed. Also, anyone can sign up for a free email from The Enterprise that lists, in large type, local government public notices.