GUILDERLAND — A-Metro Movers is seeking permission to demolish the M&M Motel at 2360 Western Ave. — a recent haven for sex offenders — as well as a single-family home on the site recently set aflame by a non-offender resident and replace them with 27,000 square feet of self-storage. 

Specifically, A-Metro is looking to build a two-story, 10,000-square-foot climate-controlled building and three smaller so-called cold-storage structures varying in size between 5,100 and 6,800 square feet. 

The site of another motel nearby on Route 2o that had grown seedy in recent years, Governors Motor Inn, now houses self-storage units.

A-Metro’s project was recently before the Guilderland Planning Board for a site-plan review; the town’s zoning board of appeals is the lead agency for the project. 

The board was generally OK with the proposal given its minimal impact on traffic and proposed improvements to the property, but expressed concern with proceeding with the site plan without receiving feedback from the state’s Department of Transportation.

The board also sought to ensure site safety, emphasizing a need for a turning template for fire apparatus to ensure that emergency vehicles could navigate around the cold-storage buildings. 

One fairly extensive topic of conversation was the proposed aesthetics of the facility, with the board raising concerns about the architectural character and visual appeal of the self-storage buildings, in particular the climate-controlled structure. 

The board felt the proposed flat-roof design and industrial-style materials were inconsistent with the desired character of the area and suggested the applicant explore alternative materials and designs. Board members also expressed a desire for the project to have an architectural style and quality similar to nearby buildings, like the neighboring 2390 Western Ave., which undertook renovations somewhat recently. 

With an emphasis on the project eschewing its proposed industrial design in favor of one more consistent with the existing architectural style and character of the area, the board declined to grant site-plan approval with a number of conditions and instead asked A-Metro to come back with a more area-appropriate plan.