Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Perfect. All right, so first of all, thank you everybody for your patience. We're going to call the meeting to order at 6.05 p.m. But before, I'm going to go over who's here, and then I'll make a brief statement, and then we're going to get to what's on our agenda. So I am Glenisa Gaillard. I am the chair of the planning board, and here with me I have Shadi Kadak, I want to pronounce everyone's name wrong, right? So just be patient with me. Rachel Breister, we have Paige Barnum, I remember, Barbara Bailey, our attorney, and planning board staff. So before we get moving, I do want to do a very quick statement. So before we proceed today, The two items on our agenda for tonight, and we only have two items tonight. As Chair of the Planning Board, I would like to address a significant interest that has been expressed by regional residents for a conceptual proposal to locate a data center at the site known as Kenwood Commons located at 451 Southern Boulevard. As of this time, the City of Albany does not have an application for a data center or any other use to be located in Kenwood Commons. If at any point the city does receive an application, it would go through the required municipal review process, which would include public notice and public comment throughout this process. As there is no submitted application for planning staff review, the planning board will not be hearing public comment on this or any other conceptual proposals at this time. This is consistent with our longstanding policy. we encourage anyone with additional comments on the inclusion of the data center in the city's USDO to please reach out to your local and state elected officials so that appropriate policies and regulations can be put in place to respond to your concerns. So thank you. So with that, we're going to now go onto our agenda. Even though we had scheduled two items, there's actually one, and we're postponing another item for our next July board meeting. So we're only going to deal with project number CUP, which is a conditional use permit, dash 2026-09, located at 56 Robin Street. This is a conversion of an unoccupied ground floor into an event space. The applicant is McKinley Branch, if Mr. Branch is available to come on up. I've been there you know I've been I've been on Robin Street since 1993

corner right there that's where I was first from 1993 to 2011 right on Robinson on then I got that building right there in 2012 to today not been there with 34 years that's my block so I mean I'm trying to do an event space down there you're building a half a block big It's really big enough. You know, I've been doing a lot of family events and stuff like that. People want to share it and I want to share with the community. And basically, I got, you know, I protect that area. I've been holding it down for more than half my life. You know what I'm saying? So everybody want it. So I'm trying to get what they want.

So I'm assuming it will just be a rental space.

I mean, I'm mostly doing for family and stuff like that, but they're getting older and all that, and they want to do their little birthday parties and stuff like that. I've been doing stuff, but they said in order for me to let other people share it, I got to do this. I had to build it for everyone. No never no complaints, no never nothing. I take care of that area myself. I've been doing it for, like I said, as long as I have.

No worries. No, I totally get it. We just have to make sure it conforms within our No, I've been going through this since January, so.

So you're saying like birthday parties you're not trying to have like a club space?

No, it's not a club, it's an event space.

Any questions from the board?

So there's two meetings a week, right?

Yes, there's two doors in the front. Two doors. They open backwards. Everything is zoned out. We can go there right now. Trust me, it's ready.

So you have two bathrooms, I'm seeing.

Yes.

All right. And no kitchen.

No, no. It's just a vent space. So just for the vent. No food. You got to bring what you bring in. Ain't none of that. Ain't no gas line. Ain't no none of that. Ain't no water line. That's it right there. That's it.

And what about parking?

I mean, the parking is real good because that's Sherman Street. That's in back of Central. You know, so most of the stores on Central Ave, they're the whole block. So nobody lives back there. You know what I'm saying? Like Sherman Street, like on this side of the street, nobody lives. And then you got the whole Central Ave. Basically, Sherman Street is the back of Central Ave. All the stores on Central Live, they let out on Sherman Street. So that's the back door. Nobody lives that whole block all the way going down, you know what I'm saying, from the school up on top of the school all the way to Lexington. If you look, nobody even lives on the whole Robin Street. From the corner of Central Robin all the way down to Sherman Street, nobody even lives there. That's my building, the whole block almost. but nobody even lives there across the street nobody lives on robin street just looking from here it's not clear because yeah you can park on robin street yeah you can park on robin street that's why i parked right in front of you you can park on robin you can park that's why you don't see no cars all the way down that street that's all back up see that's all the back essential app okay so it's all the way parking all the way up you know what i'm saying all the way down that street and all across robin you see nobody lives there from From Central and Robin, all the way down there, nobody lives there. So that's all parking. That's why you don't see no cars there right now. And after five, Central Ave closed. So nobody even, nobody been living there. You know, it ain't just start today. It have been like that forever.

I understand the hours to be tonight. Yeah.

So, I mean, it's a vent space, so I mean, what do the hours have to be? There's a certain amount of hours that have to be if somebody's doing a party, you've got to tell them to get out.

I'm sorry, I just sensed the application says 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

I just had to put something on there. That might be vague because it all depends on what type of vent.

So I would check with the city code, because that tells you what hours you can go up to.

So whatever I have to comply with, obviously I'm going to comply with it. I don't have a problem with it. Right, so on this application, it says, on the application submitted, it says 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Yeah, I just put a general, I just put a general hour because somebody, you know what I'm saying, there's a general in there. Different thing, if somebody do a baby shower, that's going to be in the morning time. That's not going to be at night time, so it's... Any other questions from the board? And that lot right across, I could use that lot too. See that lot right across, the empty lot right across where nobody's at.

But you have to make sure nobody owns it, do you?

No, I know what you're talking about.

That's one block.

I could park there. I could do a picnic there. I could do whatever I want.

I got you.

I got you. I got you. I'm just saying.

Any other questions?

All right, so if there's no other questions, I'm going to hand it over to the planning board staff.

You can see my public comment, obviously. It's not the usual CP that we see for additional unit. It's just for a change of use to what we categorize as restaurants, because we don't really have an event space definition in our code. We classify it as a type 2, so no further action is required. As you can see in the restaurant definition, it does mention, you know, incidental fail, blah, blah, blah. It does generally fit within that, but because restaurant is conditionally permitted in this district, it requires .

And we did refer it to planning board. We got that recommendation back yesterday to defer to local consideration. They did ask that the applicant elaborate on types of events and gatherings, but that's an introductory comment. and I feel we have generally understood what the proposed gathering events would be.

It was just a quick analysis of the block. There are some residential units, but obviously also parking and vacant persons. Yeah, there's nobody living there. So it's not the usual residential conversion criteria. It's just the review standards for the completion of this permit. So it didn't seem like a result of a random pattern of development. It's, you know, it's entirely internal. There would be no change to external character in the neighborhood.

And we've discussed the hours, that gives us no live music, just a Bluetooth speaker.

So it seems that the noise would be, you know, relatively mild, and there's a maximum capacity

come before us.

The MUID obviously is for both residential as well as commercial.

It just generally fits in there.

Obviously the commercial side is kind of on the other side of Sherman, along Central, and there's some residential as well. So again, it just generally fits within that neighborhood description.

There are other restaurants in the surrounding neighborhood, obviously along Central.

but as the application does not propose to cook any food or sell liquor, it doesn't seem like it would be a direct competition to that, and it doesn't necessarily have any harmful cumulative effects on any similar uses. There aren't necessarily matching event spaces in the general area. As we said, there's no external work proposed, so there would also be no modifications or changes to the existing utilities or facilities. And as we discussed, there seems to be generally parking spaces available.

And as the applicant said, the event space would primarily be used for personal, family events, and just kind of general community.

That is what we had. Based on conversation, I can just We haven't seen any complaints about this piece or anything. There's nothing in C for the Fix or in our website. Did just want to say, you know, formerly cabaret license, now accessory entertainment. If at any point there were to be live music or more kind of a louder amplification that could prompt that.

No, ain't no live music. I want to be clear on how we define live music.

So live music isn't just like a band coming in, that includes a DJ. So if you're gonna have a DJ, that can be considered live music as well. So I just wanna be clear that we, you know, I understand that live music.

So when somebody do a party, they can't do, they do a band.

You can do it out of a Bluetooth speaker, but you can't do, you can't bring in a local DJ to do a party. With an amp, right? Huh?

With an amp.

Yeah, it's really about the amp. It's really about the amp. Right.

So what you gotta do is do that.

You got to have a cabaret like some sort.

I was going to say, vent spaces, they be having, you know, you go to vent space, they doing all types of stuff. They probably don't have a cabaret. You know what I'm saying? It's like, all right.

Just saying it for the record, we don't expect anything from you right now.

Now, I'm glad you're saying it because I got, you know, you see other people doing stuff and you figure, you know, they doing it, you know, I don't know if they came with a poster or they did it the right way.

You want to do it the right way.

Yeah. Sometimes. The way they're doing it, I could just did it, it'd take me half a year. I see why sometimes they gotta do what they gotta do, because you gotta survive out here. I get what you're saying, everybody's doing their job, but people gotta survive. How's somebody gonna survive if it take them 10 months to open something up? I'm just laying it out there. Everybody gotta eat, everybody gotta survive. You feel what I'm saying? So you gotta look at the whole spectrum. You can't just look at one side and figure that's the way it is. That's cool, but then it ain't cool when you in that same position. So it depends on who's in that position, and that person's gonna have a different understanding, a different perspective of the idea as well. So that's just how I feel about that. I know I'm protected, and I'm gonna hold it down like I've been doing.

I think it might be helpful to provide a printout of what the definitions are, so that way it's clear as to what it is. There's no... That way you understand the process.

I understand. It's just some more paperwork. If I want to do something else, I got it. I got it pretty much.

You'd also have to get approval from the fire department, the police department, various, a sign-off from your common council member.

Yeah, that's why it's important to see the document to understand the process.

What do you mean? You just lost me with that. i thought this is this is the approval no this is the approval but if you want to have more ample what we're talking about oh all right yeah yeah i already know what the city and all that yeah i already know about all right yeah that's the city thing right there i really yeah i was yeah i was just getting ahead of me okay because i got something else going on with the club and stuff and they're doing that they got okay so i know i know what you're talking about

So based on that, staff recommends that we approve the Condition of Use Permit, CDP-2026.09.

Can I get a motion?

Second?

I'll second it.

Okay, thank you. So it's been properly moved and seconded. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any lands, declarations? All right, so is class.

Congratulations. Oh, well, thank you. So what that mean? She said I got to call some other people. That's why I ain't move yet. Well, I got to call now.

No, that's right. If you are seeking a cabaret license. Oh, I thought you said you got to call this person.

Because I already did with the city. Somebody from the city, Andrew ,, a man came in. He worked for him down there. He told me what to do. So I already know him when they come in. That's why I said we can go over there right now. So I know I had to fill out some other papers, like for COs and stuff. I filled out some other stuff, too.

That's for the building department, right? Yeah, so that's it.

So you've done it for the building department. Yeah, I really did that. But I guess they got to come back and do some stuff, too. Like, that's what I'm saying. I don't know. I did that. All this stuff way back in January. So they'll contact you whenever you want to come back out.

Yeah, they'll definitely contact you.

Oh, so they got to come back out now?

I'm not sure. If you've got the CO, that's not our department. All right, all right, yeah, I'm good.

All right, good, all right, all right, good. I don't know, this has been confusing. Thank you, I appreciate it. Have a good night. A lot of people outside.

All right, so that is the only thing that was on our agenda, so do we have a motion to adjourn? So moved. All right. Yeah, we don't need to vote on adjourning, but all set.

Thank you.

Oh, that's wonderful. Yay.