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Troy board approves variances for 12 townhouses at 604 Seventh Ave; approval conditioned on engineering and fire requirements
Summary
The Troy planning/zoning panel approved area variances for a 12-unit townhouse project at 604 Seventh Ave in Lansingburg (PLZBA 20250011) by a 4-1 vote. The applicant reduced variance requests from 41 to 14 and agreed to a 20-foot alley requirement and conditions tying final design to city engineering and fire-department sign-off.
The Troy Planning/Zoning Board on a 4-1 vote approved area variances for a 12-unit townhouse development proposed for the former Catholic Central High School football field at 604 Seventh Ave (PLZBA 20250011).
Developer representatives told the board they reduced the original variance request from 41 variances to 14 after redesigns and removing front driveways. The project would place the townhouses in groups of four along Seventh Avenue, with middle lots narrower than the 40-foot lot-width requirement in the zoning code and some units exceeding the local maximum building-frontage percentage.
Applicant representative Joe Pernichero explained the changes, including a new 20-foot alley behind the homes to accommodate fire and garbage trucks and to respond to neighbor concerns about trash. Pernichero said the alley width was set after discussions with the Troy Fire Department and that the developer would meet any additional engineering or public-works requirements if the board approved the variances.
Neighbors raised parking and green-space concerns in public comment. Nicole, a Lansingburg resident, urged denial, citing public-safety, fire, police and neighborhood service pressures and arguing the additional housing would worsen local strains. Another commenter, Timothy Finn, objected to density and projected off-street parking demands. The applicant responded that the project aims to provide affordable, first-time-homebuyer units and that prior project changes and added parking for the nearby converted school have eased some street-parking pressures.
Board members framed approval as conditional. The motion that passed explicitly required final alley and turnaround details to meet Troy Fire Department, Department of Public Works (DPW) and planning-engineering requirements and directed that any approval be specific to this project so it would not be read as a precedent for other developments.
Outcome and vote: the board approved the conditional variances by a 4-to-1 vote. The motion included findings that the proposal would not change neighborhood character if the stated conditions were met and that the applicant had shown no feasible alternative that avoided the variances.
The project team said they plan to return with finalized engineering details and that dedication of the alley to the city and any required curb cuts or turnaround geometry will be worked out with city departments.
