Troy planning board pauses review of 81-unit Posting Hill Place project amid brownfield, fire-safety and service concerns

The Troy Planning Commission on Wednesday tabled further action on Posting Hill Place, a proposed 81-unit affordable housing project by Community Builders, after commissioners and city departments pressed the applicant for more environmental documentation and detail about emergency-service access and long-term site management.

The project team said the 2-acre redevelopment would build a four-story, 81-unit affordable building with parking at grade and structured parking on the ground floor, and that the site is enrolled in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Brownfield Cleanup Program. Kelsey Carr, civil engineer for the project, said the team is completing a predesign investigation for the DEC and expects a final remedial report in the fall, followed by a construction work plan. "The project was accepted into the New York State DEC Brownfield Cleanup Program, and the applicant is currently in the process of completing the predesign investigation," Carr said.

Why it matters: Commissioners said they could not complete SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) determinations without updated documentation about cleanup timing and outcomes, and they raised public-safety and service-delivery concerns after lengthy comment from the Troy Fire Department.

During the presentation, the design team described a courtyard with a reinforced grass loop to allow ladder-truck access and said they will provide 98 parking spaces, including 69 internal garage spaces, 29 exterior spaces and 15 banked spaces for potential future need. The team also said the site lies in the 100-year floodplain; the ground floor is planned as open parking to allow flood storage, with three residential stories above. Brian Barker, architect, showed a red-brick–heavy façade designed to respond to nearby four‑story masonry buildings while stepping down to adjacent residential blocks.

The fire department raised multiple objections. A deputy chief representing the Troy Fire Department told the board that the department has not accepted grass-paver access for aerial apparatus and that a 35-foot clear area is required within the courtyard for aerial access. The deputy chief also said a high-voltage transmission line adjacent to the proposed building would prevent aerial operations on the south side and noted operational issues the department has experienced at other Community Builders properties. "We have significant issues. 2 First Street management won't even allow DPU to go in and get an accurate reading of water," the deputy chief said, citing emergency and management concerns at existing Community Builders locations.

Several neighborhood speakers asked about unit affordability levels, access to internal open space and design compatibility with the surrounding Victorian neighborhood. Ian Brew, a resident of Third Street, asked whether neighborhood residents would have access to the planned courtyard and how affordability would be administered. Jesse Battis, a Community Builders representative, said the project would propose a mix of units restricted at 50%, 60% and 80% of area median income under HCR underwriting and that previous neighborhood meetings and letters of support have occurred.

On environmental review and SEQR procedure, commissioners said the project is now a Type I action because an adjacent property was listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places and because the change in zoning under Recode Troy altered permitted uses. Commissioner discussion focused on whether the board should declare lead agency for SEQR and proceed with coordinated review. Several board members said they needed more detailed DEC documentation — including the brownfield cleanup plan, waste characterization and the timetable for a certificate of completion — before they could comfortably pursue a negative declaration.

Action taken: The commission voted to table the project and to delay declaring lead agency for SEQR. "I think we should hold off on declaring lead agency," one commissioner said before the motion to table passed.

What happens next: The applicant said it expects to pursue financing and a construction timeline that would include remediation, with a hoped-for financial closing next June and remediation and construction activities into 2026–27. The board asked the applicant to provide updated environmental documents, DEC correspondence, and responses to the fire department's operational concerns and to return after those items are supplied so the commission can revisit lead‑agency determination and coordinated SEQR review.

Provenance: The initial project overview and project history appear in the transcript at 25:16–26:32 (project scope, Recode Troy impacts). The final motion to table and hold off on declaring lead agency appears at 52:48–52:54 (motion and vote).