Troy Planning Board approves Unity House teaching kitchen with crosswalk and easement conditions

At its May meeting, the Troy Planning Board unanimously approved Unity House’s application to renovate an existing residential building at 185 Earl Street and add a 495-square-foot teaching kitchen, conditioned on providing a copy of an access easement to corporation counsel and adding a crosswalk on Earl Street.

The project team said the proposal would renovate the existing building and add a 495-square-foot addition for a teaching kitchen to support skill development. Courtney Davis, representing La Bella Associates, said the addition will connect to the existing structure and that site work will be limited because the parcel is small. Greg O’Connor of Architecture Plus joined Davis at the board table.

The applicants told the board they originally planned to use dumpsters across Earl Street for trash service and had sought a zoning variance to allow off-site trash storage. The zoning board denied that variance on the grounds that Unity House owns the adjacent parcel and therefore could provide on-site trash facilities. In response, the applicants revised the site plan to add a small on-site trash enclosure at the rear of the building sized for two standard bins, enclosed with 6-foot stockade fencing, a gate, a concrete walkway and an asphalt walk to the adjacent property, and an access easement so future owners retain trash access. Courtney Davis said the new plan “eliminated the need for [a] zoning variance” and addressed pedestrian safety concerns tied to moving bins across Earl Street.

At the meeting, board members asked whether applicants still anticipated staff or program participants crossing Earl Street to reach the kitchen; the applicants said some people will cross the street, and that the crosswalk could be added if the board wanted it retained in the plan. Board member Tony Dickinson asked specifically that the crosswalk be included. Corporation counsel recommended that final approval be conditioned on the planning board receiving a copy of the recorded easement for review.

The board approved the application by motion with two explicit conditions: that applicants provide corporation counsel a copy of the access easement for review and that the site plans include the proposed crosswalk on Earl Street. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: the project will provide the easement documentation to corporation counsel for final review and add the marked crosswalk to the site plans before the planning board’s final sign-off.