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Planning board approves Unity House teaching-kitchen renovation at 185 Earl Street with conditions
Summary
The Troy Planning Board approved a site-plan revision for Unity House’s proposed teaching kitchen at 185 Earl Street, requiring the applicant to provide a crosswalk in the site plan and submit an access-easement to corporation counsel as conditions of final approval.
Courtney Davis, project manager with La Bella Associates, told the Troy Planning Board the Unity House proposal would renovate the existing building at 185 Earl Street and add a roughly 495-square-foot teaching kitchen to support skills development. “The white box is the existing building. Gray is the new addition,” Davis said while walking board members through revised site plans.
The applicant said a prior request for a zoning variance was denied by the zoning board; in response, the team added an on-site trash enclosure large enough for two standard bins, six-foot shade fencing, a concrete walkway and a proposed access easement to ensure future trash access without crossing the street. The applicant said those changes remove the need for the variance and address pedestrian safety concerns around trash handling.
Board members questioned pedestrian access and whether users of the new kitchen would cross Earl Street. The applicant said the team had originally proposed a crosswalk and signage but removed those items once onsite trash storage was added; they said they could add the crosswalk back in if the board required it. One board member asked specifically about the crosswalk and the applicant replied, “We wouldn't mind adding it back in.”
Corporation counsel recommended conditioning approval on submission of a signed access easement for review. The board moved to approve the site plan with two conditions: inclusion of the crosswalk in final plans and presentation of the access easement to corporation counsel for approval. The motion passed unanimously.
The board’s action is limited to site-plan approval with conditions; the applicant must submit the easement for legal review and update the site plan to show the crosswalk before the approval becomes final.
