Troy planning staff and neighbors persuaded the Planning Board to pause consideration of a high-density student-housing plan for 1987 15th Street.

Applicant representatives described a multi-unit concept intended to house students in shared suites; the materials in the board packet showed about 36 bedrooms across what the applicant called suite-like units with shared kitchens. City engineering and fire staff raised concerns about emergency access, egress, site circulation and the lack of exterior accessibility to some service areas. The city engineer told the board the current site layout was "maxed out" and that 36 bedrooms represented excessive density for the parcel.

Residents testified at length about parking impacts, noise, damage to sidewalks from service vehicles and the changing character of the street. "This is so egregious that I don't know if it can be really corrected to a point where it's going to fit into the neighborhood," one resident said. Multiple neighbors also expressed skepticism that student tenants would not bring cars and predicted the plan would worsen chronic on-street parking.

Board members and staff agreed the application needed further technical review. The planning board voted to table the application and directed staff to convene a workshop with the applicant, fire and building staff, and code enforcement to address life-safety, parking, and design issues before the proposal returns to the board.

Next steps: Staff will schedule a focused workshop with applicant and city departments to refine unit counts, emergency access, parking arrangements and building code compliance. The item will return after that interdepartmental review.