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Neighbors oppose Stewart’s Shops plan near Cohoes falls; Albany County board adds advisory notes
Summary
Albany County Planning Board reviewed Stewart’s Shops’ proposal to replace LePage’s market with a fuel-and-convenience store on North Mohawk Street in Cohoes. Neighbors raised concerns about gas sales, early-morning deliveries, noise, traffic and visual impacts; the board added advisory notes and required state-level reviews.
Albany County Planning Board members voted to add advisory notes and recommended state and federal reviews after hearing strong neighborhood opposition to a proposed Stewart’s Shops redevelopment at 340–342 North Mohawk Street in the City of Cohoes.
The project, which would demolish the existing LaPage’s market and construct a Stewart’s convenience store with gasoline sales, was introduced to the board with staff recommendations for modified local approval and two specific advisory reviews: a review by the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation for potential impacts to archaeological and historic resources, and review by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to determine jurisdiction under bulk petroleum-storage rules and confirm underground storage tank (UST) compliance.
The board heard from Sharon, identified in the record as City of Cohoes staff, who told the county board that roughly 30 residents attended the Cohoes planning-board meeting and that most neighborhood speakers opposed the project because of gas sales, noise, traffic, lighting and potential impacts to views of the nearby falls. Sharon said Stewart’s had made a substantial offer to the market owner but that neighbors remain concerned about canopy lighting and the visual profile of a larger building near residential backyards.
Board members and neighborhood representatives pressed for site-specific mitigations. Concerns discussed included early-morning truck deliveries and associated noise from loading docks positioned adjacent to residences, loss of parking if electric vehicle chargers are installed in existing spaces, and the legacy risk of historic fuel tanks that residents said were filled with sand decades ago. Planning staff noted Stewart’s has remediation capabilities but agreed environmental and historic reviews should be required before issuing a local approval.
Members proposed and agreed to advisory language addressing delivery hours and noise, visual-impact considerations for canopy and building height, traffic-pattern mitigation, and repetition of the state-level review recommendations. The motion to include those advisory notes was seconded and supported by the board.
The board’s action directs local officials to consider the advisory conditions; it does not grant or deny the Cohoes planning board’s authority to issue special-use permits or fuel-sales approvals. The record shows the county’s role here is advisory under New York’s intermunicipal review statute, with the primary permitting decision remaining with the City of Cohoes planning board.
Next steps: the Stewart’s referral will proceed under local review with the added advisory notes and the recommended state environmental and historic reviews.
