Milton board approves three-lot subdivision at 652 Ackland Boulevard, conditions set for wetlands buffer and airport easement

The Milton Planning Board voted unanimously to approve a three-lot minor subdivision at 652 Ackland Boulevard, subject to a set of conditions that must be satisfied before building permits are issued.

Lisa Cheney, a resident at 654 Ackland Boulevard, told the board she and her husband had been told the parcel adjacent to their house would remain wetlands and not be developed. "Why are we going to subdivide this? Why are we going to take this land that was meant to be wetlands and preserved?" she asked, saying the neighborhood's trees and wetlands were central to why they moved there.

Town planner Miss Maruso recommended approval but urged conditions, saying the applicants had agreed to grant navigation/approach easements requested by Saratoga County Planning and the county Department of Public Works. "I would recommend ... that it be subject to the review, issuance, and acceptance of the navigation easements," she said, and urged that easement recording be required prior to building permits.

The board completed its SEQRA review after the planner read Part 2 of the environmental assessment and recommended a negative declaration, finding no moderate or large adverse impacts across land use, traffic, historic resources, wetlands, erosion or human health. The board then voted to authorize the chair to sign the short environmental assessment form Part 3 as a negative declaration.

Board members and staff explained that New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) performed a field delineation and a jurisdictional determination under revised DEC wetland rules effective Jan. 1, 2025. Staff said the survey submitted shows DEC-delineated wetlands and that the proposed lots include building envelopes laid out to avoid the wetland buffer; DEC will review exact building placements when building permits are applied for.

Approval was conditioned on (1) filing and recording a navigation easement benefiting Saratoga County Airport in a form satisfactory to the county DPW and county attorney; (2) compliance with applicable town code standards for disturbances in runway protection/overlay zones and employment of best-management practices identified by the Milton planning department; and (3) satisfaction of any other standard conditions (professional-review fees, required filings) before permits are issued. The board recorded a unanimous roll-call vote in favor.

The town clerk will not issue building permits for the new lots until the navigation easement is recorded and other conditions are met. The applicant and staff said DEC will retain jurisdiction to review specific building siting within the approved envelopes when building applications are submitted.

The board closed the public hearing on the application before taking its vote. The planning board indicated it will circulate the final resolution and the recorded plat once the easement and other conditions are satisfied.