Developers present Main Street schematic showing storefronts and three floors of housing

Representatives for a development team presented a schematic and photo-simulation for a corner site at Drew Avenue and Main Street, showing retail storefronts at grade and three residential floors above.

Jason Anderson of ADG Architects explained the design decisions that inform the proposed building height, saying mechanical and energy-recovery units (required because of New York State all-electric building requirements) need rooftop space and parapet allowances to make the ground-floor storefronts practical for restaurants and other retail uses. “If we wanna put a restaurant in there, something like that, 11 feet is generally what we'd be recommending,” Anderson said while walking trustees through floor heights and the need for ductwork and mechanical plenum above the first-floor ceiling.

The schematic showed roughly 40 residential units (a mix of one- and two-bedroom layouts) with parking accessed from the rear. The presenters emphasized the goal of storefront-facing commercial along Main Street and said they had discussed the parcel with more than a dozen development teams during outreach; they added that the developer teams—not the local nonprofit AOG—are advancing specific building plans.

Questions from residents and trustees focused on whether a 50-foot code limit would force projects to request variances for rooftop equipment, how many cars the project could generate and whether environmental review and planning-board site design would address facade and visibility concerns. The trustees said zoning changes would not eliminate the planning-board and zoning-board processes, which will include public hearings and tests such as balloon tests to show proposed building heights in context.