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After approaching the Lansing Town Board last week, Rocco and Steve Lucente asked the Planning Board Monday for a waiver to their Planned Development Area (PDA) that will allow them to build a new residential building at the same time as a community center at their Village Solars project.  The waiver returns the project to its original schedule that was in place prior to a waiver granted in August to delay the community center to allow time to see if they could make a deal that would expand the whole project, which would have meant a much larger community center.  Since that deal did not come to pass, the Lucentes asked to be able to construct a residential building at the same time the smaller community center is under construction.

"This would bring us back to our original plan," Rocco Lucente said. "It would bring us back to the schedule that we had been planning on uh, prior to our last waiver. And the reasoning for it is that we need to be able to construct two buildings at a time in order to keep our work crews going full year 'round. We have about 50 full time equivalent (FTE) employees working on the site. And in order to get the kind of scale that that we need in order to get them the kind of work that they need, we need to do two buildings a year."

The waiver last summer was controversial because critics said that it continued to delay construction of a community center that was part of the developers' commitment to the Town.  Due to a death in the family an adjoining development became available, and the Lucentes hoped to be able to purchase it.  If that had been successful they hoped to build a much larger community center than originally planned, at a different location that would have been central in the expanded PDA.  The larger building would have kept work crews busy for a building season.

Last week they told the Town Board that they had not been able to obtain the other development, and asked for a new waiver that would allow them to begin construction on a new residential building concurrent with the construction of the originally sized community center in the location originally planned.  Rocco Lucente stressed that they would not seek a Certificate of Occupancy (COO) for the residential building until the community center receives its COO, thus maintaining the Town's leverage over the developers to get the community center done.

Four reasons were stated in a February 11th letter to the Board.  The main reason is to keep a work crew busy that has efficiently built the existing buildings over the years since the project was started.  The letter said it would be a hardship to employees who would have to be laid off, as well as to the project itself because it would hinder the ability to get  financing.  It pointed out that the August waiver was not caused by the Lucentes, but was initiated because the death of a family member had made the expansion of the project a possibility.  A dedicated escrow account was offered as proof to the Town that the developers have the ability to proceed with the next phase of the project.  The letter stated that water and sewer approvals and storm water mitigation plans have been approved by all necessary agencies, or already built and dedicated, and noted that a new waiver would address the hardship while still keeping the Town's leverage to insure the community center is built.

"We were considering possibly building a larger community building, which would have potentially enabled us to sustain the crew throughout the year," Rocco Lucente explained to the Planning Board Monday. "But obviously we're going forward with our original plan now. So that's the reason for the change. I think there's worth the Board remembering and considering that though we are requesting a waiver, there is going to be no change in the building plan. If the waiver is passed in terms of the schedule in which buildings will be delivered, the only difference that would be made is that we would be allowed to start one of the buildings prior to the completion of one of the other buildings.  So the town retains all the leverage that it has in terms of incentive to have us build the center, which we are planning on very much doing anyway, and are very excited about doing."

On February 19th Supervisor Ed LaVigne told the Lucentes they would have to bring their request to the Planning Board, which, in turn, would make a recommendation to the Town Board for final approval.  Approval by the Town board is required because a PDA is basically a zoning law that applies to a specific project that has different requirements than the regular zone the project is located in.

The smaller community center is not that small.  The three-story building will have 20 apartments on the upper two floors.  Amenities like a food shop or restaurant, health club, indoor mail pickup with a secure package pickup, as well as the Village Solars rental office will be located on the ground floor.  Rocco Lucente said they are considering a dog wash, as well.

"Dog amenities are a big deal to our tenants," he said. "They're very, very important."

Last week he told the Town Board  that several amenities have already been completed, including a bus stop, dog parks, a basketball court, and several interior trails. He said a playground will be built soon, and a perimeter path is being delayed to prevent people walking in a construction zone while buildings on the perimeter of the project are being completed.

There was much discussion about the order of events if the waiver is granted, which comes down to this: The community center and one other building would be granted building permits at the same time.  Construction would commence on the two buildings, with the community center about a month ahead of the residential building.  The community center would have to be granted a COO before the residential building is allowed to begin renting to tenants, even if the residential building is completed first.  The Lucentes said they expect the residential building to be completed a month after the community center, which would fit the proposed schedule.  They asked to be able to apply for building permits for two additional residential buildings once the community center COO is granted.  Those would complete the final phase of the project in the following construction season, but they said they would need the permits in order to get financing for those units.  The upshot is that no additional residential buildings can be rented until the community center is up and running.

The board unanimously voted to recommend that the waiver be granted.  The Town Board has the final say, and is expected to act on the waiver at its March 18th meeting.

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