Because the applicant (Rapp Road Development, LLC, which is a front company for Pyramid Company that owns the Crossgates Mall) did not post supplemental notice placards according to Guilderland Town Law adopted on Dec 3, 2019, the Guilderland Planning Board was forced to continue the October 14th Virtual Public Hearing to this coming Wednesday, Oct 16th at 7:00pm.

They were seen the day after the public hearing, October 15th, posting the notice which should have, according to the law, been posted all year.

After the Guilderland Planning Board has completed this Virtual Public Hearing they are likely to move to consideration of the site plan for approval to build 222-unit apartment and townhome development with 3,900 square feet of commercial space on the currently wooded lot on Rapp Road, south of Gipp Road.

Please virtually join us at this next meeting of the Rapp Road Working Group where we will review where things stand now with Pyramid's over-development proposals and discuss our next steps.  Click here for the Working Group Meeting Agenda and access instructions (pdf).

Because on Friday, November 20, 2020 Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch ruled that Town of Guilderland Planning Board’s SEQRA process for the Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects “violated SEQRA procedure and the ‘hard look’ test, rendering the  . . . approvals arbitrary and capricious, null and void.”

This will likely be our last meeting of the Rapp Road working group.

Our agenda will be to celebrate, answer questions, and review what we have learned from this long and arduous process that we can apply to other projects in Guilderland.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, the Guilderland Planning Board will be holding a Virtual Public Hearing and "possible" consideration of the site plan for approval to build 222-unit apartment and townhome development with 3,900 square feet of commercial space on the currently wooded lot on Rapp Road, south of Gipp Road, by Rapp Road Development, LLC, which is a front company for Pyramid Company that owns the Crossgates Mall. 

Click the following link for 10/14/20 Agenda Packet For Planning Board and to watch the Virtual Public Hearing online: https://play.champds.com/guilderlandny/event/68

Please virtually join us at this next meeting of the Rapp Road Working Group where we will review where things stand now with Pyramid's over-development proposals and discuss our next steps.  Click here for the Working Group Meeting Agenda and access instructions (pdf).

We also need to raise more money for experts to review the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and prepare for the future since these proposals continue to steamroll through Guilderland boards.  Please make a donation to support this effort at: http://rapproadgofundme.org/

Please virtually join us at this next meeting of the Rapp Road Working Group where we will review recent events, the status of Pyramid's over-development proposals and discuss our next steps.

The detailed agenda for this meeting has not yet been created for this meeting, but when it is we will post it here and send it out to our email list.

We also need to raise more money for experts to review the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and prepare for the future since these proposals continue to steamroll through Guilderland boards.  Please make a donation to support this effort at: http://rapproadgofundme.org/

The GCRG and Save The Pine Bush are planning a socially-distanced, mask-wearing "Stop The Pyramid Scheme" protest at the Guilderland Town Hall at 6:00 pm on August 26th to greet the members of the Guilderland Planning Board as they arrive for a specially scheduled meeting to issue their findings statement on the "overdevelopment" Rapp Road, the Mall Ring Road and Western Avenue.  

This is the second special planning board meeting to accommodate Pyramid (Crossgates), which is currently suing the town of Guilderland because they do not want to pay their full share of taxes.

Please join us to make one more strong plea to this board to put the environment and residents first.  

If you don't feel comfortable being outside with the crowd, you can still attend and express yourself from your vehicle in the parking lot with signs on your car or holding them out the window, flashing lights, etc.

We ask that you bring your own sign and typical gear for being in public (i.e. mask, and hand-sanitizer or gloves).

Also, we need to raise more money for experts to review the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and prepare for the future if the Planning Board doesn't do the right thing.  Please make a donation to support this effort at: http://rapproadgofundme.org/

On July 29, 2020 the Guilderland Planning Board accepted as "complete and accurate" the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and its accompanying appendices.  On July 31, 2020 a Notice of Completion was filed with the NYSDEC Environmental Notice Bulletin (ENB).

Now the Guilderland Planning Board will be meeting on August 26th to finalize a Findings Statement which they must do within 30 days from the filing of the Notice of Completion with the ENB. It is the only item on the agenda for this specially scheduled meeting.

The GCRG and Save The Pine Bush are planning a socially-distanced, mask-wearing "Stop The Pyramid Scheme" protest for this meeting at the Guilderland Town Hall at 6:00 pm on August 26th.

Please join us at this meeting of the Rapp Road Working Group on August 25th to discuss finalizing plans for the protest the following night and our next steps after that.  Click here to download the agenda for this virtual meeting and instructions on how to join it.

Also, we need to raise more money for experts to review the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and prepare for the future if the Planning Board doesn't do the right thing.  Please make a donation to support this effort at: http://rapproadgofundme.org/

This is an added special of the meeting Guilderland Planning Board that was not on the original calendar for the year. The agenda for this meeting has one item, "DECISION ONLY - Consideration of Adopting the State Environmental Quality Review Findings Statement for the Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects"

This is the second special planning board meeting to accommodate Pyramid (Crossgates), which is currently is suing the town of Guilderland because they do not want to pay their full share of taxes.

The dedicated page for the Environmental Impact Statement - Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Over-development Projects on the town's website says that this meeting will be used for the Guilderland Planning Board to issue their findings statement.

GCRG and Save the Pine Bush will be demonstrating outside of the Town Hall starting at 6:00pm socially distanced and with masks.  See "Stop the Pyramid Scheme" Protest for more details.

Public comments are due on May 26th by 4:30pm for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) regarding the proposed development by Pyramid (owners of Crossgates Mall) on Rapp Road, the Mall Road and Western Avenue to build up to 360 Apartments with up to 3 five-story apartment buildings, up to 50,000 sq ft of office space and up to 278,900 sq ft commercial expansive retail including including a Costco with a 700 car parking lot and a 16 pump gas station.

The public is encouraged to provide written comments attention to Kenneth Kovalchik, AICP, Town Planner by email at kovalchikk@togny.org or by mail to: Town of Guilderland Planning Department, 5209 Western Tpk., Guilderland, NY 12084.

We have created these "Sign and Send" letters that you can send as is or with your own edits:

• Sign and Send a Lead Agency Comment
• Sign and Send a Guilderland Impact Comment
• Sign and Send a Environmental Impact Comment

According to the public hearing notice:

the Planning Board of the Town of Guilderland, as SEQRA Lead Agency, has determined that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”) for the Type 1 action entitled Rapp Road Residential /Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects is complete and adequate with respect to its scope and content for the purpose of commencing public review and comment, and will conduct a public hearing on May 13, 2020at 6:00 P.M. at the Town of Guilderland Town Hall, 5209 Western Turnpike (Route 20), Guilderland, New York, pursuant to 6 NYCRR 617.9,to obtain public comment regarding the DEIS.

Pursuant to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.8, which bans large meetings due to coronoavirus (COVID-19), and Executive Order 202.1, which suspends the Open Meetings Law, the meeting will be held electronically via conference call instead of a public meeting open for the public to attend in person. Members of the public may listen and view the meeting live on Verizon channel 34 and Spectrum channel 1303, on the Town website, and may dial (518) 579-3721 to participate in a conference call. Minutes of the meeting will be transcribed and posted on the Town’s website.

Click here see the full public notice, click hear for the Town's webpage for Draft Environmental Impact Statement and click here for meeting agenda that has the guidelines for how the public hearing will be conducted.