COTTEKILL – Issues of community character and even national security arose at a Rosendale planning board meeting last Thursday, July 14, during the public hearing portion of a site plan review for the creation of a new office and storage building at Aerostar Petroleum's compound at the corner of Route 32 and Washington Avenue in the hamlet.

Complications arose almost immediately, however, as neighbors of the property pointed out that the building under consideration had already been built, at which point planning board chairman Billy Liggan admitted that "that was an error on the part of the building inspector."

Tensions grew as another neighbor reminded the planning board that Aerostar had previously applied to put in apartments where it's new offices are, and been rejected. The insinuation is that they simply found a way of doing what they'd originally wanted, given the look of the new structure.

Liggan and his fellow planners went on to explain that although looking like residences, the new building was indeed offices on its first floor, and a storage area for the service station company's needed mandated recordkeeping upstairs. They added that county planners had no comment on the Aerostar application.

Continuing, they noted that Aerostar had ensured they were .1 feet from a property line with their building, over its 40 foot limit, and had added the windows "for aesthetics." After much back-and-forth, neighbors seemed to accept the explanations... at which point the idea of better screening for the neighborhood, which includes the old Vann's Market shopping center across Washington Avenue and several other businesses, as well as residences.

Talk shifted, then, for well over an hour as types and heights of trees were discussed, and eventually the idea of fencing for security purposes, given the many gas trucks stored at the facilities. That, in turn, raised issues with the Aerostar property being within Rosendale's "design district," which has specific recommendations regarding lengths of fencing, types to be used, and ways of breaking up unbroken expanses.v While at first objecting to the board's suggestions, speaking about precedent, other applications, and safety measures on his gas trucks, which he insisted were always empty on site, Aerostar owner Tariq Gujar agreed with planners' worries about both vandalism and the possibility of worse, including how more volatile gas fumes were than the stuff in liquid form.

"We consider that facility a terminal," said the board's vice chairman Joe Havranek. "If you want we can go legal and table this to a future meeting."

In the final round, approval was granted for the new structure with conditions that Aerostar keep it as offices and storage, that it put up fencing and screening according to the town's design district standards, and that all be maintained to stay in good stead with the building department.

As for issues raised by neighbors in regards to previous runoff problems from the site, and gas pollution — as well as that matter by which a building inspector's error allowed the new Aerostar building to go up when it shouldn't have, without proper site plan review — Liggan and his fellow planning board members said such things should be brought up with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, on the one hand, and the town board on the other.