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https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2023/03/14/costco-wholesale-crossgates-plans-review.html

`The project has garnered headlines and spurred legal action since Crossgates' owner requested a special use permit in November 2019 to build the store. More than three years after the owner of Crossgates sought permission to build the Albany region's first Costco Wholesale, the application will be considered for the first time by the Guilderland Planning Board. The board is scheduled to review the site plan on March 22 for the 163,000-square-foot store, 18-pump gas station and 770 parking spaces that would be built on the northeast corner of the intersection at Western Avenue, Johnston Road and Crossgates Mall Road. The project has garnered headlines and spurred legal action since Crossgates owner Pyramid Management Group of Syracuse requested a special use permit in November 2019 to build the store. Two lawsuits challenging the studies of potential environmental impacts — both of which were decided in favor of Pyramid and the town of Guilderland — delayed the start of a formal review of the application. Additional time was needed because of the extensive traffic and engineering studies and revisions to the plans. Now, the application is ready for a formal review. Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq: COST), based in Issaquah, Washington, has 19 stores in New York state, mostly in the New York City metro and Long Island. Upstate stores are in Rochester and Syracuse. A store is also planned for Amherst near Buffalo. The Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals is the lead agency for granting special use permits, but the first step happens at the planning board, according to Kenneth Kovalchik, town planner. The board will review the site plan and recommend approval or disapproval to the ZBA. If the board recommends disapproval, a permit can only be granted with at least four "yes" votes from the five members of the zoning board of appeals. Even if the special use permit is ultimately approved, that decision can be challenged in court in what's known as an Article 78 proceeding. That could happen considering the opposition from some town residents concerned about traffic and other impacts. There will be significant off-site improvements to improve traffic flow around the mall. For instance, construction is expected to start in early April on a roundabout at the intersection of the Interstate 87 Northway exit/entrance. The roundabout is required by the state Department of Transportation to alleviate what has been a high rate of accidents, which are 20-times the national average. The roundabout is also needed for CDTA's new bus rapid transit Purple Line.`