Hearing on Ski Lodge fire training school Thursday

6/21/2017

By Patsy Nicosia

The Town of Cobleskill’s Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on plans to turn SUNY Cobleskill’s ski lodge into a fire training school this Thursday at 5:30pm at the Mineral Springs Road Codes/Conference Room.
Under discussion will be a request from SUNY Cobleskill Auxiliary Services for a “special exemption” that would allow it to renovate and then lease the vacant ski lodge to 454 Fire LLC, a START-UP NY company, for training firefighters.
Zoning for the site is complicated.
The CAS, which owns the six-acre parcel that includes the ski lodge, is private and so subject to local zoning.
New York State, which is exempt from local zoning, owns the adjoining property.
CAS wants to turn the ski lodge into a bunkhouse for 454 Fire LLC, but that’s not a permitted use in Rural Residential, which the site is zoned, nor is it permitted by a special use permit.
The bunkhouse could be permitted if the ZBA grants a special exemption, but while the possibility exists in the town’s zoning code, one has never been granted and the criteria for special exemptions are not well-defined.
454 Fire plans to use the state property for fire training, which will involve burning a variety of materials and teaching firefighters how to extinguish them—something that has concerned neighbors, who worry about drifting smoke.
454 Fire representatives have said there’s no cause for alarm and will be at Thursday’s hearing to explain the project and answer questions.