With more than four years since a proposal was made, plans for the Beaver Pond Subdivision are still on hold.

Monday night’s meeting of the Saratoga Springs Planning Board evaluated a proposed Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) as part of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and found it to be incomplete, leaving questions regarding storm water and feasibility unanswered. Plans for the subdivision can not move forward until the FEIS is deemed complete by the board, said City Planner Jaclyn Hakes.

SEQRA is a mandate by New York State to review all environmental impacts a project may have on an area. The proposed Beaver Pond Subdivision will be near wetlands which house bog turtles, Karner blue butterflies and many plant species. It is slated to sit on about 200 acres of land near the Geyser Crest neighborhood off Route 50 across from the Spa State Park. The subdivision is being proposed by Saratoga East Avenue Associates, a group of New York City developers.

“We’ve been working on this for four years,” Scott Varley, spokesperson for Saratoga East Avenue Associates said. “It’s time to move this forward.”

He added that the development would attract second-home owners and “empty nesters” due to the smaller size of the lots.

After reviewing the FEIS, the board decided Monday to hire an independent consultant to determine the feasibility of the project.

“If or when the board decides that the FEIS is complete, we will move forward with plans. The board will take into consideration the public’s opinion, but there is still a lot of data and information that needs to be gathered before the SEQRA is complete,” Hakes said.

If the findings of SEQRA are deemed negative, the project will move forward. If the findings are positive that there will be significant environmental impacts, the project will be killed, Hakes added.

Residents of Geyser Crest have been boisterous in their attempt to quell the building of the subdivision, stating traffic and safety of the current residents and students at Geyser Road Elementary School are their main concerns.    

Mary Beth Delarm, a resident of Geyser Crest for more than 20 years, is very concerned about the proposed subdivision and believes that the area cannot handle 90 more homes due to energy issues, storm water drainage and traffic.

“Heat surges in the summer time are a prime example. We have lost power over and over because the current power supply isn’t enough for the current demand. How can we responsibly add more homes?” she said.

Delarm and many of her neighbors have worked together to read through the FEIS to find out more about the project. There are already water issues in the neighborhood, as storm water drainage has caused areas to have more than three feet of standing water and resident Patrick Maher lost his shed and had his driveway ruined because of flooding.

“We already have extreme flooding and the water has no place to go,” Delarm said. She added that the residents use well water for drinking and home use and are afraid of contamination by standing storm water.

“We just want to make sure studies are done thoroughly and fairly before any decisions are made,” she said.

Planning Board President Clifford Van Wagner said there will be another public hearing and review of the FEIS before any decisions to move forward or kill the project will be made.

“The clock won’t start ticking until the FEIS is deemed complete,” he said. “Until then, no one will make a move.”