Extension Granted for Comment on Saratoga Redevelopment Plan
by Mike Kane
The comment period on a massive redevelopment plan of Saratoga Race Course by the New York Racing Association has been extended by two weeks, Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen said Monday.
With the original comment period for the environmental review of the multi-year project set to expire on June 15, Yepsen contacted Robert Williams, chairman of the Franchise Oversight Board, which monitors NYRA, on Friday and asked for a 30-day extension. Yepsen said that residents of Saratoga Springs had reached out to her last week with some concerns about the redevelopment–which has an estimated cost of between $110 million and $170 million–and wanted a bit more time to take a look at the plans for America’s oldest racetrack.
Among the changes being proposed on the frontside areas accessible to the public, is a major new entrance to the track on Lincoln Ave. near Siro’s Restaurant; construction of the three-story clubhouse extension with a restaurant and space for high-end hospitality and luxury suites at the site of the At the Rail dining tent; a new permanent building in the paddock that would house the racing office and the jockey’s quarters, which might end the Saratoga tradition of jockeys walking through the crowd before and after races; expanding the backyard area to Union Avenue, eliminating over 600 parking spaces; moving the clubhouse entrance closer to the Wright St. gate, which would create more space for the clubhouse addition; redesign of the paddock to improve sight lines for spectators (click here to view the project on the NYRA website.
Funding for the project will come from revenue NYRA receives from the video lottery terminal casino at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The five-person FOB voted unanimously to move the deadline for the comment period to June 29, said Lee Park, the spokesman for the New York State Gaming Commission.
“I’m grateful to the Franchise Oversight Board, the OGS (NYS Office of General Services) and NYRA for granting two more weeks of a public comment period,” Yepsen said. “I think that gives residents a chance to review a very hefty proposal of 21 projects and allow them some more time to digest the information and move forward with their written remarks.
“One thing I’ve heard is that around the track the neighbors are concerned about traffic patterns. I think they are trying to go through all of the diagrams and the maps and get a handle on what this mean for the city and for their neighborhood.”
Yepsen said the NYRA changes on the west side of the state-owned property and expansion at the nearby Saratoga Casino and Raceway could produce quite a bit of traffic along Nelson Ave. She said it might be a good time for the state Department of Transportation to take a look at access to that part of the city.
The redevelopment of Saratoga Race Course is not a new subject. Turnberry Consulting of London unveiled its plans for Saratoga Race Course on Sept. 1, 2011, but there was little talk about the project after New York State took control of NYRA in May 2012 and a temporary Re-Organization Board was put in place. However, there were two public hearings conducted in 2013, which generated minimal comment. Plans for the project surfaced again in late April, to the surprise of many people, including Yepsen, when NYRA presented documents to the FOB that were approved. The comment period was established and a public hearing was held on May 28 in Saratoga Springs. NYRA did not participate in the public hearing.
Yepsen said she would welcome another informational meeting on the redevelopment proposal, though none had been scheduled on Monday.
“I think that would be great,” she said. “It’s hard for a lay person to read the environmental review and really understand it. Even our Local Advisory Board said that this is a lot to digest and they are a little more informed about NYRA and the plans than others. Anytime a presentation could be done for the public it would certainly give everyone more opportunity to review it.”