Residents of Ballston Spa met Wednesday to give their input on the future of the village.
Planners and village officials have spent the past year surveying locals to garner how’d they like to see Ballston Spa’s vacant, abandoned, and underutilized land redeveloped.
The village was awarded a $153,000 grant in 2021 from the New York Department of State Brownfield Opportunity Area Program to conduct a BOA nomination plan.
“These are key sites and these are sites that have sat vacant for years. People want to have a voice in what happens to them and so having this engagement early is really critical to the success of any future redevelopment proposal in the future,” said Greenberger.
Norabelle Greenberger is a planner with LaBella Associates and has been guiding the village’s study process.
Once the plan is completed later this year, the village will receive a BOA designation, meaning there will be blueprints in place to revitalize the village’s 176-acre core along Route 50.
“This plan is being guided throughout the process by a Department of State representative who’s very engaged in the process and making sure we’re checking all the boxes and getting a plan at the end that will be easily adopted as a designated BOA by the end of the process. So, it’s not a competitive process to get the BOA designation at the end. It’s just making sure that we follow the work plan and did all the required components,” said Greenberger.
Republican Bernadette VanDeinse-Perez has been a village trustee since 2022. She’s encouraged by the turnout.
“I definitely want to hear what the community is thinking. Are we on target as for what some of our thoughts were. We’ve had some meetings ahead of this. I want to hear from folks like do you think this is what fits for the village? I know there’s been some discussion about housing, it’s tough to buy a house. I’m looking for a house. And also very connected to our business community and what’s going to support that. What’s going to support what exists, what’s going to allow other businesses to come in. We’re a very business-friendly community and we want to stay that way,” said VanDeinse-Perez.
Taylor and Madeline Fenoff are placing stickers next to some potential options for public artwork and park designs that could go into the village’s downtown.
Whatever direction the BOA study ends up going in, they’d like to preserve the village’s current aesthetics.
“It’s got a lot of similar vibes to Saratoga, small town a lot of nice restaurants. Still pretty walkable right now, but it’s a lot cheaper than Saratoga which is nice,” said Taylor Fenoff.
“It’s cute. It’s just really cute. When I am describing it to people who aren’t as familiar I’ll often bring up like a Hallmark Christmas village, you know? You’ll drive down during Christmas with all the lights set up and it’s quintessentially that or like a cute, cozy farming game,” said Madeline Fenoff.
Julie LaPolt has been living locally for about eight years and works at an in-home daycare. She’s left a note on one of a number of posterboards commenting on the plan’s proposed mission statement. She wants the focus to stay on the needs of village residents, not what might attract tourists.
“It’s not overcrowded and really busy and often times you can park to what you’re trying to get to. So, I think if we start to try to focus on what tourists or outside people want for the village you might lose what the people who live here really enjoy about the village. And I think improving the village for the people who live here, all of those other things will follow,” said LaPolt.
The input will be presented to village officials in the coming months and the public will get a final chance to comment on a master plan in the fall.
