Schenectady’s Planning Commission Board on Wednesday approved a controversial site plan for the construction of a Starbucks on Erie Boulevard, but neighborhood advocates are accusing the city’s mayor of tipping the scales.
Daniel Flynn is the co-founder of Schenectady Residents for Responsible Development – a group that opposes the board’s decision.
“Predictably the Planning Commission approved the site plan,” Flynn said.
The decision is the latest development in a years-long story, beginning in August 2021.
That year, the owner of the property on 1100 Erie Boulevard – Electric Erie Development LLC – appeared before the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals to request a use variance for a drive-in only restaurant.
But the use variance was tabled.
The owner appeared before the appeals board multiple times until the variance was formally denied in 2023.
But then, on May 14, 2025, an attorney representing the property owner made another appeal to the board, questioning their interpretation that Starbucks’ principal use would be considered a “drive-in establishment.”
Such a designation effectively prohibited the Starbucks from being built. But attorney Andrew Brick says he successfully convinced the Board of Zoning Appeals that night that the Starbucks would be a “fast-food restaurant” with a drive-thru as an accessory use.
“Which is allowed within the zoning district in which the property is located,” Brick said.
The problem, say members of Schenectady Residents for Responsible Development, is that the May 14th decision came only after Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy urged the Board of Zoning Appeals to approve a designation that would allow for a Starbucks at the site.
In a letter to the chair of the zoning appeals board obtained by WAMC, McCarthy wrote, “your favorable consideration of this application is appreciated.”
That letter, dated May 14, 2025, was the same day Brick presented his argument to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Flynn, of the neighborhood group, says the letter is potential evidence of corruption. McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Now, after Wednesday night’s decision by the Planning Commission, an entity separate from the appeals board, Flynn and his group contend that the Starbucks project should never have made it this far.
“We believe the Board of Zoning Appeals actually amended the zoning ordinance, and in so doing, they circumvented the authority of the city council, we think this is illegal and we’re hopeful that the judge in the state supreme court, Article 78 will see it that way too,” Flynn said.
Wednesday’s Planning Board decision comes as Haley Whalen – owner of Arthur’s Market in Schenectady – and her husband Harry Whalen together, with Stella’s Pasta Bar owner Christopher Sule filed a joint lawsuit under Article 78 challenging the zoning board’s May 14 decision.
Arthur’s Market sells a variety of coffee-based products, and Article 78 is a case filed in New York State Supreme Court challenging an order made by an administrative agency.
Sule says he is disappointed in Wednesday’s Planning Commission decision, which is effectively the final step before the project can begin construction.
“It’s just a very busy area that I just personally don’t see the value of drive thru coffee outweighing how busy it is and how unsafe it can feel,” Sule said.
Still, Brick is confident that his arguments will hold, even in court, contending that unclear definitions in the zoning code favor the owner and the development of the Starbucks.
“I think that any reviewing court will eventually uphold the decision of the zoning board of appeals because the argument I made to them is the same argument that would be made to the court and it’s supported by the underlying zoning juris prudence involved,” Brick said.
