Amazon Sees First Public Support

By Joshua Walther

SCHOHARIE - During the latest Schoharie Planning Board meeting on Tuesday evening, members opened a public hearing to field questions and comments about the Amazon warehouse proposal.

To open the hearing, the Board first received a quick presentation from Amazon and their developer FSI, which recapped the effects of this potential warehouse to Highbridge.

The project, to be built on the same lot as Highbridge but boasts greatly reduced impact, will be half the size, have less traffic, create more jobs, and have less stormwater drainage off-site than if the lot was empty.

In addition, Amazon’s team of engineers from McFarland Johnson stated that there will be no perceived increase in sound and noise, thanks to attenuating walls and fences to be built adjacent to neighboring properties.

Over the past few months since Amazon revealed its proposal for the first time, the project has received near-unanimous negative feedback from the local community, who stated that everything felt too corporate for a small town like Schoharie.

However, as the Board asked for statements from the public, more supporters showed up instead.

The first resident to speak brought up the community host agreement that was implemented in the Town’s comprehensive plan for situations just like this, which encourages interested corporations to invest in the Town itself in order to run their operations.

“If Amazon could invest in, say, a new firehouse, that would be really beneficial,” she said.

Another resident had hope that Amazon would stay in the area, saying “It’s felt a little disappointing to see businesses come and go from here. That lot has just been vacant, so let’s do it.”

“I love that presentation,” said a third. “It answers a lot of questions I’ve had. I’ve seen little towns die on the vine because they didn’t want to expand, and I think this would be great.”

However, not everyone was happy with the idea of Amazon’s warehouse marring the scenic views of the Valley, as one resident said “The Town is considering sacrificing the gateway for little financial gain. The whole Town will be affected forever.”

They went on to further say “I ask you to look at the minimal benefit to Schoharie and the immense benefit to Amazon.”

His statements were followed up by another’s, who vouched for the local wildlife and brought documentation to support her claims.

“I feel like at the last meeting I was brushed off, but this project will impact the population of eagles. Once we lose them, they’ll be gone forever.”

However, there was another outpouring of support in response, spearheaded by Chairman Bill Federice from the County Board of Supervisors.

“You folks have been so thorough,” he said, congratulating both the Board and Amazon’s team. “I understand the concerns from neighbors, but we have to consider the entire picture here.”

Darlene Patterson from the Schoharie Promotional Association spoke as a resident of Schoharie, stating “I love the country, but I’m a realist, and the cows aren’t coming home. There’s a lot of fields for hay around here, but that’s not what we need.”

Julie Pacatte from SEEC gave her support to the project, noting that the high assessment value could ease the tax burdens of everyone, and Amazon would have to pay for water and sewer usage in the business park, allowing it to further flourish.

Finally, a representative from Capital Region BOCES spoke in favor of Amazon, saying “We have no concerns regarding traffic and buses. We also have over 450 business partners, and Amazon is already talking about how they can join our network.”

Once everyone had a chance to speak, the Board thanked the audience for their comments and noted that the public hearing will continue throughout a special meeting on September 30th, and invited everyone to attend and voice their thoughts for further deliberations.