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Hurley will temporarily stay on as review board chair

Lake Placid-North Elba Joint Review Board Chairman Bill Hurley, left, watches Christopher Kettler of DMK Development present the design of the proposed Tractor Supply Company store in Ray Brook Dec. 18, 2013 at the North Elba Town Hall. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid-North Elba Joint Review Board Chairman Bill Hurley will stay in his position for at least a few more weeks.

The outgoing chairman, who planned to leave the board at the end of his term on Dec. 31, will instead stay on as chairman to help the board as it nears the end of its review of the Peaks at Lake Placid housing complex at the former W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center.

“It’s going to be for a short time,” Hurley said. “The board agreed we shouldn’t throw a new guy in. I said I’d stay on just to help out. As soon as that project is over, I’m out.”

After he departs, a new chairperson will be appointed to serve a five-year term on the board.

Hurley, who is co-owner of the Hurley Brothers fuel company, has been on the review board for decades. He was first appointed by then-Mayor Jim Strack in 1998 and became chairman of the board in 2005. He’s been part of reviewing thousands of land development, sign installation, boathouse construction and building renovation plans over the years.

This housing complex at the former Cell Science Center, which is being developed by local developer Joseph Barile, is one of the largest projects to come before the review board in some time — perhaps ever. The sprawling complex, if approved, is expected to include 265 new apartments and 90 new condominiums, plus other amenities for residents who live there, such as a clubhouse and fitness center, swimming pool, walking trails, community garden, work center, day care center and recreational fields. Beyond the number of new housing units, this complex is unique for this area in that the developer is planning to build underground parking garages for the units — which is rare in this region — and construct the units with the goal of minimizing the complex’s carbon footprint. The apartments in this complex would also be deed-restricted, barring them from use as short-term vacation rentals.

A public hearing on this project was held last week. The review board meets on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 5:30 p.m., and occasionally has other meetings and site visits depending on the cases before the board.

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