The Clark Foundation's plans for a new storage building along the Route 28 gateway to Cooperstown are evolving to address concerns of the Otsego town planning board.

Joe Middleton, Vice-President of Facilities Management at Bassett Healthcare said late Tuesday morning that plans for the building have changed — primarily the siding which was originally steel.

Middleton, who is overseeing the project because the hospital will be one of the building's primary occupants, said the design has been modified and that they are now considering using wooden board and batten siding similar to the siding on the storage building at the Otesaga Hotel.

The building would also be used by the Baseball Hall of Fame, Clark Foundation, and Clark Sports Center. Initially, plans included space for the New York State Historical Association and the Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home, but Middleton said that had changed in the past 24 hours.

According to documents presented to the Town of Otsego planning board last week, the Clark Foundation wants to erect a 22,500 square foot building on three lots on the east side of the highway currently owned by Clark's Charisma Partners II. The three parcels are situated between the Pepper Mill Restaurant and Haggarty Ace Hardware. The lots on each end are vacant, with the exception of some trailers used for storage. The middle lot has a house which would be torn down to make way for the new warehouse.

The building will run parallel to State Route 28 in an uninterrupted 225-foot stretch of what was once steel siding, but is now likely to be wooden board and batten. The structure has a more than 21-foot sidewall. The entrance to the building will be on the 100-foot wide south end and accessed by the sloping driveway which already serves the hardware store next door.

Traffic on Route 28 has been a concern for area planning boards when reviewing development proposals and this one was no exception. The curve in Route 28 just south of the driveway for the facility is notoriously bad and has been a worry for the village trolley system when turning across northbound traffic to reach the south parking lot.

But planning board chairman Tom Breiten said late last week that the traffic issue was resolved to some extent because they were told during the meeting by David Karl of Bassett Healthcare and architect David Neal, who presented the application, that the warehouse was intended for long-term storage and would not generate much additional traffic.

Middleton confirmed that the long-term storage aspect of the building negated much of the concern about traffic. "We do not anticipate daily access," he said. The hospital, for instance, plans to use the space for long-term records archives.

Breiten, speaking before the design changes were announced, said the key for the board's review will be the visual impact of the building. Some of the building will be below grade so that from the road a passer-by will not see the entire 21-foot sidewall, he said. "The steel roof is likely to be the most visible part of the building," he said.

Planners told Karl and Neal that they will have to provide a landscaping plan for the project and that they may be required to plant something like evergreens along the frontage.

"I think a solid wall of evergreens would look better than the vacant lots," Breiten said.

Middleton said Tuesday, however, that the Foundation has listened to the planning board's concerns, will be making changes and that any building will meet the same aesthetic requirements as other buildings with which the hospital is involved.

"We are committed to putting in a structure that is compatible," he said.

Otsego's town land use law does have an architectural standards provision which allows the board to take into account the design of a building during its review of the application. The board can disapprove an application if it believes a proposed building would be detrimental to the desirability, property values or development of the surrounding area.

Breiten said the board has seldom used the architectural standards provision and that it may be difficult to demonstrate the building's impact would be detrimental enough to disapprove the application.

The planning board also told Karl and Neal that they would be required to combine the three separate parcels to create one parcel.

The three properties total 1.85 acres and all are currently taxable. The vacant northern lot is assessed at $12,400, the middle lot with a small house is assessed at $91,300 and the end lot nearest the hardware store is the largest at .88 acres and valued at $41,900 with the storage trailers now on the site.

Middleton said the Clark Foundation will combine the parcels into one lot, but said the taxable status of the property is still undecided.

A public hearing on the application will be held in conjunction with the planning board's monthly meeting on Dec. 11.