FLY CREEK - The Clark Foundation's proposed warehouse at the gateway to Cooperstown continued to evolve as the Otsego Town Planning Board struggled to determine the correct procedure for reviewing the project during a meeting Tuesday night.

A month ago the plans presented to the board called for a 225,000 square foot steel building that would run parallel to State Route 28 in an uninterrupted 225-foot stretch of steel siding with a more than 21-foot sidewall. But before Tuesday's night's meeting, the siding had been changed to wood board and batten and during the meeting, planners learned it had been scaled back by chopping 60 feet off the north end.

Board members were stymied by the process because the property is in the Glimmerglass Historic District and they were uncertain if it required the completion of a full environmental assessment form and notification to interested agencies, particularly the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation which has to sign off on the project.

Board member Jonathan Bass and Town Code Enforcement Officer Ed Olson were both under the impression that being in the historic district would not trigger the more complete review. Only after considerable discussion did the board conclude that its location would require involving other agencies.

Joe Middleton, Vice-Presdient of Facilities Mangement at Bassett Healthcare, who is overseeing the project because the hospital will be one of the building's primary occupants, told the board their thought on a cultural resource survey that could be required was that the site between the Pepper Mill and Haggerty Ace Hardware had been excavated many times and the chance of finding any artifacts there was "nil."

Having to notify the other agencies will slow things down because their response may not be received prior to the planning board's next meeting on January 8. "If we have everybody back by the eighth, we're golden," said Planning Board Chairman Tom Breiten, who added that if responses aren't received there was little they could do hurry the project along.

Middleton said they would be happy to help complete the paperwork for notification and that because they are currently working with the Office of Historic Preservation on "a couple of other initiatives," they would follow up with the agency to try and speed the process.

The project must also be forwarded to the county planning board for its mandatory review.

Planners did take time to review the latest drawings for the project and the changes made before and during the meeting.

Breiten told Middleton that one of the biggest issues with the plan would be the visual impact of the building because of its location at the entrance, or gateway as it is often called, to Cooperstown along Route 28 and the fact it is in the historic district.

That area, Middleton said, has a utilitarian look to it and the landscaping plan is designed to create a softer line with more of an "avenue look."

They were, he said, addressing the visual impact of the building with the landscaping plan which includes a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees. "We don't want the appearance of a privet hedgerow," he said.

The landscaping plan is being updated, Middleton said, and asked the planners for a "little latitude" on the species of trees they decide to plant.

"We know you guys do good work, but we would like to see that [on the plan]," Breiten responded.

The building will be set below road level, but the sidewall will still be 12 feet high and the board had concerns about the visual impact despite the landscaping which would shield some of it from view.

"I thought it would set down lower. I thought the roof was the biggest impact," Breiten said.

Although the building had been shortened to 165 feet in length, planners were still unhappy with the uninterrupted expanse of sidewall running along Route 28.

"I don't have a problem entertaining some some false windows," Middleton to the planners. "We can break it up in some sort of repeating pattern. We can break it up and improve the aestethics."

According to Middleton, construction was to begin as soon as the project was given the required approvals and as long as weather did not preclude pouring concrete. "I'd be surprsied if it is not complete by spring."

The building will be located 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.

Middleton said the Clark Foundation would combine the three lots into one as requested by the planning board and that the new parcel would remain taxable.