We need your help! A developer is seeking permission from the Town of Colonie to build a multi-use sports park and domed facility on property adjacent to the Good Shepherd, Memorylawn and Seclusion sections of Memory Gardens Cemetery and Memorial Park. Brian T. Sipperly, L. Sipperly & Associates (Afrim Sports Inc.) wants to build a multi-use sports park at 969 Watervliet Shaker Road. It would include outdoor soccer/multi-use fields, 75-foot field lights, a 3,400 square-foot multi-use building, and an 86,865 square-foot dome. This project would destroy much of Memory Gardens’ pastoral beauty, as well as the solemnity we now enjoy. Memory Gardens bears no ill will toward sporting facilities or their developers, but the intrusion on our cemetery would be intolerable. Imagine the private moments visiting your loved one -- quiet remembrance, private reflection, and prayer -- shattered by a cheering or booing crowd as well as the blaring public address announcements. Worse, put yourself in the shoes of a family who must bear such impositions while laying a loved one to rest. The traffic from this complex would almost continuously threaten to disrupt funeral processions into and out of Memory Gardens. Soccer games attract hundreds of visitors. People unable to find a spot would undoubtedly park at Memory Gardens then traverse graves to reach the sports facility. They would also leave behind discarded cigarette butts and other litter. All visitors to Memory Gardens would be affected, even if their loved ones do not rest in one of the aforementioned gardens. The pastoral beauty of our memorial park would be forever lost by the monstrous domed facility looming overhead. The overwhelming field lighting would invade the privacy of those of us visiting our loved ones just before sundown. The Board of Directors voted unanimously at its September meeting to ask all Memory Gardens lot owners and others with loved ones at our cemetery to sign and cut out the petition below then mail it to: Colonie Zoning Board of Appeals Public Operations Center 347 Old Niskayuna Road Latham, NY 12110 The notice can also be emailed to Colonie Zoning Board of Appeals Attorney Michael J. Garry at MichaelGarry@GarryGarry. If you wish to sign our online petition, please go to change.org/ No matter how you send the petition, please let Memory Gardens know you participated by sending an email to [email protected]. This will allow Board Directors who attend future ZBA meetings to illustrate the passion of our lot owners against this project. Thank you for your help! Petition Dear Colonie Zoning Board of Appeals: I am opposed to a building permit for Brian T. Sipperly, L. Sipperly & Associates (Afrim Sports Inc.) to construct a multi-use sports park at 969 Watervliet Shaker Road, which is adjacent to Memory Gardens Cemetery and Memorial Park. This project would include outdoor soccer/multi-use fields, 75-foot field lights, a 3,400 square-foot multi-use building, and an 86,865 square-foot dome. I oppose Mr. Sipperly’s project for the following reasons: • It would border the Good Shepherd, Memorylawn and Seclusion sections of Memory Gardens. With the removal of trees and other vegetation, the privacy those of us enjoy in our moments of solitude – quiet remembrance, private reflection, and prayer – would be destroyed by soccer games being played just a few yards away. • Memory Gardens’ pastoral beauty would be forever lost by the unsightly intrusion of the domed facility. • Soccer games attract hundreds of visitors. When the sports park’s lot fills, the overflow would undoubtedly park at Memory Gardens and traverse graves en route to these games. People going to and from their cars would sully our cemetery with discarded cigarette butts and other litter. • The solemnity of funerals would be violated by the cheering, public address announcements, and other related noise. Also, funeral processions into and out of Memory Gardens would be disrupted by the traffic from this complex. • The overwhelming lighting would invade the privacy of those of us visiting our loved ones just before sundown. • There are plenty of other sites near parks and other areas in Colonie where this complex could be developed without intruding on the solemnity and beauty Memory Gardens provides. I urge the Zoning Board of Appeals to deny this permit, and encourage Mr. Sipperly to find another location more suitable for such a venture. Sincerely, Name (in print): Signature: Affiliation with Memory Gardens:
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 15:39:46 +0000
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