The Retreat on Bunn Hill snarled Vestal in controversy for five years. How it happened

It has been a topic of heated conversation in Vestal town board meetings for years, a driving platform for town government candidate campaigns and an entity cited in multiple lawsuits.

A 58-unit housing complex was proposed to be built on a 43-acre wooded plot about a mile and a quarter south of the Vestal Parkway. Each unit would have two to five bedrooms and the complex would sit within close proximity of the Binghamton University campus.

Supporters looked forward to an economic boost the development would bring to their town. Opponents challenged the scale of the project would have a negative impact on the local environment, draw an unmanageable number of college students to a rural neighborhood and impair road safety.

The Retreat at Bunn Hill project, they maintained, had to go.

Over five years of deliberation, the proposed project would face opposition at every turn, yet somehow, through environmental reviews, zoning disputes and fears of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes suggestion, it continued to slowly, incrementally move forward.

In late April, Vestal Town Supervisor Maria Sexton confirmed the project would continue that forward momentum unopposed.

Here's how the Vestal project turned into a years-long point of contention and where it will go from here.

Vestal residents opposed student housing plans

In early May 2019, about 50 Vestal residents met at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Bunn Hill Road. The topic of discussion: a proposed housing complex between Bunn Hill and Jensen roads from Landmark Properties, a company claiming to be responsible for "some of the premier student housing communities in the nation."

In 2008, over a decade earlier, a similar housing project consisting of 192 units was planned for the site. The project, called Campus Crest, also met opposition and was ultimately withdrawn in the face of community resistance.

While the development claimed to be designed for professionals and students alike, residents said they were skeptical, given the number of bedrooms per unit.

Another key factor for residents, which has remained controversial to this day, was the development requiring rezoning in the area. In order for development to begin, the area's zoning would need to be changed from rural residential to planned development district (PDD). Residents used crowdfunding to hire an Albany-based attorney and expert in zoning laws.

Just a few days later, the Town of Vestal's clerk office confirmed the developer's application had been scrubbed from the upcoming town meeting agenda, but residents promised they would continue to monitor building applications and activity on the parcel of land.

Revised development plan is presented for Bunn Hill

In February 2020, newly updated plans from Landmark Properties called for a cottage-style community featuring 64 two- to three-story homes and 554 parking spaces, with each home still containing two to five bedrooms. Landmark Properties said the project would create 300-400 construction jobs, multiple full- and part-time jobs after construction as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue per year.

In March that year, Sarah Campbell, a lawyer representing the developers, presented the project proposed by Landmark and the property owners, the Kradjian family, to the Vestal Planning Board. The meeting was attended by a large crowd of residents, many who listened from out in the hallway, as the room had reached capacity.

The development was comprised of six separate parcels which would be stitched together to form the complex. All parcels had been transferred to BHL Ventures from E&B Kradjian and Harry Kradjian on March 2, 2019, according to records on file with Broome County clerk.

BHL Ventures was formed in July 17, 2017 with the original name South Mountain Development, according to records on file with the New York Department of State. Both enterprises list 84 Court St. in Binghamton as its offices, which traces back to Kradjian Properties.

Concerns raised, but Bunn Hill development approved in 2021

Later that month, the Broome County Planning Department submitted a 12-page report to the Town of Vestal regarding the development. The report stated the development would have "negative county-wide and inter-community impacts," and recommended rejecting the project.

Issues raised by the planning department included multi-family housing in a rural residential area, which is prohibited, along with safety concerns. The report stated Bunn Hill's steep nature and tight turns would make it difficult for emergency vehicles to navigate, and equally difficult for a proposed bus service to travel to and from Binghamton University.

Following the recommendation, the approval of the project now required both the Vestal Planning Board to recommend the project to the Town Board, and a supermajority Town Board vote, meaning at least four out of five representatives needed to vote in favor for the project to continue.

In September 2020, the Planning Board stated the development had "too many uncertainties" to approve flat-out, but if the project adhered to multiple conditions, it could proceed. A recommended approval "with stated conditions" was thus moved forward to the Vestal Town Board.

In a four-page letter to the board, the planning panel advised the town "to move forward with caution," expressing multiple safety concerns and recommending a lengthy list of conditions that should be met by developers before the project got the green light.

The variety of issues presented by the Planning Board included safety concerns with pedestrians on Bunn Hill Road, the presence of fire truck and water pressure to the site; extension of setbacks from adjoining property owners from the proposed seven feet to 50 feet; written assurances by the developer to provide shuttle service between the university and the complex; and adequate project landscaping to "screen neighbors from views of the development and restore as much tree cover as possible."

Another layer of complications marked the development, with some fearing that if a private company did not develop on the land, Binghamton University would, leading to Vestal losing out on potential tax revenue. The concern was revisited in a Vestal Town Board meeting this year, raised by Town Board Member Stephen Donnelly. But in March, Binghamton University confirmed statements made by its president, Harvey Stenger, in a January 2021 letter remained true: the university had no plans or need for development on Bunn Hill Road.

The Vestal Town Board unanimously voted to approve the project in April 2021, with the caveat that they would not accept a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for the development. Board members pointed to a New York State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) as a key reason the project was approved. The review determined the development would have minimal impact, including on traffic and wildlife.

More votes, lawsuit, campaigns to stop Vestal development

The decision kicked off years of legal disputes between community group Friends for Responsible Vestal Zoning, the Town of Vestal and the project's developer.

A second vote was also held as a result of a dispute over the state's environmental quality review study — a revised study was conducted.

During his campaign for the seat, Donnelly opposed the development, but when the vote was held, he recused himself. Town Board member Sue Messina voted in favor of the development.

Donnelly, who represented Friends for Responsible Vestal Zoning as client of his public relations company, said he changed his mind after he was elected.

"I found out through a number of different avenues, resources and research that it actually is a very good project for the town," said Donnelly. "It is one that will have a minimal impact from a negative perspective. If anything, there are a lot of benefits to it because this particular developer has been symbiotic in working with the town and in trying to get this to a favorable resolution, not only for their project, but for the residents around it too."

Donnelly said while he has worked with Goodwill Theatre CEO Naima Kradjian, he has no professional relationship with Kradjian Properties.

Following the vote, Friends for Responsible Vestal Zoning once again took the issue to court, but in March 2024, a New York State Supreme Court Third Judicial Department Appellate Division decision unanimously affirmed a lower court decision to reject arguments from the group.

Recent Town Board meetings and the end of the road

By April 2024, Vestal's town government had gone through a shake-up. Longtime incumbent John Schaffer lost the town supervisor seat in the 2023 election to Democrat Maria Sexton.

Sexton, along with newly elected board members Glenn Miller and Robert Greene, had included their opposition to the Bunn Hill project in their campaign platforms under their Real Democracy 4 Vestal banner.

"I do not believe the location is proper for a variety of reasons," Miller said in an April 16 email. "The development itself may have some positive impact to Vestal, just not at that location. I would rather see the developer consider a different location in Vestal for the project."

Three years after the Bunn Hill project was approved, a Vestal Town Board meeting was called to once again address the controversial project.

Dozens of residents gathered inside Vestal High School's auditorium, cheering on those who spoke out against it.

But stopping a development which had already been approved carried a risk.

According to Dan Reynolds, Town of Vestal Attorney, the Town Board had the opportunity to repeal the law allowing the development to occur, but they would need a supermajority of at least four votes to do so. It would require Donnelly or Messina voting to oppose the project.

Repealing the law, Reynolds said, would also open the town up to further lawsuits.

Sexton released an online survey for residents to submit their feedback on the project, which she said would then be considered in a later board meeting. The town received 262 responses, with the majority opposing the development and asking town government to move forward with a repeal.

But in a work session on April 22, the town announced there would be no vote on a repeal. The legal and financial risks were too great, the likelihood of a supermajority vote too low.

The Bunn Hill development would move forward unopposed.

Moving forward with Retreat at Bunn Hill

Friends for Responsible Vestal Zoning called the town's decision the end to "a long, hard-fought chapter."

Construction is now officially underway on Bunn Hill to clear the space where a cottage-style community will one day sit, roughly two miles from Binghamton University's main campus and the Vestal Parkway.

When the Retreat at Bunn Hill could open for potential residents remains uncertain.

"At this point, it is proceeding as all development projects do," said Sexton. "Our Town Engineer and Code Enforcement Director will be monitoring it carefully, as they do all construction."

The Retreat at Bunn Hill project will not see further opposition from the board, Sexton assured, but there will be lessons learned from it.

Future developments, she said, will be evaluated and planned "much more carefully."

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Vestal's Bunn Hill project: Inside 5 years of controversy, confusion