Amazon Takes Over Highbridge

Amazon’s amended site plan was proposed on Tuesday evening, which features the warehouse being drastically reduced and the elimination of the gas station and restaurant.

SCHOHARIE — At the latest Schoharie Planning Board meeting on Tuesday, the debate continued over what is right for the Town as the Highbridge site plan received amendments.

Proposed back in 2022, the site was originally going to be developed by Highbridge as a 550,000 square foot warehouse with a suite of amenities, including a gas station and restaurant. 

While the site received much scrutiny and controversy over its proposal, with the hottest topic being an effort to preserve the small town feel of Schoharie, the project was ultimately approved.

However, with Amazon now purchasing the plot, the site is going to receive several large-scale amendments that need to be put in front of the Planning Board once more.

Several Amazon representatives showed up to the Tuesday meeting, including staff from their operations, engineering, and development teams.

To begin, they started by explaining that this warehouse will be one of their “last mile” facilities, which means that line haul trucks will bring in pre-packaged products, the packages will be sorted by zip code, and waves of vans will bring those packages to the customer at their home.

When asked whether the trucks will travel through Schoharie, the Amazon team was adamant that they would adhere to all agreements made by Highbridge, including the concession to only allow trucks to turn back toward the highway and not bother the Town.

Following their introduction, they presented their new site plan with all changes made, the biggest of them being that the warehouse will see a drastically reduced size at only 223,000 square feet and ten feet shorter than Highbridge’s plan.

Amazon also made the executive decision to eliminate the gas station and restaurant, with the only smaller structures on the site being a vehicle inspection station, a scanner, and a water tank.

To make up for the freed infrastructure space, there will be a larger parking lot, with the capacity to hold approximately one thousand parking spaces for trucks, vans, and employee vehicles.

Line haul trucks will park on the west side of the warehouse at one of the fifteen loading docks, drop their trailers behind a screen wall that protects the view of Route 30A, and leave as soon as they’re able.

While the facility itself will run 24/7 with a capacity of fifty to one hundred fifty employees, the vans will pick up their deliveries and be sent out in waves for two and a half hours until midday.

The delivery drivers will be sourced through a third party company, and although the vans themselves will start as gas vehicles to refuel locally, Amazon will help roll out electric vans that will charge on-site at one of the 250 planned EV charging stations.

As for noise and sight screening, Amazon plans to follow all of Highbridge’s approved drafts for what trees to use and where to plant them to hide their operations from view.

If the amended project is approved, Amazon’s team said that they would like to start construction in the fall to get down the concrete pad before winter, and that the entire project would see completion by late 2026 or early 2027.

Once the site plan was reviewed, the Planning Board held several concerns of their own, the most prevalent of which was the transformation of the land from country to corporate.

“I just don’t like it,” said member Dawn Johnson, who stood staunchly opposed to the feel of the project. “When we did our comprehensive plan, the community said that we wanted Schoharie to stay as a small town. This isn't a small town.”

Other members in the audience also raised concerns over drainage, air quality, light pollution, and the draw from the local power grid.

Amazon’s team responded by saying that although they will take drainage into consideration, they already know that the air quality and light pollution impacts will be “roughly the same” as Highbridge, and that the site will be directly connected to a substation three miles away to avoid interfering with the power grid.

When all of the questions had been asked, the Planning Board stated that they needed more time and information to properly assess the project before approval.

Both sides agreed that Amazon will return on July 15th with a completed drainage study, noise study, traffic study, updated engineer drawings, and a 3D render of the warehouse, where they will hold further discussion about the future of the site.