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Cities across the US are currently fighting tooth and claw to be the home of Amazon’s second headquarters. But not everywhere is so happy when Amazon comes to town.
Schodack, New York, a town of about 13,000 people just south of the state capital of Albany, is currently facing the possible construction of a 1m-sq-ft Amazon fulfillment center.
The warehouse is set to stand three stories tall in the mostly rural area and boast more than 1,000 parking spaces for an estimated 800 employees. It will have spaces for massive delivery trucks on one side and be built on land totaling 116 acres previously used for farming.
In Schodack, family farms that have been passed down generations are a common feature, including historical sites dating back to the Mohican Native Americans who resided in the area before Dutch settlers arrived in 1630. A 555-acre Schodack farm with bison recently entered a land development protection program to prevent development of its land in perpetuity.
Now some residents are seeking to stop Amazon setting up in their town. A local neighborhood group that borders the proposed Amazon site, the Birchwood Association, recently filed a lawsuit to try to stop the project moving forward after the town board approved it in July 2018.
The plan was approved just four months after it was first made public in March 2018. For much of the approval process the developer, Scannell Preperties, concealed that Amazon was the tenant. The lawsuit seeks to appeal against the town board’s decision and require an environmental impact study of the project.
“We all have paid residential tax rates in this neighborhood. They come in with corporations, give them huge tax benefits, and screw everyone else who lives here and the water supply,” said Marci Brunner, a leader of the Birchwood Association with her husband Adam. “We are trying to protect the environment and the quality of life, not just for us but everyone in Schodack and the local areas that will be impacted by this.”
They argue the local economy does not suit such a large development – and nor does it need the promised jobs. Schodack primarily thrives on small local businesses and the county Schodack is located in, Rensselaer county, already has a relatively low unemployment rate, currently at 3.9%, and a median income over $61,000.
The Birchwood Association cited several concerns with the proposed fulfillment center, including increased traffic, straining local volunteer fire department and ambulance services, reduction in property values, and the possibility of contaminating nearby groundwater, private wells, or the aquifer used as the main source of local drinking water that is located underneath the proposed site.
“We know they aren’t going to monitor the groundwater, nearby wells, or potential aquifer contamination,” said Jennifer Williams, a member of the Birchwood Association. “An environmental impact study would have shown an objective perspective, mitigated environmental concerns and shown if we could handle the traffic. No one did that, the town board just said it would be fine.”
They also noted that similar proposals for smaller warehouses in the area, such as a Dollar Tree warehouse in 2012, had been rejected due to similar concerns. In 2017, several Schodack town board members rejected a proposed senior citizen housing project that was only 83,859 sq ft, citing environmental and traffic concerns.
“People choose to live in Schodack for specific reasons. They live here either because they’re multi-generational to the area and decided to stay local or do not want to live in an urban environment,” added Williams. “They did not choose to live here to be next to a one million square foot warehouse.”
As Amazon continues to rapidly grow and build upon its market share across a wide variety of industries, it’s building new warehouses, called fulfillment centers by the company, across the United States. According to data compiled by the supply chain consulting firm MWPVL International, Amazon currently operates at least 124 fulfillment centers in the United States, with 43 new warehouses in development.
Amazon’s fulfillment centers have been widely scrutinized for their working conditions, but their impact on the local communities is also beginning to incite opposition from affected residents.
Despite the negative impacts associated with Amazon fulfillment centers, local and state governments have lured Amazon to build these warehouses with lucrative subsidies. More than half of the 77 fulfilment centers built by Amazon in the United States between 2003 to 2014 received a combined value of $614m in government subsidies. According to Good Jobs First, Amazon has received more than $1.6bn in state and local government subsidies since 2000 for building facilities such as fulfillment centers and data centers.
Town officials in Schodack have stood by their support for the center and conceded to demands from the developer, which asked for $13.7m in tax breaks to complete the project.
“It’s the first step in a marathon,” said David Harris, Schodack town supervisor, who voted to approve the project. Harris is optimistic the center will lead to further commercial development in the town and career opportunities for young people.
Not everyone agrees. “We’re talking about a fairly small number of mostly temporary, contingent jobs, which are low-paid and over time will decline in numbers as Amazon continues to automate these warehouses. Meanwhile there will be costly burdens that affect the surrounding neighborhood,” said Stacy Mitchell, the co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has published studies on Amazon’s economic and local impacts.
A study commissioned by the project developer estimates it would generate $31m over the next 20 years in tax revenue for the area, but the majority of those taxes won’t be paid for 10 years due to a 50% tax cut deal the developer structured with Rensselaer County industrial development agency. The State of New York is reportedly expected to offer additional tax breaks between $6m to $8m.
The Schodack Town Board and Scannell Properties declined to comment on the pending lawsuit filed by the Birchwood Association.
Amazon did not respond to multiple requests for comment. It’s unclear whether the lawsuit will delay completion of the fulfillment center, slated to open at the end of 2019.
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The rural New York town fighting to keep Amazon – and its promised jobs – outhttps://is.gd/gv42rK
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