A proposal by the owner of the Bolton Landing Marina to increase the quick launch facility’s height by twenty feet is drawing the scrutiny of Bolton’s Zoning and Planning Boards, both of which will have to approve the expansion before it can be sent to the Adirondack Park Agency for its review.

“No one, to my knowledge, has ever sought a variance to exceed Bolton’s 35-foot height limit,” said Henry Caldwell, a member of the Planning Board.

“The proposed height is our biggest concern; the enormous size of the building generated flack even when it was first built,” said Planning Board chairman Herb Koster.

Marina owner Frank Parillo and his representatives appeared before the Zoning and Planning Boards in December to discuss the project, which remains under review.

While the 20-foot  addition would raise the building 55 feet above the lake shore, its footprint would remain unchanged, attorney Robert Sweeney told the boards.

(The Lake George Mirror reported, erroneously, that the owner of the Bolton Landing Marina was also seeking a variance to extend the building 280 feet from the shore. That variance was granted when the facility was originally built. Under current zoning regulations, however, the applicants are required to re-apply for their existing 160-foot variance.)

The additional space would would permit the facility to store and launch 56 more boats. As of now, the facility can accommodate 171 boats.

Even if the marina is able to house and  launch a greater number of boats, congestion in Bolton Bay would not increase, the marina’s representatives said.

No more than 100 boats from the facility would be on the lake at any one time, a condition of the marina’s current Lake George Park Commission permit, a condition that would not change with the addition of  56 more boats, said Sweeney.

“There’s usually no more than 30% of the boats out on the lake at any one time,” said Mark Tabor of the LA Group, a consultant for the project.

According to Dan Behan, a spokesman for Bolton Landing Marina, the expansion has been proposed in order to satisfy a local demand for dock space.

“We’re at 100% capacity, and we’re always fielding calls from homeowners with boats looking for access to the lake,” said Behan.

“In the last year, it seems, we’ve received an even greater number of inquiries, mostly from people who have bought or who have built homes in Bolton Landing,” he continued.

Behan said “we knew the height of the building would be an issue; that’s why owner Frank Parillo went to the expense of hiring a designer to mitigate the visual impacts of the building. We want to be good neighbors.”

The presentation before the Zoning Board of Appeals was for informational purposes only, Behan said. That board took no action.

The Planning Board voted to declare itself  lead agency and to request additional information about storm water management, visual impacts and accessibility to fire fighting equipment before taking further action.