AMSTERDAM — Alderman William Wills is calling for a six-month moratorium on development in part of the 4th Ward, a move aimed at stopping a proposed storage facility project off James Street.

Wills said he plans to bring the issue to a vote at the Common Council’s meeting Tuesday.

Wills said he wants development to stop so the city can assess any possible contamination in the area from the former Iroquois Chemical Plant, which is now a city-owned vacant building on Edward Street.

The site was once proposed for multifamily apartments by Jay Curtis, the president of Ballston Spa-based Curtis Lumber. Wills said Curtis is still interested in the project, but would be deterred by storage facilities adjacent to the site.

Wills said if the proposed storage facility site is found to be contaminated it should be cleaned up at city expense and turned into a passive use park.

The storage facility is being proposed by Ihor Rymaruk, who owns a karate school in the 4th Ward. Rymaruk said he is “disappointed in Mr. Wills’ unwillingness to help a person who is looking to develop in the neighborhood.”

“They want progress, but they are sticking their foot out or poking you in the eye so you can’t get anything done,” Rymaruk said. “Mr. Wills should be saying, ‘Oh, Ihor, nice to see you in the neighborhood. How can I help you?’”

Rymaruk envisions 140 storage units once the project is built out. He plans to start with 30 to 50 units and see how the market goes.

The Planning Board requested soil testing to ensure that the property is not contaminated, but Rymaruk said he has documentation by a few geologists and from the state Department of Environmental Conservation that say there is no evidence of contamination on the site, so expensive soil testing is not necessary.

Wills said the storage facility proposal has highlighted the city’s need to revisit the Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2003. Although the proposed site for the storage facility is zoned as Commercial Light Industrial, an approved zone for a storage facility, Wills said the area is full of multifamily homes and should be rezoned as such.

Rymaruk said storage facilities would be good for the neighborhood of mostly multifamily homes because most residents don’t have garages.

“People are going to have their motorcycles or Ski-Doos, now they can store them,” Rymaruk said.

A storage facility already exists nearby on Forest Avenue. The owner of the facility is now clearing land to put up more units.

Wills helped lead opposition to proposals for a construction and demolition debris landfill and a biofuel manufacturing plant in the 4th Ward. He said he is not looking to hurt Rymaruk, but would rather see a different sort of development in the area. Wills said he would like the Amsterdam Industrial Development Agency to find another suitable place for Rymaruk’s project, something AIDA Director Frank Valiante said the agency wouldn’t do.

“We don’t have extra land to sell,” Valiante said. “Not for something like that.”

Valiante said AIDA’s main purpose is to create jobs. Storage facilities don’t create a lot of jobs, if any, Valiante said.

“We need to use our land for development of an industry that would create employment in the area. There must be jobs tied to it,” Valiante said.

Rymaruk said he wouldn’t be interested anyway.

“I’m not looking to make any trades. I bought this piece of property for the intent I have in mind,” he said.