Former Brown’s Greens gets nod to move forward with plans for landscape business; proposed sewer extension addressed
Martha E. Conway
Harry Hale of Petrie Road, who had provided the Sullivan Town Council with a petition of 10 signatures in July, brought and had entered into the record at a public hearing Sept. 6 two more petitions with a total of another 26 signatures.
He and Councilman John Brzuszkiewicz were the only dissenters in a roomful of neighbors who generally supported the planned development district for new owner Raymond Carney of Hawthorne Property Services.
Hale said he hadn’t seen where the original petition was entered into the record, and Supervisor John M. Becker asked Clerk Charlotte Ferstler if it had been entered and asked it be acknowledged again in the minutes just to be certain.
Hale said the Route 31 study conducted in 2006 contained a lot of information, establishing drainage areas, one of which is included on the site where the landscaping business plans its materials yard.
Becker acknowledged that the town had requested from the applicant an easement to clean out the sluiceways to maintain the integrity of the drainage system design. Hale said those sluiceways drain into Oneida Lake, and the materials yard will include road salt.
Carney said salt will be stored in a three-sided covered building with a poured concrete floor whose sides will prevent product loss.
“You can’t have salt storage outside anymore,” Becker said. “The [state Department of Environmental Conservation] is cracking down.”
Hale said there was an area established for environmental constraints and now the yard will be in it, also.
“The study was supposed to avoid the nickel-and-dime zoning that went on before,” Hale said.
Town attorney John Langey provided a description of PDDs and said they are designed for one thing, which limits property use under local law and sealing that use in place if approved by the appropriate authoritative bodies. He explained there are different types of zoning actions that can be taken, and said everything the property is to be used for is spelled out ahead of time so there are no oversteps.
Hale cited a section of the town’s comprehensive plan that the town will create and provide an environment for diverse mixed business and individuals that provides well-paying jobs, goods and services for residents of the area. He said he didn’t feel the proposed PDD meets this description.
Becker told Hale he made some valid points.
“I don’t think this benefits Bridgeport at all, but thank you for listening,” Hale said.
A member of the audience asked Becker to read the latest petition into the record.
Mary Ann Messinger of Petrie Road said the former Browns Greens property serves as a buffer between their residential neighborhood and the automobile sales and repair shops on adjacent Route 31, which are an encroachment coming to their back doors.
“He will become a resident and has agreed to preserve green space, which contains a lot of wetlands, also,” she said.
Another neighbor asked that her name be removed from the petition after getting more information about the plans for the property. Several others mentioned some signers of the petition were influenced by a photograph that inaccurately reflects Carney’s existing business in Onondaga County.
“I understand why those seeing that picture would be against it,” Joe Messinger of Petrie Road said. “That aerial photo is a misrepresentation of Mr. Carney’s business and should not be allowed. His equipment is neatly displayed and you can see it’s a real business.”
Brzuszkiewicz read into the record a list of concerns he had heard from residents who couldn’t attend the meeting. Among them were parking, discarded vehicles, storage of hazardous materials, environmental impact, traffic, ingress/egress, who will be responsible for inspecting the facility and how – after the PDD is approved – spot zoning will be prevented.
Carney said most of the questions raised in Bruszkiewicz’s list are answered in the state Environmental Quality Review form.
There was brief discussion of screening or ‘disguising’ the property, and Becker asked Langey what the next step in the process is. Langey said if the council supports it, the matter would be sent back to the planning board for ‘fine-tuning.’
Brzuszkiewicz said the petitions carry a lot of weight with him.
After a lengthy SEQR examination, the council made a negative declaration, indicating no significant environmental impact.
The council voted four to one in favor of moving the matter to the planning board for the next step, with Brzuszkiewicz being the lone dissenter.
“Because of the concerns I brought to the board that were expressed to me, I vote no,” he said.
Councilman Kerry Ranger said he was in favor of the PDD because he felt the council prevented 80 acres from being developed.
In other business
Becker reported that developer Tom Oot had contacted the town regarding the Poolsbrooke sewer district.
According to Becker, Oot said he felt that since the developers had paid for the infrastructure to provide sewer hookup for its residents, the requested SavOn connection should not be permitted without adequate compensation to the developers.
Oot also asked to be kept informed of future proposed sewer extensions. Langey said he informed Oot that the town decides sewer extensions. He also said Oot seems to be convinced that there will be tree damage during sewer connection.
Langey said the Oneida Indian Nation will act on their own accord, and will get back to Oot directly.
- Town Comptroller Beth Ellis reported that Sullivan received the highest score possible for its recent independent audit.
- Michelle Henry of Canasaraga Farms on Route 5 outside the village of Chittenango requested the town’s support of a speed reduction on Route 5. She would like to see the 45 mph limit extended from the village edge to the bottom of Sullivan Hill.
The Sullivan Town Council meets again at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the town office building on Lakeport Road at Fyler Road in North Chittenango.