CAZENOVIA — On Nov. 11, the Village of Cazenovia Planning Board considered a preliminary site plan proposal for a Byrne Dairy retail store and fueling facility at 2349 US Rt. 20.
The applicant, Sonbyrne Sales, Inc., is the convenience store division of Byrne Dairy. Sonbyrne’s senior executive vice president, Christian Brunelle, represented the company and presented an overview of its preliminary proposal.
Before the presentation, Rich Huftalen, chairman of the planning board, announced that it was the board’s first meeting with Brunelle and that all members had received a copy of the applicant’s initial proposal.
“We haven’t had any conferences with Byrne yet,” Huftalen said. “As part of this project, we will be setting a public hearing where the public will be invited to weigh in. Written comments in advance of that are always welcome.”
Brunelle began his presentation by stressing that Sonbyrne is a family-owned and -operated business that does not have franchise locations.
“These are all company-owned and -operated stores,” he said. “I opened my 77th store last Wednesday, in Waterloo, NY, with three more under construction — [one in] Morrisville and [two in Rochester]. . . . I actually work for the Byrnes myself; Mark and Carl are the [third-generation owners]. I’ve been there 27 years, and I sit on the board of directors for all the companies — Byrne Dairy, Ultra Dairy, and Sonbyrne.”
Brunelle next discussed the proposed Cazenovia Byrne Dairy site, describing it as the “farthest northeast parcel” in the village and noting that it is separated from the McDonald’s site by one parcel.
The project site is in the Village Edge North (VEN) zoning district along the village’s easterly boundary, north of US Rt. 20.
According to the village code, the district consists of parcels currently developed for commercial retail uses and vacant land that could support future commercial development.
“The purpose and intent of this district is to encourage future commercial development while also providing an effective land use transition to the residential/agricultural and open space lands to the east in the Town of Cazenovia,” the code states.
In the VEN, retail is a permitted use, but the sale of gasoline requires a special use permit.
“A stand-alone Byrne Dairy could go here as a permitted use; however, [I’d prefer] that we do not build any more Byrne Dairy [stores] without fuel,” said Brunelle. “We stopped doing those. . . . It’s just not feasible to open [one] without fuel. Everyone wants to stop to get their fuel, coffee, ice cream, milk, deli sandwich, and box of cereal. That’s why we have kind of evolved, and that’s why we’ve survived and flourished and built all our stores around Central New York.”
Pointing to the site plan, Brunelle showed the board that the proposed project would take up only part of the 13.45-acre parcel, which is narrow in the front and widens considerably in the back.
He also explained why the drawing includes a “future driveway” despite his company having “no plans whatsoever” to develop the back part of the parcel.
“I don’t know what is going to go there,” he said. “When I did my layout with my engineer, I wanted to make sure that if we did something back there in the future or somebody approached us for the remaining [approximately] 10 acres, we didn’t have this all blocked off, [requiring them to] have to find different access.”
The 4,232-square-foot store would resemble other new Byrne Dairy stores with a green metal roof, “aged ivory” siding, a farm market look, and porches on the south side facing Route 20 and the west side facing the village.
“Pretty much all the Byrne Dairy [stores] in Central New York that you see, the green-roofed stores, are the same exact footprint,” said Brunelle.
The proposal calls for a fuel canopy with four fuel dispensers and eight fueling positions. There is no plan to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The site’s two underground fuel tanks would be state-of-the-art and approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The site would also include 41 parking spots, an aged ivory-colored dumpster enclosure in the back, and LED and dark-sky-friendly compliant lighting.
Brunelle remarked that although the drawing shows three red maples — five feet tall at planting — along the front of the site, he would welcome input from the board.
“You tell me what kind of trees and how many you want along the front of the store, and I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m very open. . . . If the board wanted to have me throw a few spruces or whatever along the [side of the site], let me know; that’s perfectly fine with me.”
Like other Byrne Dairy retail stores, the Cazenovia location would be open 24/7.
According to Brunelle, Byrne Dairy has a 45,000-square-foot warehouse in Auburn, NY, allowing it to supply its own groceries to its stores.
“The people that distribute [our groceries] are Byrne Dairy workers, and they drive Byrne Dairy trucks,” he said. “Therefore, I can dictate deliveries. . . . I have been known to restrict delivery hours. If I was in a village or really tight city, I could restrict them to certain hours [by saying], ‘No deliveries before 6 a.m. and none after 10 p.m.’ Same thing with fuel. [We] control the deliveries.”
The presentation also touched briefly on proposed driveway locations, traffic investigations, and ideas regarding signage types and positions.
After the planning board and other meeting attendees had the chance to ask questions and share their initial reactions to the proposal, Huftalen set a public hearing for Monday, Dec 9, at 6:30 p.m.
“At that time, we will take all public comment,” he said. “I’d encourage people who are interested to take a look at the plans that are here now. . . . We will try to get any written comments or questions in front of Mr. Brunelle sooner rather than later. I appreciate everybody taking the time, and I appreciate the intent to invest in our community.”
Anyone from the public is welcome to stop by the village clerk’s office Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to view the preliminary proposal materials.
In addition to submitting questions and comments to the village, community members are invited to contact Brunelle directly at [email protected].
For more information about the village planning board, visit villageofcazenovia.com/planning-and-zoning/.
Learn more about Byrne Dairy at byrnedairystores.com.
