By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On Sept. 3, the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees invited resident input during two public hearings — the first relating to the future of the connection between the South Village and South Meadow subdivisions.
Dozens were in attendance for the hearings.
The first public hearing focused on a proposed local law amending the village code to restrict traffic through the South Village/South Meadow connection to emergency and municipal vehicles, including Cazenovia Central School District buses.
Public traffic through the connection has been unofficially prohibited — and discouraged in a variety of ways including signs, planters, cones and barriers — since 2012.
Passage of the proposed local law would officially prohibit public “through traffic” and enable Cazenovia police officers to ticket violators.
In October 2012, the village board approved the zone change (R-30 to R-6) requested by Gregg Development Corporation for the 68-lot South Meadow subdivision.
Located on the easterly side of Number Nine Road, South Meadow sits adjacent to South Village, an earlier Gregg Development Corp. project.
During the public hearings preceding the 2012 zone change, the board heard from a number of South Village residents, who stated their opposition to the idea of a road connecting the two communities.
Speakers at that time were concerned that South Meadow residents and construction vehicles might cut through South Village —which is located slightly closer to the Village of Cazenovia — to shave a few seconds off their drive.
The residents argued that the anticipated increase in traffic would be dangerous in a community with no sidewalks and many elderly homeowners.
In December 2012, the Village of Cazenovia Planning Board recommended that the board of trustees take legislative steps to declare the connection between the South Village and South Meadow subdivisions as restricted to emergency and municipal vehicle use only, “with appropriate signage reflecting such status to then be erected within the South Village subdivision.”
On Aug. 5, 2019, nearly 20 South Village residents assembled in front of the board to voice their concerns regarding the persistent public traffic between the adjoining developments, and to address the fact that despite the planning board’s recommendation, the “no through traffic” restriction was not found in the village code.
Mayor Kurt Wheeler said although the village installed the recommended signage, the 2012 village board never actually passed a local law amending the village code.
He added that once the oversight was discovered, Village Attorney Jim Stokes examined the original language of the planning board’s resolution and drafted a local law to officially carry out the board’s recommendation.
During the Sept. 3 public hearing, a number of South Village residents reiterated their belief that opening the connection to public traffic would threaten the safety of the neighborhood’s residents and visitors.
“Our only interest back in [2012 and today] is the safety of our neighborhood and the safety of the public that goes through our neighborhood — including the children from South Meadow, walkers, dog walkers [and] bicyclists,” said South Village resident Dave Jahsman. “ . . . We welcome people to come through our neighborhood, [but] the basic problem is that our streets do not support walkers and people on bicycles because there are no sidewalks . . . we are really just concerned with the safety.”
The board also heard from a number of South Meadow residents, who spoke out against the proposed legislation.
Many of those residents expressed the view that the barrier between the two communities is unsightly, un-neighborly, and unwelcoming to prospective homeowners and visitors.
A couple of individuals argued that closing off the public road goes against the 2008 “Village and Town of Cazenovia Comprehensive Plan,” which encourages friendly neighborhoods, expanded pedestrian and vehicular interconnectedness, and increased neighborhood connectivity.
“Do we really want to create such an un-neighborly situation for Cazenovia” asked Erin Fuller. “Neighborhoods should connect to neighborhoods . . . It won’t be the South Meadow residents crossing the line. It will be visitors or prospective buyers or random people out for a drive that will get the police called on them and therefor get ticketed. Is this how we want to welcome those people to Cazenovia?”
Multiple individuals also reported incidents of South Meadow residents being either accosted, video taped, or reported to the police for walking, biking, skateboarding or driving through South Village.
In response to such accounts, several South Village residents expressed shock and disappointment that the situation had caused South Village residents to be perceived as “bad neighbors.”
Jeff Emhoff of South Village said for years, he and his neighbors have operated under the assumption that the traffic rule had been added to the village code and that the individuals driving through the connection were, in fact, violating local law.
“When we bought property in 2015, the developer, the broker and the builder all told us ‘that’s not a through road, that will never be a through road, that’s for emergency vehicles only,’” Emhoff said. “Our expectation and understanding has been one thing . . . we are not intending to be bad neighbors to anyone, and if we need to apologize for some of our actions, I’ll apologize for my neighbors on their behalf, because that is not the spirit that we have in South Village.”
After everyone had a chance to speak, the board voted to close the public hearing.
All written communication will continue to be accepted until the Oct. 7 regular board meeting.
