City zoning changes were the center of discussion at Tuesday night’s Oneida Common Council Meeting, although no resolution was made.
During the public hearings for the zone change from manufacturing-industrial to neighborhood-commercial for three properties located on Upper Lenox Avenue, Paul Karpinski, the owner of one of the properties told the council he did not ask for the change nor desire it because of his future plans for the land.
Karpinski, owner of 1132 Upper Lenox Ave., told the council he purchased the land specifically for purposes related to its zoning, adding he has plans to “make things and sell them” as part of his upcoming retirement.
The property, currently the site of a two-family house that was grandfathered in after the last zoning changes is now zoned manufacturing-industrial, which according to Karpinski would allow him an appliance repair or small engine repair business that the proposed zone change would not allow.
Cassie Rose, Oneida City planning director, said the change had been proposed because the two neighboring businesses, at 1070 and 1116 Upper Lenox Ave., requested a change in hopes of renting the property for other purposes and adding Karpinski’s land would make the process simpler. However, she added, the land could easily be taken off the proposed change.
Counselor Don Moore expressed concern that changing the zoning for the two properties but not Karpinski’s would result in spot zoning but Rose assured him it would not be, as a property adjacent to Karpinski’s is manufacturing-industrial as well.
As Mayor Peter Hedglon closed the public hearing he reminded the public that no final action would be taken during the hearing. He commented that this was just a preliminary hearing and the issue would be revisited at a later date.
Milton Jones, father of Kimberly Wood, owner of Shirl Lynn’s, also expressed a concern relating to zoning changes, specifically, a zoning amendment for the downtown Oneida business.
Wood hopes the changes will be made soon, as she will not be moving, which Jones said was incorrectly reported in another publication last week.
The question was again directed to Rose, who said work was still being done on a draft of the environmental impact statement. Hedglon said these zoning changes would be looked at closer a later date.
Setting zoning aside, Hedglon submitted a resolution to recognize the 2008 Oneida High School Varsity Football team with an official proclamation and invited councilors to appear with him at a joint reception hosted by the city and the school board for the team at the Costello Building at 7 p.m. Monday Jan. 12 to share the proclamation with team members and coaches.
In other council news:
Specific times were designated for the sign committee meetings, reducing the meetings to once a month and J.P. Morgan Chase, Alliance, Citizen’s and the State Bank of Chittenango were selected as the banks where City funds will be retained.
A liquor license notification letter from Thomas Vanriper, Top Gun Tommy’s Bar & Grill, 123 W. Elm St. was received and placed on file.
Agreements were made to authorize the Mayor to sign the annual MVP Health Plan Agreement, to sign an agreement with Madison County for Control of Snow and Ice on specified roads in the City and County, and to sign an agreement with the New York State Power Authority for tree cutting on City property in the Town of Annsville.
A contract agreement to authorize the Mayor to sign a five-year contract with the Unified Court System for court cleaning and minor repairs was also made as well as an agreement to authorize the Mayor to sign contracts with the Upstate Con-Strux Inc. for program delivery services and Trexler Inspections for lead assessments for Home Program SHARS
The meeting concluded in executive session to discuss collective bargaining for the Police Benevolence Association.
