The proposed Chapel Street Apartments in the village of Fayetteville are a step closer to becoming a reality.
At the July 7 Fayetteville Planning Board meeting, the project received final site plan approval from the planning board, contingent upon a successful appraisal and oversight of the property by an environmental consultant, to be hired by the village.
“We want this project to happen, but we want to make sure that we know what’s going on in terms of cleaning up the site,” said Planning Board Chair Jane Rice.
Until the July 7 meeting, the planning board was under the impression that the Department of Environmental Conservation would be overseeing the environmental cleanup for the site at 400 N. Clinton St., which housed the Syracuse Plastics factory from the mid-1960s until it closed down in 2003.
The Chapel Street Apartments call for 9 residential units altogether. 13 of those units would be housed within the vacant factory building and six would be built as two-story townhouses, located on the Walnut St. side of the building. Each townhouse would have its own garage and each residential unit would have at least one parking spot in the proposed 22-spot parking garage, which would be located on the lower level of the factory building.
The 8,000 square feet of proposed commercial space fills the interior area of the building on the first floor. Ideally, the high ceiling, open trusses and big windows would suit companies looking for a large, open office area, according to Jim Knittel, an architect with Dalpos Architects and Integrators. The renderings also depict an outdoor parking area near the entrance to the commercial space.
The property was purchased in 2012 by Syracuse-area landlord Cosimo Zavaglia. Knittel said that Dalpos Architects and Zavaglia began the process of looking into designs for the property more than a year ago, but ultimately the plans was put on the back burner while Zavaglia pursued other projects.
Now that the project has site plan approval from the planning board, Knittel must present the proposal in front of the village board for its approval as well. If the village gives the project the go-ahead, then construction can begin as long as the environmental consultant determines that there is no threat of pollution on site.
“We’re here to make sure that this industrial site gets converted in a very appropriate way to residential use. The concept is fabulous; we just want to do it right,” said Rice.
Starbucks expansion
Mark Costich, of Costich Engineering, presented plans for an expansion of the Fayetteville Starbucks store at the corner of Burdick St. and Route 5.
Starbucks wants to enclose its outdoor patio and turn it into a year-round seating area and open up the current ordering area to focus more on customer service, Costich said.
“We’re not changing the parking lot and we’re not changing the seating,” he said. “Because we’re increasing the customer service, we’re going to be able to circulate customers more quickly.”
Currently, Starbucks has 17 parking spots and 28 seats altogether – 12 seats outside and 16 indoors. Under the plan, the 12 outdoor seats would be moved inside and the seat total would stay at 28.
The village of Fayetteville’s code states that a restaurant’s parking must either be based on the number of seats or the square footage of the building – whichever is higher. If Starbucks were go by the number of seats, it would only need 13 spots. But based on square footage, the 483-square-foot addition would call for 19 spots.
Costich appeared before the planning board to ask for a recommendation for a variance, which would allow Starbucks to base its parking on the number of seats instead of on square footage.
“There is a precedence in [the Starbucks] parking lot’s volume of use that works, and as tight as it is, we recommend a variance from the standard of 19 parking spots, knowing that their current 17 spaces work and that there will be no changes to seating or parking,” said Rice.
Starbucks plans to return to the planning board to begin site plan review in the coming months.
