The Manlius Town Board voted 4-3 last week to draft a local law resolution to reduce the number of planning board members from seven to five.

At the June 10 meeting of the town board, Supervisor Edmond Theobald said there are currently two vacant positions on the planning board, which he said gives the town board the “unique opportunity to look into reducing the number of planning board seats.”

According to Theobald, he reached out to other town supervisors in Onondaga County to discuss how they determined the number of planning board seats they have, and found that there was variation.

“There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason for the number of planning board seats in other municipalities,” said Theobald.

Tim Frateschi, the attorney for the town of Manlius boards, said he surveyed the current five planning board members and found they thought working with a reduced number of seats on the board gives them more opportunities to speak freely and throw ideas around.

Town Councilor Dave Marnell questioned whether there would be significant cost reduction savings for the town if the number of planning board seats were to be reduced.

“If there nothing beneficial for this change to five, why would we do it? We’re a growing community with many educated people who would be willing to serve on the board,” said Marnell.

Town Councilor Karen Green said she spoke with people in the community and asked them their thoughts on reducing the planning board, and she said no one thought the idea was a positive one.

If the number were to be reduced to five, Frateschi said the five current planning board members would remain on the board and the two seats that are currently vacant would be eliminated.

Before the local law can be adopted, there must be a public hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Also at the meeting, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the special permit for Resort Lifestyle Communities, the company making plans for the “cruise ship on land” senior living facility on the corner of North Burdick Street and Medical Center Drive in the town of Manlius.

According to Frateschi, the company wanted to amend the wording in the special permit that pertains to the percentage of occupants under the age of 55 for purposes of financing for the company.

“For financing purposes, the federal government has a statutory definition of elderly housing and one of the definitions is ‘intended and operated for occupancy for persons 55 years of age or older; and at least 80 percent of the occupied units are occupied by at least one person who is at least 55 years of age or older.’ The applicant has asked that we track that language for purposes of financing,” said Frateschi.

At that time, the special permit for the project from the town of Manlius stated that the occupancy rate of persons 55 and older must be 100 percent.

According to Kathleen Bennet, the attorney representing Resort Lifestyle Communities, the company does not intend to rent to anyone under 55 years of age except in special circumstances, like a special needs child under the age of 55 who is dependent on their parents. These cases are extremely rare, said Bennet, and would need to have approval from the company to happen.

Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].