NORTH SYRACUSE — The debate over a proposed law governing temporary storage containers continued at the April 22 meeting of the North Syracuse Village Board of Trustees. The village board is considering limiting the amount of time a resident can keep “PODS” — named for one such company that provides them, Portable On Demand Storage — on their property.

Mayor Gary Butterfield said the results of a poll on the village website showed 30 respondents voted against the proposed restrictions and 16 voted in favor of them.

“I’d be 17, but that’s just me,” Butterfield said. “But I don’t think we want to allow unlimited time frames for pods, especially … since any shed is supposed to be behind the building line.”

Butterfield said he asked the code enforcement department to send a letter to a resident who has had a temporary storage container in their front yard for over a year. Code Enforcement Officer Brian Johnstone reported that he has not yet received a response from the resident.
Butterfield said the proposal would not penalize residents who temporarily keep storage pods on their properties while renovating or moving in or out of their homes.

The board was split on the proposal. Trustee Fred Wilmer said he could not see the sense of creating legislation to address one particular homeowner, and Trustee Lou Ann St. Germain agreed.

“I’m not sure why we’re putting all our time into one person,” St. Germain said.

Deputy Mayor Pat Gustafson disagreed.

“I think it’s a good law. I think it covers a lot of possibilities and we should be ready in advance so we don’t have to deal with it on the spot,” Gustafson.

Johnstone said the village code currently states that if a temporary structure is standing for six months, it becomes a permanent structure, so the homeowner who has had the pod for over a year is in violation of the code.

“I could issue a violation on Monday [April 26] if I don’t hear just for that,” he said.

Trustee Chris Strong said the board is “missing the spirit” of the discussion from the April 8 meeting. He suggested knocking on the door and asking the resident in person what is going on.

“A letter is fine, but why don’t we want to do that personal touch?” Strong said. “I just feel that we should try to make contact with somebody and see what it is versus just immediately issuing a citation.”

Strong said many village residents may not be aware of the details of each local law.

“I’ll bet you a majority of the village residents don’t know you can’t … have someone else park their pickup truck in front of your house if they want to come over and watch a football game. It’s against the local law. I’ll bet you 90% of the residents don’t know that,” Strong said.

Johnstone said the protocol for sending a letter is about transparency and documenting interactions with residents. The public can file a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to see such letters.

Butterfield said he wanted to table the issue until the resident responds.

Budget remains stable

Also at the April 22 meeting, the village board approved the 2021-22 budget. The third version of the budget shows a 0.03% increase in spending, much less than the 3.9% increase shown in the second model of the budget.

“You always want to raise taxes some because you don’t want to get behind and get a big increase,” Butterfield said, “but I said … if there’s any year that a village resident could use a break it’s this year.”

Butterfield predicted that the towns of Cicero and Clay will see a rise in property assessments, which will provide more revenue for municipalities but would increase the amount of property taxes a resident owes.

“And who knows what school taxes are going to do?” Strong added.

Butterfield also said the village is slated to receive $727,145 over two years from the American Rescue Plan Act. The first round of distribution of this funding is May 10.

To view the final 2021-22 budget, contact Clerk-Treasurer Dianne Kufel at [email protected] or 315-458-0900 ext. 129.

Other village news

• Garage sales: The village will designate two weekends for the annual village-wide garage sale, in which the permit process for holding a garage sale is waived. The village-wide garage sale will take place May 22-23 and July 17-18. To register, call the Village Hall at 315-458-0900.

• Arbor Day: North Syracuse is celebrating its 32nd year with the Tree City USA designation. This year’s celebration will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, April 30. Mayor Butterfield will preside over a ceremony in which New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forester John Graham will plant a pink blossoming dogwood tree in honor of former Mayor Diane Browning. Local trumpeter Lee Turner will perform. Residents are invited to gather at the North Syracuse Community Center for the celebration.

• Stray cats: Kitty Corner of CNY has agreed to handle stray and feral cats for the village of North Syracuse. Kitty Corner will trap the cat, have it spayed or neutered, and release it back into the neighborhood in which it was found. The village will pay for veterinary care. Residents can contact the clerk-treasurer’s office at [email protected] or 315-458-0900 ext. 129 to report a stray cat in their neighborhood.

• Business of the Month: The village of North Syracuse named Nestico’s the Business of the Month for April. Located at 412 N. Main St., Nestico’s serves “Italian-American cuisine so good you’ll think your Mama made it,” according to their Facebook page. For more information, visit nesticos.com or call 315-458-5188.

• Heavy trash: The village will start heavy trash pickup Monday, May 3. Call 315-458-0790 to schedule pickup. Registered residents can put heavy trash items on the curb starting Friday, April 30.