By Lauren Young
Staff Writer
A public hearing for the proposed Fayetteville Honda dealership has been set by the Fayetteville Planning Board after their meeting on Feb. 5. The dealership, proposed on the vacant Powerhouse Chevrolet/Jay’s Village Chevrolet dealership site at 534 East Genesee Street, is set to be demolished and reinvented into a 22,612-square foot building on a 166,739-square foot lot.
Representatives from the proposed project presented their site plan, sign permit and a special use permit to the board, and discussed rezoning ideas and layout changes. “Visual, light and noise” were notable concerns according to Chairman Jane Rice, as the board conceptually measured its overall impact on the surrounding area.
DOT recommended that the project perform a full traffic study, which is currently underway. Due to the size, the developers noted that the building will have a small impact on traffic, due to the proposed trips customers will take to and from the store compared to a traditional retail business. The statement, they clarified, is based on their sales, operational and office space, and the overall solicitation of their customers. “We make a major effort to schedule customers so they don’t all come in at one time,” one of the representatives added. More patrons are expected to come from the west than the east, as expected customers will be coming from larger residential areas, such as Syracuse. This is expected to generate traffic from the opposite direction of the village’s major traffic flow, which may cut down on traffic build-ups.
The chairman, however, “struggled with the exterior materials,” namely with concerns of the “oversized” signs and its lettering, and proposed that they decrease both features to preserve the village character. The Onondaga County Planning Board made similar comments, stating that “the proposed signage is an unnecessary size given the auto dealership’s location along a low speed, Village corridor,” according to the draft minutes from their meeting on Jan. 17. The document added that, “the applicant must work with the Village on reduced-scale signage for the site that is more in keeping with the character of the Village streetscape.”
The planning board then discussed their concerns about the car wash’s distance from the residential areas, which they felt would cause a noise disruption for those living nearby. The site car wash, which is proposed to be located on the back of the property near the service and employee car storage lot, is closer to the residential areas than it would be near the front toward the street. During the proposal’s ZBA meeting, the representatives said this concern was also addressed, and were additionally encouraged to move the property ten feet back from the proposed property line.
The car wash will not be intended for public use, but rather detailing for-sale cars on the lot. During daytime operation, the presenter said that the carwash would operate at about 85 decibels, compared to a lawnmower or leaf blower with a 75 to 80 decibel range.
The project’s lighting engineer additionally spoke on behalf of the proposed lighting, adding that their lighting, such as their flood lighting, was reduced to insure limited disturbance to nearby residents. The plan currently proposes 16-foot and 25-foot –long LED pole fixtures with dark sky compliant lighting directed away from neighboring properties and functioning on timers during non-use hours.
The site plan, filed to the village on Dec. 22, shows approximately 337 parking spaces planned, with 155 spaces in the front customer parking lot and 182 spaces in the back. The plan also features new asphalt parking with updated street frontage to compliment the village character.
The project is currently working with American Honda on the proposed changes. Proposed hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. A public hearing for the dealership is slated for March 5 at the next Fayetteville Planning Board meeting.
