North Syracuse — The village of North Syracuse is looking into extending Church Street in order to encourage economic development, and it’s looking to residents to share their ideas.
Along with the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council (SMTC), the village is hosting a public meeting Nov. 16 at the North Syracuse branch of the Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL).
The SMTC has conducted a traffic study on behalf of the village to see what might happen if Church Street is extended to South Bay Road or to Centerville Place at Trolley Barn Lane.
North Syracuse Mayor Gary Butterfield said connecting Church Street to South Bay Road or Centerville Place will open up development opportunities for the village center.
“We don’t have much land left to redevelop in the village,” Butterfield said. “What I’d love to see is some of the parcels that are vacant now — it’d be nice to redevelop those.”
Butterfield said opening up Church Street’s dead end would solve traffic problems as well. He said it is difficult for tractor-trailers to navigate the area and the street is confusing in some GPS devices.
Andrews Memorial United Methodist Church, which recently merged with the former Trinity UMC in Clay to become Faith Journey UMC, is on the market. Butterfield said he’s hoping someone will put the church to good use.
“I’d like to see some nice adaptive reuse for the church,” he said. “That could spur a couple shops or another commercial retail structure down at that far end. That’s ideal.”
Butterfield said he doesn’t have a specific vision for the future of Church Street, but he expects development opportunities would attract small commercial or retail enterprises. The area is zoned C-3, which allows for retail shops, business offices and other uses. Butterfield said some commercial buildings have second-floor apartments as well.
continued — “We’ve got a nice Route 11 [corridor] now in the village center,” he said. “Hopefully that will attract some nice mom-and-pop retail in some of the buildings that have been vacant for a while.”
While the idea of extending Church Street is just in the beginning stages, it is one element of North Syracuse’s ongoing improvements in the village.
“My goal is for us to be a walkable, bikeable village,” Butterfield said. “We’re making some strides.”
The village is hosting a public meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at NOPL at North Syracuse, located at 100 Trolley Barn Lane.
For more information about the project or the public meeting, or to ensure accommodation for special needs, please contact the SMTC at 422-5716.
