By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

While NAMOW may put a community garden in its backyard, North Syracuse village trustees are still working on a proposal that could change the appearance of residents’ front yards.

North Syracuse is inching closer to placing restrictions on the amount of front yard that can be paved. An explanation of the proposal and diagrams of what new driveways would look like can be found at bit.ly/northsyrpaving.

“We’re looking for input from our residents to help us out,” Mayor Gary Butterfield said. “I wanted to be finished [with this law] by late spring, early summer.”

The board of trustees wants to limit paved or stone driveways to 25 percent of the front yard or 25 feet in width, whichever is less. The proposal is a response to several residents parking multiple vehicles on their lawns.

“I like the idea of North Syracuse, not West Virginia,” Deputy Mayor Fred Fergerson said, “because that’s what they do in West Virginia — park vehicles all over their lawns.”

Butterfield explained that the restrictions would apply to new driveways.

“Any asphalt that’s already in place, we’re not going to make anybody take that up,” he said. “It’s going to be grandfathered in.”