By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
The town of Cicero is looking to revise the zoning of properties on Lakeshore Road, continuing its effort to standardize the patchwork zoning of the town. A public hearing, which started at the Feb. 8 town board meeting, remains open for residents to comment on the issue.
Code Enforcement Officer Richard Hooper said the town plans to revise the zoning of 103 lots on Lakeshore Road between the Route 31 intersection at Meadows Ice Cream and Cicero Center Road.
Hooper said the majority of properties there are zoned agricultural and some properties contain more than one zone, known as split zoning.
Owners of the 103 affected properties have been notified by postcard, as have the owners of 308 contiguous or adjacent properties. Of the 103 properties, Hooper said, 87 have non-conforming uses.
“[If] you want to put a pool in, can’t do it. You want to put a porch on the back, an addition on the back? Can’t do it,” Hooper said.
Non-conforming uses also can complicate the sale of a property. In order to change the zoning on their own, homeowners whose properties do not conform to the proper zoning must obtain a survey and go before the zoning board of appeals, which is a costly process. Supervisor Mark Venesky said the process could cost $10,000.
The remaining properties in the area are split-zoned, and one of them contains three different zoning classifications.
“You can’t have split-zoned — it’s got to be one or the other,” Hooper said.
Venesky said the re-zoning campaign, which began last year with Route 11, is part of his administration’s ongoing effort to improve the town for residents and businesses alike.
“We’re looking for job creation,” he said.
Venesky said he has asked developers why other towns are growing and Cicero is not.
“The first thing that was clear out of every one of their mouths was, ‘Your zoning is all over the world,’” he said.
Venesky assured residents that “no one is being forced to change their zoning” and property owners can request that their lot be carved out of the area that is being re-zoned.
The public hearing on the Lakeshore Road re-zoning effort resumes March 22.
Homeowners with questions about their individual properties are encouraged to contact the code enforcement office at 315-699-2201 or assessor Karen Tavernese at 315-699-1410.
