By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Residents in the town of Lysander squeezed in a few more questions and concerns about the Collington Pointe East incentive zoning proposal before the town board voted to approve the application April 20.

While the final version of Bella Casa Builders by Alberici’s incentive zoning application removed the inclusion of a “pocket park,” the proposal still includes 36 acres of “forever wild” green space to be owned and maintained by the town.

Resident Jim Stirushnik opposed the town’s planned acquisition of that green space.

“I’m against it not being left on the tax rolls. I don’t think the town should acquire it in any way, shape or form,” Stirushnik said. “If it’s that valuable, let the people pay taxes on it.”

Resident Kevin Rode said the town and the developer should cut off a small lot to make an access point for maintenance of the green space if necessary.

“I don’t see the sense of having landlocked property for the town of Lysander, because I don’t think we have access to it either, which makes one more problem arise,” Rode said.

Former Town Councilor Andy Reeves said he is not opposed to the Collington Pointe East proposal, but he raised several concerns. He asked which part of the budget would cover the maintenance of the green space. Supervisor Joe Saraceni said it would be included in the full-town portion.

“So the people in the village of Baldwinsville are also going to be responsible if this needs to be sprayed for mosquitoes,” Reeves said.

Reeves also took issue with the revision process, suggesting that the town should have restarted the application process and sent the revised proposal to the planning board, zoning board of appeals and Onondaga County Planning Board.

“Midway through the public hearing, [the developer] came up with a new proposal, which wasn’t that much different. But this proposal you have now is significantly different from the first proposal,” Reeves said. “The way I interpret the law — and I know you guys don’t — is with the significant changes that have occurred on this, it should go back.”

Reeves questioned the developer’s plan to install 8-inch sewer line and call it an amenity.

“He’s extending a sewer … for his next development and taking the amenity dollars out of what he’s paying the town of Lysander,” Reeves said.

Lastly, Reeves said the town board is not following local law in collecting incentive payments from the developer. Reeves said payments must be received upfront — before building permits are issued — not in steps. He suggested the town board amend the local law to allow payment in increments and to avoid breaking its own law.

Deputy Supervisor Bob Geraci said the developer will be paying ahead of each phase, which requires separate permits, so the plan does not violate local law.

‘Loud and clear’

All five town board members voted to approve the incentive zoning proposal for Collington Pointe East. In a discussion before the vote, the board commended residents for voicing their feedback and said the proposal ended up being a good one overall.

“The builder obviously heard loud and clear some of the concerns and modified his proposal,” Councilor Bob Ellis said. “I think common sense is prevailing here, and I think we’ve ended up with a very good proposal.”

Geraci acknowledged that he has “major-league concerns” with incentive zoning and the powers it gives the town board to tinker with zoning, but added, “Having said that, I think this process worked tremendously.”

Geraci addressed residents’ concerns about the removal of 36 acres from the tax rolls.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” he said. “If you want to preserve green space, ultimately, the town is going to have to own it. We don’t need to manage it as a parkland; we don’t need to go in there on a regular basis to see who’s walking around. If that was the case, DEC would be in Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area every day, and they’re not. Wildlife areas and natural management can do well, do fine on their own.”

Councilor Peter Moore said the final proposal balanced resident concerns and the county’s concerns.

“Besides trying to take care of all the details that came from the public, they also took care of everything that Onondaga County said, or took a good look at it to the best of their ability throughout the negotiating process,” Moore said. “I think we’re doing the best we can for our community here.”

Councilor Roman Diamond said he voted no on previous incentive zoning proposals because he did not feel they followed the spirit of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, but he said the preservation of 50 percent of the Collington Pointe East property as green space counted in its favor for him.

“There is no perfect project, but I think this project did a good job of protecting what I love about Baldwinsville, and that’s the rural, country feel,” Diamond said, “and while doing so we are still supporting development.”

Saraceni said he takes the CLUP very seriously and relied on the document throughout the Collington Pointe process.

“I tried to remove myself as much as possible from what I would like to see there, because as a supervisor that’s not really what I should be doing here,” Saraceni said. “[The CLUP] should be our guide.”