By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Dozens of Cicero residents piled into Cicero Fire Station No. 1 last week for a public hearing on a proposed apartment complex off Lakeshore Marina. After presenting the Cicero Planning Board with a petition bearing more than 800 signatures, residents voiced their concerns about the effect the complex would have on traffic, environmental issues and quality of life.

“I haven’t talked to one person who wants this development,” resident Bonnie Smith said at the Dec. 11 public hearing.

Resident Carol Young, whose house sits behind the proposed site, helped lead a door-to-door campaign to obtain 816 signatures for a petition opposing the 248-unit apartment complex. Smith submitted the petition to the planning board.

Chief among the residents’ concerns was increased traffic on Lakeshore Road heading toward Route 31. According to an Oct. 25 traffic study done by the developer, apartment dwellers would generate only a “nominal increase” in traffic.

According to the minutes from the Dec. 6 coordinated review of the project, GTS Traffic Consultant Gordon Stansbury said the “development is projected to generate 25 cars entering and 101 exiting during morning peak hours with 100 entering and 54 exiting during peak dinner hour.”

Residents Wendy Bigford and Heather Scott questioned the timing of that traffic study, which they said took place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. They suggested the developer do additional studies comparing morning and evening rush hour traffic, school day traffic and summer recreation traffic.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m at work by 8,” Bigford said. “There have to be other studies done. That’s every single car going through that single entrance, right past my parents’ house.”

“I have called the school district, and the times this was done have nothing to do with the buses,” Scott said.

Numerous other residents had reservations about traffic issues as well.

Ralaine Hinton, an East Syracuse resident, said her daughter and grandson live on Beach Road. She raised concerns about a narrow emergency access road that would connect Beach Road to the apartment complex.

“When my grandson who plays in his backyard and uses his pool, is he going to wave at the traffic driving by? This is [about] quality of life for them,” Hinton said.

“The traffic on Whiting Road, South Bay and Lakeshore will be drastically affected by this,” said another resident, Caitlin Albright. “I use that intersection every single day to and from work and it’s already a pain to get through there. I can only imagine how much worse it will be if these apartments are built.

‘Does Cicero even exist anymore?’

In addition to their expectations of traffic woes, residents also raised concerns about drainage, the environment and the character of the town. Carol Young, the resident who helped pass the petition, said she feared pollution and drainage issues would lead to permanent damage to the lake.

Ruth Prier, who lives on Beach Road, said the town should take care of existing infrastructure problems before considering sewer and drainage concerns for new developments.

“The infrastructure, especially as it relates to flooding, is not handled right now on Beach Road,” Prier said. “We need to get our own infrastructure in place as a town before we take on a project of this magnitude.”

Mud Mill Road resident Doug Fehrman, who lives somewhat behind the site, said there is a large hill in the back of the property. He said he was concerned that drainage from the development would flood surrounding properties.

“I know we get a lot of water off that hill. … There’s a slight drainage creek that goes through there. It goes underneath Beach Road,” Fehrman said. “Using Fourth of July as an example, this past year, that creek went from probably three inches wide, a trickle, to 50 feet wide. I don’t see how that water is going to get on the other side of that hill.”

Other residents said the complex, which will be made up of 11 three-story buildings, goes against the character of the community already there.

“What’s special about Cicero is Oneida Lake,” said resident John Cooley. “Lakeshore Road is almost a recreational facility: walking down it, riding down it. … If our town ever has a light on Lakeshore Road, the town changes in terms of what many of us love.”

Cooley said large apartment complexes are a better fit for Cicero Commons or the city of Syracuse. He said existing apartments in the town have not been rented to capacity, and single-family “garden-type homes” with a “classy marina” would be more in line with the rest of the area.

Judy Boyke, who recently was elected to the Cicero Town Board, said Lakeshore Road is “not the appropriate place” for an apartment complex that charges “astronomical rent.” Boyke also cautioned the planning board to be mindful of the historical significance of the area, including the possibility of Native American artifacts within the site.

“I have lived on Oneida Lake my whole life. My father’s ancestors were here in the 1800s,” Boyke said. “This lake is not our lake — this lake is for everybody.”