Neighbors expected to attend Feb. 26 public hearing about proposed apartment complex

By Russ Tarby

Contributing Writer

The Liverpool Village Planning Board will conduct a public hearing on the proposed Meyer Manor apartment complex at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, at the Village Hall, 310 Sycamore St.

Local developer Cosimo Zavaglia plans to purchase Marvin Meyer’s seven-acre property to construct a 130-apartment complex on a vacant wooded lot at 1225 Tulip St., just north of the Thruway and south of the Johnson Tract residential neighborhood.

Zavaglia hopes to construct four three-story buildings as well as a rental office and laundry facility in a single accessory structure.

Village officials have been considering the Meyer Manor project for more than two years.

Eighteen people spoke at a Sept. 18 public hearing hosted by the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees about the proposed apartment complex, and a wide majority opposed the development while just three speakers favored it. More than 95 people attended that hearing.

On Dec. 18, the village board approved a zone-change from R-1 to R-3 — allowing for multiple family dwellings — for the development’s entryway, sending the project back before the planning board. The trustees approved the zone-change by a vote of 4-1, with Trustee Bradley Young dissenting because of traffic concerns.

At the Jan. 22 planning board meeting, project engineer Steve Calocerinos pointed to architectural drawings to demonstrate “the substantial amount of space between the residential area and the proposed apartments,” he said. “Most are more than 95 feet away, one is about 45 feet away.” He also promised an “aesthetically pleasing buffer.”

After the Feb. 26 public hearing, it’s possible that the planning board could vote whether to approve the project or not, or it could continue the public hearing at a later date, according to Planning Board Chairman Joe Ostuni Jr.