By Lauren Young

Staff Writer

It was a full house at the DeWitt Town Hall last Monday night as a public hearing about amending a local law for a floating overlay district drew a crowd of residents, many of whom expressed concerns about one of its proposed districts allowing a maximum height of six stories while others praised the town for its dedication to development.

Sam Gordon, director of planning and zoning, outlined the proposed legislation to adopt town code chapter 192 by adding a new Section 192-64.4 – Mixed Use Village Overlay Floating District.

“This evening has come about through multiple years of work that’s happened here in the town,” said Gordon, referring to the concept dating back to 2002 when the town updated its Comprehensive Plan – the first time it had done so since the 1960s.

In 2017, the town presented an update to the Comprehensive Plan, including recommendations for updating the mixed-use development framework, which blends residential, commercial, cultural, institutional or industrial uses into a fully-integrated site to promote pedestrian activity.

Gordon said there is a growing market for this type of development, especially for millennials, those down-sizing and those seeking to age in place.

“The existing definition states that you must have at least 10 developable acres of land and can only develop upper story units if those units are connected to the ground floor,” said Gordon.

Gordon said the town of DeWitt does not have a traditional center, but if it did, it would be located around the Shoppingtown Mall area – a 60-acre plot of land.

“We want to maintain the town of DeWitt as a competitive town for development” he said. “We’re looking to help create a vibrant community center that could be an attractive place to attract new generation of New Yorkers.”

Gordon said they are not changing the current zoning ordinates, but are instead “putting in a voluntary pathway” for potential developers to follow when looking to create a mixed-use project in DeWitt.

The potential developer would first need to present an application to the town board, followed by a subsequent application upon the recommendation of the planning board to the town board for a zone change, which would make that district overlay take effect on the parcel in which that project is proposed.

The floating overlay district proposes three Mixed-Use Village districts – Mixed Use 1 (maximum of two stories), Mixed Use 2 (maximum of four stories) and Mixed Use 3 (maximum of six stories).

There are several other parcels that have been identified for development as well, including a portion of Thompson Road outside the village of East Syracuse, the vacant Alpha Omega Cement Plant off Ogle Road in Jamesville and an intersection between Woodchuck Hill and Jamesville roads.

Supervisor Ed Michalenko stressed that the board is “allowing the option” for developers to come and develop at these lots by designing this framework, but there has not yet been a proposal presented.

“This will be a case-by-case basis,” said Michalenko. “There will be restrictions on what [developers] can do, where and how.”

Resident Richard Hezel asked if there was going to be accommodation for affordable housing, to which Michalenko said “there is no specific demographic that has been targeted with this legislation.” When Hezel asked if there would be wetlands preservation Michalenko said, “Yes. In fact, we’re hoping to enhance the waterways in those areas.”

While resident Peter Baskin said he is “not opposed to residential use at Shoppingtown and other parts of town,” he believes that this is a “substantial change in the nature of DeWitt from owner-occupied, single family housing to high density rental housing.”

“We are going to look like the Bronx,” said Baskin. “This will mean thousands of renters moving to DeWitt hoping to escape the problems in the City of Syracuse. Renters have no investment in their homes. They aren’t shareholders in their community. Homeowners take care of their properties, serve without pay on our boards and committees, come to meetings like this one, pick up trash on Earth Day or whenever they see it on their street.  We have skin-in-the-game. You don’t have that with renters. You get rundown housing and trash. There is no pride of ownership or connection to the community in a six-story apartment building with hundreds of families.”

Michalenko said the six stories maximum is based on “size relative to other locations.”

“[The story size] is relative to the size of the lots and proximity to the neighborhood,” said Michalenko. “The closer you are to a residential area the shorter the building.”

The former Macy’s store at Shoppingtown Mall is currently over four stories, while the Excellus BlueCross BlueShield building, a couple hundred feet away from Shoppingtown Mall, is seven stories tall.

Other residents said amending this local law was a sign of progress.

“I appreciate the board’s forward vision on this,” said resident Jennifer Plus.

“I’m all in favor of the town moving forward, getting businesses here, and people here,” said resident Sue Fleming. “Other towns are building up, we’re the only town that’s remaining stagnant – I’m sick of it, and I want to see it move forward.”

“I’ve been in my house for 35 years,” said resident Steve Woiler, who said Shoppingtown Mall used to be a “vibrant plaza” 35 years ago and has since “changed to how it is today.”

“If everyone would like to continue looking at Shoppingtown while we pass through our neighborhood every day, I would say no change is needed,” said Woiler. “But if we’re ever going to have any change in this community…something is going to happen in Shoppingtown, something that is new, something that’s happening in other communities, has to happen there. And without the change of rules we have in this town, nothing will ever happen. And [Shoppingtown] will sit like that until we’re all dead.”

Just as Gordon had explained how a potential developer would first have to complete a second application upon the recommendation of the planning board to the town board for a zone change, Michalenko reminded residents the purpose of the planning board.

“The planning board stands as the safeguard between the residents and any particular development,” said Michalenko. “Our residents are first.”

“For the last 50 years the planning board has been very rigid, strict and making sure that any new development is aesthetically-pleasing,” said Mike Rigney, the husband of town of DeWitt board member Karen Rigney. “I’m confident that whatever they agree on will be for the good of the community.”

“These overlay districts that have just been articulated are opportunities,” said Peter Weber, chair of the DeWitt Town Planning Board.

Weber said in many instances, six-stories is “too high,” but in some, such as hotels, it “might be appropriate.”

“We put the neighbors and the neighborhoods first,” assured Weber, who grew up in Pittsford with his father on the planning board and his mother co-founding Historic Pittsford.

“We look at how this all fits in the community,” he said, adding that “we cannot exist with Shoppingtown looking the way it looks.”

Another resident asked if school officials, as well as the police and fire departments, had been notified about the overlay districts, as new developments could lead to overcrowding in the town.

“Not only are we open to hearing what the issues are among those you mentioned, as liaisons we are charged with listening, understanding and talking about those things to see what works and what doesn’t,” said board member Karen Doctor.

When Michalenko said “enrollments are declining,” groans could be heard in the audience.

“The market trend in 50 years has been down in terms of student enrollments at the ESM (East Syracuse-Minoa) district,” he said.

After speaking with School Business Administrator Tim Decker of the Jamesville DeWitt school district, Gordon attested to Michalenko’s statement, adding that enrollment in elementary schools is, especially at Moses DeWitt Elementary, down.

“At least in the younger grade levels, there has been a decline in enrollment,” said Gordon.

When Gordon asked the district if they kept any projections of future enrollment, the district said it did not, as it “generally does not perform multiple-year projections,” as they are often too “difficult to predict.”

The town board closed the public hearing without an approval and did not  announce another hearing.

Additionally, a public hearing was held on approving the reduction of Towpath Road to a one-way road, making it a left-turn only road.

This was a proposal brought to the town by the state DOT as part of the Empire State Trail project, to be completed at the end of 2020.

When completed, the Empire State Trail will become a continuous 750-mile route spanning the state from New York City to Canada and Buffalo to Albany – becoming the longest multi-use state trail in the nation, according to the official website of the New York State.

The next Town of DeWitt board meeting will be held on June 25.