By Lauren Young

Staff Writer

The Fayetteville Board of Trustees voted to approve the zone change request for the N. Burdick Street project on Tuesday, June 28 — changing the original zoning on that property from R2 (Residential) and O (Open Land) to TB (Traditional Business) and O.

While the trustees and the mayor all acknowledged the concerns voiced by neighbors about possible increased flooding and over-commercialization in the neighborhood due to the development, in the end they felt it was a benefit to the village.

“I hope that you can understand we’re trying to do what’s best for the whole village, and your area too. We have to look at this as a project that will have an impact on not only your area, but on the whole village,” said Mayor Mark Olson to the neighbors at the meeting.

Proposed by Developer Mark Shattuck, the 5,800-square-foot one-story plaza project will front N. Burdick Street across from the Fayetteville Towne Center, which is designated as a TB (Traditional Business) zone for retail services.

At the proposal’s public hearing on June 11, Olson said the development will be a professional office building, like a dentistry “or something that’s very low-impact when it comes to noise.”

The zone change request passed with a four to one vote, with trustee Dennis Duggleby voting against the proposal.

“I think the applicant probably set the bar for how applicants should proceed through this process, I thought [Developer Mark Shattuck] did a phenomenal job, very professional,” said Duggleby. “The bottom line is, I’m not so worried about the flooding as I am with what it will do to the character of that side of the street. I think that if we allow this change, we really risk creating a commercial zone all along N. Burdick [Street] … I think that’s the biggest drawback to this proposal. Those [nearby] residents didn’t buy a house in a commercial zone — they bought a house in a residential zone.”

Trustee Mike Small said he agreed with Duggleby on the flooding issue and does not believe that the project will “increase or change the flooding that might occur in that area anyway” due to the developer’s ability to obtain a no-rise certificate, but said that residents near N. Burdick Street already deal with a commercial component across the street.

“The residents live in an area where there’s already commercial surrounding them,” said Small. “I think the developer has done a good job, and listening to what the neighbors have had to say, dealing with all the different agencies regarding the flooding issues and what has to be done and how it has to be done … I believe that … the structure is not going to badly affect the people who live around it.”

“I think the flooding … is always a possibility. I’ve been here for a long time. Any time it rains, I’m down there,” said trustee Dan Kinsella. “I’m concerned about it, but once again, I don’t really feel a development of this type will be necessarily detrimental.”

“The engineer’s reports were very comprehensive, I visited the site, and given the placement of this and the rest of the land not being designated for anything else in the future, it does seem to benefit that area,” said trustee Pam Ashby. “I realize that there’s the conflict of the commercial [vs.] residential, but I have to agree with trustee Smalls on that too … there is already that commercial factor there, and this is not very commercial.”

Before offering his final statement, Olson thanked the village board, the planning board, the village clerk’s office, village engineers, architects and the developer for their work on the project, which Olson called a “team effort.”

Additionally, Olson thanked nearby neighbors for their concerns from the proposal’s beginnings.

“We set site conditions that if [the applicant could] get state DOT approval, FEMA approval, DEC approval, county DOT approval and planning board approval — or village board approval — that I’d agree for this project to go through,” he said. “They’ve also done, what I think is the biggest thing, is this land donation. This safeguards the residents in that area who live down there from never having to go through this again.”

And while the zone change request was approved, Olson said the board, as well as himself, are still cognizant of flooding concerns.

“No board, and no village, has done more than we have to help with the flooding,” said Olson. “I know it’s there, I know it’s a concern, but I agree with Pam and her comments — to get a no-rise certificate is not easy.”

Moving forward, the project will fill out a site plan application and have it reviewed by the planning board before holding another public hearing.