Environmental impact review meeting set for July 9
By Lauren Young
Staff Writer
The Fayetteville Board of Trustees has announced the re-opening of the previously suspended Morgan Management development project and will be holding a SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) for the proposal on July 9.
The re-opening means that Morgan Management, headed by Developer Bob Morgan, will move forward with its proposal to incorporate five, three-story apartments and 10 townhouses – totaling to 200 units – with two mixed-use buildings at 547 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville.
The project was suspended by the village on May 29 following reports of the company being under FBI investigation for fraud, and the May 22 indictment of the son and nephew of Morgan by a federal grand jury for operating a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme for seven of its apartment complexes, one of them being in Syracuse.
As of June 26, however, Mayor Mark Olson said the board decided “in a unanimous vote” to drop the project’s suspension following a meeting with Bob Morgan, at his request, to discuss the project’s potential to move forward.
The village requested four conditions to be met by the company for the project to proceed:
- Morgan will be required to act as the point person for the project, which means he will present the project to the village throughout the process instead of a representative of his company doing so. Olson said this will “show his commitment to the project and community.”
- A performance bond will be required to “protect the village and show [Morgan’s] commitment to the project,” said Olson.
- The project must consider attracting the baby boomer and “empty nesters” market to its project, as Olson said the village currently lacks a variety of these housing developments.
- Morgan must provide an escrow check for the village’s escrow account to assure his sincerity moving forward.
Additionally, the project restart will mean the Brownfield Program will also resume, which aims to reduce environmental hazards posed by abandoned or contaminated commercial and industrial sites. Olson said this condition was important to fellow board members who want to see the site cleaned up as soon as possible — and could take years for the Brownfield Program to do so if the project falls through again.
“This doesn’t give [Morgan Management] approval or guarantee anything,” said Olson. “But it does give the board reassurance by [Morgan] agreeing to accept these following conditions.”
Olson said the board received advice Village Attorney Ted Spencer and a unanimous vote secured the decision.
“We were concerned with Morgan Management’s commitment to the project, but we feel these conditions have alleviated some of the board’s concerns,” said Olson.
The project will be proceeding through a joint SEQR meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, July 9, at Fayetteville Village Hall.
