By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On Aug. 5, the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees heard from nearly 20 village residents, who gathered to voice their concerns regarding the persistent public “through traffic” between the adjoining South Village and South Meadow developments.
In October 2012, the village board approved a zone change (R-30 to R-6) requested by Gregg Development Corporation for the development of approximately 48 acres of village land on the easterly side of Number Nine Road.
The 68-lot South Meadow subdivision sits adjacent to South Village, an earlier Gregg Development Corporation project.
During the public hearings that preceded the zoning change, the board heard from a number of South Village residents, who expressed their opposition to the idea of a street connecting the two communities.
Speakers were concerned that South Meadow residents and construction vehicles would cut through South Village —which is located slightly closer to the Village of Cazenovia — to shave a few seconds off their drive. The residents argued that in a community with narrow streets, no sidewalks and many elderly homeowners, an increase in traffic could be dangerous.
In December 2012, the Village of Cazenovia Planning Board recommended that the board of trustees take legislative steps to declare the connection between the South Village and South Meadow subdivisions as restricted to emergency and municipal vehicle use only, “with appropriate signage reflecting such status to then be erected within the South Village subdivision.”
On Aug. 5, 2019, many of the concerned South Village residents reassembled to address their concerns that despite the planning board’s recommendation, the village failed to incorporate the “no through traffic” restriction into the village code.
“It was our understanding, based on the way the planning board resolution reads, that there would be no normal traffic through [the connection,] only official vehicles,” said Dave Jahsman, a South Village resident. “When we attempted to have it enforced, we find out that it has never been incorporated into the [village code, so the] police aren’t able to [ticket] violators going between the two developments.”
Mayor Kurt Wheeler said although the village installed the recommended signage, the 2012 village board never passed a local law amending the village code to include the rule.
“The village has, in good faith, gone through and done everything the planning board recommended,” Wheeler said. “There are signs at the entrance of both developments; there are signs close to the seam between the two communities; we’ve added planters; we’ve added cones; we’ve added barriers . . . The [local law] just never happened. Not by design, just an innocent mistake. There were a lot of things going on in the village at the time.”
Wheeler added that since the mistake was discovered, Village Attorney Jim Stokes has examined the original language of the planning board’s resolution and drafted a local law to officially carry out the board’s recommendation.
A public hearing on the proposed legislation will be held during the next village board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.
“I don’t know of any reason that we wouldn’t be able to resolve this issue the same evening after the public hearing is closed,” Wheeler said.
Multiple South Village residents also expressed their concern that the connection — which is currently blocked off — will be cleared in the fall to make way for school buses.
One resident claimed that the bus drivers consistently speed through the community, drive through the center lane of the road, and fail to pay attention to their surroundings.
Wheeler advised the concerned individuals to report their observations to the transportation department directly.
Another resident said because the traffic engineer determined the South Meadow access point to be both a safe entrance and exit location, there was no reason for the bus route to go through South Village at all.
The mayor said because the South Meadow access point is located on a blind hill, the transportation department determined it would be safest for the buses to turn into South Meadow from Number Nine Rd and to turn out onto the main road at the South Village access point.
“Here’s the bottom line,” Wheeler said. “The planning board in 2012 recommended that the street be acceptable for emergency and municipal vehicles. In my opinion, a school bus is a municipal vehicle. When we get to the point where we don’t want a school bus traveling on our public streets, that’s a fundamental problem, in my opinion.”
In contrast to the many vocal South Village residents, Nick Wadler, a South Meadow resident, voiced his opinion that the connection should be open to all traffic in order to foster a positive and welcoming image of both developments and the village at large.
“Really, we should be trying to come together as two separate neighborhoods, to come together as village taxpayers,” Wadler said. “That road is village funded . . . and we all pay into it . . . this is going in a very negative direction, especially if we are quibbling about a school bus.”
The mayor concluded the discussion, saying the board is doing its best to accommodate the needs of the South Village residents, the South Meadow residents, the students and the community as a whole.
“We are trying to reconcile all those things and make an even-handed decision that tries to find the best balance we can,” he said.
The village board meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Village Municipal Building, 90 Albany St. To learn more, visit villageofcazenovia.com.
