By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Cicero town councilors clashed over a proposal to remove apartments as an authorized use from General Commercial zones at the Jan. 22 meeting of the Cicero Town Board. Despite the disagreement, the measure passed 3-2, with Supervisor Bill Meyer and Councilor Nancy White casting the dissenting votes.

Councilor Jon Karp said the town board initially approved the addition of high-density apartments — 25 units or more — to the GC zone in 2016. Karp said building apartments in Cicero’s already high-traffic commercial zones such as the Route 11 corridor would be “very, very burdensome for us in terms of traffic.”

The reversal, Karp said, would require builders to seek town board approval to build apartments in a GC zone.

“If anyone wants to build apartments there or anyplace else, they have to apply to the town board for a zone change to RM, Residential Multiple,” Karp said.

Karp said the idea for the reversal originated in a codes committee under former Supervisor Mark Venesky. The committee included Karp, Town Councilor Judy Boyke, Director of Code Enforcement Steven Procopio, Cicero Planning Board Chair Mark Marzullo and Chuck Stanton, who is now chair of the zoning board of appeals.

Town Councilor Nancy White questioned the necessity of the reversal.

“This was just done less than four years ago. Has something changed? Has something had a negative impact that we need to go out and reverse what was approved four years ago?” White asked.

Karp said since the apartments had been added to authorized uses, Route 11 has seen the arrival of Starbucks, Chipotle, and Chick-fil-A.

“That has certainly increased the traffic over there markedly,” Karp said. “This is not to block apartments from being built in the town of Cicero. It’s just to give discretion back to the town board so that we can look out for the quality of life for our residents.”

Councilor Mike Becallo said he voted against the addition in 2016. Karp said he had voted for it and has “had a change of heart” after seeing the boom in development on Route 11.

Supervisor Bill Meyer said the town has a serious lack of senior housing and “upscale apartments” for empty-nesters who no longer want the responsibilities that come with owning and maintaining a home.

“Transportation is a major component of what they have to deal with,” Meyer said of seniors, adding that senior housing needs to be located along the Centro bus route so seniors can have access to medical appointments, businesses and services. He said many seniors rely on Centro’s Call-A-Bus service.

Removing apartments from GC usage would drive empty-nesters and developers to Clay, Meyer said.

“Not too far down the road, they could build a nice project on [Route] 31 or off Mud Mill Road,” he said. “They’re going to move out of the town of Cicero and go to some of these places where they can build them.”

Karp said developers are welcome to apply for a zone change if they feel their project would be a good fit in Cicero’s commercial areas.

“It really is not that big of a deal and it does happen all the time for these projects,” Karp said. “Certainly, a true senior apartment complex with [access] to Call-A-Bus would be low-intensity use, and having not seen a project I cannot comment on the specifics of it, but … I probably would support it.”

Becallo said the addition of apartments to GC was originally intended for “large-scale apartments,” to which many constituents have expressed opposition.

“People are sick and tired of seeing more and more big projects through that corridor — certainly not senior apartments,” Becallo said.

Boyke said the Island Hollow senior housing complex was an example of what happens when the town board does not have the discretion to vet projects properly.

“It was a major, major issue when Island Hollow was built. Island Hollow has no bus routes, and they have no sidewalks, and they have no grocery stores, yet we have a very large complex there,” she said.

White also said the proposal to remove apartments from GC was too narrowly focused.

“It seems to me that we’re doing this primarily because of Route 11, but Cicero is much larger than Route 11. Do we need to put that level of bureaucracy back for the entire town?” she said. “I would much rather see a comprehensive, town-wide plan for what we want Cicero to look like — not just Route 11, but the areas around it all the way up and down, east and west — instead of just doing these spot sections.”

Boyke said she had suggested overhauling the town’s comprehensive plan three years ago and was told it was too expensive. She reiterated her suggestion to Meyer this year.

Karp said Route 11 is Cicero’s primary business district. He said he recalled spending much of his initial time on the town board re-zoning parts of Route 11 in preparation for “a racetrack that never actually came to be” — Glenn Donnelly’s proposed Central New York Raceway Park in Hastings.

“I’m focusing on Route 11 because one of my concerns is the quality of life and traffic there, and we cannot sustain any more traffic. It’s already making people not want to patronize the businesses there,” Karp said. “In fact, Mr. Meyer, you told me you like Chick-fil-A, yet you haven’t even gone to that one because of the traffic.”

Karp said Cicero residents elect town board members to make decisions in their best interest.

“People trust us. That’s why they put us up here,” he said.

The resolution to remove apartments as an allowable use in GC passed 3-2.