BALDWINSVILLE — After months of public outcry against a proposed 1-million-square-foot warehouse on the corner of Hencle Boulevard and Route 48, United Auto Supply has revised its plans for the project. Ranalli ALA, LLC, is now planning to build a 360,000-square-foot warehouse — about one-third the size of the original proposal.
The Lysander Planning Board announced the change at its July 8 meeting. Brian Bouchard of CHA Consulting, representing the applicant, gave an overview of the revised project, which will be constructed in one phase instead of three.
“Based on comments that we received both at the [June 10] meeting and discussions internally, the owner has made the decision to significantly reduce the scale and scope of the project,” Bouchard said. “His intention is to accommodate the future expansion elsewhere within other properties he owns within the county.”
Bouchard said the revised proposal would reduce the lot coverage and impervious surfaces needed for the warehouse and would cut down on traffic and noise complaints.
The Onondaga County Department of Transportation has approved an updated traffic study for the project with restrictions on Hencle Boulevard access, according to Bouchard. The New York State DOT has yet to weigh in on the Route 48/Oswego Road portion.
Planning Board Chair Jack Corey said the project would be “less impactful” on the environment and the community, but some residents disagreed.
Glen Silver, who lives on Mott Road, said the public should be given time to review the revised site plan and the board should extend the current public hearing or schedule a new one.
Resident Rob Helfrich noted that part one of the Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) has not been revised and part two has yet to be reviewed.
Other residents cited environmental concerns about the project. John Farneth said diesel trucks would still generate traffic and pollution, and Wayne Weiss said the town should examine the impact of the project on groundwater since many area residents rely on wells.
“I moved out to Lysander to be away from this type of industrial movement, and I moved out to be away from the city,” resident Paula Zebrowski said, adding that she carpools to try to reduce her own carbon footprint.
“Basically, all areas have either been eliminated as a concern or [reduced],” Corey said. “If through our process we find that it meets — with necessary and appropriate mitigations — all state, county and town codes pertaining to this type of application, then under the new [application] that is submitted, which is substantially smaller in size and impact, clearly there wouldn’t be a need to start over.”
The planning board is still waiting for additional documents to review for the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) analysis.
Planning Board Member Steve Darcangelo noted that the planning board was not required to hold a public hearing on the initial application. Corey said he decided as chair to hold the public hearing, which began at the May meeting of the planning board.
“I felt that the scope and magnitude of this project was such that it would be important for the public to be made aware of it and have an opportunity to comment on it even though we were not required to by code or law,” Corey said.
Corey encouraged the public to review the revised project and submit written feedback. The public can direct written comments to Planning Board Secretary Karen Rice at [email protected].
CALM claims victory
The same day Ranalli ALA, LLC, announced it was revising the warehouse project, Citizens Against Lysander Mega-Warehouse (CALM) released a statement claiming victory in an Article 78 proceeding against the town. According to CALM’s release, NYS Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte ruled in favor of a group of Lysander residents who challenged the Lysander Town Board’s Feb. 4 decision to rescind a decades-old “green space” law.
“The CALM lawsuit alleged that the town of Lysander failed to follow New York State required procedure when they voted to amend the town’s zoning law to expand the maximum lot coverage for certain industrially zoned parcels from 30% to 50%,” reads CALM’s statement. “As a direct result of the lawsuit and significant public pressure, the town has agreed to stipulate that the enactment of the amendment to the zoning law was improper and that they would consider it null and void, thereby rendering that the previous application [by United Auto Supply] to the planning board would exceed the lot coverage limitations.”
Town Supervisor Bob Wicks told Syracuse.com that the town and its legal counsel “discovered some usual protocols weren’t followed” including a failure to submit the zoning law amendment to the Lysander Planning Board and the Onondaga County Planning Board.
