TOWN OF MANLIUS – A proposal by Brolex Properties to build 46 townhomes off Strawmount Trail adjacent to the Megnin Farms subdivision may be derailed because of sewer issues in Chittenango.

On Monday, Chittenango Mayor Elizabeth Bough Martin met with the members of the Manlius Planning Board to ask planners not to approve any projects that would add additional capacity to the sewer system that is managed by the village. Manlius has an intermunicipal agreement with Chittenango to handle the flow for the 85 homes in Megnin Farms, but the mayor asked Manlius planners to make sure Chittenango engineers could review any additional projects in the town of Manlius prior to approval.

“Just because there’s a [sewer] line, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to accept flows,” she told the planning board. “The [Chittenango] village board of trustees is committed to preserving the available capacity in their system for economic development in the village of Chittenango.”

Earlier this year, some homes on Chittenango’s sewer system experienced sewage backups in their basement when there was an electric failure that caused a pump to fail.

Brolex Property’s proposal is for 23 duplexes that would include 46 townhomes on a new cul-de-sac just west of Strawmount Trail. When planners first reviewed the project last month, Chairman Joe Lupia commented that the board had already received correspondence from 140 residents opposing the project.

This is the second time that Brolex Properties has proposed a development on the site. In the spring of 2020, Brolex withdrew a proposal to build 132 apartments on the site following a public hearing attended by more than 100 residents who voiced near unanimous opposition.

A public hearing on the zone change application that would pave the way for the project is scheduled for Dec. 12.