VILLAGE OF MANLIUS — During the Dec. 13 Village of Manlius Board of Trustees meeting, singer-songwriter James VanDeuson, of the indie/folk group The Rollin’ Rust, and his partner, Rebecca Girouard, presented their plan to bring a live music venue to the village downtown.
The pair is planning to open The Rollin’ Rust Room music venue at 103 Wesley St. in a space owned by Dan Chapman and Joe Ori, who also own A.W. Wander, a beer and wood-fired pizza establishment at the corner of E. Seneca Street and Wesley Street.
Earlier this month, Chapman and Ori also took over ownership of the Manlius Arts Cinema at135 E Seneca St. from longtime owners Nat Tobin and Eileen Lowell.
According to Mayor Paul Whorrall, the new owners will be renovating the theater and installing a new marquee.
To introduce their vision for The Rollin’ Rust Room, VanDeuson and Girouard shared a video with the board of trustees.
According to the video, the couple met in college in 2014 while VanDeuson was studying design with an emphasis on architecture and Girouard was studying business and English. Years later, after moving in together and while VanDeuson was practicing architecture, Girouard convinced him to pursue his dream of playing music. They eventually moved to California and started playing all over the west coast and across the country, becoming self-employed and adopting an “entrepreneurial mindset.” In 2020, VanDeuson and Girouard started The Rollin’ Rust project with VanDeuson’s high school friends Jim Hearn (lead guitarist) and Kyle Dennis (percussion). Over the past year, the band has played in 25 different states.
“The [venues] that stuck out to us the most were the ones that kind of built a community around the music,” said VanDeuson. “When the band came in, the whole town lit up.”
The couple said that touring made them realize that the Village of Manlius lacks a place for people to gather to support local music, touring bands, comedians, theater and “just hang out.”
“There’s a real void in this town, and we think we can help,” said VanDeuson. “. . . 103 Wesley is the perfect place for a listening room, but it did present some challenges.”
Girouard later commented that the building was just in need of a “little bit of a facelift.”
The couple plans to remove the existing ramp up to the front entrance and replace it with a porch. They also aim to add an ADA-accessible entrance on the other side of the building, which currently does not have a door. Inside, they plan to do some plumbing work and add two bathrooms, a prep area, and a state-of-the-art stage with lighting and sound.
“We are going to really focus on making sure that the room is not too loud,” said VanDeuson. “Other than that, it’s basically just going to have tables and chairs, [and] we’re going to serve cheese and wine and beer and put on good shows; that’s really the whole thing.”
Girouard added that they also plan to serve coffee and non-alcoholic drinks.
Every person who donates $100 or more to the project will have their name added to the wall of the space.
“We’re going to build something beautiful here,” said VanDeuson. “We have the staff, we have the architectural drawings, we have plenty of skill and drive, we just definitely need some help from the community. . .”
After the presentation, Whorrall expressed that he is confident the project will be great for the community.
“Dan and Joe have done one [heck] of job over there at A.W. Wander, and we know they are going to do a great job on the movie theater, so this will just be another great project for the Village of Manlius,” Whorrall said.
Chapman, who was present at the board meeting, acknowledged that the 103 Wesley St. project is a huge undertaking for VanDeuson and Girouard and expressed that he is very excited for it to come to fruition.
Chapman explained that when the previous occupant vacated 103 Wesley St. — which was office space at the time — a couple of months ago, he and Ori were left with an eyesore.
“If you’ve ever [driven] passed it, it’s by far the least aesthetically pleasing part of our building,” Chapman said. “We knew that we were going to have to do something with it, but at the same time we just bought the building, and we didn’t really want to sink a ton of money into renovating the space ourselves. We were kind of figuring out, ‘What are we going to do with this?’ Then these guys came to us and pitched the idea, and we thought it was awesome.”
Chapman added that the couple’s vision fits in perfectly with what he and Ori are trying to do with that block and with the overall revitalization of the downtown area.
“We are renting to these guys; they are the ones doing this whole thing, by the way,” he said. “We have very little to do other than just helping them kind of navigate through some of the obstacles they are coming up [against].’
To raise money for their project and initiate the building work as quickly as possible, VanDeuson and Girouard launched a GoFundMe campaign at gofundme.com/f/therollinrustroom. In about 20 days, they have raised approximately $7,000 toward their $100,000 fundraising goal.
According to Whorrall, the village will have some grant funding that it will be able to contribute to the project. VanDeuson said he and Girouard plan to continue to explore other grant opportunities as well.
At the end of the discussion, Chapman announced that A.W. Wander would be hosting a public fundraiser for the project and a meet and greet with The Rollin’ Rust on Thursday, Dec. 15.
The band is scheduled to perform at Funk ‘n Waffles in Syracuse on Friday, Jan. 13.
To learn more about the band and the 103 Wesley St. project, visit therollinrust.com.
Dunkin’ and proposed Taco Bell applications
Later in the meeting, Codes/Zoning Official Mike Decker and Village Attorney Brad Hunt provided their insights regarding two sites within the village that are seeking special use permits for drive-throughs.
One is for the Dunkin’ site and the other is for a proposed Taco Bell at the former fire station site off Stickley Drive (behind Chase Bank and in front of the Manlius Rec. building).
“You’ve got two sites that both would like to have a drive-through, and we need to do something legally if we are going to make that possible,” said Hunt.
Decker explained that, as the village law currently stands, sites zoned as commercial cannot apply for special use permits for drive-throughs that service restaurants or other food/beverage operations. However, sites zoned as commercial 1, like the village’s plazas, can apply for such permits.
According to Decker, Dunkin’, which is under relatively new ownership, is preparing to “pull a demolition permit” to tear down a condemned house on Smith Street. The owner is also ready to apply for a special use permit for a drive-through.
Decker said the applicant’s intention is to remodel the Dunkin’ building — which has been untouched for the last 20 years — to bring it into conformity with the typical Dunkin’ aesthetic and make it look like a cohesive part of the village.
According to Decker, the parcels located between Elmbrook Drive and Smith Street and facing Fayette Street are zoned commercial and therefore cannot apply for a special use permit for a drive-through under the current law.
Decker said that if the village decides to give Dunkin’ the opportunity to apply for the permit, the best legal option would be to amend the zoning code to allow drive-throughs for food/beverage operations with a special use permit in a commercial zone.
If the village decides it wants to allow the Taco Bell applicant to apply for a special use permit for a drive-through at the commercial zoned fire station site, a potential option would be to pass a zone change for that site, designating it as commercial 1.
“We might have the opportunity to do that because right now the Manlius Mart [Plaza], which abuts the old Station 1 property, is currently zoned commercial 1,” said Decker. “We can’t rezone the Dunkin’ Donuts site and the abutting sites because that would be considered spot zoning. We have to create another solution for that situation, or we don’t do anything at all, and things don’t change. That is what our village government has to decide.”
Hunt said he and Decker have been in communication about the zoning code and the law that applies to both situations, and they agree about the legal courses of action that would be required if the village decides to allow the sites to apply for drive-throughs.
At the beginning of the conversation, Whorrall expressed his disappointment regarding a social media post that called him out for singlehandedly “bringing Taco Bell to Manlius.”
“I don’t go out and go to a restaurant and say, ‘Oh, by the way, would you come to Manlius with your restaurant? I give you permission to start tomorrow,’” he said. “I don’t have that privilege. The planning board makes their decisions and makes their recommendation to the village board, then we make a [determination] . . . Our codes officer is right on top of all of this and keeps me abreast of everything that’s going on. I trust in him, I trust in our attorney, and I trust in our board.”
The mayor also said he does not vote on board matters, except under special circumstances like when his vote is needed to break a tie.
Hunt explained that there is a set of rules and regulations that the village must follow when approving or denying any business that wants to come into the village.
“One thing we can’t actually do is deny an application from a business for site plan approval just because we don’t like the kind of food they serve,” said Hunt. “. . . The village has authority through the planning process to look at the way a building is going to look, the way the parking and streets are going to be laid out, and whether there is a drive-through, all that sort of thing, but we are not given the authority to be the judge of the quality of the products that businesses are providing. That’s not something that the village can control under the law.”
Later in the discussion, Trustee Hank Chapman expressed his opinion that a commercial 1 designation would be a “stretch” for the old fire station site.
He also pointed out that if the village amended its code to allow food/beverage operations in commercial districts to apply for special use permits for drive-throughs, that would solve the zoning problems for both Dunkin’ and the proposed Taco Bell site.
Chapman explained that his intent was not to advocate for this approach but simply to bring attention to the option.
“We first have to decide if we even want to allow drive-throughs for food establishments in a commercial zone,” he said. “It seems like that is the first step.”
Hunt explained that if the village board decides to go down the road of taking legal steps to make a zoning change, it could start the process by passing a motion to recommend the change. The planning board would then have the chance to weigh in and give their own recommendation before the village board made its final vote.
Even if the village board decides in favor of a zoning change, the Dunkin’ and Taco Bell applicants are not guaranteed to be granted special use permits for drive-throughs. Each permit application would be evaluated on its own merits.
According to Chapman, the Taco Bell applicant stated at the last board meeting that if its special use permit application is not approved, it will not move forward with the project.
Hunt pointed out that if the applicants ultimately were granted special use permits, they would also have to undergo a separate site plan approval process with the planning board for their whole projects.
According to the mayor, the village board plans to gather additional information and continue its deliberations before making any decisions regarding the Dunkin’ and proposed Taco Bell applications.
Manlius Village Board meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the Manlius Village Centre Board Room, 1 Arkie Albanese Ave., Manlius.
