VILLAGE OF MANLIUS — On Jan. 10, the Village of Manlius Board of Trustees was updated on the proposed Taco Bell project at the former fire station site off Stickley Drive behind Chase Bank and in front of the Manlius recreation building.

The developer, Hospitality Restaurant Group, has submitted a zone change application to the village with the eventual goal of incorporating a drive-through into its project plans.

Matt Napierala, P.E., of Napierala Consulting, described the current situation to the board on behalf of the applicant. Also present were Mike McCracken, director of asset development with Hospitality Restaurant Group, and the property owners, David and Louis Muraco, of Empire Management of CNY, Inc.

For all the years the parcel was owned by the village, it was zoned as municipal/governmental/no zone.

Napierala explained that when it was sold, no formal process was carried out to change its zoning designation. Therefore, he said, legal measures must now be taken to establish a zone for the site.

“We have to establish a zone for the property that currently has no zone in the village,” Napierala said.

The applicant is proposing that the site be designated as a commercial 1 (C1) zone.

Napierala pointed out that the old fire station property abuts the Manlius Mart Plaza, which is zoned C1 and is located just to the south.

As the village law currently stands, only sites that are zoned as C1 can apply for special use permits for drive-throughs that service restaurants or other food/beverage operations. This type of drive-through is not an allowable use in commercial (C) zones.

The board agreed to send the zone change application to the village planning board for their recommendation.

The applicant will go before the planning board, and then the planning board will deliver its recommendation to the village board of trustees. The village board will then hold a public hearing on the proposed zone change and receive a recommendation from the county before making its final determination. If the requested zone change is approved, the applicant will then start the special use permit process for the drive-through.

“It’s a multiple-step process; this is step one,” said Napierala.

Village Attorney Brad Hunt agreed with Napierala that because the property was municipal and is now under new ownership, the village board has no choice but to do a zone change. The question is whether to change the zone to C or C1, which are both in the vicinity.

“The only difference, I believe, is in how they treat drive-throughs and outdoor seating at restaurants,” said Hunt. “In the C zone, under our regulations, there is no possibility for drive-throughs or outdoor seating at restaurants. In the C1 zone, you can have both with a special use permit. In shopping centers within the C zone, you can have outdoor seating but not drive-throughs with a special use permit.”

Currently, the only C1 zones in the village are the Manlius Mart Plaza, the Tops Plaza, and Limestone Commons down Seneca Street.

Hunt pointed out that when the county produced a draft map for the village a couple of years ago, it proposed that the old fire station property be designated as C1.

Dunkin’

Following the Taco Bell discussion, Todd Markevicz, of APD Engineering & Architecture, presented to the board on behalf of the Dunkin’ ownership.

Dunkin’, which is under new ownership as of last year, is also seeking a special use permit for a drive-through.

The Dunkin’ property and the adjacent parcels are zoned as C; therefore, the applicant is seeking a special use permit that is not available under the current zoning.

According to Markevicz, the approximately 0.6-acre Dunkin’ site at 306 Fayette St. currently has an approximately 2,300-square-foot building, two access points, and parking on three sides of the building.

“The one thing this site lacks, which is a vital part of a quick service restaurant, is a drive-through,” Markevicz said. “As a matter of fact, recent data has suggested that somewhere around 75 percent or greater of the customers utilize the drive-through versus dine-in.”

To accommodate a drive-through, the applicant has purchased the approximately 6,000-square-foot adjacent property at 101 Smith St.

According to Codes/Zoning Official Mike Decker, the Dunkin’ ownership was issued a demolition permit the previous week to tear down the vacant house at 101 Smith St.

Markevicz explained that the proposed plan is to create a new 24-foot-wide curb cut on Smith Street. One 12-foot lane would be for drive-through traffic and a second 12-foot lane, to the right, would be an enter-only bypass for vehicles that do not want to get in the drive-through queue but want to visit the restaurant.

According to Markevicz, the proposed drive-through could accommodate an 11-car stack without encroaching onto Smith Street.

Markevicz noted that his client, which owns several other Dunkin’ stores, especially in the Southern Tier region, reported that the highest demand they typically see is an eight- to ten-vehicle stack in the mornings.

“Obviously that varies depending on location, [but] typically the peak demand would be that morning rush, and then throughout the day it does diminish,” he said.

The drive-through window would be placed at the northern corner of the building.

The project would also include interior and exterior renovations.

“It would be a completely new-skinned building,” said Markevicz. “The materials are going to be much more modern than what is out there today, [with] more modern colors, more in theme with the typical Dunkin’s you might see or the newer Dunkin’s.”

Hunt stated that because the surrounding parcels are zoned as C, the only legal option that could be taken to enable Dunkin’ to apply for a special use permit for a drive-through would be to amend the village zoning code to allow drive-throughs for food/beverage operations with a special use permit in a C zone.

“Essentially, what we are considering is whether to merge those two districts, get rid of the distinction between C1 and C,” said Hunt. “. . . My opinion is that on this site it is different from the Taco Bell site. Spot zoning would be a serious legal problem [here].”

According to the New York State Department of State, spot zoning refers to the rezoning of a parcel of land to a use category different from the surrounding area, usually to benefit a single owner or a single development interest.

The board ultimately decided to pass the question of whether to merge the village’s two commercial zones (C1 and C) into a single zoning designation onto the planning board for its consideration and recommendation.

“The planning board is going to go through their process and make a recommendation to us,” said Trustee Hank Chapman. “If we decide to go forward, we are going to have a public hearing, hear input, and make a decision. Even then, specific to any site, they would need a special use permit. There are a lot of steps to this that will all need public input and approval. . . [A special use permit would go back to the planning board] for their recommendation and then come back to us.”

The county will also provide its own recommendations to the village board.

In other news

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Paul Whorrall swore in Ryan A. Palmiter and Arati E. Clarry-Rudd as full-time career firefighters/emergency medical technicians.

Later, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee presented the findings of its recent study of the village parks.

The presentation offered recommendations to the board regarding maintenance needs, short-term goals, and long-term “wish list” goals for the Village Centre, Bicentennial Park, Perry Springs Park & Fish Hatchery, Mill Run Park, and the Limestone Nature Preserve.

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 Avenue, Manlius.