Fayetteville comprehensive plan committee goes over next steps

VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – During its Jan. 26 meeting, Fayetteville’s comprehensive plan steering committee discussed the next steps that will be taken in the development and eventual finalization of its plan update.
With representatives from consulting firm Environmental Design & Research (EDR), the committee has already held about a dozen meetings along with a pair of open houses meant to field input from people in the community.
At this point, a preliminary review draft of the village’s new comprehensive plan has been reviewed by the committee, subjected to a round of edits, and provided to Fayetteville’s other boards and commissions to solicit and address their feedback.
“I think the comments that we did receive were substantive,” said EDR Planning Practice Leader Sam Gordon at the start of last week’s meeting.
The parks commission suggested that the village government work with the Town of Manlius to make the sidewalks continuous along Salt Springs Road and additional streets. In response, it would be mentioned in the plan that the village has explored the expansion of pedestrian connections along specific routes with the bonus of circulation to business districts and that the identification of such opportunities in other spots would continue, Gordon said.
Another comment from the parks commission pointed to their goal to cooperate with local hiking, cycling and nature-oriented organizations when using the village’s parks and trails to host recreational activities.
Upon its members’ evaluation of the preliminary draft, the historic preservation commission pushed for any areas identified as archaeologically sensitive to be added to the village’s environmental considerations map among wetlands, floodplains and natural resources.
It was also recommended that the steering committee be cognizant of protecting neighborhood streets from speeding vehicles by making it an objective to seek out traffic-calming techniques.
Planning Board Deputy Chair Scott Dumas, a member of the comprehensive plan steering committee, chimed in that people “fly through” Elm Street and roads on the opposite side of East Genesee Street to avoid traffic lights.
The committee members gave the go ahead during the Jan. 26 meeting to release a public review draft of the plan by posting it on the website fayettevilleny.gov. It will mark the first time that the greater public will be able to look over the actual contents of the updated plan.
“I think it’s time that we do hear from people,” said Deputy Mayor Mike Small, the chair of the steering committee. Small said the wider unveiling of the draft would help the committee determine if they’re on the right track or if there are differences of opinion that should be further contemplated.
“One way to look at a comprehensive plan is that it’s always a draft because it’s supposed to be updated,” Gordon said.
Community members will be allowed to download the draft and submit written comments throughout an approximately month-long window. The committee will also be holding a public hearing toward the end of the open review period, most likely the week of Feb. 13.
Once the committee and EDR fully evaluate the compilation of comments that come in through email, the website portal and the in-person public hearing, the steerers of the process will focus on making any extra updates to the plan that are deemed necessary.
A final review draft would then be created and recommended to the entire village board for the consideration of its adoption, at which point the village board would hold its own in-person public hearing.
The village board would proceed to initiate the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process and refer the plan as prepared to Onondaga County’s planning board.
The steering committee’s most recent meeting also included discussion of whether to swap out certain photos appearing in the current plan in favor of ones more representative of Fayetteville’s character while keeping some as placeholders until the final review draft is put together.
The hour-long meeting viewable on the village website dealt at other points with how the plan would inform zoning decisions, touching on matters such as which neighborhoods are suited for bed and breakfasts and how hotels could be allowed in the village center.
Dumas said having a hotel in the village would help with the local economy by bringing in relatives staying for a visit or people on business who would otherwise stay in a hotel on Carrier Circle in East Syracuse.
Manlius’ Deputy Town Supervisor Sara Bollinger, another member of the committee, said a commercial need for hotels exists in Fayetteville because the Craftsman Inn is often booked to the brim. Small said it could even be a smaller-scale, two-to-three-story hotel rather than a “giant structure” in fitting with the village’s aesthetics.