Clay mulls Micron site zone change

TOWN OF CLAY – In order for Micron to locate its megafab facility in the town of Clay, the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency must first pass some regulatory hurdles with the municipality.
Last Wednesday, the Clay Town Board and Planning Board held a joint public hearing – their first on the project – regarding a zone change on approximately 862 acres at the White Pine Commerce Park site. That acreage, which is composed of 55 parcels, is a little more than two-thirds of the site. OCIDA has already received a zone change on 339 acres on the western side of White Pines.
Jeff Davis, an attorney at Barclay Damon who represented OCIDA, called the zone change “a significant step in bringing White Pine Commerce Park to life.”
For over an hour, members of the town board and planning board questioned Davis about traffic congestion, sewers, utilities, emergency services and other potential impacts the project would have on the area.
Often, members of both boards found his responses lacking in specifics.
In 2021, OCIDA prepared a generic environmental impact statement based on the potential for a chip fab plant to locate on the original 339-acre site. That plan, which was “fictitious, but forward-thinking,” Davis said, considered a generic 4,000-employee chip manufacturing facility.
Because Micron has yet to provide an application or site plan for its much-anticipated development, Clay officials are being asked to make a decision on the zone change based on the generic information provided for a smaller development, which frustrated several members of both boards.
“The president of the United States came to this town to discuss this project with more detail than is in this application,” said Deputy Supervisor Joseph Bick, who served as chairman of the hearing.
“I understand the frustration,” Davis said. “Anything that would be depicted would be speculation until all the due diligence is done.”
“I look forward to having firm plans to review rather than generic [plans],” planning board Chairman Russ Brown pointedly told Davis.
“So does everyone at the county,” Davis responded, “because that means this project is proceeding.”
After members of both boards were finished with their questions, about 15 members of the public weighed in. A few residents used the opportunity to voice their support or displeasure with the project, but most came to ask questions regarding how the project would impact their individual homes and neighborhoods.
The town board’s vote to close the hearing passed by a vote of five to two, with councilors David Hess and Eugene Young expressing their wish to keep the hearing open until more information could be provided by OCIDA.
The planning board will make a recommendation on the zone change at its June 14 meeting and then it will go back to the town board for a final decision at a date to be determined.
Mitchell said if the zone change passes and an application comes before the planning board, “I can assure you that this board will be concerned and thorough.”