VILLAGE OF MANLIUS – On June 13, the Village of Manlius Board of Trustees held a public hearing regarding the rezoning of the former fire station site off Stickley Drive.
The property is located behind Chase Bank and in front of the Village of Manlius Recreation Building.
The applicant, Hospitality Restaurant Group, is seeking to develop the property into a drive-through Taco Bell restaurant.
For many years, the property was owned by the village and zoned as municipal.
After it was sold a few years ago to David and Louis Muraco of Empire Management of CNY, Inc., no formal process was carried out to change its zoning designation. Therefore, the village board must now take legal action to establish a zone for the now-private property. The question at hand is whether to designate the property as a Commercial (C) or Commercial 1 (C1) zone.
As the village law currently stands, the only differences between the two zoning districts are related to drive-throughs and outdoor seating at restaurants.
Zone C does not allow outdoor seating or drive-through service at restaurants. In a C1 zone, both uses are permitted upon the issuance of a special use permit.
Hospitality Restaurant Group is requesting that the site be designated C1. The zone change application was submitted to the village at the beginning of January 2023, according to Codes/Zoning Official Mike Decker.
Before the public hearing was opened, Trustee Hank Chapman reported that the Village of Manlius Commercial Code Update Committee met but does not yet have a recommendation for the board on the issue of drive-throughs.
“We thought that that was something that needs more research, more study, maybe a more [thorough] look at our comprehensive plan and what other municipalities do,” Chapman said. “We will continue meeting on that issue, but in the meantime, we do have a building, the firehouse, that essentially has no zone.”
During the public hearing, the board heard from Manlius residents in favor and against the proposal; the Muracos; Matt Napierala, P.E., of Napierala Consulting; Mike McCracken, director of asset development with Hospitality Restaurant Group; and Cazenovia resident Michael Silberberg, who owns several commercial properties in the Village of Manlius.
Napierala, who spoke on behalf of the applicant, started off the forum by stating that industry trends suggest that family/fast food restaurants need both outdoor seating and drive-through service to be successful in the modern, post-COVID era. He also pointed out that the old fire station property abuts the C1-zoned Manlius Mart Plaza, which is located just to the south.
“The matter before the board tonight is not drive-throughs,” Napierala said. “The matter before the board tonight is a zone change of a property that has no zoning. The matter before the board tonight is, ‘[Should] this property that went up to auction [be] C1 zoned because there is adjacency and the development interest requests that?’”
He went on to explain that if the board approves the C1 zone change, the applicant must then dive into the special use permit application process.
“When we come before the board, we are going to talk about stacking, impact to traffic, how that relates to the little league fields — all of those [details] will be thoroughly reviewed by the board,” he said. “The planning board will have input. [Tonight,] we are just sticking to the point of, ‘Can we do this?’. . . With today’s law as it’s written, should this be C1 zoned?’”
Many of the community members who spoke out against the proposed C1 zoning expressed concerns regarding the potential impact of a stream of drive-through traffic on pedestrian safety, especially considering the site’s proximity to recreational areas used by children and that Taco Bell’s main customer base includes young, inexperienced drivers.
In response to the concerns, McCracken said the Hospitality Restaurant Group will go to great lengths to ensure that the site is safe. He also stated that vehicles in a drive-through move quite slowly.
“In this particular case, we are off the main drag, people have to come through the light, [and] they are going to have to enter the site slowly,” he added. “Because you have to make a few turns, you can’t really come in really fast.”
Most of the arguments made in favor of the proposed zone change highlighted the number of vacant properties within the village and the idea that rather than see another building sit empty and potentially fall into disrepair, the municipality should embrace opportunities for progress and economic development.
One resident commented that villages like Manlius are primarily built with private capital invested by developers who are willing to risk their money to build structures and services that are used by the community. He encouraged the village to work with developers rather than drive them elsewhere by being overly restrictive.
In response to comments about vacant properties, Mayor Paul Whorrall said the village is working hard to put money into and fill such buildings, but it is particularly challenging when their owners are unwilling to sell and “would rather see them fall apart.”
Decker also advised the room that, in today’s economic climate, the community can expect to see even more vacancies, including bank branches.
“We have quite a few property owners who own buildings here who quite frankly do not have the capital to take care of their buildings,” said Decker. “In a way, we have to police that to try to make sure that their properties are maintained. . . Once you get to know property owners and you get to understand their situations and what they are going through, you try to have some empathy too. So, you have to police it but also have empathy, and that’s difficult to do. You have the properties inside the village that are vacant, and unfortunately, there is not going to be a lot of supermen to come here to save the day, and [they are] not going to be the same property owners that are not currently maintaining their buildings.”
He added that he understands the safety concerns surrounding a drive-through, but he hopes the community will consider where the village might be in five to 10 years if it does not start making some critical changes.
According to Village Attorney Brad Hunt, the zone change application must go to the county for its comments before the village board can make its final determination.
During the meeting, the board also held a public hearing regarding the commercial code update committee’s recommendation that the village zoning code be amended to allow for outdoor seating at restaurants in a C zone with a special use permit.
“We have by practice allowed that, especially [in response to] COVID, but we need to modify our code to allow that,” said Chapman.
No comments were made during the public hearing.
The village board will receive a recommendation from the county and then vote on the proposed code amendment.
The swans of Manlius
To wrap up the meeting, Whorrall spoke on the recent tragedy involving the iconic Manlius swans and invited the public to ask questions and weigh in on the future of the Village of Manlius Swan Pond.
The village was originally gifted swans back in 1905, and it has been caring for the birds ever since.
Over Memorial Day weekend, three teenagers — an 18-year-old and two juveniles — allegedly stole the village’s adult female swan, Faye, from the swan pond in the middle of the night, killed her, and later ate her. The teenagers also stole four live cygnets, or baby swans, leaving Faye’s longtime mate, Manny, behind, officials said.
According to previous reporting by the Eagle Bulletin, multiple tips from citizens and further investigation led the Town of Manlius Police Department to recover the four cygnets and locate and charge the three suspects.
In his address to the crowd, Whorrall first discussed a recent slew of “downright false” and “damaging” statements directed at the village leadership regarding the care and protection of the swans.
He stated that many of the people offering their opinions on what the village board should be doing with the swans do not live in the village or even in the state and may have never visited the swan pond before.
“This was an unfortunate and disgusting incident caused by three individuals who had little or no remorse for what they did along with having pathetic excuses,” said Whorrall. “It seems like people are ignoring that fact and placing the blame on the village administration, which is making it unsafe for us to do our jobs. The village is working hard to make the pond a safer place, but no security can stop someone from committing a crime if they intend to do it.”
The mayor commended the Town of Manlius Police Department for locating the missing swans and the suspects within 24 hours of being notified of the incident.
“No cameras would have made that happen any quicker,” he said.
Whorrall also informed the crowd that he is aware of petitions calling for the permanent removal of the swans from captivity, but he has no intention of seeing that happen on his watch.
He noted that it is his understanding that the petitions do not meet the requirements of a petition in New York State.
“The board is aware of everybody’s concerns,” he said. “We are going to do the right thing, but this board has already [agreed] that we are not getting rid of our swans.”
He also said he believes most village residents are in favor of keeping the swans.
“They are part of our community and they have been for 118 years,” he said. “. . . [The swan] is the symbol of our community. Just look around the village.”
According to the mayor, the decisions regarding where Manny and the cygnets will end up will be made by local wildlife biologist Michael Bean, who has a contract with the village to care for the birds.
“When the [babies] are reintroduced, we are going to have to see what happens,’ Whorrall said. “That decision will be made not by me, not by this board, it will be made by the person that knows those swans the best.”
To help enhance the safety of the swans going forward, the village has installed multiple cameras at the pond to live-stream the site 24/7 for officials and the public to monitor. One of the cameras will stream to The Daily Diner, according to the mayor. The village is also looking into installing three lights to illuminate the back part of the pond.
During the public forum, several residents expressed their sorrow at the loss of Faye, their appreciation of and fondness for the swans, and their support of keeping the birds in Manlius.
“[The swans are] near and dear to everyone’s hearts,” said Deborah McGrew. “I am wholeheartedly in favor of keeping our swans forever. I grew up here in the village. They mean a lot to our family. . . I just want to commend you guys. I know how hard it has been.”
A message from the mayor to the community regarding the recent events surrounding the swans is posted on the village website at manliusvillage.org.
In other news
The Village of Manlius’ Fourth of July celebration will kick off with food trucks and a chicken barbeque from 4 p.m. to dusk. The parade will step off at 5 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by DownBeat Percussion and Royal Promise Productions at 6 p.m., the Twin Magicians at 6:30 p.m., and Letizia and the Z Band at 7 p.m. The fireworks will start at dusk.
For more information or to participate in the parade, contact Judy Salamone at [email protected].
Manlius Village Board meetings begin at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the Manlius Village Centre Board Room, 1 Arkie Albanese Avenue, Manlius.
