CAZENOVIA — On Jan. 2, the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees held a public hearing on a proposed local law to amend two sections of the zoning chapter of the village code.
As proposed, the local law would revise the description of the allowed special uses in the B-1 General Business District, and it would revise the definition of the term “sign.”
The village’s B-1 district borders Albany Street from Park Street to Allen Street on the south side and from the firehouse to Sullivan Street on the north side.
The code currently states that in a B-1 zone, dwellings, owner-occupied transient occupancy lodging, non-owner-occupied transient occupancy lodging, and dormitories in upper stories of a building are specially permitted uses only in combination with permitted nonresidential use(s) on the first floor in the same building.
“What it says now is that you are not allowed to have residential uses on the first floor in B-1,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler, who explained that the regulation was put in place to preserve the storefronts on Albany Street. “What we don’t want to have is people taking over Caz Pizza, [for example], putting up a bedsheet in the window and having people sleeping in there. We don’t want to have residential use on the first floor; we want to reserve those for higher-impact, business-type uses.”
The proposed local law creates an exception for corner lots that have frontage on both Albany Street and an intersecting street within the B-1 district.
Within a mixed commercial/residential use occupancy building at such a location, dwellings would be permitted on the ground floor within the portion of the building that fronts on the intersecting street and is situated more than 60 feet from the street line of Albany Street. In such instances, the residential dwelling space would require a dedicated primary entrance facing the intersecting street in question, the proposed local law states.
“Everything that faces Albany Street [would] still have to be a commercial use, but the things that face to the side street or behind could be residential,” said Wheeler.
To provide some context for the proposed amendment, Wheeler explained that the village discovered “a flaw” in its current B-1 zoning as it began to look at an informal proposal for a new mixed-use commercial/residential building on the corner of Albany Street and Center Street.
The project site is anticipated to include 99 Albany St., which is the former Napa store; 103 Albany St., which is a former gas station; and the blue house behind those buildings on Center Street. The properties, which are all in the B-1 district, are owned by Michael and Jacqueline Silberberg, of Berkley Properties, LLC.
Wheeler said that although there have only been informal discussions and requests for feedback on the project so far, the village anticipates receiving a formal application “any month now.” The expectation is that the developer will propose a first-floor commercial use facing Albany Street and a first-floor residential use for the back side of the building to reduce the impact on the adjacent residential district.
Under current B-1 zoning, a first-floor residential use would not be allowed.
“What we didn’t anticipate years ago when we revised that zoning [is] that in a situation like this, where a parcel is on an intersecting street and the back part of the parcel actually faces a residential district, it would be better for the affected neighborhood if you did allow residential on the back side,” Wheeler said.
During the public hearing, Amanda Bury, whose Albany Street business/residence is adjacent to the project site, inquired what the proposed local law would mean for the F.H. McLaughlin building and the Loka Leaf Tea Lounge building, which are both on corners at the intersection of Albany and Mill streets.
Village Attorney Jim Stokes responded that under the proposed local law, the owners could theoretically put residential units on the first floor facing Mill Street, but the buildings would need to undergo major reconstruction.
“Those buildings don’t currently have any kind of an entrance on Mill Street,” he said.
Wheeler remarked that after brainstorming and evaluating all the B-1 properties that the proposed amendment would apply to, the village board concluded that making the zoning change would benefit the public more than not making it.
Anne Ferguson, president of Cazenovia Heritage, commented that while she is in favor of appropriate development of the parcels at the corner of Albany and Center streets, she was curious why the developer could not just request a variance from the Village of Cazenovia Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
Stokes explained that the project would require a use variance, and New York State law prohibits ZBAs from granting a use variance to relieve a hardship created by the applicant, such as the purchase of property with the knowledge that the desired use is prohibited by the zoning ordinance.
Ferguson also said she is concerned that it seems like the village board is planning to change its code to accommodate a single developer for a single project.
“I don’t think it’s a good look,” she said. “The applicant has not yet even filled out an application, and I think we should wait to see what the design is before we introduce changes to our code. [Best case], it looks like you’re greasing the skids for the project, and in the worst case, it looks like spot zoning.”
A Lyman Street resident expressed that it was his understanding that if the B-1 zoning is not amended, any developer of the property would be forced to put a commercial use right next to the homes on Center Street, which the neighbors would not like.
“That’s why we proceeded with [this],” said Wheeler. “Our thought was that without making any changes, they could just put an office, or they could put another retail location on the back, and they would be perfectly compliant with our zoning. That would be perfectly acceptable, but we don’t really feel like that would be in the best interest of the neighborhood. . . . They could develop it without us doing anything, but I think we are opening the door for a more thoughtful way of developing it.”
Trustee Cindy Bell added that if the amendment is adopted, the developer would not be required to put a residential use on the first floor facing the residential district; it would just be an option.
Definition of “sign”
The draft local law considered during the public hearing also proposes revising the definition of the term “sign” to read as follows:
“Any representation placed to identify, express, advertise or promote the interests of, or portray the intellectual or artistic creation of, any person, business or other entity on a building or structure or by any other means elsewhere on a lot in view of the general public. ‘Representation’ shall include any lettered, pictorial, artistic or graphic matter, including letters, words, symbols, logos, colors, paintings, emblems and insignias, and any background panel, frame, structure, or other material or part thereof which displays such representation. This term shall include all signs.”
According to Wheeler, the proposed amendment resulted from a discussion about murals.
“We realized it was kind of a grey area; maybe it was covered, maybe it wasn’t covered,” Wheeler said. “We felt like the potential visual impact of a mural was significantly greater than any sign in the village, but yet, as I said, kind of a grey area. We feel like that is something that should be regulated, for the same reasons we want to regulate signs; it can have a tremendous impact on the historic character and the visual integrity of the village.”
Following the public hearing, no action was taken on the proposed local law.
“Any zoning change gets referred to the county for the planning department’s consideration,” said Wheeler. “Because of the holidays and everything, it has not come back from the county, so we are going to table it [and] keep the public hearing open. We will have another opportunity for public input next month. We will go through [the State Environmental Quality Review Act process] and consider it next month.”
A copy of the proposed local law is available for review at the office of the village clerk during the clerk’s normal business hours.
In other news
The board designated the American Legion, 26 Chenango St., as the polling place for the 2024 elections in June.
According to Wheeler, the timing of the village elections may change in the future due to the closure of Cazenovia College.
“In a very small community, the college students would make up like 50 percent of the electorate in some scenarios, and you can skew your whole election if there was some issue that was very popular among college students,” Wheeler explained. “[That’s] why we are in June and Oneida, for example, is in November.”
He added that other small communities with colleges, such as Hamilton, also hold June elections.
The village highway department will pick up Christmas trees until Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.
The Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees typically meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the village municipal building at 90 Albany St.
