CAZENOVIA — The Cazenovia Village Board has amended its zoning in the B-1 district, potentially paving the way for a new project along the village’s Albany Street commercial district.

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 in that zone previously outlawed residential uses on the first floor of buildings within that zone.

The local law passed on Monday, Feb. 5 creates an exception for corner lots within the B-1 district that have frontage on both Albany Street and an intersecting street.

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.

The change to the zoning should have little effect on the village’s core historic commercial stretch on Albany Street. Residential uses will still be prohibited on the first floor of buildings in the district with entrances off Albany Street, unless there is a separate entrance to a residential portion of the building off an intersecting street.

“We don’t want somebody living in a storefront,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler.

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 last month 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.

“We anticipate that there will be an interest in making that back part residential, which we think will be better for the neighborhood,” Wheeler said at the Feb. 5 meeting, calling the change “the best of both worlds.”

Definition of “sign”

The law passed Monday night also changes 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.”

Wheeler said last month that the proposed amendment resulted from a discussion about murals, which he felt were an ambiguous “grey area” as it relates to village regulation.

Several communities, including the villages of Manlius and Fayetteville, have recently had large murals painted on the side of commercial buildings

“We realized it was kind of a grey area; maybe it was covered, maybe it wasn’t covered,” Wheeler said last month. “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.”

Budget workshops

In preparation for the new fiscal year, the board has scheduled two budget workshops in the next two weeks. The first will be Monday, Feb. 12 at 5:15 p.m. and the second will be Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 5:15 p.m. The budget workshops will take place at village hall and are open to the public.

Editor’s note: This article includes reporting by Kate Hill.