The May 25 continuation of the joint village/town board public hearing on the proposed annexation of 10 acres of land on Route 20, on which the proposed Aldi and other development will be built, contained a lot of the same comments as the first meeting — but there were some interesting points and new facts revealed. Once again people on both sides of the issue spoke, but there were two main takeaways for us:
1) More than one person said that while they do not oppose annexation, or new development, they have lost confidence in the village planning board and fear the final development plans that will be approved by that body. It was said that some feel the planning board has given in to developers’ demands too easily in the past just to avoid developers from pulling their projects. Village Trustee Dave Porter even said that on the subject of competence, the village has had “mixed results” both from its planning board approvals and from its developers plans. “I think we have to set our bar a little higher [for Aldi],” Porter said.
2) All joint board members took exception to accusations that annexation was a fait accompli, as one audience member charged, and said nothing has been decided. Town Supervisor Bill Zupan made clear that if this project does not seem in the best interests of the town he will vote no. “I don’t want to be known as the supervisor who voted yes for annexation and it turns us into Erie Boulevard,” he said. Town Councilor Jimmy Golub said that while annexation is a separate topic and vote than the Aldi site plan approval (which is done by the village planning board), the two issues are coordinate, and he will base his decision on annexation also on the Aldi plan and the expected outcome of the development.
The joint board clearly has an important decision to make, and we appreciate their statements that they will be looking at the Aldi and other development plans when making their decision on annexation to see if the new construction will or will not fit within the character of Cazenovia.
As for the stated lack of confidence in some of the past village planning board approvals, people who feel that way need to attend the planning board’s meetings and speak at its public hearings. Planning board members, while appointed rather than elected, are still public servants and serve the will of the people and the village; and, like all municipal boards, they cannot take public sentiment into consideration on their decisions if they receive no feedback.
As we have stated many times in the past, any project can be made to conform to the uniqueness and character of Cazenovia. A prime example is the new Empire Farmstead brewery, the look of which we have heard nothing but high praise about from people all over the community. The current building looks very little like the original plans, and the reason is that there was massive public feedback on the project and the planning board held Empire to a high standard, which Empire accepted. We have heard complaints that the planning board fears to constrict some developers too much for fear they will walk away from Caz — well, if that happens, let them walk away. Developers who don’t want to conform to the character of Caz should not be here anyway.
The annexation public hearing was officially closed at the end of the May 25 meeting. The joint board on annexation now has 90 days in which to vote to approve or reject the annexation proposal based on, according to statute, whether it is in the overall public interest.
