At the May 27 meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Trustees, representatives from the Fayetteville Village Apartment project presented changed plans for the proposed housing development at 547 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville that is aimed toward “empty nesters and young professionals.”

Representatives of the project, headed by O’Brien and Geer, originally presented and applied for a Planned Unit Development (P.U.D.) application in March, which they gained approval for.

According to Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson, the Fayetteville planning board, a committee on the project, as well as a focus group made up of citizens have met several times to discuss the project. Olson said all of these groups have come to the conclusion the development doesn’t fully fit into the definition of a P.U.D. and is rather a Planned Residential Development (P.R.D.) because there are no commercial elements to the proposed plans.

“The feeling of the committee, the planning group and the focus group is that it just doesn’t fit into a P.U.D.,” said Olson.

When the project was originally proposed in March, the complex was presented to consist of 12 three-story buildings that contain a total of 312 housing units, 624 parking spaces, a 5,500-square-foot clubhouse/rental facility and trails for recreation. The 312 units would have been made up of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

Since then, the project’s plans have changes considerably. Through meeting with the planning board and the focus group, John Sutphen, of O’Brien and Geer, said they were able to have a better understanding of what the village and citizens wanted in a housing development in that location.

According to James Fahy, of Fahy & Associates Architects, some of the main changes include the addition of traditional two- and three-story townhouses with individual garages, as well as a streetscape and green gathering areas. Apartment complexes in the project will be three-story buildings consisting of 30 one-, two- and three- bedroom units that will be constructed in the rear of the property.

Fahy said the materials and architectural elements to be used in the buildings are based on the tenants of traditional neighborhoods, which is widely used across the United States.

The board of trustees unanimously approved a P.R.D. application for the Fayetteville Village Apartments at the meeting. The project still has to go to the Fayetteville Panning Board for approval.

“I can see how it will look like a neighborhood,” said Trustee Chris Randall. “Economically, this is what will work to clean up that area.”

Sutphen said his group hopes to demolish the existing building sometime in the fall of next year, which will probably take about a month. It is likely no major construction will happen until the spring of 2016, said Sutphen.

“We want to continue to work with and listen to the citizens and village to make sure this a valuable asset to the village,” said Sutphen.

Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].