Fayetteville — The developers behind the controversial Fayetteville Village Apartments on 547 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville have decided to withdraw their application for the residential apartment and townhouse project.
On Jan. 13, O’Brien and Gere and Morgan Management, the companies behind the 250-unit apartment and townhouse development at the former Accurate Die Casting site, requested to withdraw all applications relating to the project and will be refunded the escrow account they created.
Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson said he met with the president of O’Brien and Gere, and was told the company has decided that the project was not a good fit for the village and will look to alternative projects to put in that location.
The developer plans to take the next month to regroup and brainstorm some alternate site ideas, Olson said.
Contacts from O’Brien and Gere or Morgan Management were not available for comment.
Olson said this time gives the village board, the planning board and the focus group associated with the project opportunity to think about what would be suitable for that location. Some suggestions Olson said he has heard are solar panels, a manufacturing site, an indoor sports complex or mixed-use residential and retail buildings.
“We just need to step back and look at all of these things. Not everyone is going to get exactly what they want, but I think if we all work together and there’s compromise, it could be something that’s good. We’re happy O’Brien and Gere was willing to listen to our concerns,” said Olson.
The developers first came to the Fayetteville Village Board with their plans to construct 312 units contained in 12 three-story apartments aimed to “empty nesters and young professionals” in March 2015.
After hearing concerns from residents about the density of the project, the developer decided to downgrade the scope of the project to include a total of 250 units comprised of six three-story apartment buildings, 14 two-story townhouse and brownstone-style apartments with interior garages and a community center with outside pool. A total of 12 buildings would have had to be built for the units, which were a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. In August, a public hearing for the Planned Residential Development (P.R.D.) permit was held for the project, but no move was made forward.
continued — In September, a petition relating to concerns about the project was signed by more than 350 residents. Concerns related mainly to the height of the buildings, the density and scale of the project and traffic concerns.
Jason Fuelner, a Fayetteville resident who was part of the group who created the petition, said he was happy to hear that the petition was able to achieve its goals by allowing the developer to know what the residents of the village are concerned about for that location.
“I was pleased because I don’t think the project was a good fit for that location,” said Fuelner. “I thought that mayor and the village board were very responsive to our concerns and I’m glad the developer listened.”
“I think the neighbor’s concerns on not only the height, but the density and the traffic was just too much,” said Olson. “They’ve [O’Brien and Gere] always wanted to fit into the character of the village, that’s their goal. They want something that will be an asset, not a detriment. I give them a lot of credit for taking the time and rethinking this.”
Also in September, Craig Tice, superintendent of the Fayetteville-Manlius School District wrote a letter on behalf of the district citing concerns about the need to raise school taxes to accommodate the enrollment increase a project of that size could have on the school community.
Kevin Morgan, of Morgan Management, responded to Tice’s letter and stated that he believed the project would be an asset to the community and he believed the project would not increase enrollment that much because of the demographic it was aimed towards.
