PLANNING BOARD AGENDA
Common Council Chambers
August 15, 2024 – 4:30 PM
OLD BUSINESS
PB Case No.: 12-24 Zone: Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU)
Address: 1810 Eagle Street Requested Action: Site Plan Review
Applicant: Eagle’s Nest-Utica, LLC
Owner: Parkway Drugs Holdings, LLC
Pursuant to City of Utica Zoning Code Section 2-29-291(a) and (b) the applicant is seeking site plan approval of a proposal to construct thirty-four units of market-rate apartments at the above-noted property.
The applicant is proposing to construct a gated community comprised of seven 4-unit buildings and one 6-unit building; the plan also calls for the construction of a resident center. According to the applicant, the proposed development has been designed to enhance the character and integrity of the existing neighborhood so as to not have a negative impact on the surrounding properties.
At its June meeting, the Planning Board granted Preliminary Site Plan approval and tabled final approval while awaiting comments from the City’s Engineering, Police and Fire Departments. The Police and Fire Departments have no comment and the Engineering Department has requested more detailed drawings before they are able to provide comment.
PB Case No.: 13-24 Zone: Neighborhood Mixed Use
Address: 708 Mohawk Street Requested Action: Site Plan Review
Applicant: Shihab Alguhaim Special Use Permit
Owner: Ei Sout & Skina Bee
Pursuant to City of Utica Zoning Code Section 2-29-125(a) and (b), the applicant is seeking approval of a Special Use Permit and Site Plan approval for a proposal to re-establish a neighborhood convenience store at the above-noted location.
The applicant is asking approval to re-open the business with the same license as he had previously. He indicates that he had to close his business in order to bring his family from oversees. When he returned, the business remained closed while he made improvements to the building, not realizing that the business may need approvals in order to re-open.
At the July meeting, the Planning Board tabled further review of the request. During the course of the meeting, the applicant indicated that the business had in fact been in operation for brief periods of time. As a result, Planning staff asked the applicant to provide proof of such operation, suggesting that copies of filings of sales tax receipts with the State would be most appropriate and convincing. In response, the applicant has provided copies of tax filings for the second and third quarter of 2023 (June 1, 2023 – August 31, 2023 & September 1, 2023 – November 30, 2023).
PB Case No.: 13-23 Zone: Mixed Use Campus
Address: Tilden Avenue & Armory Drive Requested Action: Site Plan Review
Applicant: Bruce K. Adib-Yazdi
Owner: Utica Municipal Housing Authority
Pursuant to City of Utica Zoning Code Section 2-29-125(a) and (b), the applicant is seeking Site Plan approval for a proposal to demolish the existing public housing apartment buildings and construct new apartment buildings.
The current housing complexes known as Adrean Terrace, ND Peters and FX Matt roughly comprise 25 acres in the east Utica neighborhood along Tilden Avenue and Armory Drive. The Utica Municipal Housing Authority, d/b/a People First is proposing to demolish all of the existing buildings that comprise these three developments as they have reached a point of functional obsolescence and would not be cost-effective to rehabilitate.
The proposed replacement housing will include a variety of building and housing types, as well as larger indoor community spaces and outdoor amenities. The plan also calls for the consolidation of the three properties into a single tax parcel.
The Planning Board tabled further review of the proposed project in November 2023 until such time as the SEQRA process had been completed. Through a coordinated review process, the only involved agency that expressed concern about the proposed plan was the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). However, the applicant has met extensively with SHPO representatives over the last several months. As a result, SHPO issued a letter on August 9th that acknowledged the unavoidable necessity to demolish all of the existing buildings for the three developments with the caveat that the applicant will need to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement as the next step in the federal Section 106 consultation process. As a result, Planning staff recommends that the Planning Board grant a Negative Declaration under SEQRA to the entire proposed project and additionally grant Final Site Plan approval with the condition that the applicant continue to work with SHPO to complete the Section 106 process.
NEW BUSINESS
PB Case No.: 14-24 Zone: Neighborhood Mixed Use
Address: 2209 Genesee Street Requested Action: Sketch Plan Review
Applicant: MHVS
Owner: MVHS
Pursuant to City of Utica Zoning Code Section 2-29-312(c), the applicant is seeking Sketch Plan review of several proposed re-use scenarios for the former St. Elizabeth Medical Center. Additionally, pursuant to Section 2-29-317(a), the Planning Board will be asked to initiate the SEQRA process by designating itself as lead agent.
After a year-long planning study which included two public meetings, four possible re-use scenarios have been developed for the former hospital campus. Largely residential in nature, the four scenarios include three which contemplate demolition of largely all existing buildings on the campus replaced by apartments, townhouses or single-family detached homes. A fourth scenario contemplates leaving many of the existing buildings in place with adaptive re-use proposed to provide a mix of housing styles, including apartments and townhouses.
PB Case No.: 15-24 Zone: Central Business District
Address: Portion of Cornelia Street Requested Action: Report
Applicant: City of Utica
Owner: City of Utica
Pursuant to a request from the Utica Common Council, the Planning Board has been asked to review a request from MVHS to convey a portion of Cornelia Street to the health system in support of the new Wynn Hospital. The portion of Cornelia Street involved lies between the former LaFayette Street and Oriskany Boulevard.
In order to convey the public right-of-way, the Common Council must first adopt an ordinance discontinuing the land in question. The discontinuance process includes a public hearing to be held by the Common Council and a report by the Planning Board.
PB Case No.: 16-24 Zone: Urban Mixed Use
Address: 423 Trenton Avenue Requested Action: Site Plan Review
Applicant: Kevin Hughes
Owner: Trenton Ventures, LLC
Pursuant to City of Utica Zoning Code Section 2-29-125(a) and (b), the applicant is seeking Site Plan approval for a proposal to demolish the existing building on site and construct a car wash in its place.
The proposed plan calls for a building measuring approximately 60’ x 40’ to house a self-serve touchless car wash. In order to efficiently manage on-site traffic, the proposed plan calls for a curb cut on the west side of the property to allow vehicles exiting the car wash a means of egress directly to Trenton Road, a one-way street.
