Planning board does not discuss special permit proposal for apartment building Westcott Remix
Namrata Naik | Asst. Photo Editor
Steven Kulick, chair of the planning commission, speaks at Monday night's meeting.
Syracuse’s City Planning Commission was unable to discuss a special permit for the construction of the Westcott Remix, a proposed mixed-use property in the Westcott neighborhood of University Hill, at a City Hall meeting on Monday.
Heather Lamendola, the city’s zoning administrator, said the development proposal was unable to be presented as submitted because the commission denied the requested relief. The proposal would need to be altered in order to proceed, Lamendola said. She said she doesn’t believe a new proposal would be ready by the commission’s next meeting on Feb. 19.
The building’s developers requested exemptions for zoning requirements related to parking space, the number of dwelling units on the property and distance from the street and other buildings, according to documents submitted to the planning commission.
“We haven’t been presented with anything yet,” Lamendola said.
If constructed, the Westcott Remix will be a four-story property combining residential units, retail space and restaurants.
The permit, outlined in the meeting’s agenda, included the demolition and construction of property on 534-544 Westcott St. with the purpose of building two restaurants.
The parking lot and restaurant of Dorian’s Pizza and Deli currently occupies the space, which will be used as lot space for the Westcott Remix, according to documents submitted to the city. Konstantinos Petkopoulos, the owner of Dorian’s, said he plans to create a new restaurant that would occupy a space in the Westcott Remix if constructed, Syracuse.com reported.
The commission will discuss several proposals from Syracuse University at its next meeting.
On the docket were 12 change of zone proposals involving SU property on University Avenue, Harrison Street and Thurber Street, among other spots.
Lamendola said the university aims to collect all of their property holdings and “change them into a planned institutional district, much like all of their other properties that they have.”
The purpose of a planned institutional district is “to permit and encourage the orderly, cooperative and flexible development and expansion of institutional land uses,” according to a document from the city of Syracuse.
Published on January 28, 2019 at 10:26 pm
Contact Emma: esfolts@syr.edu
