The Town of Pompey Planning Board met at the Pompey Town Hall at 6:30pm on April 17, 2023. On the agenda was a preliminary site plan review for a new project being proposed by Dan Palladino of Heritage Hill at 3149 Sweet Road and partner Jeff Steigerwald of Lieghs and Steigerwald deli and butcher shop in Syracuse. Also on the agenda was a preliminary site plan review for Smith’s Quality Eggs, LLC located at 2393 Berwyn Road. A full video of the meeting can be viewed on the Town of Pompey Facebook page.
Proposed Meat Processing Facility at Heritage Hill
Dan Palladino presented a proposal to build a 10,000 SF facility at Heritage Hill to be used for processing beef, pork, and chicken. Palladino is partnering with Lieghs and Steigerwald for this venture, a well-known butchering establishment that has been servicing the Syracuse area for decades. Current plans are to produce chicken sausage, beef sausage, pork sausage, bbq ribs, pulled pork, pork chops, steaks, and smoked meats for wholesale and retail sales.
The facility, which will be sited next to the brewery where a metal quonset barn is currently located, will be accessible only by employees for the purpose of butchering, smoking, dry aging, and other processes for preparing meats for sale. Palladino emphasized that the facility would not be used for slaughtering, which will be done off-premises, possibly at Gold Medal Processing in Rome or in Oneonta.
Palladino says they intend to use beef from Palladino Farms, with plans to increase their beef herd with 200 head of cattle pastured across the road from the brewery and 50 hogs behind the facility. They will supplement their stock with beef and hogs from other local farms using set feeding standards to maintain consistent quality, and they hope to sell retail with a deli case onsite and online subscription boxes while providing meats to wholesale and retail outlets such as Wegmans. They also hope to establish a relationship with the public school system to provide beef and hotdogs to the schools. Every aspect of the business will be performed within the state of New York.
The new building will employ state-of-the-art features such as ground source heat pumps and solar roof panels. The geothermal horizontal ground loop will be located beneath the parking area. Self-contained smoking units will run off gas and electric, using hickory sawdust for the smoking medium. There will be a full basement for storage, with an elevator to facilitate transport of equipment and product.
While the production portion of the facility will be for employees only, Palladino stated that it will be designed to facilitate public viewing and guided tours of the smoking and dry aging operations. Tours would be by appointment only, during hours of normal daytime operation. Hours of operation for the processing facility will begin with a single shift from 7am – 3pm five days a week, with plans to add a second shift from 3-11pm as business ramps up.
A lengthy discussion was held on several aspects of the project, including wells/septic, lighting, signage, and parking. Palladino has faced ongoing challenges with septic system approvals and, while they are still hashing things out with the County and DEC, Palladino feels confident that they are moving in a positive direction. Amendments to parking include widening the entrance, paving parts of the lot, adding curbing and light poles, and increasing employee parking from 16 to 26 spots. Palladino remarked that they expect to employee 10-12 people initially, adding that they are offering good pay and benefits to qualified candidates. For signage, Palladino intends to install a new, larger, lighted sign located where the existing sign resides. He said it will be about the same size as Holbrook Heating’s sign across the street.
Board member John Shaheen brought up concerns about an increase in truck traffic. Palladino and Steigerwald assured the Board that there will not be a constant flow of trucks. With more storage available at the new facility, it is anticipated that they will be able to get larger shipments, resulting in a decreased number of deliveries. Currently, they see morning deliveries once a week for packaging and supplies and meat deliveries three times a week.
As it currently stands, the site plan for this project covers two separate parcels. The Planning Board has advised Palladino to go back to his surveyor to get a lot line adjustment to incorporate the entire buildable area into one parcel. Palladino said they are aiming for a construction start date of August 2023, with an opening goal of March 2024. He asked if the Board would be willing to forego a public hearing in order to expedite the approval process, stating that it is not a requirement of New York State’s Department of Agriculture and Markets. The Board responded by indicating they have enough information to hold a public hearing at next month’s regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting, which should keep the process moving.
There is currently no name for their new venture, although Palladino and Steigerwald are using a working title of Meatco. They are working with a marketing person to develop branding for the new business.
Proposed Retail Sales at Smith’s Quality Eggs
Local engineer Ed Reid appeared before the Planning Board with the owners of Smith’s Quality Eggs to discuss construction of a 12,600 SF ADA-accessible building on Kelly Road in the Town of Pompey next to the existing Smith’s Egg Farm. Board member Roy Smith recused himself from the discussion.
The proposal includes plans to construct a new building to house 9,000 SF of dry storage and a 3,600 SF retail space primarily intended for egg sales from their farm and prepackaged goods and products from other local businesses and farms in the area.
The proposed building will be of metal construction with a stone wainscot facade. In addition to storage and retail space, it will also house an ADA-compliant bathroom that will be on its own separate septic system that has already been approved by the county health department. There will be no kitchen on the premises. Only prepackaged goods such as maple syrup and honey will be sold in addition to eggs.
Storage space will house hay, staw, and feed for the chickens. Cold storage will house pallets of bagged feed for sale. The Board brought up the question of separate storage for prepackaged goods to be sold in the retail store. Carlton Conklin said he hadn’t considered that and would work with Mr. Reid to develop a solution to keep the prepackaged retail products separate from the feed and bedding storage.
The Conklins cited the need to “create a disconnect” between their retail customers and the facility to keep their animals safe from contamination as their reason for the new construction. Avian flu, in particular, is of significant concern. The new ADA-compliant space will also be a welcome addition for many of their long-time customers.
The new facility will also feature in-floor heat and wall-mounted split systems for cooling, dark-sky compliant wall-mounted lighting, a new sign out front, and a few directional signs directing traffic to the retail and delivery areas. There will be parking spaces for 22 vehicles. The retail store will be open from 8am-5pm Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 7am-3pm, with extended hours one evening a week.
The Conklins are hoping to start construction as soon as possible. There will be a public hearing at next month’s Planning Board meeting.
