A public hearing was held at the Pompey Town Hall during the regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting to hear comments from the public on the proposed retail/storage facility at Smith’s Quality Eggs and the proposed meat processing facility at Heritage Hill. The full video of the meeting and hearings can be viewed on the Town of Pompey Facebook page.
Concerns raised over threatening comments made against applicant Dan Palladino precipitated the call for an armed Onondaga County Sheriff to be present at the standing-room only meeting.
Smith’s Quality Eggs Retail/Storage Facility Site Plan
First on the agenda was the site plan for Smith’s Quality Eggs, with engineer Ed Reid providing a brief recap of the proposed 12,600sf facility. 9,000sf is intended for storage while the remaining 3,600sf will be used for retail space.
Reid reported that the project has received approval from the Town of Pompey Highway Department and the septic plan has been approved.
The Board then performed the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) Impact Assessment, with all Board members responding “no or small impact” to each of the 11 standard questions asked by the chairwoman.
The meeting then went into the Public Hearing segment, with two members of the public speaking in favor of the project. With no other comments, the Public Hearing was closed and the Board unanimously voted to approve the site plan.
Heritage Hill Meat Processing Facility Site Plan
Heritage Hill owner Dan Palladino gave a summary of the project described at last month’s meeting, emphasizing that his plan does not include a slaughtering operation.
Chairwoman Sue Smith asked about product waste disposal. Jeff Steigerwald, who is partnering with Palladino on this venture, responded that waste will be mostly beef fat, with very little bone, and ash from the smokers is completely incinerated, thus creating no waste.
Palladino stated that the current operation on Sweet Road produces approximately 75 gallons of waste water from the brewery and their meat processing every day, which is collected in a 2,000 gallon tank that is shipped offsite for disposal. They plan to continue this process as a permanent solution after the meat processing facility is in operation, with employee restrooms in the new facility utilizing the current on-site septic system shared by the Brewery. Palladino confirmed that he does not currently have county or DEC approval of a new, improved septic system that was installed months ago. He stated that there are communication issues between the County and DEC and he continues to work to try to get it resolved. He said that the existing system is currently working without issue.
Smith also asked about a backup parking plan for the winter while construction is going on, to which Palladino replied he doesn’t see it as an issue because they expect to have more parking available after the quonset barn is removed. He also said they can always plow the overflow field if necessary, which they’ve done in the past.
Smith expressed additional concerns over parking, saying there must be a plan to keep vehicles out of the right-of-way near the road due to NYSDOT requirements. Dan agreed to create a temporary solution to the parking issue and to revise the site plan to add permanent curbing.
Smith asked Town of Pompey Code Enforcement Officer Tim Bearup to provide a report on occupancy loads so the Board can ensure his data matches up with Palladino’s parking plan.
Palladino also reported that his surveyor is working on the lot line adjustment the Board recommended at last month’s meeting.
Smith had requested and Palladino provided a written outline of the facility’s daily operating hours of both the meat plant and the brewery, expected delivery times for each business, hours of music play, and expected times for fireworks. Palladino’s outline requests full cart blanche seven days a week for the meat plant, beginning with one shift and increasing from there as demand grows.
The Onondaga County Planning Board has reviewed and responded to the proposed site plan. The County requires that the Town ensure they have Onondaga County Health Department and NY State Environmental Conservation approvals for current and proposed sewage/sanitary facilities prior to municipal approval.
The Onondaga County DOT requires the applicant remove any existing parking on the DOT right of way along the front of the parcel and replace paved gravel surface with grass or other material to prevent future parking. This change must be reflected on the site plan prior to municipal approval.
The applicant must coordinate with Onondaga County DOT regarding submission of a drainage study or Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan and traffic data and access plans for the project. The two southerly driveways will be required to meet commercial driveway standards and no additional driveway access will be granted on Sweet Road. The municipality must make sure any mitigation as may be determined by the department is reflected on the project plans prior to or as a condition of municipal approval.
The Board agreed to defer SEQR determination pending County approvals on the above matters.
The meeting then moved into the Public Hearing segment, with multiple Town residents speaking both on behalf of and against the proposed project.
Town resident Paul Livingston stated he lives 1/4-mile from Heritage Hill with a “direct view of what goes on.” He and his wife are in favor of the project, and they don’t believe the traffic to be negatively impactful. He did state that they can smell the smokers on occasion.
Other residents in favor of the project cited job creation and local revenue as reasons to support Palladino’s plans.
Numerous residents reported that calls and texts to Dan and Heritage Hill over noise issues have gone unheeded. They also expressed dismay that promises were made that there would be “only a tasting room” but no weddings, loud music, or large crowds. These residents believe that their previous support and faith in Dan’s word have been misplaced, as they have watched the promised “tasting room only” morph into a large-scale concert venue, bar and “nightclub,” and, now, a proposed commercial meat processing operation.
Resident Dan McClung stated that his review of NY State building code lists meat processing as industrial use rather than agricultural and questioned whether or not it was allowable by law at the Heritage Hill location. Other citizens echoed the sentiment that meat processing is considered commercial/industrial rather than agricultural.
Other residents spoke up about ongoing light pollution, concerns over contaminated well water, and snowmobile and ATV traffic. The Board conceded that there are current code issues at the site that are still being addressed, with residents commenting that Palladino keeps adding on to his operation without obtaining the proper approvals and permits. Another resident questioned Palladino’s estimate of only requiring 75 gallons of water a day to run his operation, stating that he’ll “use more than that just flushing the toilets.”
Palladino again stated that he has a letter from Ag and Markets stating that he cannot perform slaughter operations at his site. He also insisted that he’d be foolish to have such an operation right next to his brewery and restaurant.
Prior to closing the Public Hearing and adjourning the meeting, Chairwoman Sue Smith encouraged residents to use the official Complaint Form provided by the Town so that there is a written public record of the complaint and the Board will be aware there’s an issue. Board member Kevin Coursen reminded the audience that anonymous letters will be disregarded.
