The Batavia City Council on Monday night voted to move several resolutions forward, including measures to rezone the St. Anthony’s Church area on Liberty Street from residential to commercial and to install bicycle racks and trash receptacles in several locations within the Downtown Business Improvement District.
A memo from Interim City Manager Matt Worth suggests that seven parcels on Liberty Street and Central Avenue surrounding the St. Anthony’s Church campus – which was purchased by City Church in 2016 – should be reclassified from R-3 to C-3 to allow for some “ancillary activities (dance school, art school, community education classes, etc.) that could be considered a business activity and a non-conforming use in an R-3 district.”
City Church, on July 19, filed a petition to rezone this campus of parcels that would annex the property into the adjacent C-3 district, thus bring the property into conformance with zoning regulations, Worth wrote.
Council’s action moves the resolution into the hands of the Genesee County Planning Board for a recommendation and then to the City Planning and Development Committee for review and to schedule a public hearing in accordance with zoning laws.
In late July, the BID sent a request to the City to install 10 bicycle racks and six trash cans at downtown locations.
A memo from Ray Tourt, superintendent of maintenance, listed the sites as follows:
Bicycle racks – Tim Hortons, Save-A-Lot, Court Street (near the former Coffee Culture); outside JCPenney/Batavia Showtime; near the Christmas Tree between the Bank of America and Tompkins Insurance; in front of Game On on Main Street; in front of Southside Deli on Ellicott Street; in front of Pok-A-Dot on Ellicott Street; in front of Bourbon & Burger Co. on Jackson Street; and in front of Glass Roots on Center Street.
The BID has four more bicycle racks that can be used as replacements when needed.
Trash receptacles – Two on East Main Street and four on Ellicott Street from Court Street to Goade Park.
Tourt said the bicycle racks are of a hoop design marked with a feet motif to go with the BID’s “Feet on the Street” promotion. The trash cans are similar to ones installed by the city in 2004.
Council also agreed to consider a pair of resolutions dealing with the Ellicott Station project coordinated by Savarino Companies of Buffalo.
One is the granting of a stormwater easement due to the fact that a major city storm sewer lies within the boundary of the project.
Worth wrote that this is a requirement of the site approval issued by the City Planning and Development Committee, and would serve as an “important legal document giving the City access for maintenance of this storm sewer in the future.”
The other focuses on the distribution of a National Grid Urban Center/Commercial District Revitalization Grant in the amount of $250,000 that has been awarded to the City to enhance the Ellicott Trail Project, which will run along the southern boundary of the Ellicott Station site.
Based on preliminary construction estimates, Savarino Companies has identified $183,477 worth of improvements (landscaping, lighting, seating, etc.) that would be reimbursed by the grant. An agreement with the City would allow Savarino to access up to the full amount of the funds provided by National Grid.
Council is expected to vote on the BID and Savarino resolutions at its Business Meeting on Sept. 10.
