Façade In Fulton

by Contributor | May 24, 2020 6:27 pm

FULTON – “The Front of a Building” or “A superficial appearance.” What we have here in Fulton is the Second Definition. Last November the City voted to give the City of Fulton a new Administration in hopes that things would change.

Well we have changed the Jockey (Mayor) but we have the same old Horse and Trainer. Yes, we have a more visible Mayor now, one that presents information and is out and about in the City. The Façade is everything has changed. Think again or look past the Façade and look inside.

We have a Planning Board that approved the plans for a Dog Kennel in the middle of the City. The area it is planned for is not Zoned for a Dog Kennel. But the Planning Board voted YES on the plans. This even with the objections of the Neighbors and the Common Councilor.

We have a Common Council that approved a new Mobile Food Vendor location with out any notification. Now the City will say they have the right to do so without any notification or public hearing. That is true. However, we have almost a Dozen brick and Mortar food establishments in the City all of which pay taxes. In these trying times where the loss of revenue is critical any and all avenues to recoup those lost revenues is important. The City leaders should have given the existing food establishments in the City a notice of the new location. They should have been given the chance to bid on the location or put in an application and a name drawn out of a hat making the selection purely a random choice. No, they voted on the location and at the same meeting awarded the location to a Non (Fulton)-Taxpaying Vendor. We may lose several of our taxpaying establishments due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A location like the new one may have help save them.

We have a Zoning Board that approved a Rental Property in a R1A zoned area. Now this property was once a Multi family rental. It was empty for over a year. Which means in reverts back to a Single-Family home. Now in the Zoning book there is a section that states a Multi family unit may be converted to a two-family residence in a R1A but it must be Owner occupied and the renter must be a family member. This is not the case. The owner lives in Baldwinsville. Also several people spoke against having a Rental property in the Neighborhood. The owner’s request to convert the property to a two-family property was granted.

We have a planning board that approved the plans for an entrance off of S. 7^th Street into a new Non-Tax paying building.  This is in the Old Nestle site. You know the one that was occupied by the Nestle Co. for over a hundred years. They never had an employee entrance on S.7^th Street. This entrance will be along the portion of S.7^th Street that is already a traffic problem in the Summer months with the opening of the Ball fields. Cars line that street from the fields to Fay St. Now we will have people entering this facility causing a hazard. Now again I have to say there is a way into this facility off 5^th St. and if need be, they could also come and go via Burt St. again the Taxpayers don’t have a choice. 

What it comes down to is: Money and Politics Talks!

So nothing has changed in Fulton.

So, in Fulton you can’t tell a book by its cover.

A Façade is what we have.

– Frank Castiglia jr. 

A concerned Taxpayer

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/facade-in-fulton/

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