10/31/07 - Few object to possible 7th Ward DMV site

County holds first meeting to detail pros and cons of three potential sites for new DMV, two of which are in the ward.

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

Only a handful of attendees at a public meeting Wednesday night objected to locating a new county Department of Motor Vehicles office in the 7th Ward of the city.

It was one of several meetings that the county is using to gauge public opinion relative to the new DMV location.

About 30 residents came to Wednesday’s meeting at the East End Community Center, where they reviewed the process of choosing the three possible sites with the help of a presentation given by Legislator Carol Tytler (D-3rd Ward).

Although some residents favored locations that were not on the short list of three properties — mainly because of worries about the city’s ever-shrinking tax base — Tytler stressed that the county had already narrowed the choices down and was only seeking public input relative to those sites.

Two of the proposed locations are within the city’s 7th Ward; there is a site on the corner of Cleveland and River streets and one in the BOCES plaza off Port Watson and River streets.
The third location lies between Route 13 and Route 281 in Cortlandville.

The site on Route 13 is a roughly 3 acre parcel carrying an asking price of $300,000, while the 2.2 acre site on Cleveland and River streets has an asking price of $400,000. There has been no price set for the BOCES site yet, Tytler said.

The criteria for a DMV office location include the need for a 4,000-square-foot building; about 50 parking spaces; public utilities; proximity to high traffic areas without being difficult to access; enough space for a drive-thru window; lack of environmental concerns; and distance from flood zones.

The design phase of any new office has yet to begin as the county tries to pick the best site, Tytler said. Estimates for the cost of building the office are about $400,000 to $500,000.
The decision has not yet been made regarding whether the county would buy or lease the properties. The hope is that the DMV project would be completed in 2008.

After Tytler concluded a PowerPoint presentation detailing the process, she took questions from the audience.

Elsie Ferro of Denti Way asked about the effect of further diminishing the city’s tax base as the county purchases properties, leaving them tax exempt.

Tytler said the Cleveland Street site is assessed at $79,000 and that roughly $2,300 per year would be lost in city property tax revenue, should the county settle on that site.