The Police Facilities Committee has narrowed the possible locations it might recommend for a new Batavia PD headquarters to three locations:
- Alva Place and Bank Street, in the parking lot at that location;
- Swan Street, at the site of the now demolished Wiard Plow factory building;
- Jackson Street, the current location of the Salvation Army.
Committee members pretty much arrived at the three locations through a process of elimination and largely by consensus. Using a spreadsheet that allowed them to rank each location based on a number of factors, including cost, potential configuration, proximity to the center of the city, and other criteria, these sites scored the highest.
The lowest-scoring locations were the two options for remodeling the current headquarters -- the Brisbane Mansion -- and a co-location of sorts with the Sheriff's Office on Park Road.
The committee will visit each of the remaining sites under consideration May 28, re-score them and then meet again at a later date to hopefully hash out an agreed-upon recommendation for City Council.
Each potential site, committee members acknowledged, has its pluses and minuses.
"There's really no ideal spot," said Jim Jacobs.
Still, the committee will try to come up with one single recommendation for City Council to consider. Committee members agreed that it was their job to present one location as its recommendation, with its rationale in a report, and let the council decide yes or no on that recommendation, rather than bog down a council debate with two or three recommendations.
Both the Alva Place location and Swan Street were not part of the original seven alternatives presented to the committee, but emerged as potential sites through the process of the committee's discussions and review of the geography and topography of the city.
There are committee members with strong feelings about each location, and each has at least one member with strong feelings about its lack of suitability.
Alva Place: Committee members love it for its high visibility downtown, central location to downtown and addition of density to downtown. It's also the lowest cost option, coming in at at least $800,000 less than the Salvation Army location. The location's critics are concerned about traffic congestion on Bank Street and at Main and Bank, the loss of parking in the area and potential conflicts with pedestrian traffic going to and from the YMCA and Senior Center.
Chief Shawn Heubusch was among those expressing concern about traffic congestion. He is very concerned, he said, about the potential for patrols responding to calls getting hung up in traffic at Main and Bank. A committee member countered that typically patrols are not at the office when they are dispatched to calls, which Heubusch agreed with, but if they are responding from the office, traffic could be a problem, likewise in big incidents when patrols and detectives are all rolling from the office.
Marc Staley is particularly concerned about losing parking and the impact that could have on the movie theaters, JCPenney and the doctors' offices on Washington Avenue.
"We could end up with a bunch of vacant buildings on Washington," Staley said. "We don't want to poke JCPenney in the nose and have them go out to where Radio Shack is or leave the city. I don't think we want to be pennywise and pound foolish."
Ashley Bateman initially scored Alva Place high, but after listening to the discussion, expressed some reservations.
"I don't think Alva is really functional as much as I would like to see something there," Bateman said.
Pete Garlock stuck to his guns, however, insisting it's the most suitable location citing its centralness to the city, ease of access, high visibility and lower cost.
Swan Street: There wasn't as much discussion about Swan Street. Everybody kind of likes the location, except it would have much less public visibility. It would be reasonably accessible to Main and Ellicott streets and cost less than Jackson Street. The property is privately owned and would need to be acquired. The property would come off the tax roles, but it only generates less than $2,000 a year in municipal tax now. A police station in that location might also help spur other economic development activity in the neighborhood.
Jackson Street: The main concern is cost. The property is in the floodplain and mitigating that fact drives up the cost. It's also property that while owned by a tax-exempt nonprofit would still need to be purchased.
Garlock expressed concern about kicking a good organization out of its location, but McGinnis argued that the Salvation Army Thrift Store is struggling in that location in part because of the age and condition of the building, its size and the addition of new competition from Goodwill and Volunteers of America.
"That would be my number-one location if not for the floodplain," Staley said.
I can't believe that these
I can't believe that these are the best locations, period. But out of these three I'd say the Jackson St [Salvation Army Store] location would be best. Looking at a satellite view it sure seems that there should be able to have access driveways on 3 points. A main one to the East onto Jackson, and two rear side drives [reserved for police use only]., one exiting out onto Ellicott St between the west end of Santy's [approx 50 Ellicott], and the 3rd exiting to the west onto Evans St [across from the FD, between Kelly's and the Ameriprise parking lot].
http://www.maps-streetview.com/United-States/Batavia/satelliteview.php?…
Brian Graz says "I can't
Brian Graz says "I can't believe that these are the best locations, period". OK...suggest a few. After over 30 hours of working with this Task Force, and ruling out over 17 sites for a myriad of reasons, we have narrowed it down to 7, and now down to 3. We have worked with architects, city planners, historical society experts, a company that exclusively builds Police Facilities. BUT....I'm sure you have a better location that NOBODY has thought of. So......share it with us. FYI...The Salvation Army site would have easements on Jackson and out the back side on Evans. That's it. The Santy's Site and the Della Penna sites are BOA eligible and currently being looked at for possible development. The New Police Station (IF LOCATED THERE) would not cut through an easement onto Ellicott. I'm thankful and honored to work with the other 6 fantastic individuals on this Task Force. Maybe you ought to consider volunteering and getting involved, instead of reading 2 articles and a couple quotes from the entire 30 hour process, and think you got it all figured out. Period!
Brian, lets here your wisdom.
Brian, lets here your wisdom. Where do you think is the best location?
Hear, not here. No edit
Hear, not here. No edit anymore?
I wasn't aware edit wasn't
I wasn't aware edit wasn't available ... I'll look into it.
haha John, where did you come
haha John, where did you come from? is that you standing behind marc?
David, I have been to a Task
David, I have been to a Task Force meeting, been to the presentations at City Hall and have seen much of the data. Brian said he did not think the top 3 sites were the best. I'd like to know where he thinks the best site might be. And I do agree with Marc.
One of Sir Robert Peel's
One of Sir Robert Peel's principles was that Police facilities should be centrally located...
This does make sure that we
This does make sure that we will never combine city with county when it comes to policing..City taxpayers will be paying for city and county police while the town will only have to pay for county policing..To think that Mr.Mancuso was cited for non upkeep of a building and will now make out by selling that same land to the city for a police building..
I’d like to thank everyone on
I’d like to thank everyone on the Task Force for volunteering your time. I know even the best three choices are not without problems.
Alva Place and Bank Street will take away parking needed for the downtown business; including the Mall and that might cause JC Penny, the anchor store to pull out and I’m sure the Task Force considered that. If we want business to come to the City, they require adequate parking and the new Police Station may need space for future expansion.
Swan Street and Jackson Street may have problems with industrial waste and only God knows what is buried there and what the cost might be for the cleanup.
If both these mentioned sites are polluted to varying degrees and the Salvation Army Property the lesser of the two; it might be feasible to raise the property to mitigate possible flooding; particularly since it appears to have space for future expansion if necessary.
I’m very interested to find out if the Swan Street or Jackson Street properties are heavily polluted and to what degree; and then what the cost would be before they were purchased to make them suitable for our new Police Department.
Richard I walk by that site
Richard I walk by that site everyday. Looks like the buildings were built on concrete slab type foundations. As for waste, I think I remember Paul saying the drainage areas werent very bad at all... But dont quote me on it. It looks shovel ready and considering they also have the old Batavia Alternator bldg site finished and filled. so quite a bit could be built there.
You may be right, Kyle. I’m
You may be right, Kyle. I’m sure we’ll know soon when the final report comes out. Howard’s article is giving us the highlights; pros and cons and Marc Staley offered his insights.
I’ll ask Al McGinnis about the drainage when I get a chance. Al is an engineer and has been busy volunteering his time at Godfrey’s Pond helping to direct the students from BOCES. They are in the process of correcting the drainage problem on the road leading to the shooting range.
To make Richard's point
To make Richard's point clearer, Al McGinnis is on the Task force.
Marc, when I think about
Marc, when I think about getting involved with city operations, I think about having to deal with cocksure people like you, and that's enough reason to keep me from doing so. But at the same time, just because I and every other city resident don't volunteer, as you have, doesn't mean we don't have a voice in what transpires. We still live in a "representative" form of governance, you know that, right?
Thank you for enlightening me that we have such astute experts as yourself... making the decision.
You better get it right, Period!
John, it should also be...
John, it should also be... "let's"
Downtown badly needs parking
Downtown badly needs parking eliminated. Parking is horrible for economic activity. Downtown business needs less parking and more people. Alva helps accomplish that and could serve as a catalyst for for additional dentistry.
We need to eliminate about 70 percent of the current parking lot space downtown to have a truly successful downtown business community.
Howard, I don't understand
Howard, I don't understand why less parking = more economic activity. Do you mind elaborating?
If you have more density ...
If you have more density ... more retail, more office, more apartments, in a mixed use environment, you have more people, more people means more money. Very simple.
From a land-use perspective, density means higher property values, more tax revenue, more economic activity (more sales tax, more taxable income), more money changing hands, more reason for more people to participating in the economy. Space used by people generates more revenue than a car in a parking space, and certainly more than an empty parking space. Additionally, in our case, all of the parking downtown is owned by city. It's generating no economic activity whatsoever.
And it's not just parking vs. building. It's also the type of building vs. bigger, mixed use buildings. A three-story building at the corner of Bank and Main would mean more economic vitality for our city than the current Bank of America building.
Density is also more sustainable from an environmental perspective. People walk and bike and use mass transit more.
Which makes people healthier.
Productivity is increased by density.
In a dense, economically vibrant area, parking doesn't matter because if there is a reason for people to be there, they will get there. They will be there. We can work around the parking issue. Also, one four or five story parking garage downtown, maybe two if we're very successful with density, would serve the needs of downtown with less negative consequences than the current parking configuration. A parking garage would also be privately owned, meaning it, too, would generate property tax and economic activity.
An economically vibrant downtown would draw more foot traffic from the surrounding residential neighborhoods. With more of a reason to walk to downtown, and less parking available, more people would make the walk. It would be worth it.
Younger generations and more seniors want density. For millennials, density means more social interaction and entertainment options. For seniors, density means walkable neighborhoods and easier access to services and needs and more social interaction without the burden of home ownership.
http://www.newurbanism.org/density.html
https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/bridges/fall-2013/increasing-de…
http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/buffalo-news-editorials/new-jobs-dow…
http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/communities/looking-to-buy-no-lo…
http://www.thebatavian.com/howard-owens/batavia-can-regain-its-economic…
Best location
Best location
165 Park Rd
Batavia, NY
Also cheapest option as it will not have any infrastructure costs.
I like the Swan st location,
I like the Swan st location, seems to have ease of access to main st and Ellicott st and could possibly have a private drive near the back of the property. Id leave jackson st alone may be someone would buy all three propertys and build a huge strip mall !!
I would go with either Swan
I would go with either Swan or Jackson (where the Salvation Army store is). Both sites will not hurt nearby businesses and will help spur development in the area it is built.
I think Alva would hurt businesses in the area already and do nothing for other development.
But then, the studies are not done yet either.
Jackson would diminish
Jackson would diminish development opportunities in the area. The only area to develop is along Ellicott, which will get developed anyway as part of the BOA area. There would be no economic development to the south of the station on Jackson, so it is a diminished opportunity.
Swan offers potential development on all sides, but it's not downtown.
Alva would have the greatest economic impact, enhancing growth, doing the most, by far, to help local businesses because downtown is where the density should happen. No business would be harmed by the location and every business helped.
Thanks for the explanation,
Thanks for the explanation, Howard.
Economic growth and
Economic growth and development in Bataviva {Vibrant Batavia}... I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe Gov Cuomo has promised a Batavia Billions... LOL, Buffalo hasn't got theirs yet.
I just made a road trip to PA and back today. The roads in much of the southern-tier are atrocious.
So keep looking for more government handout money for stupid things like economic development, and cool things like the Tappan Zee Bridge, and to hell with critical infrastructure. Once it gets so bad the people will gladly pay more taxes to get it fixed... isn't that the game plan?
Howard, you are right about
Howard, you are right about Swan not being downtown, however it is close enough to become an extention of it eventually. It is sandwiched between two commercially developed streets (Main and Ellicott) If the Police Dept locates here it would be even more appealing. It doesn't have many single family homes and already has density with 400 Towers and many many multi family homes. It would definately increase the appeal of developing the Harvester Complex of buildings greatly.
Some areas of Jackson could be the area to zone for boarding houses to increase density create traffic, and business opportunities.