Byrne Dairy

After a silent public hearing Tuesday evening of no one speaking for or against the proposed Byrne Dairy project at 606 E. Main St. in Batavia and slightly revised plans with additional landscaping, the city’s Planning & Development Committee approved the site plan and special use permit.

Senior Executive Vice President Christian Brunelle of Sonbyrne Sales, Inc. will have to return on Feb. 27 to the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals for approval of a variance and is looking forward to getting shovels in the ground soon after.

"So now we just have to get variances on February 27 … for the signage and the 500 feet; the gym kicks it into a public assembly, which is kind of weird, but a gym is considered a public assembly because of the amount of occupants,” Brunelle said after the meeting. “Basically, all we did was incorporate a new landscaping plan for the board members. They wanted some more shrubbery along the eastern property line to protect any sort of trash or whatnot to the neighbors to the east, the gym, basically. So I added those, added some storm water details that I had to do.”

The committee gave the project a negative environmental declaration, meaning that no harm was perceived to be caused by the construction and operation of the dairy and gas station on the city's east side. 

Group members John Roach, Jim Krencik, Zeke Lynn, John Ognibene and Liz Thompson voted 5-0 for the project and then pushed it to the ZBA because the dairy would be within 500 feet of Whole Life Fitness, a gym at 624 E. Main St., and his request for more signage is more than what’s typically allowed. Genesee County’s Planning Board approved the project Feb. 13.

The site plan is for a gated store that would be moved back from houses, include additional landscaping and trees, a Dumpster enclosure, two unrestricted curb cuts, one each a canopied gas and diesel station, sidewalks leading to the store porch, three signs, including a digital reading board, and outdoor LED lights designed to minimize unwanted light pollution. There are 42 parking spaces allotted.

Serviceberry trees would fit in with low utility lines to match existing trees in the area, plus he recommended three- to four-foot trees and “nice little shrubs.”

“These were the major approvals,” Brunelle said, sharing a work outline. Break ground immediately in March, closing our property, February 27 get approval, close on our property a week later and start the demolition in mid-March. I'm probably guessing the end of July or August 1 would be a goal (for completion). We should have no problem.”

He looks forward to opening up for business, and has been pleased with city Code Enforcement Officer Doug Randall and his staff's responsiveness, Brunelle said.

“The city’s been great to work with,” he said. “Doug and those guys have been phenomenal. It’s nice to have a pro-business municipality to work with.”

Brunelle previously said that once his site plans were officially approved by both boards, he would close on the property within 30 days from owner Ken Mistler. He also said there will be 25 full-time equivalent employees at the store, with 35 to 40 combined part- and full-time people for the “several million dollar project.”

Although the city’s Planning & Development Committee recommended Tuesday that Christian Brunelle return in February with details and a site plan for a Byrne Dairy & Deli at 606 E. Main St., Batavia, committee members walked away pleased with his 35-minute presentation at City Hall.

Brunelle, senior executive vice president of Sonbyrne Sales, Inc., reviewed loose plans for a gated store that would be moved back from houses, include landscaping and trees, a Dumpster enclosure, two unrestricted curb cuts, one each a canopied gas and diesel station, sidewalks leading to the store porch, three signs, including a digital reading board, and outdoor lights designed to minimize unwanted light pollution.

“We use 100% Dark Sky, which is the most stringent light … why do I do that? It’s so expensive but well worth it. We go above and beyond the idea of this every meeting, because usually I’m used to much tighter residences,” Brunelle said. “We give you kind of a funnel image from an engineer. I’m gonna send this to the lighting engineer down south. He will send something back.” 

He ran through his talk well rehearsed and knowledgable, quickly answering questions without a waver. Six-foot tall evergreens, per city code, would meet the code requirement as a sufficient buffer, and they are also considering replacing some trees and adding red maples, he said. The set-up doesn’t require pedestrians to cross the gas station area, so that “no one has to cross the driveway,” he said. 

The applicant has requested a variance because there is less than 500 feet between the store and Whole Life Fitness, a gym at 624 E. Main St. Committee Chairman Duane Preston asked about options.

“Would you be opposed to a fence?” he said, surmising that maybe the neighbors would appreciate some visual separation.

Brunelle had no problem with that, or a row of trees, he said. “You guys tell me what you want,” he said. 

Code Enforcement Officer Douglas Randall suggested that either a row of trees or bushes would be a good idea for catching debris from the dairy to the gym.

Preston also asked if there’s a plan to install electric vehicle pumps. There is no such plan now, Brunelle said, however, when and if there’s a need in the future, those could be added.

“If there’s a need for those in three or four years, we have enough room,” he said. 

What about a generator on site?

While there wouldn’t be one at the store permanently, there are two — a 125 KW and 100 KW — in a warehouse not far away, he said.

“It can be brought here in one and a half hours,” he said.

Committee member Jim Krencik asked how much of the property would not be paved. Six feet that then goes back 15 to 20 feet would remain unpaved, Brunelle said.

Brunelle said the company has already conducted a survey and is ready for the next steps with a targeted spring construction, likely to begin in April if the approval process goes well. 

Since the property is along state Route 5, he has already sent plans to the New York State Department of Transportation for review, he said.

“It’s a very nice proposal, very amenable,” Committee member John Ognibene said.

The plan was impressive, Preston said. Brunelle may not need to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals if he addresses variance issues for the size of signs and space between properties in the final site plan, Preston said.

“I’m very pleased with it; definitely very happy. It's a quality-driven product. I’m very glad the east end of the town, the city, got a nice plan. We've got a nice gas station,” he said after the meeting. “It’s looking like there are a lot of bright things for this year. We’ve got Burger King finishing up. We’ve got the new Byrne Dairy. It just seems like more opportunities are opening up, which is good.”

As for that town project that was put on hold by concerns from the county Planning Board, it won’t matter any more. Brunelle said he’s pulling a potential Byrne Dairy on Lewiston Road in the town of Batavia off the table. 

He is looking forward to pursuing this venture on East Main Street to add to the 77 stores he manages, he said.

“We've opened a bunch of stores in Monroe County. We have one in Brockport for this to the west and we want to go further west, and originally, the other site over there came up, and we've been looking to Batavia for several years now, and we noticed this site right away,” he said. “It was vacant for several years, and we've been working on getting under contract for a while. It's under contract contingent upon approvals. If we get approval from the city in February, from both boards, we'll close on our property within 30 days, and we'll start construction probably within 30 days after.”

The site plan will also have to go to the county Planning Board for review. Brunelle said there will be 25 full-time equivalent employees at the store, with 35 to 40 combined part- and full-time people. 

“It’s a several million dollar project,” he said. 

He is to return to city planners Feb. 18.

Go HERE for previous story.

An employee of the company that owns and operates the Synergy Biogas manure digesting facility in Wyoming County on Tuesday night downplayed concerns over potential odors from a proposed renewable gas facility at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park on the east side of Batavia.

Speaking at the Batavia Town Planning Board meeting at the Town Hall on West Main Street Road, Melissa Franklin, technical sales & services representative, responded to local resident Wayne Nichols’ belief that the Genesee Biogas plant would cause a stink, literally.

“This is a different plant than Synergy. This will have camlock fittings and a different air system, and it will be confined,” Gilbert said. “Synergy is very different than this one.”

Nichols said he owns farmland near the site of the project but does not live in the area. He said he is looking out for those who live on Batavia Stafford Townline Road and others in the vicinity.

“I’ve worked in the ag industry for 70 years and there is no such thing as a confined system,” he said at the public hearing.

Lauren Toretta, president of CH4 Biogas, which is seeking a special use permit to build the facility, said the plan is to construct “an environmentally and economically beneficial project.”

She said having a renewable gas facility closer to O-AT-KA Milk Products, HP Hood and Upstate Niagara will mean trucks won’t have to drive as far to dispose of the waste.

CH4 Biogas proposes to construct and operate a plant consisting of two digesters, a gas storage tank and associated equipment for the purpose of digesting organic wastes to produce renewable natural gas and/or electricity and heat.

A utility corridor consisting of waste force main lines, electrical lines and water lines will run from each of the main waste stream plants to the facility.

Toretta said a small portion of the waste stream will be received by truck delivery.

Nichols said his wish is that they find a different location, farther from the city limits.

“It’s not as clean as we think,” he said. “There are sometimes when I come in on Ellicott Street into Batavia, if the wind is out of the east, when you get down by the old Sylvania plant, and the smell coming from O-AT-KA is putrid. It stinks.”

In other action, the board:

-- Conducted a public hearing concerning a special use permit application from Jason Bonsignore of East Coast Speedway to open and operate a racetrack on the former Polar Wave property at 3500 Harloff Rd. in a commercial/recreation district.

Bonsignore cited his company’s “good track record” over 28 years and promised a family-friendly facility that would “fill a niche” for dirt bike and go-kart enthusiasts. While several people supported his project, a woman and man who live nearby said they objected to the amount of noise and the increase in traffic.

The former National Hockey League player went on to say that his track will be quieter than the neighboring Area 51 motocross track and will operate on one night a week for practice, on Fridays until 11 p.m. and, occasionally, on Saturdays.

-- Received an update on the Byrne Dairy project on Lewiston Road, near the First United Methodist Church, from Christian Brunelle, senior executive vice president of Sonbyrne Sales, Inc.

Brunelle said he has revised the site plan to address the Genesee County Planning Department’s recommendations focusing on walkability and the positioning of the building.

He said changes include shifting the building to the south, toward the new Rumsey Road; moving parking spaces, adding picnic tables on a concrete patio; adding a sidewalk, and moving the stormwater drainage to the east, behind the store.

Brunelle also said the company understands that the New York State Department of Transportation is requiring a left turn lane into the property for vehicles heading south on Route 63 and that Byrne Dairy will install a white “greeting fence” along Route 63.

The proposed dairy would be situated in a development that will include a new Tractor Supply store.

Due to a lack of a quorum on Thursday night, recommendations by the Genesee County Planning Department staff – and not the county Planning Board – have been issued for the six referrals that were on the agenda.

The most notable of the applications was one from Sonbyrne Sales Inc. (Byrne Dairy), which is seeking a special use permit and site plan review for a new convenience store and gas station on Lewiston Road (Route 63) in the Town of Batavia.

Planning Department Director Felipe Oltramari, in an email sent after last night’s meeting to Batavia Town Planning Board members, indicated that he was recommending disapproval of Sonbyrne Sales’ proposal because it doesn’t fit well with the town’s decision to tag that large parcel near the First United Methodist Church as a Certified Smart Growth Reserved Development Area.

Furthermore, in the email, he noted that the planning department’s recommendation was “non-binding” because there was no quorum (four planning board members were present and five were needed to vote) and that all of the applications would now go back to the appropriate town/village planning boards.

“Since we didn’t have a meeting, the local boards can act within 30 days after sending us their referrals," Oltramari said. “We will not meet again in 30 days, so they don’t have to wait that long.”

In his explanation for disapproval of the Byrne Dairy referral, Oltramari wrote that “the master plan agreed to between the Town of Batavia and Genesee County had the intention of creating a pedestrian friendly environment.”

‘INVERTED GAS STATION’ SUGGESTED

Oltramari pointed out that Byrne Dairy’s current proposal has the gas pumps in front of the building, along Route 63 (see site plan above) and that conflicts with the town’s master plan for that location.

He said the planning department has provided the town with an example of an “inverted gas station” with pumps behind the building “to illustrate the type of site configuration that would allow a convenience store/gas station to closely conform to what was envisioned for the site.

Earlier this week, he provided some background in a phone interview with The Batavian.

“In March of last year, the Town of Batavia made a development area certification application to the County for the entire field between the Thruway and Veterans Memorial Drive,” he said. “That field was not originally a Development Area in the County Smart Growth Plan. It was a piece of farmland that we wanted to protect.

“The town asked for it to be included as a development area, and it was approved with the caveat that it be reserved for pedestrian-oriented mixed-use development, something different than the car-oriented development on Veterans Memorial Drive.”

Oltramari said “the vision for this area” included property behind County Building 2 on West Main Street Road and the Batavia Town Hall all the way to the Thruway – a proposal called “Townville.”

“The certification of the development area would allow for any use to automatically get water hookups, that's what the Smart Growth really regulates. Outside of development areas you have to get permission to get a water hookup; it is not guaranteed,” he explained.

TRACTOR SUPPLY LOOKS WESTWARD

He went on to say the town’s action was triggered by Tractor Supply's desire to move from East Main Street Road to the west side of Batavia.

“They wanted the parcel, owned by Call Farms, with automatic water hookups,” he said.

Oltramari said the Calls sponsored the project and the master plan was created with the assistance of the Town of Batavia engineers and County Planning (see the green and orange rendering by Dynamic Engineers at top). Their proposal was for mixed uses, including two story Main Street buildings with residential in the upper floor, and a residential cul-de-sac with townhouses or other such housing.

Earlier this month at a Batavia Town Planning Board meeting, Christian Brunelle, senior executive vice president of Sonbyrne Sales, Inc., presented the company’s plan to develop the parcel in front of Tractor Supply.

Byrne Dairy wants to build a traditional gas station with parking and pump islands in front. But that doesn’t fit the master plan that was used to certify the development area.

“The master plan calls for the building to be upfront and parking to the rear,” Oltramari said, adding that a future road, to be known as Rumsey Road, would run from behind Home Depot through the new development to Route 63.

OLTRAMARI: ‘A NICE LITTLE GATEWAY’

Oltramari said that the inverted gas station approach would provide a “nice little gateway” into the development.

“The building would be up front and the pump islands behind it (see rendering above). The architect that drew it up called it ‘gas backwards,’” he said.

“I think to have a nice building instead of a gas station up front in that corner (along Route 63) would make that whole development look better in the future. It would also have the added benefit of buffering current and future neighboring residential properties from the sights and smells related to the gas sales part of the operation.”

The Byrne Dairy proposal now will go back to the Batavia Town Planning board for consideration, likely in early April since the board’s March 19 meeting has been cancelled.

In other action, the planning department recommends approval of a special use permit for Gordon and Denise Linsey to operate a coffee shop at 6520 Knowlesville Rd. in the Town of Alabama.

The Linseys said they want to renovate the space that has been used as a gift shop for the past 10 years at the former St. Patrick’s Church. Their application states that they will offer deli/breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, soup and smoothies in addition to coffee and beverages.