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Syracuse Common Council does not want scrap yard on shore of Onondaga Lake

Doug Kerr
/
Flickr

Syracuse Common Councilors have gone on record opposing the idea of resurrecting a junk yard along the shores of Onondaga Lake, near Destiny USA and the Inner Harbor development.  But they are at odds with the mayor’s office over how to do it.

Lawmakers can’t do anything to stop a new owner from operating a junk yard at the former site of Roth Steel, which operated a scrap yard for over 100 years on Hiawatha Boulevard. But Councilor Chad Ryan says the planning commission can.

"We asked the planning commission to revoke the special permit in their process, which they would have to go through the director of codes and he would have to go out there and cite it,”  said Ryan.

The issue gained momentum last week when Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney sent a letter to city hall asking the same thing. Mayor Stephanie Miner’s response was that, while she doesn’t believe a scrap yard is the best use of the site, she sees no legal way the city can stop it, because scrap metal processing operations are approved for the location.    

Councilor Kathleen Joy suggests there are enough legal questions about the situation, to at least try to revoke the permit.

“I don’t want to see a scrap yard continue there. We’ve spent millions of dollars and years cleaning up Onondaga Lake. We’ve finally seen that lakefront area turned around, and this will just set us back,” said Joy.

Ryan says the city has to do whatever it can to stop a junkyard from going up in the middle of an area undergoing a renaissance fueled by millions of public and private dollars.

“I think if you have a chance to try to redevelop or remediate the property into something that isn’t a scrap metal yard, at least you have to try.”  

A Canadian scrap company wants to buy the property. The sale is pending approval in bankruptcy court.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.