City Planning Commission Okay’s 2-Unit Residential Building After Debate

On Monday’s City of Cortland Planning Commission, the Commission gave the green light to a new construction 2-unit apartment building located at 16 Owego Street in the City of Cortland. The new building will fill what neighbors could describe as a large hole of the former basement area of the previous house that stood on the property.

Approval for the new building has been lengthy after the Commission tabled giving approval to developer John Barden after citing concerns of the size of the building and lack of vision appeal during their September meeting. At Monday’s meeting Mr. Barden returned with revised exterior renderings that gave the two-story house more character and appeal from street view.

Barden plans to build a two-story 2-unit apartment building with each unit having 5 bedrooms in each. Total parking would be 6 parking spaces. City code requires 2 parking spaces per unit in an apartment building; the number of bedrooms per unit does not apply to required parking spaces. Mr. Barden noted that he is looking for long-term tenants and isn’t planning to have this property be for student housing; he also cited the number of available properties already in the city for student housing. A larger apartment with more bedrooms would be more appealing to families and can be financially viable. 

Overall the Commission spoke highly of the revisions of the exterior of the building including the addition of a false gable roof to add character to the building and a stone base on the first level. Actual materials have yet to be finalized, but Mr. Barden noted that it would be similar to what the renderings show.

The project was previously approved by the City of Cortland Zoning Board of Appeals and Cortland County Planning in December 2023. The Commission noted the approvals already by the ZBA put the Commission in a position to approve the plans as the required variances had no objections from the ZBA itself. Still though, the Commission agreed the building footprint is “too big” for the property. Mr. Barden noted that the previous building on the property when the front porch was still up, was about the same size. 

The Commission ended up voting unanimously to approve the site plan condition on a new site plan on moving the exterior basement access. Work on the property is likely to begin in early spring depending on weather conditions.