Clay Rewrites Noise Law to Fix a Typo — and Leaves No End Date on Micron Construction Noise
The Clay Town Board held a Feb. 3 hearing to correct a mis-numbered 2024 law exempting construction noise in Industrial 2 districts, the zone that includes the Micron chip-fab site, but closed the hearing without a recorded adoption vote after residents pressed officials on how long the exemption could last. In other business, the board found no significant environmental impact from a proposed Summit Federal Credit Union branch on West Taft Road, then denied the zone change needed to build it, 6-0.
●• Town Board held a public hearing on Local Law No. 1 of 2025, correcting a mis-cited noise-code section (152-4 H, not 154-4 H) that exempts construction and demolition noise in Industrial 2 zones — home to the Micron project — with no stated end date; the hearing closed with no recorded adoption vote, and written opposition was filed with the Town Clerk.
●• Residents Janet Rathburn and Mike LaPointe questioned how long and how extensive the noise exemption would be; Councilor Ryan Pleskach said he has asked the state DOT about sound barriers along Routes 481 and 31 but that the state has so far been resistant.
●• Board voted 7-0 that a proposed Summit Federal Credit Union branch at 5047 West Taft Road would have no significant effect on the environment, then denied, 6-0 (Councilor Edward Wisnowski abstaining), the zone change needed to build it, citing traffic and the unsignalized Cedar Post intersection.
●• Edward Wisnowski was sworn in to fill Luella Miller's unexpired Town Board term (to 12/31/2027); later in the meeting, Vivian Mason was appointed Zoning Board of Appeals chair to fill the seat Wisnowski vacated (to 12/31/2025).
●• Approved, 7-0, the petition establishing the Delta Sonic Sewer District Contract No. 1.
●• Adjourned, at the applicant's request, two Mirabito Energy Projects/Kelly-Tobin drive-thru special permit hearings (coffee shop and bank, Route 31 at Lawton Road) to March 3, 2025, 7-0 each.
●• Closed public hearings without a vote on the Seneca Savings Financial Facility zone change (5332 State Route 31) and the Marc Lebiedzinski zone change to subdivide a Morgan Road parcel.
●• Scheduled a March 3, 2025 hearing, 7-0, on the Laurel Springs zone change for senior housing on West Taft Road, a project the board denied under a different case number in August 2024.
●• Approved, 7-0 each, a $285,000 John Deere wheel loader and $685,000 in Western Star plow trucks for the Highway Department, plus matching bond resolutions.
●• Approved, 7-0, installation of two fire hydrants on Devitt Circle, paid for by developer Dan Bargabos, with the Town to be billed $92.96 per hydrant annually.
The Clay Town Board rewrote a noise ordinance for the second time in three months on Feb. 3 — this time to fix a numbering mistake — and left no end date on how long the town's Industrial 2 zone, home to the Micron chip-fab project, can run without the noise restrictions the rest of the town's code imposes.
Supervisor Damian Ulatowski told the board and a room of residents that the version of the law passed at the end of 2024 had mistakenly cited a section of the town code, 154-4 H, that does not exist, and that the board was re-doing it to correct that transposition error. The correct citation, he said, is Section 152-4 H, the town's Prohibited Noises section.
The substance carries over from the earlier version: it exempts construction and demolition noise in Industrial 2 districts from the noise code entirely, rather than confining that work to the daytime and weekend hours the code otherwise requires. Ulatowski said the town's engineers determined that code sections written for smaller projects could not accommodate a manufacturing project of Micron's scale, and that based on input from Micron representatives and federal officials, the board anticipates construction will run for several years. He said the I-2 zone is small and largely confined to the White Pines Industrial Park, and that the exemption covers construction only — daily operations would still have to meet standard I-2 noise limits, a point Councilor Deborah Magaro-Dolan asked him to confirm.
Neither the law nor Ulatowski's remarks put a number of years on the exemption. Mike LaPointe, who told the board he lives in Cherry Heights, said the construction phase could run 10 to 20 years and asked whether crews would be working through the night. He asked about sound barrier walls. Councilor Ryan Pleskach said he supports barriers and has approached the state Department of Transportation about placing them along Routes 481 and 31, though he said the state has so far been resistant. Resident Janet Rathburn asked whether the exemption was open-ended in time or in noise level, and another resident asked about construction traffic. Ulatowski said he did not know when construction would begin, and that the board was open to restricting activity if work proved noncompliant and to installing sound barriers. Magaro-Dolan, Pleskach and Capria said the issue would be reviewed on an ongoing basis; Councilor Joseph Bick said he saw no reason to delay the law.
LaPointe suggested the board hold off adopting the law until it settled on sound barriers and a way to oversee compliance. The Supervisor closed the hearing after that exchange, and the minutes do not record a vote adopting the law at this meeting; written comments opposing it were emailed to the Town Clerk and are on file.
The noise-law hearing was one of two land-use items that drew debate Feb. 3. The board also voted 7-0 that a proposed Summit Federal Credit Union branch at 5047 West Taft Road would have no significant effect on the environment — then denied, 6-0 with Councilor Edward Wisnowski abstaining, the zone change needed to build it. Councilors cited the project's proximity to residential property, a lack of buffer, traffic at the unsignalized Cedar Post intersection, and the potential for hazardous conditions in the neighboring Wegmans parking lot.
The board also swore in Wisnowski to the Town Board seat vacated by Luella Miller, then later appointed Vivian Mason to the Zoning Board of Appeals chair Wisnowski had vacated. It scheduled a March 3 hearing on the Laurel Springs senior-housing zone change on West Taft Road — a project the board rejected under a different case number in August 2024 — and adjourned, at the applicant's request, two Mirabito Energy Projects drive-thru hearings on Route 31 to the same date. Separately, the board approved a $285,000 wheel loader and $685,000 in plow trucks for the Highway Department, and signed off on two new fire hydrants on Devitt Circle, to be paid for by developer Dan Bargabos.
This article was drafted by AI (claude-sonnet-agent) from the official meeting transcript and reviewed by a human editor.
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Related Town Board Meetings
Wrong Permit, Wrong District: Clay Board Punts Contested Fuel-Tank Storage Case to Planning Board
●• Denied McDonald's USA's Special Permit for a drive-thru at 4979 Taft Road (Case #1210), 6-0, ruling the application abandoned after five adjournments dating to August 2024; no one appeared for the applicant.
●• Renewed Casual Estates LLC's 2025 license for the Madison Village Mobile Home Court, 6-0, contingent on renewal fees; the Town Clerk confirmed payment was received.
●• Opened a public hearing on a proposed sewer district to serve a planned Delta Sonic carwash on Route 31, to be built and paid for entirely by Delta Sonic and later dedicated to the town; closed without a recorded vote.
●• Continued a contested hearing on Goguen Drive Realty LLC's special permit to store empty fuel tanks used on the I-81 construction project, after councilors said the S-1 permit type isn't allowed in the I-1 district and residents cited safety concerns and a prior code violation; referred to the Planning Board and adjourned the hearing to March 3, 2025, 6-0.
●• Approved installation of three stop signs, creating a three-way stop, at the northern intersection of Mediator Way and Weller Hall Place, 6-0.
●• Scheduled a Feb. 3, 2025 hearing on Local Law No. 1 of 2025, re-filing a construction-noise exemption for Industrial 2 districts after the original version (Local Law No. 3 of 2024) was mistakenly enacted under a code section that doesn't exist; Councilor Bick took responsibility for the error, 6-0.
●• Released $27,142.11 in performance securities to Superior Waste Removal for trash and brush districts, 6-0.
●• Adjourned at 8:21 p.m., 6-0.
A Duplicate Address Produced the Only Split Vote on Clay's Reorganization Night
●• Swore in newly elected Councilor David Capria and adopted Roberts Rules of Order and a 2025 meeting schedule (first and third Mondays, 7:30 p.m.), Ayes 6, Noes 0
●• Set 2025 salaries for town officers, from $20,600 for councilpersons to $112,555 for the Highway Superintendent; the Commissioner of Planning & Development line was listed as "PENDING." Ayes 6, Noes 0
●• Retained Germain & Germain for $18,000.00 as Zoning Board of Appeals attorney and Bond, Schoeneck and King for $36,000.00 as Planning Board attorney for 2025, both Ayes 6, Noes 0
●• Voted 5-1 (Councilor Pleskach opposed) to call a Jan. 22 public hearing on Goguen Drive Realty, LLC's special permit application for bulk storage of a 1,000-gallon fuel tank at 7835 Goguen Drive — the only non-unanimous vote of the night, after resident Janet Rathburn asked why the application shared an address with a pending case
●• Adjourned the public hearing on two additional stop signs at Mediator Way and Weller Hall Place to Jan. 22, as the board weighs a third sign and a three-way stop, Ayes 6, Noes 0
●• Called a Jan. 22 public hearing on a petition to form the "Delta Sonic Sewer District," Ayes 6, Noes 0
●• Closed the public hearing on Madison Village mobile home court's 2025 license renewal; the park reported 341 homeowners, 50 renters, and 65 additional homes proposed for spring
●• Approved a one-year contract with the Central New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for dog-control and animal-cruelty services, Ayes 6, Noes 0
●• Appointed Joseph Grispino Interim Commissioner of Code Enforcement at an $85,000 annual salary through Dec. 31, 2025, Ayes 6, Noes 0
Clay Board Closes Hearing on Twin Mirabito Drive-Thrus After Planning Board Called Two Too Much for the Parcel
●• Closed, after hearings adjourned from October 21, November 18, December 16, 2024 and February 3, 2025, the public hearings on Mirabito Energy Projects/Kelly-Tobin Development Corp.'s special permits for a drive-thru Dunkin' Donuts (Case #1212) and drive-thru NBT Bank (Case #1213) at Route 31 and Lawton Road; no vote on the merits was taken.
●• Approved 6-0 the SEQR determination and zone change from RA-100 to O-2 Office with Highway Overlay for Seneca Savings' proposed financial facility at 5332 State Route 31 (Case #1218).
●• Approved 6-0 the SEQR determination and zone change from RA-100 to R-15 for Marc Lebiedzinski's 7985 Morgan Road property (Case #1219).
●• Adjourned 6-0 the Laurel Springs zone-change public hearing (senior housing scaled down from 71 to 60 units) to April 7, pending Town research into how the 55-plus age restriction applies to a resident's spouse or child under 55.
●• Adjourned 6-0 the Goguen Drive Realty special-permit hearing to April 7.
●• Adopted 6-0 a resolution scheduling a March 17 public hearing on Sonbyrne Sales/Clay-Dolshire Byrne Dairy's proposed gas station and convenience store at 7190 Buckley Road (Case #1222).
●• Approved 6-0 reauthorizing the Town's Public Employer Mandatory Health Emergency Plan.
●• Approved 6-0 a contract with C&S Engineers, Inc. not to exceed $25,500.00 for the landfill post-closure environmental monitoring program, and a separate $16,000.00 agreement with the same firm for groundwater sampling and inspection at the Maider Road Waterfront site.
●• Approved 6-0 participation in the CNY Regional Planning & Development Board's stormwater compliance assistance program at a flat fee of $3,600.00 per municipality.
●• Heard, with no vote taken, MCFD's Mark Goettel raise a LOSAP benefit-increase request — to $30 per qualifying year of service, with the eligibility age dropped from 62 to 60 — that he said has gone unanswered by the Town since he first raised it in 2021.
On the Same Route 31 Parcel, Clay's Board Splits 6-1 Twice — With a Different Dissenter Each Time
●• Case #1212 — Mirabito Energy Projects/Kelly-Tobin Development Corp., drive-thru coffee shop, Route 31 at Lawton Road (Tax Map 077.-34-17.1, +/-9.57 acres): environmental determination passed 7-0; special permit approved 6-1, Councilor Pleskach voting no.
●• Case #1213 — same applicant, same 9.57-acre parcel, drive-thru bank: environmental determination passed 7-0; special permit approved 6-1, Supervisor Ulatowski voting no (Pleskach voted yes on this one).
●• Opened a public hearing on Case #1222, Sonbyrne Sales/Byrne Dairy's proposed convenience store and 10-position gasoline station at 7190 Buckley Road (+/-2.47 acres); after residents raised traffic, retention-pond, trash and privacy concerns, the board adjourned the hearing to April 21 at 7:35 p.m.
●• Closed a public hearing on Onondaga County Community Development Funds with no public comment beyond a question about where the allocation would be posted; Supervisor Ulatowski said past awards to the Town have run between 50 and 200 thousand dollars.
●• Voted 7-0 to schedule an April 7 public hearing (7:35 p.m.) on Case #1223, Northern Credit Union's request to rezone 5004-5008 West Taft Road from PDD/R-10 to NC-1 for a bank/credit union with drive-in service.
●• Voted 7-0 to schedule an April 7 public hearing (7:38 p.m.) on Case #1224, McDonald's USA LLC's special permit for a drive-thru restaurant at 4979 W. Taft Road.
●• Adopted the Standard Work Day Reporting resolution for elected and appointed officials in the state retirement system, 7-0.
●• Approved a sewer lateral connection for Empire Management of CNY/Brew Team NY at 3906 Brewerton Road into the Fay Road Sewer District, at no cost to the Town, contingent on a $700 fee; passed 7-0.
●• Approved settlement of the Ranalli Generations LLC tax certiorari action, reducing the assessment on the 4155 State Route 31 out-parcel (Great Northern) from $294,261 to $83,500 for the 2022 tax year, with the Town's refund liability capped at $15,000; passed 7-0.
●• Meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m., 6-0.
Accident Count Climbs From 4 to 25 as Clay Board Adjourns Two West Taft Road Hearings
●• Adjourned the Northern Credit Union zone change hearing (Case #1223, 5004-5008 West Taft Road) to April 21 at 7:44 p.m., after residents raised property-value and traffic concerns and the applicant agreed to explore O-2 office zoning instead of NC-1. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Adjourned the McDonald's USA special permit hearing (Case #1224, 4979 W. Taft Road) to May 5 at 7:41 p.m., after the applicant's initial count of four accidents on the stretch was corrected to 25 total accidents in three years. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Adjourned the Goguen Drive Realty special permit hearing (Case #1220) to May 5 at 7:38 p.m., at the applicant's request. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Closed the public hearing on the Laurel Springs zone change (Case #1221) — previously denied under Case #1205 in August 2024 — after the applicant reduced the proposal to 12 units per building and received a positive Planning Board recommendation; no vote recorded.
●• Called an April 21 public hearing on the Seneca Savings Financial Facility special permit (Case #1225) for a bank/credit union with drive-thru on Route 31. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Called an April 21 public hearing on the Justin's Canine Campus special permit (Case #1226) for a dog daycare at Marketfair North Plaza on Route 31. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Renewed the Adult Crossing Guard Services contract with All City Management Services for one year at $33.59/hour per guard, based on 1,980 hours, not to exceed $66,508.20/year. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Called an April 21 public hearing on 2025 Community Development Block Grant funding, after a Highway Superintendent reassessment prioritized repairs to Woodward Way and Winchester Drive over Steelway Blvd. South, now pushed to 2027. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Called an April 21 public hearing on 2026 Community Development Block Grant funding for Maltage Drive and Goguen Drive, application due April 11, 2025. Ayes 7, Noes 0.
●• Approved the Town's 2025 funding application and five-year plan with Onondaga County Community Development, and a joint application renewing Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation's permit to hand-pull water chestnuts from the Seneca River in 2026. Ayes 7, Noes 0 (both).
Clay Board Hears Three Separate Bank Drive-Thru Applications in a Single Meeting
●• Approved SEQR findings and adoption of the Laurel Springs zone change (Highway Commercial to Senior Residential) for a senior housing project on +/-4.74 acres at W. Taft Road. Ayes 6, Noes 0 (both votes).
●• Adjourned the Sonbyrne Sales, Inc./Clay-Dolshire Byrne Dairy special permit hearing to May 5 at the applicant's request. Ayes 6, Noes 0.
●• Opened the Seneca Savings Financial Facility special permit hearing for a bank with drive-thru at 5332 State Route 31, referred it to the Planning Board, and adjourned to May 5; the minutes do not record a vote tally on the adjournment itself.
●• Opened the Justin's Canine Campus special permit hearing for a dog daycare at 4112 State Route 31 (Marketfair North Plaza) and learned the site had been advertised at +/-15.06 acres when the actual tax parcel is 0.345 acres; board did not require re-advertising since the real footprint is smaller. Adjourned to May 5. Ayes 6, Noes 0.
●• Held a public hearing on 2025 Community Development Block Grant funding and shifted urgent paving priority to Woodward Way and Winchester Drive, pushing Steelway Blvd. South to 2027.
●• Held a public hearing on 2026 CDBG funding covering Maltage Drive and Goguen Drive; Deputy Supervisor Bick said eligibility is based on residential mean income.
●• Heard renewed neighbor objections on the Northern Credit Union zone change (W. Taft Road) over traffic and privacy; applicant had already revised the plan to an O-2 Office District request with a larger buffer. Adjourned to May 5. Ayes 6, Noes 0.
●• Called a May 5 public hearing on a Canandaigua National Bank special permit for a drive-in bank on +/-74.82 acres of Oswego Road land. Ayes 6, Noes 0.
●• Approved a $656,184.00 transfer from the Capital Reserve Account to buy two 2025 Western Star plow trucks for the Highway Department. Ayes 6, Noes 0.
●• Approved a drainage easement agreement with 3567 RT 31 TT, LLC and an easement/stormwater maintenance agreement with KRSM, LLC on Buckley Road. Ayes 6, Noes 0 (both).
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