The Town of Clay Planning Board worked through a packed July 8 agenda — including a newly filed Amazon drone delivery proposal, a Matthews Kia dealership expansion and several West Taft Road projects — but reached no final decisions, adjourning every case to a later meeting.
Typeset from the official record — motions and recorded votes are detected automatically. The official copy governs.
Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
APPROVED
The Regular Meeting of the Planning Board of the Town of Clay, County of Onondaga held at Town Hall located at 4401 State Route 31, Clay, New York on the 8th day of July 2026. The meeting was called to order by Chairwoman Borton at 7:30 p.m. All joined in the Pledge of Allegiance and upon roll being called the following were:
PRESENT:
Michelle Borton Chairwoman Russ Mitchell Deputy Chair
Karen Guinup Member
Paul Graves
Member
Jim Palumbo Member
Hal Henty
Member
Marie Giannone Secretary to Planning Board Brian Bender Commissioner of Planning & Development Amber Dillon Planner II – Planning & Development Department
OTHER:
ABSENT:
Al McMahon Member Ron DeTota Planning Board Engineer
Kathleen Bennett Planning Board Attorney
Caitlin Choberka C & S Engineer
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to approve the minutes of the June 10, 2026 meeting. Seconded
by Mr. Graves.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
requested an adjournment.
Motion made by Mr. Graves to adjourn this case to July 22, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Palumbo.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Mr. Ben Harrell, CHA, is present to address the board on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Harrell stated this property is located at 3893 State Route 31, which is an existing Matthews Kia dealership. The applicant proposed an expansion of the main auto dealership building, adding additional parking, the removal of a stormwater pond and the development of an underground Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
catch basin on a 5.13-acre parcel in an RC-1 zoning district. The additional parking with alleviate the car carrier truck delivery turning into the dealership as Mr. Harrell showed on the drawing. Chairwoman Borton said comments were received from Onondaga County Planning Board (OCPB) regarding SWPPP and SHPO. Mr. Harrell said he will provide letters from SWPPP where DOT will sign off and also documentation from SHPO. OCWA requires capacity assurance due to an anticipated increase in use. This will be provided. Chairwoman Borton said a sign off letter from the fire department will be needed. Mr. Harrell said the fire department will sign off as changes were made and acceptable to them.
Mr. Harrell said the car carriers are independent contractors and the largest car carrier was used to illustrate the turning radius is acceptable.
The summary parking table needs to show how many are required parking, how many provided and excess storage. Mr. Harrell showed this on the plan and will update this for the board. Mr. Henty – all set.
Ms. Guinup said on E6.0 to strike note stating “Preferred conditions……” Chairwoman Borton said on title block delete “intent”.
Ms. Guinup said it appears in looking at the drawing that the parking spaces are too close to where the fire truck or car carriers enter the dealership. Mr. Harrell said the largest fire truck was used to show clearance and it was deemed acceptable for turning radius. Mr. Graves said it does not show the fire entrance on the west side. Mr. Harrell said it showed only where the fire department had concerns and to alleviate their concerns. Mr. Harrell will show the west side on the drawing as requested by the board.
Mr. Palumbo asked about the retention pond which does not go underground is as large as the footprint on the drawing. Mr. Palumbo suggested asymmetry in trees as the growth patterns does not grow evenly but in all directions. This helps the growth pattern so as not to block visibility in the future.
Chairwoman Borton and Mr. Mitchell asked about the location for snow storage and to have this shown on the drawing. Mr. Mitchell said the ingress/egress needs some adjustment to make the turn softer.
Mr. Bender said the square footage on the drawing needs to be corrected as to what is existing and what is proposed.
Chairwoman Borton said this is a public hearing and asked if there are any questions from the public. None.
Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to adjourn this case to July 22, 2026. Seconded by Ms. Guinup.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Adj 7.
The applicant requested an adjournment.
Motion made by Mr. Graves to adjourn this case to August 12, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Palumbo.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Permit, Adj 7.
The applicant requested an adjournment.
Motion made by Mr. Graves to adjourn this case to August 12, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Henty.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Mr. Jim Ballantyne, Napierala Consulting, is present to address the board on behalf of the
applicant. Mr. Ballantyne stated as requested at the last meeting all the changes were made. Chairwoman Borton said the access agreement was reviewed by the attorney and is all set with the easement. Chairwoman Borton asked the location of the bollard on the drawing. This needs to be labelled better, also labelling the bollard lights.
Regarding the wetlands, Chairwoman Borton said the note on the drawing states. “wetland boundaries by ambient per delineation ambient revised opinion and statement that jurisdictional wetland does not exist pursuant to letter dated May 5th.” Mr. Ballantyne said the letter was submitted two weeks ago. Chairwoman Borton asked if this is not jurisdictional as stated in your letter is in contact with DEC and is coordinating prior to construction but no permit is required. Mr. Ballantyne said we don’t think a permit is required as it does not meet the DEC structural criteria. If this is the case, Chairwoman Borton said a letter documenting this is required or the permitting process.
Chairwoman Borton said on drawing A1 the peak of the roof is called out and noted. The board members had no questions on this project. Mr. Mitchell made the suggestion to the
applicant that the drawing should not have the orientation on the side making it difficult to read Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
as the drawing is one way and the orientation is the other way. There is no change needed for these drawings, just a note for future applications.
Chairwoman Borton said this is a public hearing and asked if there are any questions from the public. None.
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to adjourn this case to July 22, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Graves.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Blvd. Amended Site Plan. Adj. 7.
The applicant requested an adjournment.
Motion made by Mr. Graves to adjourn this case to September 16, 2026. Seconded by Mr.
Palumbo.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
9605 Black Creek Road, Site Plan, Adj. 5.
The applicant requested an adjournment.
Motion made by Mr. Henty to adjourn this case to September 16, 2026. Seconded by Ms.
Guinup.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Plat, Adj. 2.
Mr. Ben Harrell, CHA, is present to address the board on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Harrell said a SWPPP and civil engineering drawings were provided that include the right of way improvement. The traffic signal has been discussed with DOT and a letter will be provided. C&S Engineering is reviewing the stormwater and layout. Mr. Harrell said this has been verbally agreed and a letter will be provided.
Chairwoman Borton briefly discussed with Mr. Harrell the civil engineering and SWPPP. If the intent of Wally Road is to be a town road, this should be clarified and noted on the drawing. The chairwoman asked the board for their comments.
Mr. Henty – good Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
Ms. Guinup said there appears to be a lot of drainage easements some front to back, some both ways and the square footage is also shown. What part of these lots are buildable. Mr. Harrell will provide a home on these lots to show the buildable area without setback variances. Mr. Graves asked if the easements will have pipes underground or swales. Mr. Harrell said it depends on the location. The rear lots butting up to Wally Road will have swales. Chairwoman Borton said the layout plan reviewed by OCPB is different than the preliminary plan. At some point this will have to go back to OCPB for their review. Ms. Dillon, Planning Department, will look into this and will handle.
Mr. Palumbo said in following up to Ms. Guinup’s comments on the easements/buildable lots, could we look at the most restrictive lots which would include Lot 38, 89, 20 and 32 as examples. Mr. Harrell will provide a house on these lots to show the buildable area. Mr. Mitchell asked about the traffic signal on West Taft Road. Mr. Harrell said DOT insisted that a traffic signal will be at that location. A letter from DOT will be provided. Mr. Bender said Wally Road will be open as shown on the preliminary plat.
Chairwoman Borton said this is a public hearing and asked if there are any questions from the public. None.
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to adjourn this case to August 12, 2026. Seconded by Ms. Guinup.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
The applicant requested an adjournment.
Motion made by Mr. Graves to adjourn this case to July 22, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Palumbo.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Mr. Tim Coyer, Ianuzi & Romans Land Surveying, is present to address the board on behalf of the
applicant. As requested at the previous meeting, Mr. Coyer said the changes were made as submitted in a letter dated June 19, 2026. Changes made included:
✓ Additional labels have been added to the property lines, easements, and setbacks on all sheets.
✓ Printing issue will be fixed in the submission.
✓ All fences not owned by the applicant have been removed from the plans.
Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
✓ Trash enclosure details have been relocated from A-201 to C-600.
✓ Dimensions added to C-200 from the right of way line to the freestanding sign. The sign is outside of the sight distance area required at the intersection of W Taft Road and Carriage Parkway.
✓ On C-401, contours were changed to be in color and foot candle measurements were added to a 10’ grid across the site. Images of the proposed lighting have been added. Chairwoman Borton said on C200 sanitary easement, the text is overlapping and needs to be corrected. On the 70 ft parking setback it is labelled but dimensions are needed. On the special permit area, the dimensions are needed so it can be located. Mr. Coyer said when a special permit box is done it is tied to the corner of the lot (for plottable purposes) but it is not for the dimension of the building. Chairwoman Borton said to have the dimension of the box on the drawing. On the existing conditions plan, there is an ingress/egress easement which disappears from the drawing. Mr. Coyer said it is no longer needed as this was an access to Carriage Parkway. This will be removed from the site plan.
Mr. Henty is good.
Ms. Guinup said there is a slight discrepancy on three setbacks – East, South, West as shown to Mr. Coyer. Mr. Coyer will address this. Also, no wall signage is included which is filed separately. Mr. Graves asked if the ADA parking can be relocated closer to the entrance. Mr. Coyer will address this.
Mr. Palumbo questioned if the existing brush and tree area will remain. Mr. Coyer said this will be cleared with new plantings. Also, plantings will be done near the line of the sanitary sewer easement and will plantings have any effect on this. Mr. Coyer said plantings are fine because there are deep lines but no fencing.
Mr. Mitchell is good.
Chairwoman Borton said this is a public hearing and asked if there are any questions from the public. None.
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to adjourn this case to July 22, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Graves.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Mr. Joe Durand, TKD Engineering, is present to address the board on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Durand said changes were made as requested by the board:
Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026
✓ Adjusted vehicle drop off by car carriers ✓ Modified stormwater management system both surface and sub surface ✓ Additional information provided on site lighting ✓ Complete set of drawings provided Chairwoman Borton said the cover sheet should show the original date, revision and revision date. Title sheet (SP1) should read Amended Site Plan. Engineering has received the applicant’s responses and will respond.
Mr. Henty – good Ms. Guinup suggested that one or two parking spaces could be removed (as shown to the
applicant) to have more clearance for the car carrier turning radius. Mr. Graves said the car carrier issue can be a problem but this has been addressed by the
applicant and looks good. Mr. Palumbo – good Mr. Mitchell – good Chairwoman Borton said this is a public hearing and asked if there are any questions from the public. None.
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to adjourn this case to July 22, 2026. Seconded by Mr. Graves.
Motion Carried: 6-0.
Signs Scout Services – Burger King 7589 Oswego Road Scout Services – Burger King 4035 State Route 31
More information is needed on these sign applications regarding past variance awarded on October 10, 2011, code interpretation, photos needed of existing and new signage. Ms. Amber Dillon, Planning Department will address what is needed in an email to the applicant. This is tabled to the July 22, 2026 planning board meeting.
Motion made by Mr. Mitchell to adjourn this meeting at 8:48 p.m. Next meeting is July 22,
2026. Seconded by Mr. Graves.
Respectfully submitted, Marie Giannone Marie Giannone Planning Board Secretary
Planning Board Regular Meeting July 8, 2026