Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. presents to Jamestown Planning Commission (September 20, 2022)

The Jamestown Planning Commission has approved the site plan for a new women’s homeless shelter in downtown Jamestown.

Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. will operate the facility to be located at 303 Lafayette Street. The facility will be able to shelter 18 women and is only for women age 18 and older.

COI officials said they hope to go to bid on the project in a couple of weeks. It’s being funded through a $2.49 million grant from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The Planning Commission also has resumed discussions about establishing a Local Preservation Ordinance.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle said the ordinance would be part of the City’s zoning provision.
She said when it came to things like replacing older windows with vinyl windows or putting up siding, it depended on what was in the design standards, “And the design standards are not part of the ordinance. So the design standards.. you can’t create design standards without the ordinance authorizing their creation. And the ultimate design standards can be whatever you want to a certain extent.”

Shadle said those standards are created by a community member Preservation Board.

She said if the Planning Commission approved an LPO, it would then go to City Council for approval.

Commission Chair John LaMancuso confirmed that despite Federal Historic District designations, a historic district under an LPO doesn’t exist unless City Council designates an area as a historic district, “Nothing is a historic district until City Council says it’s a historic district. And we could adopt this as a city and city council could say, ‘Oh, well we don’t think that any place should be a historic district. We don’t want to burden people in this way,’ or maybe, ‘We want this block to be historic that includes the Jackson Center,’ or whatever. So a lot of this comes down to City Council which I think is very appropriate.”

LaMancuso requested additional information on the benefits to the city in implementing an LPO. There was no other action on the LPO.

A question had been raised whether the Planning Commission could approve the plan even though the city doesn’t own the property yet. Public Works Director Jeff Lehman said this has been done before, “We can make that a contingency of the approval that the city has ownership. Obviously, like I said it’s in the attorney’s hands, the deal has been reached, city council has approved it, it’s just a matter of the paperwork being signed.”

City Council had approved purchasing 1425 through 1505 Washington Street from Tim Shults for $400,000 at its June voting session.

The Planning Commission also approved the request from Shawbucks’ owner Kurt Johnson to purchase a city right-of-way at 212 West Second Street. This purchase will allow Johnson to build a 3-story balcony for outdoor seating for the restaurant.

The negative declaration and site plan also was approved for Lutheran Social Services Green Home project.

And the Planning Commission continued discussions on the Local Preservation Ordinance with plans to schedule a special meeting specifically to discuss LPO language and details.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle said the ordinance would be part of the City’s zoning provision. A Preservation Board would accompany the ordinance which would be comprised of community members.

She said the ordinance is designed to help find solutions for property owners, “And so if your goal is to add space to your residents, the ordinance does not prohibit additions but that addition may not necessarily look the way it’s initially intended within the guidelines of the ordinance. And if you want to make your house or building more energy efficient there may be an issue around vinyl windows.”

Shadle gave an example of how urban renewal efforts might have been different for the City back in the 1970s, “You know, if there had been an LPO back in the day when they were razing Brooklyn Square, maybe there still would be a Roosevelt Theatre and there wouldn’t be a drug store drive-thru there anywhere?”

Commission member Mike Laurin said preservation is something that the community can get behind but thinks it should be something the homeowner is wanting to do willingly and the oversight seems negative, “I’m in favor of a program or something to encourage residents and property owners to maintain their property. When you look around the city there are a lot of houses that are in need of maintenance for a variety of reasons. Some of those are not because they don’t want to but because there are financial restrictions through them.”

The ordinance will continue to be reviewed and edited by the Planning Commission before coming up for a vote by the Commission.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle will give a presentation on the scope and objectives of an LPO. There are three historic districts in Jamestown on the National Register of Historic Places. The LPO would apply to historic structures that exist inside and outside those districts.

The public meetings will take place over Zoom at 6pm, Thursday, May 20th and 6pm, Tuesday, May 25th. The link and information can also be found on the City Department of Development’s website.