A conceptual drawing of Gateway Lofts project at the Gateway Center in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN _ The Jamestown City Council will hold its second work session of the month Monday night in city hall.

The work session for the full council will be held in the mayor’s conference room (4th floor, City Hall) and begins at 7:30 p.m.

Prior to the full council meeting, various committees will meet as well. For the city housing committee,  Tami Berg from Community Helping Hands will appear to discuss the proposed Gateway Lofts housing proposal.

The Gateway Lofts project involves converting the Gateway Center on Water Street into an estimated 40 housing units for low income individuals and families members, along with about 40 other units for single parents seeking housing assistance from the YWCA, as well as non-violent individuals with addiction or mental health issues and overseen by STEL.  The total cost of the renovation project is estimated to cost $31 million.

In October, the Jamestown Planning Commission informed project developers they would have to address environmental concerns before the project could move forward.

Monday’s Housing Committee Meeting will be held at 6:45 p.m. in the Police Training Room, 4th floor of city hall. It is also open to the public.

A conceptual drawing of Gateway Lofts project at the Gateway Center in Jamestown

The hearing was agreed to following the Sept. 18 Planning Commission meeting, when members felt more details of the project need to be provided and all concerns heard before any commission action takes place.

The development is described as a multifamily, affordable housing project that would include 70 housing units over three stories of the Gateway Center building, which was formerly the long-time home of the now closed Chautauqua Hardware manufacturing business and currently houses several local organizations, including St. Susan Center, Community Helping Hands, Love Inc., and the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County.

Of these units, 39 would offer affordable housing options, 16 would go to single-parent families assisted by the YWCA, and 25 units administered by STEL would be designated for non-violent individuals who are homeless and have a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder with a history of criminal offending or are at risk of offending.

The planning commission is required to review and approve planning documents for the project to make sure it is not in violation of any city codes or law.

If the project is found to violate city code, it would likely have to go before the zoning board for its approval.

The public hearing will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9 in the city council chambers. No action by the commission will take place that night, though it is scheduled to meet the following week on Oct. 16.

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JAMESTOWN – The proposed Gateway Lofts project at the Gateway Center building on Water Street was the focus of discussion during Thursday’s Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission meeting.

The Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission during its Aug. 16, 2018 meeting.

Representatives from the law firms representing the two main developers of the project – Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL) and Community Helping Hands – went over the specific details of the plan. Representatives of STEL, Community Helping Hands, and the YWCA of Jamestown were also on hand to provide information and answer questions.

• GATEWAY LOFTS POWER POINT PRESENTATION

Those on hand representing the project developers were STEL Development Director Steven Ald, Community Helping Hands Executive Director Tami Berg, YWCA executive director Jacqueline Chiarot Phelps, and attorneys Steven Ricca with Bond, Schoeneck & King and Matt Mazgaj from Phillips Lytle.

At the start of the presentation, Ricca explained why the Gateway Center was selected.

“This particular site selection was based on a complex algorithm of a number of factors – acreage, zoning, support services, access to transportation, and the like. So we didn’t take site selection here lightly at all,” Ricca said.

The development proposal, situated on the 5.8 acre Gateway Center location, is described as a multifamily affordable housing project that would include 70 housing units. Of these units, 39 would offer affordable housing options, 16 would go to single-parent families assisted by the YWCA, and 25 units administered by STEL would be designated for non-violent individuals who are homeless and have a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder with a history of criminal offending or are at risk of offending.

Attorney Steven Ricca with Bond, Schoeneck & King presents to the city Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission.

Ricca also said that the project will address a concerned outlined in the city’s recent poverty reduction study released in 2017.

“Housing is problematic for low-income residents as the cost of renting is very high and quality, affordable housing is scarce,” Ricca said. “The study also focused on a key concern that folks weren’t maintaining their properties and that there were delinquent properties. I’m aware of the fact that you have affordable housing developments in this city that you are aware of and are not very happy about. One thing I will say, however, is that this is not a situation where STEL will develop the property and then walk away. STEL will manage the property.”

The project still needs to undergo several hurdles, including a review by the city Planning Commission in September as well as securing funding for a total project cost of $34 million. The cost would be covered through a combination of state and federal tax credits that can be sold to investors, along with community investment funds and grants.

The project partners have already received a $970,000 state grant to develop the design.

The $34 million price tag is due to abatement issues that would need to be addressed in the current building, which is the former Chautauqua Hardware building built in the late 19^th century and which currently houses several nonprofit service operations including St. Susan Center, Community Helping Hands, a Daycare facility, and the Mental Health Association – among others.  Developers say the presence of those agencies on-site is one of the key reasons why the location was selected for the proposed project.

No zoning waivers would be needed because the location is already in an area of the city zoned for multi residential use.

Artist’s rendering of the Gateway Lofts project upon completion.

In all, the commission members spent an hour-and-a-half hearing details about the project and asking questions as well as raising concerns.

Commission Co-Chair Greg Rabb – who also chairs the city Planning Commission – explained why it was important for the group to appear before the Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission.

“If this project goes forward, it’s a big project, and it has more than just an effect on the immediate area. I think it has an effect on the entire community and that’s one of the reasons why this commission exists. We are part of the city of Jamestown and appointed by the mayor and approved by the council, so our goal here – with representatives from the public sector and the private sector and from inside the city and outside the city – to look at projects from a much bigger perspective than the narrow perspective which we’ll be taking from the planning commission. So we want to have this discussion because I knew this process was percolating and had a couple of questions and concerns,” Rabb said.

One of Rabb’s questions and concerns focused on the project being located in a food desert area of the city where fresh food wasn’t readily available.  Another concern was that the city currently has a significant amount of housing stock that could be used to help provide homes for the individuals this project is aimed at, while also noting that this project would concentrate a large number of people into a single area instead of working to integrate them into the community. Rabb also noted that the developers need to reach out to members of the city council and the Chautauqua County legislator who represents that area so they can be aware of the details of the project and share with constituents who will likely have questions.

The officials with the project responded to Rabb’s concerns about access to healthy food by explaining transportation would be made available through CARTS to help residents get back and forth to nearby supermarkets and the Jamestown Public Market’s mobile food market program could also help with providing healthier food options on site. They also noted that the concentration vs. integration issue was open to debate, considering there currently isn’t a lot of options for affordable and quality apartment housing in the city.

According to the developers, support for the project has been given by several local officials, including: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Catherine Young, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, County Executive George Borrello, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and IDA director Mark Geise, Sheriff Joseph Gerace, county Health and Human Services Director Christine Schuyler, and the Homeless Coalition.

The project will likely be looked at further during the Sept. 18 meeting of the city planning commission.

Berg will take over the organization’s helm on June 25. She replaces form CHH executive director Amy Rohler, who took the executive director position at United Way of Southern Chautauqua County earlier this year.

Prior to joining Community Helping Hands, Berg had served as an adult education workforce development and grant specialist with Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES since 2013.

Other positions include residential services coordinator/workforce development with Chautauqua Opportunities, and serving as mayor of Sinclairville.

Berg has a bachelor’s degree in community and human services degree from the Empire State College and an associate’s of science degree from Jamestown Community College.

For more information about Community Helping Hands, visit www.chhny.org or call 487-1488

According to the Chautauqua County Board of Elections, in a New York State election law quirk, village elections are not allowed to fall on St. Patrick’s Day. Since 1998, according to the bill’s original sponsors, New York’s village elections are never to be on St. Patrick’s Day and are to take place a day later to “honor Irish heritage.”

The only time since the bill’s passage that the collision of democracy and Irish celebration has occurred was 2009.

Out of Seven Villages, Only Westfield to Hold Contested Races

According to Abram and Election Commissioner Norman P. Green, the only contested election is happening in the village of Westfield, where incumbent Mayor Michael Vandevelde will be running on the Democratic and Westfield Now lines. He is being opposed for re-election by Richard C. Raynor on the Republican line.

Also, in a vote for any two for village trustee, the choices are incumbent Robert Cochran, Democratic and Westfield Now; Alan Holbrook, Democratic, Republican and Westfield Now; and David Carr, Republican.

The candidates in five other villages are running unopposed:

• Bemus Point Republicans Mayor Bryan Dahlberg, village trustees Margaret Richardson and Chris Wright.
• Cassadaga Progressive Party village trustee candidates Joshua Slaven  and Amanda Kalfas
• Sinclairville Helping Hands Party mayor candidate Tami Berg and vote for any two trustee candidates John Embury on the Helping Hands Party and Patricia France on the Restoration Party.
• Cherry Creek Republican trustees John F. Lukaszewski and Bruce W. Hendricks
• Sherman People’s Party Mayor John R. Patterson and vote for any two trustees James Weise on the People’s and Donna Higginbotham on the Citizens First Party.

No Candidate for Panama Village Trustee

In another local 2015 oddity, the 308 registered voters in the village of Panama will have an election for one village trustee, but no name will be listed on the ballot.

“Panama’s Mayor Charles Loveland called and said he couldn’t raise any interest for the elective position,” said Election Commissioner Brian Abram. “Hopefully someone’s name, who wants to take the job, will be written in by voters on Election Day. It’s a small village and there are just two trustees and a mayor.”

Elections for All Other Villages Scheduled for November

The remaining eight Chautauqua County Villages have moved elections to coincide with  November 3rd 2015  and future General Elections, with Panama and Sherman also scheduled to join the November schedule in 2016.

Polling sites for the March 18 village elections will be open Noon to 9 p.m.  Absentee ballot applications and sample ballots are available at votechautauqua.com for elections conducted by the Board of Elections.

Absentee ballot applications must be received at the Board of Elections, 7 North Erie Street, Mayville 14757 no later than March 11  by mail or by March 17 with in person absentee application delivery at the election office.

Sinclairville and Cassadaga village clerks conduct their own elections separate from the Board of Elections.