An Onondaga County Lawmaker who supports the construction of a massive distribution center on the site of the current Liverpool Golf and Country Club says the public seems split 50/50. A public hearing was held this week at Liverpool High School.
Legislator Jim Rowley says many residents liked the fact it would create jobs and possibly bolster the economy. However, others who are opposed had various concerns.
“A lot of them are concerned about traffic, other people were concerned about environmental factors and still other people were concerned that it might be Amazon and they don’t think Amazon is a good employer.”
Rowley is quick to point out that no specific company has been named to fill the proposed warehouse and whatever employer is eventually named would still be subject to state labor laws. He says the PILOT tax breaks for the project would generate $28.7 million in property taxes over 15 years. The Liverpool Golf and Country Club would only generate $800,000 for the same time period. Rowley says that is another reason he supports the project.
“For selfish reasons, I pay a lot in taxes like everyone does who owns a house. The annual expense both county and county taxes and then school taxes that we have to pay. It would be nice to get some relief. I really think this project has the capability bringing some relief,” said Rowley.
Some of the next steps for the approval process require a zoning change for the site to ‘industrial’ by the Town of Clay zoning board. Meanwhile, OCIDA is expecting a large crowd at the Oncenter the morning of Tuesday, October 8 to hear more details from the developer that is seeking more than $65 million in tax breaks.
