Small-business owner delays Utica redevelopment project

UTICA - One small-business owner's failure to relocate his business is delaying a city of Utica redevelopment project on Oriskany Street. In February, citing the need for shovel-ready industrial building sites, city officials gave notice to tenants on the 5.7-acre complex of the now-defunct Foster Paper Company to relocate by March 31, when demolition of the long-abandoned paper mill would commence.

Tenants of the site included Slocum Dickson, a private medical center which was maintaining a small storage facility in an outbuilding on the property, and Commercial Car Care, a 4,800-square-foot garage located in another outbuilding at the southeast comer of the property.

Mark Hoage, who has owned and operated Commercial Car Care for the last seven years, says the city has reneged on agreements made to him by former Mayor Edward Hanna in 1996, when the city took over the property for back taxes.

Hoage says he met with Hanna after receiving an eviction notice several years ago and obtained a verbal agreement to remain in the building he had been renting from Sid Geness, the former owner of the property. "The city wanted to raise my rent but I told Hanna that I have four kids to support and I couldn't afford it. He said I needed the property more than the city and I could stay at the lower rent," Hoage says. He adds that he pays the city $400 per month to rent the space.

Although Hoage says that he has tried to reach the former mayor, there has been no word from him. Hanna, who resigned last year, has reportedly moved out of the area.

Furthermore, according to Hoage, he had received an option to buy the property but it was 'just a handshake and nothing was in writing."

Mayor Tim Julian allowed the planned demolition to be delayed one moth He now says lie wants tenants out by April 30 so demolition can begin on May 1. Julian says the city will do whatever it can to help Hoage find a new place for his business. However, he says the small parcel is an essential component of the overall project and must come down.

Mark Mojave says that despite the one-month reprieve, time is critical. Utica's commissioner of urban and economic development says, "we will be using city employees to do the demolition and have an agreement from Herkimer County Landfill to dispose of the waste at no cost to us. An extended delay could jeopardize this. The time to take down these outbuildings is now, while we have the ability to do it economically."

The plan 'is to demolish the building and create a "shovel-ready" site for an interested developer whom the city declines to identify.

Hoage says he is now looking for a new place for his car reconditioning and repairr business, and adds that lie tried to make an offer of $4,000 to buy the building but his offer was refused and lie was told that the city had different plans for the property.

Water service, which was part of the main supply to the abandoned factory, was turned off three years ago. Since then, Hoage has had to truck in water

Hoage has found SUPPort among some members of the Utica Common Council. Howard Welch, councilman from the district where Hoage's business is located, objected to the notice given the tenants and believes a hardship has been created, especially for Hoage. Welch says, "These two [out] buildings are in very good condition. Why demolish them if we can get rent?" He also expresses doubts as to whether a developer actually existed, saying, "if there was a developer there shouldn't be any secret. Developers want people to know they are coming into town." Welch concludes that the episode "created an unfriendly business climate.

"We're not unfriendly to small business," Julian says. He says that the entire project not only will locate a new small business on a site that has been off the tax rolls for years, but will also significantly increase market opportunities from which even the smallest surrounding businesses can benefit.

Julian would not divulge the name of the company that was planning to build the new facility, as the deal had not closed yet, but did say. "I can tell you there are 50 manufacturing jobs that will be created initially and more to follow."

The city's strategy to make these sites shovel ready is consistent with the "smartgrowth initiatives coming out of Albany," Mojave says. "The attempt," he explains, "is to get the greatest utilization of the resources. Even if this project didn't have an interested developer, it is our job to identify and remediate the risks at these sites and promote them as the true assets they really are."

Copyright Central New York Business Journal Apr 20, 2001
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