Massena gauges community interest in access road

MASSENA — Town officials are trying to find out if a group of landowners is on board with a proposal to construct an access road that would open up a section of commercial land along Route 37 near the St. Lawrence Centre Mall.

In order to build the road, which would run parallel to Route 37 from O'Neil Road to Route 37C, the town will need to obtain a right of way from each of 13 owners of the 21 parcels. If even one landowner says no, the project could be stalled or scrapped.

During a Thursday meeting held to gauge landowner interest, explain the project and address concerns, town Supervisor W. Gary Edwards and engineer Tim Burley of Burley-Guminiak & Associates called the section of land a sort of "final frontier" for commercial growth and expansion in the town of Massena.

To finance the project, town officials plan to use gaming compact money.

Plans include not only building the road, but running sewer and water lines along the approximately 9,000-foot stretch of forested land where the access road would be constructed.

"It has always been the intent of the town to try to develop that," Mr. Edwards said. "Our city fathers have always said that's the last place you can expand in town. If we can do this piecemeal ... without having to go to the taxpayers, by using compact money, it could really increase the value of the property. When the economy straightens out, this could be a big advertisement for us."

The access road would be constructed about 450 feet from Route 37, making the sections of land between the new road and the highway prime real estate for commercial development, according to town officials. The supervisor said if the road was constructed and a business opened up at one end of it, the remaining parcels would become more appealing for other developers.

The access road is needed because the state will not grant any permits to build more entrances in that stretch of Route 37.

While none of the landowners rejected the proposal outright, according to town officials, a number of them voiced reservations about what the project might do to their assessments during the meeting. Others supported the plan, arguing it was in the best interests of the town and the property owners, who could see their land values climb if access to the parcels became a reality.

Patrick J. Curran, co-owner of Seaway Timber Harvesting, which holds five of the 21 affected parcels, encouraged his neighbors to think of the project as an opportunity for each of them and for the whole community.

"I think it's a great future for the town," he said.

Roy Mittiga, whose family owns three of the plots, suggested it would dramatically increase the appeal of many of the parcels because there currently is not road access to most of them.

"That's the only way Massena is going to grow," Mr. Mittiga said. "We have cheap electric, we have the workforce, we just don't have the development. It's bait for businesses to come in here and build. As a result of that bait, you'll profit by it."

But not all property owners were completely sold on the idea.

Mark Truax admitted his parcel, which has no road access, would not be worth much to someone who did not hunt. But he was concerned the town might try to raise taxes on the area properties as soon as the road went through.

"I'm not a roadblock," he said. "I just want it to be fair for everybody."

Other owners did not want to give the town a right-of-way to develop a road across their land only to see it lay unused after it was constructed. This was a concern for landowners who also feared being hit with increases in their assessments if they agreed to the roadway as a favor to the town.

"It's kind of hard for us when we see the mall sitting there half empty," Elizabeth Smith said. "There's plenty of room for businesses there."