Bates Troy Is Noisy

a community campaign for environmental justice

Bates Troy Is Too Close to Residential Housing

It is important to note that in order to expand their "Dry Cleaning Plant" into an area zoned Residential, Bates Troy was required to seek special approval from the City Planning Commission. They needed special approval for a "use variance" but they also needed an extra-special approval in order to build a "dry cleaning plant". This extra-special approval, called a Series A Site Plan Approval, is required because Chapter 410 of the City of Binghamton's code states that a "Dry Cleaning Plant" in a C-1 area is a land use and activity "which is likely to have a broad and significant impact on the physical, environmental, social or economic character of the surrounding neighborhood and the City." Now, since Bates Troy is technically expanding into a Residential area (the property they bought and built over, 24 Mendelsohn St, was a residential house and zoned R-3) one could reasonably expect an even greater impact on the community than a dry cleaning plant in a C-1 area. Therefore, by seeking approval of the Planning Commission, Bates Troy acknowledged that their planned expansion would likely have a profound effect on the surrounding community.

In conducting their review, the Planning Commission required Bates Troy to establish that their expansion would not significantly impact "the general character of the neighborhood", "public safety" and "other considerations that may reasonably be related to health, safety and general welfare". Given that the City of Binghamton extended Bates Troy special permission to expand their Dry Cleaning Plant on the understanding that their expansion would not significantly impact the community, we believe that Bates Troy should be held to a higher standard of compliance concerning their code violations.

Furthermore, when interpreting violations of the Noise Control Ordinance, keep in mind that the law states such interpretations must be "liberally construed so as to effectuate the purposes described in this chapter" . The purpose of the Noise Control Ordinance is to "reduce the ambient noise level in the City, so as to preserve, protect and promote the public health, safety and welfare and the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the City, prevent injury to human, plant and animal life and property, foster the convenience and comfort of its inhabitants and facilitate the enjoyment of the natural attractions of the City." With the higher standard of compliance for Bates Troy and the broad interpretation mandated by law, it is clear that ours is not an exhaustive list of Bates Troy code violations.

It is our belief that Bates Troy should not have received permission to expand their Dry Cleaning Plant. Under the law, there are certain ways to remedy a mis-zoning. We will pursue these options in the hopes of forcing Bates Troy to move further from residential housing.

We have received two Freedom of Information Act responses related to the question of how Bates Troy received permission to expand an industrial Dry Cleaning Plant into a high-density residential area. Please visit The Question of Zoning -- Evidence for more information.

90 second background summary on the Bates Troy issue (click here if video doesn't appear):

Bates Troy attempts bribery to stop this campaign (click here if video doesn't appear):

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