SYRACUSE - The Anchor Bar, Main Street, Syracuse, wants to expand with outdoor dining.

Thursday, Jim Conder, owner of the business, petitioned the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals for an exception to alter his non-conforming business by allowing the expansion and creating a fenced-in outdoor dining area in a commercial district. The property, zoned commercial, is on the west side of Huntington Street and zero feet south of Main Street in Syracuse.

The petition was approved with conditions.

Matt Sandy, Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission assistant planner, told the board there were two letters on file. One was against the expansion, the other supported the expansion.

Conder owns the bar and the barbershop in the area. He wants to landscape the bar so people can eat outside. The fence will be 6 feet high off the barbershop side then taper down to 3 feet so people can see out. He plans to have about 12 picnic tables in the outdoor dining area. He said he'd keep the wood fencing approximately three to four feet from the alley. All cooking will be done inside the business.

During the daytime, he said, he didn't think there would be an affect on parking because when The Anchor Bar opens up at 5 p.m., most other businesses close.

Remonstrator Tom VanMeter, owner of VanMeter Jewelry and the Huntington Building, said he was concerned about safety if someone should run through the fence and kill someone. There also is a history of problems of people maneuvering through the alley.

"Parking is at a minimum," he said. The two-hour parking limit in the town parking lot nearby is not enforced.

Tim Yeager said if downtown Syracuse had to meet modern zoning requirements, it wouldn't be able to do it. He said he is in favor of the business expansion if the parking issues can be worked out.

"I would really like to see him be able to diversify ... ," Yeager said.

Conder also has four apartments above the barbershop and bar. However, now, he said, he rents out only two of them and only one tenant has a car. For his tenant with the car, he said, he will buy him a parking permit for the town lot.

"Once we fence in, we won't have any parking behind my business downtown. We would have to use the public parking lot," Conder said.

The petition was approved with the conditions that a survey for the southeast corner boundary line be done, the fence be no closer than six feet from the boundary line, the fence be no taller than 3 feet on the corner and the town not be held responsible for any damage done to the fence caused by snow plowing or emergency vehicles.

In other business, the zoning board:

• Approved Joe Secedi's petition for a variance to allow existing construction and decking to remain two feet from the south property line. A previous variance and exception approved in 1999 allowed the construction to be built 21.5 feet by 60 feet, but the construction was built at 21.5 feet by 64 feet. The property is at 304 N. Front St., Syracuse.

• Approved the petition for an exception, by Randy Hite, of Hite Housing, to allow a pavilion for a playground area on a tract without a principle structure in a residential district. The property is on the north side of Haiden Drive and 300 feet south of County Line Road in Syracuse.

• Approved April Welch's petition for a variance to permit the construction of a residence addition and reconstructions 12 feet from the road right of way. Welch had requested five feet from the road right of way. The property is at 302 W. Boston St., Syracuse.

Members of the Syracuse BZA are chairman Larry Coplen, Steve Sharp, Jon Brookmyer, Andy Kitson and Gus Duehmig. They meet at 7 p.m. in the town hall on the third Thursday of every month.

SL Council Debates EMS Funding

BY KRISTA PRIMROSE, Times-Union Staff Writer

SILVER LAKE -ÊSilver Lake Town Council met Thursday morning to request additional funding from Lake Township and to discuss concerns with the town's EMS service.

The town's request was for up to $4,000 per year to help pay utility bills for the new fire station. The station houses town and township fire trucks.

Molly Bradford, Lake Township trustee, said the township did not have the money in the budget. The town recently acquired 503 land parcels from the township during an annexation, and now gets the tax dollars from that property. Bradford said because of the annexation, the township's tax draw had decreased from $87,937 in 2001 to $51,145 in 2002.

A former board member, Brenda Howard, also had issue with the town's request, saying she thought their portrayal of the utility expenses was inaccurate. Howard also said she thought the town could afford to pay the entire bill and the township could not afford to contribute.

Stan Williams, board president, responded to Howard by saying, "It's not the point we don't have other options, it's that we're the only place around floating the whole bill. ..."

Williams said other local volunteer fire departments split the majority of their bills with their townships.

Howard asked, "What's wrong with it if the town has the funds ... why can't we support it?"

The issue was tabled for lack of consensus. Council members and Bradford agreed to meet again in February 2005 and discuss the issue when they have a full year's worth of utility bills and hopefully a more accurate picture of exactly what expenses the station incurs.

EMS issues discussed related to reported complaints regarding the cleanliness of the EMS building and personnel.

Town clerk, Angie Glass suggested creating an advisory board to govern the EMS, similar to one in Mentone.

EMS personnel present at the meeting, including EMS president Jenny Stevens, voiced strong objections to establishing a board and called the complaints "hear-say."

Stevens said what the EMS needs is volunteers, not a governing board.

"We have 26 members," Stevens said. "Last month alone we had people putting in 200-300 hours a month." The EMS service operates solely by volunteer workers.

Responding to personnel sleeping on the furniture in the station, Stevens said there is nowhere else for the staff to sleep. If the town wants EMS on duty 24 hours per day, then they must sleep in the building, she said. Funding to purchase beds or cots is not available.

Concerns about cigarette smoking in the EMS building were answered two ways. At one time a representative said they smoked in the building so they didn't smoke inside the ambulance bay, but they could stop doing so. Another representative later said they already had banned cigarette smoking in the building.

Howard spoke out on the EMS issue as well, questioning the town board for allegedly reviewing the EMS financial books.

"I wanna know why you guys asked for the EMS books when you can't even balance your own?" Howard demanded.

Bradford responded, saying the town hadn't requested the books, she had. As township trustee, Bradford said, that was a thing she had done in the past, to no objection.

Town council members also said the town's books were balanced.

The issue was resolved when the council decided to forward all complaints to the EMS and not be involved since the service is a private company. The town also voted to go through with a $2,000 donation that had previously been tabled.

Silver Lake Town Council members are Stan Williams, president; Tom Waite and Ron Jones. Town clerk is Angie Glass. [[In-content Ad]]