WAVERLY - The village's board of trustees will soon vote on whether to move forward with proposed changes to the village's downtown commercial district.
Trustees Chris Brewster and Patrick Ayres attended Tuesday's planning board meeting to discuss the proposed changes with board members, particularly one that would limit the rebuilding of non-conforming structures in the Broad Street commercial district.
Under the proposal, if a non-conforming structure within a district is destroyed by fire or other means and the damage totals over 100 percent of the building's town and county assessed value, the property owner will not be permitted to rebuild a structure with a non-conforming use.
For instance, the commercial district's regulations prohibit residential uses on the ground level of a structure. However, several houses are located on Broad Street.
If a house were to burn down and have sufficient damage, the property owner would not be able to rebuild a house on the lot under the proposed changes. However, a structure with apartments or another residential use above the ground floor could be built on the lot.
Planning board chair Bob Wright expressed some reservation about the clause and those who may be affected. "If they can't rebuild, what are they going to do?" he asked.
However, a property owner in that situation would be able to sell the lot to someone interested in developing it for a commercial purpose, said board member Bill Millhollen. "Someone else may want to put a business there," he said.
The practice would grow business in the district and allow the commercial district to maintain its purpose, Millhollen said.
Trustees will vote on whether to schedule a public hearing on the proposal at their next meeting, scheduled for March 11.
Amanda Renko can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or email: arenko@thedailyreview.com.