Town houses proposed in Pamelia

Developers are proposing a subdivision of 60 town houses on 5.5 acres in the town of Pamelia.

The town Planning Board set a public hearing on the issue for Oct. 6.

Guy Javarone and his son, Gaetano H., plan to build the project on the northwest corner of Graham Road and Route 37, adjacent to Willowbrook Country Club. Both men are Watertown natives and the younger Mr. Javarone lives in Pamelia, he said.

The units will be rentals, Guy Javarone told the board Wednesday night, because renting the units is more feasible than selling them in the local market.

Gaetano Javarone said construction would start in the spring and end the following winter.

"Right now, it's no secret that we need some good housing here," he said.

The last deployed brigade of the 10th Mountain Division is scheduled to be back at Fort Drum in spring 2012, according to a division spokesman.

The post's housing chief, William L. Bamann, who deals with all soldiers living on and off post, expects a housing shortage when all units are back, which hasn't happened since they began deploying in 2001.

The Javarones contracted Joseph E. Durand of TDK Engineering Associates, Camillus, to make the plans, which he showed to the board.

"This project is consistent right out of your town ordinances," he said.

But the board's president, Harry E. Potter, wasn't completely convinced.

"To require multifamily units in a commercial zone, it requires a site-plan review," he said. "The town board could make this correction."

He also was concerned with the layout, which is in initial phases.

"There was very little outside space that would be used for outside activities — play areas or just plain sitting out," Mr. Potter said after the meeting.

Walter H. Van Tassel, a member of the board and the town's code enforcement officer, offered Mr. Durand suggestions on the layout, mostly dealing with parking and the location of a retention pond.

At meeting's end, the board voted for the Oct. 6 public hearing, which would give the Javarones time to revise their plans.

The vote also benefited the board.

"I thought we needed more time to study it and see what the impact was going to be," Mr. Potter said.