LOCKPORT
Hearings set on laws for signs, hiring policy, historic preservation
LOCKPORT — Although none of the documents actually are complete yet, the Common Council on Wednesday scheduled Sept. 3 public hearings on three proposed local laws: a historic preservation ordinance, a sign ordinance and a local hiring policy.
That meeting also will include a hearing on a shift of money in quarterly water and sewer bills, which will not increase the total amount residents pay.
Mayor Michael W. Tucker said the preservation ordinance will have the longest-lasting impact on the city. The law is expected to set up a commission, which must approve any changes to exteriors of homes and buildings deemed historic. Tucker portrayed this as protection of the city’s assets.
“There’s some historic property that’s not protected. They can paint them sky blue pink if they want. They can knock them down,” Tucker said.
But the new ordinance would prevent that and offer property tax breaks for owners investing in maintenance of historic structures. Robert Hagen, the chairman of a special commission working on the law for 15 months, said earlier this month that only structures built before 1940 are expected to have historic value.
“It’ll raise the value of property over time,” Tucker said of the new law. “This’ll give [owners] some incentive to fix them.”
The sign ordinance was supposed to be the topic of a public hearing Wednesday, but the Council postponed it until Sept.
3. It will specify acceptable colors, sizes and styles for signs in business areas. The city has a moratorium on new signs until Oct. 2, awaiting the new law.
The local hiring policy was recommended by NOAH, Niagara Organizing Alliance for Hope, a faith-based group that has persuaded North Tonawanda and Wheatfield to pass the policy.
It asks contractors on city projects costing $50,000 or more to make an effort to hire at least 30 percent of their workers from within Niagara County. The original version, considered last year, would have fined contractors for missing that target; Tucker said that provision is being deleted.
“It’s a pretty generic law. We get our point across,” Tucker said. “Quite honestly, it’s a pretty symbolic thing.”
Alderman Patrick W. Schrader, D-4th Ward, said the sewer bill shift would move $2.50 of the user fee in each quarter’s bill from the sewer fund to the water fund to provide more money for infrastructure repairs. That figure was changed from $3, which was the amount under discussion when Schrader disclosed the move last week.
In other items Wednesday, the Council granted special-use permits to two businesses.
Marty Oliveri and Louis Antonacci, co-owners of Widewaters Drive-In on Market Street, were allowed to erect 25 temporary structures that they can rent as farm market stalls during the week and as arts and crafts sale booths on weekends. The permit requires that all merchandise must be new, not flea market material.
Richard Bowers was given the go-ahead to open a drive-through express lube in an old gas station at 55 Lock St. The permit limits him to parking eight vehicles on the property during the day, with the limit set at four for nights and weekends. No vehicle may be stored for more than 48 hours, and all vehicles on the site must be registered.
