The aesthetic impact of the proposed Downtown student housing project was the focus of a meeting Monday night at Binghamton City Hall.
The public hearing was part of a weekly meeting of the Binghamton Planning Commission, which reviews applications for new construction and petitions for zoning variants in the city.
One of the applications reviewed at the meeting was for a new multi-unit student housing development to be built on the corner of Washington and Water streets, near the Binghamton University Downtown Center. It is being proposed by the Newman Development Group, LLC, the same developers behind University Plaza apartment complex.
A decision on the aesthetic approval of the project was postponed to await more information from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Robert Pompi, a BU professor in the physics department who sits on the Planning Commission, was generally in favor of the project.
He called it a “shot in the arm to Downtown Binghamton,” saying that it would inject vitality into, and contribute to, the economic regeneration of the Downtown area.
“I like this project,” he said, although he did have a few minor concerns about how the project would affect lighting along the riverside walkway.
Jeffrey Smetana, vice president of Student Housing Development for the Newman Development Group, said the project fulfills a niche in student housing.
He said it would offer BU students “a quality urban experience,” adding that there are currently 200 students on the waiting list for University Plaza — a fact that he said demonstrates a demand for student housing.
But during the public comment session of the meeting, some Binghamton residents expressed concern over the ethical workings of the project.
Ellie Farfaglia, president of the Landlords Association of Broome County and a landlord to students for 20 years, said the project would siphon off student renters from already struggling small-scale renters.
“There is a glut of student housing and rental properties now in Binghamton,” she said. “Many landlords have vacancies.”
She also expressed concerns that the Newman Development Group would receive unfair tax incentives for the project.
“For someone … to receive a sweetheart deal on the backs of the taxpayers, I don’t think that’s right at all,” she said.
But Rena Asher, a sophomore majoring in geography, said there were reasons landlords had vacancies.
“The good houses Downtown fill up pretty quickly, and the other ones are just not as good as this new one will be,” she said. Though she said she felt sympathy for the struggling landlords, she said that “the quality can’t compare.”
Asher attended the meeting as part of an assignment for a geography class, Legal Aspects of Planning.
A decision on the aesthetic approval of the project was postponed to await more information from the Department of Environmental Conservation.