NEIGHBORS TO SEEK FUNDING: Zoning change needed; city agrees to help get property 'shovel ready'

Neighbors of Watertown Inc. is eyeing the former Ogilvie Foods site for 18 or 19 single-family houses that would be built on the roughly 5-acre site off North Pleasant Street.

Gary C. Beasley, Neighbors executive director, presented conceptual sketch plans Monday night to the City Council to see if it wants the agency to seek funding sources for the project, and to ask for the city's help in getting the site "shovel ready."

The council agreed informally that the city should do whatever it can to get the project off the ground, noting the need for more housing with next year's return of Fort Drum soldiers from Afghanistan.

For years, the city has had high hopes for redeveloping the site of the now-defunct whey producer and getting rid of the longtime neighborhood eyesore. Residents in the neighborhood have long complained about the condition of the property.

"I think neighbors will be thrilled for it, and I think we owe the neighbors to do it," Councilwoman Roxanne M. Burns said.

Mr. Beasley said the proposal recently received a major boost when he attended a housing conference in Albany a few weeks ago and was told that the Cuomo administration would be looking for "innovative" projects such as this one that would remove blight and create housing.

"This is early, but we have a chance to make it happen," he said. "It's a rough site. It'll take some patience by everyone to make it happen."

With the council's blessing Monday night, Mr. Beasley said he will start looking for builders who would be interested in getting involved in the project.

Funding for water and sewer lines and other infrastructure will be needed to make the homes fit income guidelines and be affordable, he said. Money could come from such state sources as the Affordable Housing Corp. or the Community Development Block Grant program.

But, Mr. Beasley said, a lot has to be done before the project can proceed. The council informally agreed that the city will help remove the factory's building foundation and "shock rock," unscreened rock blasted from local quarries used to screen the plant's remnants.

A portion of the property also will have to undergo a zoning change from industrial to residential. However, the proposed lot design would fulfill 50-foot frontage and 5,000-square-feet minimum size requirements, Mr. Beasley said.

The houses most likely would be smaller than a house Neighbors built on Ten Eyck Street, to make them affordable, but they probably would include garages and porches, he said. That Ten Eyck Street "infill housing" project was used as a model for what Neighbors could do with the Ogilvie property, Mr. Beasley said.

Noting he likes the project's concept, Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said it would add $3.5 million to $4 million to the tax rolls if the houses are built.

City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said the city's Department of Public Works probably could complete some of the infrastructure work. She already is contacting area quarry companies to see if they could remove the shock rock and then keep it, saving the city about $10,000 in removal costs.