Onondaga County proposes 30-year lease to improve terminal lands; county and city to coordinate design elements

City staff presented a proposal for a long-term lease with Onondaga County to allow the county to invest in improvements on a 50-foot strip of city-owned terminal lands at the Inner Harbor. The proposed term discussed in the meeting was 30 years to allow the county to amortize substantial upfront improvements (grading, decking, railings, lighting and hardscape) and ensure an appropriate useful life for the installed assets.

Staff said the arrangement would accelerate improvements that align with the city's park and waterfront plans and that the county would invest “a little over half a million dollars” in the parcel under the proposed lease. County facilities staff (introduced in the session as Archi(e) Wicks and later as Richard Wicksen in the transcript) said they would coordinate design elements, materials and “kit of parts” (benches, lighting, railing styles) with the city's development team to maintain visual and operational continuity with adjacent redevelopment.

Councilors asked whether the lease would impair future redevelopment opportunities on the terminal lands; county and city staff characterized the lease as focused on a narrow strip and intended to support compatible public-use improvements rather than privatize the property. Staff said they would return with formal lease documents and design plans; the study session did not include final council action on the lease.