Rome planning board issues SEQR negative declaration and conditionally approves Humane Society shelter at 6247 Lamphere Road

The City of Rome Planning Board on July 1 voted unanimously to issue a SEQR negative declaration and remove from the table the application by Humane Society of Rome LLC to build an approximately 19,817-square-foot animal shelter at 6247 Lamphere Road, and to recommend conditional approval of the shelter’s site plan contingent on receipt of a wetlands jurisdictional determination from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) before a building permit is issued.

The board’s action follows a 30-day review window that produced responses from the DEC and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Garrett Wyckoff of the Department of Community and Economic Development told the board that DOT raised no substantive concerns and DEC confirmed the presence of regulated wetlands on the parcel, though not in the area to be disturbed; DEC’s updated policy requires a wetlands jurisdictional determination (JD), which the applicant has initiated. Wyckoff said the department found the site plan compliant with the local zoning code and recommended a SEQR negative declaration and conditional site-plan approval pending the DEC JD.

The proposed building includes a surgery center for spay-and-neuter procedures, a veterinary office, space for animal-control operations and cruelty case housing, a community room for rentals and fundraising, indoor/outdoor cat colonies, kennels with enclosed exercise runs, a fire-department connection, bike rack and a relocated dumpster. In presentation to the board, the applicant said the design team moved the dumpster out of the enclosure, added a project schedule, provided a detailed landscaping plan and added a bike rack to address staff comments.

Lynn, representing the Humane Society applicant, described planned operations and the role the facility would play for the region: "This whole area is a surgery center so that we can spay and neuter our own animals and do low cost spay and neuter for the public," Lynn said. Lynn also told the board the shelter is contracting with 21 surrounding towns to house animals brought in by local dog-control officers and that the shelter is handling cruelty cases in coordination with the mayor’s office and dog control.

The applicant said stormwater and grading design work is ongoing, and that a DEC permit will be required for stormwater disturbance over one acre. A septic system design will be reviewed by the health department. The board’s recommended conditional approval requires the applicant to provide the DEC wetlands JD before receiving a building permit; the planning board also approved removing the items from the table so the matter could proceed.

Board Chair Mark Esposito opened and closed the votes; board members present for the unanimous actions included Vice Chair Joe Calandra, Eric Gonzalez, Britney Ferminarola and David Smith. The board recorded the motions and unanimous approvals without a roll-call tally of individual votes.

The Humane Society representative told the board the new facility is intended to shorten animals’ length of stay by having on-site surgery capacity and to provide space for public programs and revenue-generating rentals to help sustain operations. The applicant said the current shelter’s annual operating budget is approximately $675,000 and that the new facility will have higher operating costs but greater efficiency and revenue opportunities.

Pending DEC, health department and other required permits, the project will move to the building-permit stage with the condition that no building permit be issued until the DEC wetlands JD is received.