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Chobani 1.8M-sq-ft plant presentation tabled; board requests further documentation
Summary
The Planning Board received a preliminary presentation for a proposed 1,800,000-square-foot Chobani dairy processing plant on Perimeter Road and voted unanimously to table the site-plan action pending additional documentation, FAA release progress and continued coordination with county and city staff.
The City of Rome Planning Board on May 6 heard a detailed preliminary presentation from Chobani and its consultants on a proposed roughly 1,800,000-square-foot dairy processing plant on the Triangle parcel (Perimeter Road) but voted to table formal site-plan action until the project team returns with additional documentation and coordination results, including formal zoning action and FAA release steps.
Why it matters: The project would be a large industrial facility with regional supply-chain and employment implications; the site currently sits within former airport/property that requires FAA release and zoning adjustments before non-aeronautical uses can proceed.
Kevin McAuliffe, an attorney for the project team, said Chobani will lease the site from the county and that moving forward depends on FAA processes to release the Triangle parcel for non-aviation use. “All of this, of course, is dependent upon the completion of the release process that the county has been working on for several years now with the FAA,” McAuliffe said. Amanda Cortes Colas, Oneida County attorney, said the county has submitted the documentation and a full NEPA/SEQR review to the FAA and is “kind of at the finish line,” but that the FAA will not issue the release until zoning that allows the non-aeronautical use is in place.
Jeff Allman, senior vice president of engineering for Chobani, described the facility as state-of-the-art and said construction could require up to about 1,500 tradespeople at peak. Rod Ives, the civil site engineer, outlined road access, four driveways off the county-constructed Perimeter Road, a 950-space parking lot (with a small phase-2 lot planned), on-site pretreatment for wastewater, stormwater infiltration design to the 1.1-inch standard, and gating/security arrangements to separate truck circulation from employee parking.
Board members and staff raised operational and safety questions, including truck turning radii for large-truck access, sidewalk and bus access, site lighting, signage, site phasing and building heights. The project team said they would extend sidewalks to the parking lot, provide a pedestrian way through the lot, design stormwater controls to the updated 1.1-inch stormwater standard, and prepare additional sign and lighting plans for future submissions.
The board voted unanimously to table the item and requested the applicant return at the June meeting with updated materials and confirmation of outstanding regulatory steps, including the zoning amendment and documentation requested by FAA/county staff.
