Rome Planning Board conditionally approves Chobani site plan, requires signage return and notes outstanding FAA release

The Rome Planning Board on May 6 conditionally approved a site plan for Chobani LLC to construct an approximately 1,800,000-square-foot dairy processing plant on Perma Road, with a stipulation that the company return to the board with a final signage package.

The board’s conditional approval follows a resubmittal that, according to the applicant’s attorney, incorporated corrections requested in the board’s May 2 and May 8 communications and added trees along a shared-use path. Kevin McAuliffe, attorney with Barclay Damon representing Chobani, told the board that “we’ve resubmitted the site plan since the last meeting” and that the resubmission “includes responses and inclusions, corrections as the case may be from your May 2 communication, your May 8,” and that trees along the shared-use path were now shown on the plan.

Why it matters: The project would be a large industrial facility sited on land that was formerly airport property, and the board’s action moves the proposal forward while leaving key approvals and design details unresolved.

Board and public discussion centered on federal aviation and land-transfer issues and on technical compliance with city requirements. During public comment, Jeff Moore, a surveyor in the audience, asked whether the Federal Aviation Administration had approved building-height clearances. McAuliffe replied that formal FAA approval was not yet final but that the project team had a “complete site limitation map” coordinated through the airport authority and that the tallest proposed structure “is under the limitations for this site.” McAuliffe added that the site’s maximum height limit is 160 feet and that the project’s tallest point is about 130 feet.

The board and staff also noted that the site remains in the process of being released from airport use. McAuliffe said the property transfer (the FAA release of the triangle parcel for non-aviation use) “has not happened yet.” The board was also told that the city’s common council has completed a rezoning required for the project.

Planning staff recommended conditional approval because the applicant satisfied the city-code review items except for signage, which has not been finalized. The staff memo recommended that the board “issue conditional approval subject to return with signage information once available.”

The board voted to remove the item from the table, then approved the site plan subject to the signage condition. The motion carried on unanimous voice votes.

What remains: The applicant must return with a final signage package before full administrative sign-off. The transcript records that the FAA release of the parcel and final FAA approvals had not been completed at the time of the meeting; the board did not condition approval on the FAA release but noted it as outstanding.

The board also recorded that site plans will be revisited if sign designs or other unfinalized elements require further review.