Common Council should delay passage of ReZone Syracuse

The city of Syracuse is moving too quickly to finalize ReZone Syracuse, the first major overhaul of city zoning code since 1969.

The current version of ReZone would remove the University Neighborhood Special District with its requirement that absentee-owned rentals within the district complete a Certificate of Suitability. Since 1991 the Certificate of Suitability has allowed the city to regulate the remodeling of student rental houses, particularly the addition of new bedrooms in attics, basements, porches, etc.

The Common Council should delay passage of ReZone until it has the opportunity to review and incorporate new measures proposed by the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency to better manage student rental houses in both the Syracuse University and Le Moyne College areas.