Village to consider new Lyon demo data
Developers push for demolition
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - A private development company seeking the demolition of the former Dana Lyon elementary school building has submitted additional paperwork in support of its applications for demolition and the rezoning of the area for commercial use.

The Bath village board had requested the data as part of an environmental review of the twin applications, which Mayor David Wallace has declared must be considered as a single package. Wallace scheduled a special

board meeting for for 6 p.m. Dec. 14 in the village municipal building to review the data.

The development company, Liberty-East Washington LLC, has sought since 2003 to demolish the old school building and erect an Eckerd Drugs store. Representatives of the company has claimed their applications should be considered separately and have vowed to demolish the main

1923 portion of the building even if the village government declines to re-zone the land for commercial use.

With Wallace maintaining the applications must be reviewed together, village board members earlier this year expressed concerns with a variety of environmental impacts related to the demolition and rezoning. Among those concerns were the visual effects of the demolition of a nearly 100-year-old village structure.

Separately, the historical preservationist group Save the Lyon Commission has laid claim to an older building on the school property and opposed the conversion of the property for retail use. The group seeks to develop the corner lot for a variety of community and residential purposes.

In scheduling the Dec. 14 meeting, Wallace did not discuss details of the additional materials submitted for the environmental review.

In separate business, the mayor also scheduled a board vote for the same meeting on a possible moratorium on outdoor furnaces.

The heating units under consideration do not include outdoor hearths known as chimneria. Wallace noted outdoor furnaces are structures designed to heat the interior of houses.