By ANDY GARDNER, North Country Now (NY)

The way the Town Council handles zoning of the former General Motors plant could affect their ability to receive Brownfield Opportunity Area funding through the Department of State, a DOS official told the board on Wednesday.

Designation as a BOA "sets the stage for future support, funding preference, and removes some of the risk and uncertainty associated with site redevelopment," according to a document from the St. Lawrence County Planning Office.

A Brownfield Opportunity Area study of the site, which was recently completed and made public, outlines numerous uses for the former industrial lot, once environmental remediation is complete. The county Planning Office and other local people and entities gave input into writing the plan. Department of State funded it, somewhere in the range of $360,000 to $400,000, according to Dave MacLeod from the DOS, who spoke at the meeting.

He urged the town to rezone the lot, because, according to him, many of the uses in the plan aren't allowed under the current industrial designation.

…

For the entire article, see

http://northcountrynow.com/business/former-gm-plant-massena-could-qualify-brownfield-cleanup-support-funding-0237318