New SUNY Oneonta Units Will Be Good For Everyone; Let’s Adjust, Plunge Ahead

Happily, we’re all friends here:  City Hall, SUNY Oneonta and the folks living along Clinton Street.
As it is, Clinton Street’s steep grade can make ingress and egress difficult for residents at the upper end during winter storms. 
Given that, the idea of adding 200 students and their cars at the top of the hill in apartment/townhouses SUNY Oneonta is planning there falls short of a great idea.
But that’s evident to everyone.  Groundbreaking isn’t due until the fall of 2012.  There’s plenty of time to adjust and make sure the entrance to the new complex is from the campus.
That would resolve traffic concerns for Clinton Street homeowners, and prevent what would be something of a hazardous situation for students as well.

•

Because of the street’s steepness, there are additional issues the project must resolve, to wit, runoff into the city’s storm-drain system and possible impact of the runoff on Silver Creek, which criss-crosses West Street then cuts across Clinton at Spruce en route to the Susquehanna.
But those issues are simply that:  Issues to be resolved through proper engineering.
This are wrinkles in an attractive fabric:  The housing complex will ease demand for housing in the city. 
The city’s zoning revisions -- about to be complete -- specifically target the problem of single-family homes being broken up into student apartments, so everyone’s of a mind here, too.
It turns out more students want to live on campus, and why not?  It’s a delightful place with much to offer, from the gym to the Hunt Union -- not to mention proximity to classes.
The new complex aims to make SUNY Oneonta even more competitive in the SUNY system, assuring its future and its central role in the city and region’s prosperity.
All is well.  Adjust as necessary and plunge ahead.