Setback variance last part of approval
by Kristina Gabalski
Construction of a new free standing library in Hamlin would begin this spring if the town zoning board grants a setback variance for the project. These Architectural sketches were provided by town officials: Top, exterior side view; left, north entrance.
“An unbelievable opportunity – a miracle,” that’s how library and Town of Hamlin officials describe the awarding of a $466,000 New York State Construction Grant to build a new library.
“Obtaining this grant is almost a miracle; we will now be able to construct a library without using any Hamlin taxpayer dollars while maintaining the same operating budget,” says Sue Evans, president of the Library Trustees.
She tells the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald she’d like to give great thanks for those who enabled this, “…unbelievable opportunity to happen. For Hamlin to have its own library is a dream come true for this wonderful country town. I can’t wait for the residents to see the beauty this structure will offer to the center of its town and the cultural feel of the interior with its increased potential to serve so many more of the residents.
“I’d like to make it clear,” Evans continues, “that this would not be possible without the support of Supervisor Tom Breslawski, the Hamlin Town Board and our outstanding Library Director Kay Hughes-Dennett. Without the site being donated by the Hamlin Town Board, construction would not be possible.”
In addition to the state grant, trustees have been in possession of $600,000 in funds donated by Margaret McGrath, who passed away several years ago and bequeathed the money to the library trustees for the sole purpose of constructing a new library in the town.
According to Evans, the McGrath bequest was vital because there would have been no possibility of obtaining the state grant without the required matching funds.
Hamlin Supervisor Thomas Breslawski agrees that without the McGrath award, the town would not be in a position to build a new library.
“It’s a miracle to have acquired over $1 million in taxpayer-free money,” he says.
The library currently is housed in cramped conditions in four storefronts in the former Bauch’s IGA Plaza. Far from the center of town, it is situated between a bar and pizza parlor.
Supervisor Breslawski points out rent is also costing the town more and more each year, currently increasing 10.5 percent and further increases expected in the future.
Before being elected supervisor, Breslawski was a town board member and served as liaison to the library trustees. The experience gave him a profound understanding of the nearly decade-long process of preparing to construct a new library including the evaluation of possible sites.
“I have the background and knowledge of the library,” he says.
In the spring of 2011, the site where the library will be constructed was agreed upon, Breslawski says.
At that time, the town board gave permission to use land the town had recently acquired located directly south of the current Hamlin Town Hall. In addition to the Town Hall, the town campus currently houses the Justice Courts, recreational lands, and the recently constructed Charlie Maier Lodge.
In 2012, Breslawski, Kay Hughes-Dennett and Hamlin Library Trustees began the work of seeking grant money to augment the McGrath Award and the town board unanimously voted to hire a grant writer to assist in acquiring funds for a new library.
Supervisor Breslawski remembers the call he got from Hughes-Dennett telling him the news that the town had received the grant. “Kay said, ‘Tom, are you sitting down?’ ” he says. “Then she told me that we’d been approved for $466,000 and I sat there in stunned silence.”
Construction on the new library is scheduled to begin this spring with an occupancy goal of December 2013, if one final hurdle can be overcome. Trustees need approval of a 20 ft. setback variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“It’s in the Zoning Board’s hands,” Breslawski says. “We got the grant and then did the site plan and found we were 20 feet short.”
The Hamlin Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing Monday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hamlin Town Hall regarding the variance.
“There is urgent need for the Zoning Board members to see the support the library has for approval,” Sue Evans explains. “We’d like to leave no doubt that Hamlin residents want this library and so we would like to see as many citizens as possible attend to express this support. I’d like to stress that the library will be constructed free of Hamlin taxpayers’ money. I am hoping that the Zoning Board will be able to approve this variance knowing that it will be greatly appreciated by our town. Again, the trustees are thrilled to be able to provide this opportunity to the town.”
The new library will be a “definite benefit to the town for generations,” Breslawski adds, “we have to make it happen.”
