Town of Marcy

CHIP PLANT ZONING AT ISSUE:

Some Marcy Town Board members want to review a decision made five years ago to rezone 280 acres to attract a computer chip making plant.

But economic development officials said Thursday that changing the zoning would be a mistake that could hinder the region's effort to grow technology-related jobs.

"A zone change back would effectively negate everything that's been done over the last five or seven years," said Robert Duchow, vice president of marketing and communications for Mohawk Valley EDGE. "You can't market a site that's not properly zoned."

The attempt to lure the chip fabrication plant to Marcy hasn't yet paid off -- five years after the Town Board made a controversial zoning decision aimed at helping the effort.

Some residents at the time loudly protested the decision to change the zoning on an Edic Road parcel from residential to planned development, saying they were concerned about a plant's effect on their quality of life.

Since then, the thousands of well-paying jobs and research partnerships with nearby SUNYIT haven't come to fruition.
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In 1998, the state launched a program to make the Edic Road site one of 13 across the state that would be pre-approved for development. It was part of a push to propel New York to the forefront of nanotechnology, the science of using materials on an atomic or molecular scale.

Chip fabrication plants formed a centerpiece of that effort. They produce the computer chips used in everything from automobiles to home appliances.

The idea was to clear all regulatory hurdles, such as zoning and environmental roadblocks, in advance. That would allow a company to quickly move in and begin building a plant, which often requires an initial investment of $2 billion to $5 billion, Duchow said.