{"id":118194,"date":"2026-09-05T11:31:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/118194\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T11:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:31:39","slug":"a-granny-flat-old-trees-and-national-grid-inside-a-syracuse-neighborhood-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/118194\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018granny flat,\u2019 old trees and National Grid: Inside a Syracuse neighborhood drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syracuse, N.Y. \u2014 Workers for a tree removal company showed up at Kathleen Boudreau\u2019s Syracuse home a few weeks ago with a request.<\/p>\n

Could they get into her backyard on Windsor Place to take a look at the trees they needed to tear down? <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the first we heard,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re like, \u2018Whoa, timeout, guys. What are you talking about?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the start of a dramatic fight that has played out in the upscale Berkeley Park Preservation District<\/a>, particularly on the block of 12 properties where Boudreau lives. <\/p>\n

It stems from a newer neighbor\u2019s request for electrical service to a new type of apartment the city\u2019s zoning law<\/a> has allowed since 2023 to help with its acute housing shortage<\/a>. And it escalated to the point of the utility, National Grid, telling Boudreau\u2019s husband they would knock their fence down, if needed, to get to the trees and asking the city of Syracuse to provide tree removal workers with police protection. <\/p>\n

For Boudreau and many of her neighbors in Berkeley Park, century-old trees that have grown between the backyards of the single-family homes that line the streets are an integral part of the neighborhood\u2019s character and quality of life. But those same trees share space with the National Grid electrical power lines that serve the houses on Boudreau\u2019s block.<\/p>\n

National Grid said the power lines are already operating at their capacity, and can\u2019t support new electric service to a new dwelling. That determination came after the company received a request for a dedicated power connection to a newly built garage\/apartment building at one of the properties.<\/p>\n

The only solution, the company said, was to put a new power line in that would require new poles and transformers. And to do that and keep the line operating safely, the trees would need to come down. <\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time the family who requested the electrical service found their property at the center of a neighborhood controversy. <\/p>\n

After purchasing the 5,500-square-foot home \u2014 originally built in 1928 \u2014 four years ago, Jamin and Sarah Brown decided to build a new detached garage. Jamin Brown said vehicle break-ins pushed them to pursue the project. <\/p>\n

They also decided to take advantage of a new city zoning provision adopted in 2023. Since that time, Syracuse has allowed owner-occupied residential properties to establish what\u2019s formally called an accessary dwelling unit. So far, fewer than five such units have been established citywide. <\/p>\n

Commonly referred to as \u201cgranny flats\u201d or \u201cin-law apartments,\u201d most residentially zoned areas in Syracuse now allow ADU\u2019s, which could be attached to an existing house or detached, like the garage the Browns built. <\/p>\n

In 2025, the Browns needed the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board\u2019s blessing for the design of their garage\/apartment, a review that opened the project up to public comment<\/a>. Although the LPB had no say in whether an ADU was allowed in the historic district, several neighbors spoke out against the project\u2019s use as a rental, saying the one-bedroom unit would open up the neighborhood to a plethora of similar projects and negatively change its character. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a neighborhood of mostly owner-occupied houses that\u2019s long been suspicious towards any whiff of rental properties. The district is surrounded on all sides by big houses that have been carved up for student housing over the decades.<\/p>\n

The Browns\u2019 representative at the time said they viewed the rental as an opportunity created by the city to support their investment and help a young professional or graduate student with a place to live. <\/p>\n

Jamin Brown this week said he was taken aback by the resistance at that time, noting that their purchase actually prevented the house from being sold to a buyer who planned to convert it into an apartment building.<\/p>\n

A self-described introvert who is an ophthalmologist, Brown feels like his family again was put in an unfair position within the neighborhood regarding the tree removals. Brown said he\u2019s open to any alternatives for powering the building, and he\u2019s not in a hurry to have the work done, noting he can open and close his garage doors manually. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s another way to pull power in, I\u2019m all for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Among the neighbors with empathy for the Browns is Mike Stanton, a retired National Grid employee who also served many years on the city\u2019s Board of Zoning Appeals. Stanton is one of several neighbors who expressed frustration with National Grid\u2019s communication on the project.<\/p>\n

Stanton reached out to the utility and asked company officials to have a meeting with neighbors. He believes a civil discussion can take place about the project plans and potential alternatives. Stanton\u2019s outreach was rebuffed.<\/p>\n

Boudreau began circulating a petition in the neighborhood seeking a similar conversation and also a pause in the work plans. In addition to the aesthetic and historical concerns, the petition noted that some neighbors on other blocks are worried that clearing the area would exacerbate drainage issues. <\/p>\n

Neighbors also reached out to city officials, including Syracuse Common Councilor Corey Williams, whose district includes the neighborhood, and Preservation Planner Kate Auwaerter. City officials said they urged National Grid to meet with the residents, but the company insisted they had done adequate outreach with door hangers about the project and one-on-one conversations on front porches.<\/p>\n

In fact, National Grid even asked the city to provide police protection when tree removal work started. The city turned down the request. <\/p>\n

Boudreau said some neighbors, thinking tree removals were days away, were on the verge of seeking a court injunction to slow the project down. <\/p>\n

But then on Wednesday, National Grid put the project on hold, a day after syracuse.com asked the company questions about the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are reevaluating our design to fulfill this pending request,\u201d company spokesman Jared Paventi said.<\/p>\n

That was new information to Boudreau when a syracuse.com reporter relayed it to her on the phone Wednesday afternoon. Then, in the middle of the interview, National Grid project planners arrived at her door. <\/p>\n

Boudreau later said she was encouraged by the conversation. The company representatives told her many of the backyard trees could be saved by repositioning where new poles would be installed. <\/p>\n

Paventi said there is not a specific timetable for when final decisions about the project will be made or when work in the easement may take place. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we move forward, our trimming will be aimed at providing reliable service with the most responsible impact on the surrounding neighborhood,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Syracuse, N.Y. \u2014 Workers for a tree removal company showed up at Kathleen Boudreau\u2019s Syracuse home a few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21249],"tags":[2580],"class_list":["post-118194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national-grid","tag-national-grid"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117218212775620692","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}