Vestal school board votes to 'postpone' Ross Corners bus garage plan

(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)

Note: An earlier version of this story misidentified one of the sources. Requirements for a new bus garage were outlined in the Vestal School District's capital project plan .

Vestal's school board elected to postpone a controversial plan to move the district's bus garage to Ross Corners Park at its Tuesday board meeting.

Dozens of residents, parents and Vestal youth soccer team players gathered outside the board meeting to oppose the planned relocation, carrying signs with messages including "Save Ross Corners" and "Don't Pave Our Fields."

Bus garage updates are part of the district's capital project for 2024 , which includes a new transportation facility and enforcing of NY state mandates, Zero Emission Buses and the Hot Classroom Bill.

Citing limited parking available on the the Vestal High School grounds, the board originally introduced two potential locations for a new bus garage: Ross Corners and Glenwood Road. According to the district's capital project plan, the transportation facility would need about 8 acres of land to handle 60 buses or more and would require access to both public water and sewage.

Ross Corners Park is currently home to the Youth Vestal Soccer Association , tennis courts and green space for the community.

More: Binghamton HS delayed school out of 'abundance of caution' following social media threat

Vestal resident Elizabeth Ives said Tuesday she opposed moving the bus garage to Ross Corners.

"I grew up here and my boys grew up here, it's what we know and we love," she said. "We won't have access to those fields, the destruction is just too much to fathom."

She believes her house on Owego Road would be near the exit for the buses if the garage was built at the park.

"We can't imagine hearing buses going right by our bedroom window," she said.

Any progress on the planned development at the park was put on pause with the board's decision Tuesday.

Vestal School Board President Eric LaClair said during the meeting, "We are going to postpone the Ross Corners site. We are not going to postpone doing the transportation, we are going to continue to look."

Those in attendance at the district administration building in Vestal texted updates to others waiting outside during the meeting. As board members cast votes to postpone, parents and children outside cheered.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Vestal school board votes to 'postpone' Ross Corners bus garage plan