Masonry Installation in Skaneateles: Ten Business Days First

Skaneateles Lake is the City of Syracuse's drinking water supply and the watershed carries its own rules. A project located in an environmentally sensitive area that disturbs 5,000 square feet or more of land is required to submit an Erosion and Stormwater Control Plan, and the guidance states that this applies to most of the Skaneateles Lake Watershed. Copies of the plan must be submitted to the City of Syracuse Water Department at least ten business days before any land disturbance activity, and anyone building a project that needs a local building permit, another land disturbance permit or a shoreline permit must also send copies of the application to the City of Syracuse Water Department.

Source: The Skaneateles Lake Watershed Website, Soil and Erosion Plans, published by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County with support from the City of Syracuse, under the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Rules and Regulations, accessed 2026-09-14

The Town of Skaneateles is the exception to the stormwater regime that covers the rest of this metro. Its annex to the county hazard mitigation plan records that it is not a regulated Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, has no stormwater management plan and is not a member of the Central New York Stormwater Coalition, though it does have a stormwater management ordinance. The Village of Skaneateles records that it is a regulated MS4 but has neither a stormwater management ordinance nor a stormwater management plan. Every other municipality in this metro, including Clay, Cicero, Camillus, Manlius, Salina, DeWitt, Onondaga, Lysander, Marcellus and the villages of Baldwinsville, Liverpool, Solvay, East Syracuse, North Syracuse, Fayetteville, Manlius, Marcellus and Camillus, records MS4 designation, a stormwater ordinance, a stormwater plan and Coalition membership.

Source: Onondaga County, New York, 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan, Town of Skaneateles Annex and Village of Skaneateles Annex, Onondaga County Department of Planning, accessed 2026-09-14

In the Town of Skaneateles, 12.9 percent of the mapped soil area is classed poorly drained, somewhat poorly drained or very poorly drained, and 41.8 percent is classed well drained. Honeoye silt loam covers about 19.7 percent of the town on 3 to 8 percent slopes and about 9.2 percent on 8 to 15 percent slopes, Lima silt loam about 12.4 percent, and about 12.7 percent of the mapped area is open water, which is Skaneateles Lake.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Geographic Database for Onondaga County New York, survey area NY067, queried through the Soil Data Access service, accessed 2026-09-14

October is where the Syracuse season turns. The normals give October 12.8 nights with a minimum below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 3.8 nights at or below freezing, against a normal monthly mean of 51.3 degrees. November has 25.0 nights below 40 degrees and 15.5 at or below freezing, and its normal daily maximum stays above 40 degrees on only 23.8 days. October also carries a normal 3.89 inches of precipitation, the wettest month of the Syracuse year.

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 US Climate Normals, monthly normals, station USW00014771 Syracuse Hancock International Airport, accessed 2026-09-14