After hearing from more than 20 residents and concerned citizens, The Village of Pittsford Board of Trustees officially closed the public hearing on a proposed apartment complex at it's meeting Thursday night.
The developer, Canalside Properties LLC, needs a special use permit from the board in order to construct a six-building, 167-unit Westport Crossing apartment complex with a pool, clubhouse, and fitness center and a family bistro style restaurant on the site.
The site, which was once an asphalt plant, is currently a vacant lot full of vandalized buildings surrounded by a broken fence.
As with the board's last meeting on the subject, the majority of the public speakers were against the project, most citing traffic concerns. Others said they worried the large rental property would drive down property values, invite "transients" who wouldn't have as vested an interest in the village as property owners, and have a detrimental effect on the school district.
This time, however, a few villagers, like Steven Jarose, turned up to support the development.
"I think it would be a welcoming environment as people come into the village," Jarose said. "This could be a very workable solution."
John Limebeck agreed that the due dilligence on the part of the board had been thorough so far, saying the developers would have every right to sue should the board try to stop the development.
"This has been bought and paid for, and the village has worked very hard over the past two and a half years to get us where we are tonight," Limebeck said. "They have a right to build on that property."
Many in attendance continued to stress the most legally compelling case against the development: that its scale (4 stories) and density (24 dwelling units per acre) as currently proposed would not fit the "distinctive physical character, charm, and historic integrity" of the village as mandated by the Village Code.
The board has 62 days to decide whether that's the case.
After hearing from more than 20 residents and concerned citizens, The Village of Pittsford Board of Trustees officially closed the public hearing on a proposed apartment complex at it's meeting Thursday night.
The developer, Canalside Properties LLC, needs a special use permit from the board in order to construct a six-building, 167-unit Westport Crossing apartment complex with a pool, clubhouse, and fitness center and a family bistro style restaurant on the site.
The site, which was once an asphalt plant, is currently a vacant lot full of vandalized buildings surrounded by a broken fence.
As with the board's last meeting on the subject, the majority of the public speakers were against the project, most citing traffic concerns. Others said they worried the large rental property would drive down property values, invite "transients" who wouldn't have as vested an interest in the village as property owners, and have a detrimental effect on the school district.
This time, however, a few villagers, like Steven Jarose, turned up to support the development.
"I think it would be a welcoming environment as people come into the village," Jarose said. "This could be a very workable solution."
John Limebeck agreed that the due dilligence on the part of the board had been thorough so far, saying the developers would have every right to sue should the board try to stop the development.
"This has been bought and paid for, and the village has worked very hard over the past two and a half years to get us where we are tonight," Limebeck said. "They have a right to build on that property."
Many in attendance continued to stress the most legally compelling case against the development: that its scale (4 stories) and density (24 dwelling units per acre) as currently proposed would not fit the "distinctive physical character, charm, and historic integrity" of the village as mandated by the Village Code.
The board has 62 days to decide whether that's the case.
