Sunday, July 13, 2008

Save Brighton, Stop the Corporate Center/Mall

The purpose of this blog is mobilize resident opposition to the construction of a giant hotel/corporate/retail (4000 parking spaces, double the size of the Pittsford Plaza Mall) and gated community planned by Anthony Costello Development on some of the last open land in Brighton, NY. Costello Development requires exemptions from town zoning regulations to build both of these projects. Costello Development certainly has the right to build on this land in accordance with town zoning. However, we see no reason why Costello should be granted zoning exemptions for two projects that will have a substantial negative impact on our town.

First, I ask that sympathetic readers who reside in Brighton go to http://www.PetitionOnline.com/savebri/petition.html and sign a petition opposing any rezoning for the Costello developments.

The area for the proposed hotel/corporate/retail complex at I-590 and Winton Rd. S. is zoned residential, as is the area for the gated community. In the latter, Costello is asking, I believe, for “waterfront” zoning, which will give him more flexibility.

The town board is apparently seriously considering granting these rezonings. However, Costello has to offer amenities for each proposal in order to obtain these rezonings.His amenity for the corporate/retail complex is the completion of Keating Blvd. to Winton Rd. S. which he needs anyway for access to his landlocked parcel.

I am very pressed for time here, but let me note a few arguments against both projects.


a)Although the projects would presumably increase the town's tax base in the short term, studies by respected economists also show that green space increases the property value of houses nearby. New residences will also increase the burden on the town's already full school system.

b)This gigantic project would be an inappropriate gateway to Brighton and compromise our new Buckland Park which it borders. There are already vacancies in every office park in this area.

c)A gated community for affluent "sophisticated" (Costello's adjective) buyers will tend to attract people who fear their neighbors and wish to remain exclusive. The whole gated community concept reminds me very much of the wealthy neighborhoods I saw in Mexico protected from the poor (who the occupants hate and fear) by high walls with broken glass embedded on the top.

d) The proposal will lead to a huge increase in traffic on Winton Road. If you want to see the prospect we are looking at, drive down Jefferson Road in Henrietta, NY and ask yourself if that is what you want in Brighton.

e) The hotel/retail/corporate project in particular follows an outdated model of "slash-and-burn suburbanization" in which one office park/mall is abandoned while another new one is built someplace else. With the rising price of gasoline, corporate downsizing, the telecommunications revolution, and the decline in available open space, this model is finished.


Below is a link to a short article from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about the gated community project, with a brief reference to the gigantic mall.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/
pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/NEWS01/806190349/0/archive2
.

What can you do? One to all of the following.

1. Sign the online petition referenced at the top of this post. Judy Schwartz and a friend collected over 200 signatures which they presented to the town board at the July 9 meeting.

2. Forward blog address to all of your friends and acquaintances in Brighton, or write your own email. It is vital that we quickly create a "viral" effect, as it seems that few Brighton residents are aware of these projects or their scale.

3.Attend the open forum at the next town board meeting, July 23, at 7 p.m., in the main auditorium at the Brighton Town Hall (by the town library). Bring a short written statement against the developments to read at the meeting and after reading, ask that it be put into the public record (this latter will not be done unless you provide the written copy to the stenographer). I will be at this meeting.

4. Write a letter to the editor on the subject to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle or the Brighton-Pittsford Post. Contact information for each newspaper is:

Letters to the Editor,
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
55 Exchange Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14614.

Email: dceditpage@DemocratandChronicle.com

Brighton-Pittsford Post
1 Grove St., Suite 101
Pittsford, NY 14614

Email: messenger@messengerpostmedia.com

5. Volunteer with me to collect signatures on the petition all over Brighton on Saturday, July 19 and/or Sunday, July 20. Email me if you can help.


THIS MATTER IS URGENT. COSTELLO IS TALKING ABOUT GETTING APPROVAL FOR THE ZONING EXEMPTIONS AND BREAKING GROUND ON THE PROJECTS THIS FALL. PLEASE HELP OUT BEFORE THE FALL COMES!

If you want more information on the projects and background email me (mlenoe@gmail.com) and I will tell you what I know. I'm still in the process of researching all of this. I urge you to collect information too and share it. You can also email Judy Schwartz at schwartz179@earthlink.net.

Thanks, and I hope very much you can find the time and energy to help out. The future of our community is at stake.



FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS (thanks to Judy Schwartz).

1. The RESERVE is the 350 unit residential proposal east of S. Clinton Ave. and west of Meridian Centre Park just below the canal. Costello is asking for a rezoning of the property to Waterfront Development. There will be $600,000 houses, condos, lofts, etc. Of course, there will be retail near the canal and that 's where the lofts are proposed to be built- 6 stories tall. Brighton code only allows 3 story buildings. There is info about this on Brighton's website.

2. Winton Rd. S./I-590 Costello proposal- 1M sq. feet of development (50,000 sq/ feet bigger than Marketplace Mall) 4,000 parking spaces (just about twice the size of Pittsford Plaza), a 5 story hotel, 30,000 sq. foot super market, 2 large national chain restaurants, conference center and retail shops. This land is zoned RESIDENTIAL according to the Town's Master Plan. The location is a gateway into Brighton. The traffic will be impossible. Costello has offered to complete building Keating Blvd. that will then extend from Clinton Ave. to Winton Rd. He is using a development tool, incentive zoning, which means that he has to offer amenities to the town in order to receive incentives- to do what he wants to do is not allowed by Brighton's Code. Costello is offering Keating Blvd. as one amenity, but he actually needs it to gain access to his "landlocked" parcel. This road is really self serving and not a true amenity.

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