Rezoning request for senior living complex sparks debate in Irondequoit

There was a full house at last night's Irondequoit Town Board meeting. The majority of the crowd appeared to be on hand for the one public hearing on the agenda, on a request to change zoning from R-1 residential to R-7 senior living at 1788 Titus Ave. and 105 Willow Creek Lane.

The zoning change, if approved, would be the first step in a lengthy process to build a second Legacy senior living community on the just over 4.7-acre site. Irondequoit currently has the Legacy at Cranberry Landing off Norton Street near Route 590.

"This is the beginning of the process; not the middle," said Don Riley, spokesman for the project and Mark IV Enterprises, which builds and operates seven Legacy senior living communities in Monroe County. "We're asking for a land use change."

He said the developer certainly has a concept plan, but talked little about details of the project.

Residents of the area remember a similar proposal coming to the Town Board in 2003.

"The Town Board denied the proposal eight years ago and we submitted petitions with signatures of 600 people who were opposed to it then," said Therese Corrigan-Bastuk of Eastman Estates. "The community opposition is not about seniors; it's about the structure ... It would be a massive, apartment-style building hovering over a residential setting."

Back in 2003, neighbors formed a "No Towers on Titus" group against the project, and Bastuk hinted that it still exists.

Riley responded later in the meeting that "tower" in reference to the three-story, as many as 101-unit project "is inflammatory and inaccurate ... yes, it's three stories, but it won't look like three stories."

Residents raised concerns about drainage from the site in an area that already has flooding problems, about the additional traffic it would generate, and the affect it would have on the character of the neighborhood.

Two residents, neither from the immediate neighborhood around the site, did speak in favor of the project.

"I know it would be a change to the neighborhood, but I would support having another option for senior living in Irondequoit," said Lisa Slater of Winona Boulevard.

Norbert Rappl said the town "badly needs more economic development," and added that the project could also provide the remedy for the area's drainage issues.

The area now is scenic, quiet, and has a lot of wildlife, said Ron Rigby of Glen Hollow. "We don't want it to become a parking lot that looks like Wegmans."

"I believe the project would bring down property values of the surrounding houses," added Glen Hollow neighbor Tom Izzo.

One of the challenges of the site is that it is one of the highest points in that area of Titus Avenue.

"The topography is unique," said neighbor Tamara Denysenko. "I'm not against building on the property, but you have to consider the current senior citizens who live in that area."

Supervisor Mary Joyce D'Aurizio told the crowd, "The Town Board is here only to examine the land use ... we're not making any judgement on the project."

If the zoning change is approved, the project would still have to go to the town's Planning Board for a complete site plan review, and likely to the town's Zoning Board of Appeals for area variances.

"We were just here to listen tonight," Town Councilwoman Stephanie Aldersley said after the lengthy meeting.

The board took no action on the zoning change request, though it did vote to close the public hearing when discussion became somewhat contentious, particularly around the idea the board may support it due to the tax revenue a project of its size would generate for the town.

"You don't put the value of people's houses on the butcher block," community activist Richard Barone told the board.

Yet, D'Aurizio said, "the town is in an unsustainable financial situation."