City Council holds off on Cobbs Hill Village vote 

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City Council was expected to vote later today on legislation allowing Rochester Management to redevelop Cobbs Hill Village apartments, but the legislation is still being held in Council's Neighborhood and Business Development Committee.  No reason was given for delaying a vote on the project.

A vote had first been expected at Council's May meeting, but last month, City Council member Mike Patterson, who chairs the Neighborhood and Business Development Committee, said he was holding the legislation in committee until further notice.

Opponents have filed a lawsuit against the city  in state Supreme Court to stop the project.  A court date is set for late July.

Council's approval would allow Rochester Management, the non-profit that owns Cobbs Hill Village, to demolish the existing 60-unit  low-income senior housing complex on Norris Drive and replace it with 104 units.

Rochester Management has been working on the proposal for more than two years, but the project has been met with fierce resistance by a coalition of neighborhood groups, activists, and some Cobbs Hill Village tenants. Some of the opponents argue that the existing units can be repaired and continue to serve low-income seniors. The new development, they say, would reduce the amount of low-income housing available to seniors. Others don't want more housing built on the north edge of Cobbs Hill Park.

Rochester Management has argued that the property is dated and that renovating the buildings would not be cost-effective.