Developers are moving forward with plans to develop a 5.5-acre tract on the Genesee River in Irondequoit for housing and commercial space. Lighthouse Pointe was proposed in 2007, but the town’s Planning Board has just recently started reviewing the project. The recession contributed to the delay. “This has been a long time coming,” says Irondequoit […]
Brownfields
Posted inNews & Opinion
Judge orders Exxon Mobil to clean up Vacuum Oil site
The developer who owns the former Vacuum Oil refinery on Flint Street is getting closer to cleaning up the site. DHD Ventures, the firm headed by Tom Masachi, owns 5 and 15 Flint Street, and is working with the state to develop a plan to address contaminated soil and ground water. The plan is nearing […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
City issues RFP for Bull’s Head consultant
City officials are intensifying efforts to revitalize the historic Bull’s Head neighborhood on the western edge of the downtown Rochester. The city issued a Request for Proposals today for a consultant to develop a plan for that effort. One of several city neighborhoods coping with a high level of concentrated poverty, Bull’s Head “has been […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Contaminated houses coming down
Sometime in the next couple of months, a crew contracted by the Town of Irondequoit will knock down two adjoining houses on Timrod Drive. The lots will be cleared and seeded with grass, creating a small green space. The town took ownership of the houses approximately two years ago as part of a legal settlement. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Judge says Pittsford boards need to review apartment project
A judge may have just unstuck a controversial Village of Pittsford development proposal. For months, Pittsford Canalside Properties’ proposed Westport Crossing housing project has been in limbo. The village, developer, and a citizens’ group have been arguing intertwining lawsuits largely focusing on environmental, planning, and zoning issues. The project couldn’t advance through the required review […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Group ranks state legislators’ environmental records
Environmental Advocates of New York has released its annual scorecard for state legislators, and Democrats in the Rochester delegation outscored their Republican counterparts. Environmental Advocates bases the scores around legislation it has identified as priorities. Legislators get points for the “correct” vote, whether it’s in favor of legislation the organization supports or against legislation it […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Overcoming a polluted past
An ambitious and unique development plan has been created by neighbors and organizations for the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood in the City of Rochester’s southwest quadrant. The city is at the very beginning of a long process to clean up and redevelop the abandoned 45-acre Vacuum Oil industrial campus. But the neighborhood, not content with standing by […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Cuomo presents his 2014-15 budget
Governor Andrew Cuomo is sticking to his claim that if the state continues to hold down spending increases, the budget will have a $2 billion surplus by the 2016-17 budget year. And during his budget address this afternoon, Cuomo once again said that the surplus will enable a suite of tax cuts for businesses as […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Group pushes for brownfield tax credit reforms
An updated Environmental Advocates of New York analysis of the state’s brownfield redevelopment tax credit program says that since 2003, the program has cost in excess of $1.1 billion, but only 131 sites have been cleaned up. And of those 131 sites, only 82 projects claimed tax credits through 2012. The program is costly, but […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Perinton’s crowd-sourced wrecking crew
For the past decade – probably longer – a former gas station at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Fairport Road in Perinton has sat idle and vacant. It’s an eyesore on a busy corridor in the town, one that leads straight into the village of Fairport. On Saturday, the building is coming down. And […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Two brownfield projects get state money
Two state grants will allow Rochester and neighborhood officials to move forward on two brownfield and community redevelopment projects. Late last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office announced that the South Genesee Implementation Strategy — a project that includes the Vacuum Oil site in southwest Rochester — will receive $868,500, and the Bull’s Head Revitalization Plan […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
State legislators propose massive environmental financing legislation
Two State Legislature committee chairs are proposing a new $5 billion environmental bond act.
