Documents and Pictures for 75 Monroe

Denial by ZBA, August 2015

Judge Ark ordered the Village's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) to hear an appeal of the Denial by the Architectural and Preservation Review Board (APRB).  The ZBA agreed with the decision of the APRB and found the scale of the project was too big.  The ZBA denial is August 17, 2015.  Their findings are an excellent read.

ZBA Denial Findings - September 15, 2015

ZBA Denial Minutes - August 17, 2015

Denial by APRB, December 2014

The Architectural and Preservation Review Board (APRB) denied the project on December 14, 2014.  Their findings are an excellent read.  They found the building density of the project greatly exceeded that of any other sites in the village.  They had the same opinion in their advisory review way back in January, 2012.  The Trustees had essentially the same opinion on appropriate scale in June of 2011.  The developer continued with their application despite these opinions.

Architectural Drawings of the Project

APRB Findings for Denial

Meeting Minutes for Denial - December 14, 2014

APRB Findings For Denial - January

Architectural Review Board Report - January 4, 2012.

Trustee Minutes June 9, 2011 - The size of the project was too big.

Trustees Minutes June 22, 2011 - They agreed the size should be cut in half: 12-15 units per acre instead of the 25 units per acre proposed by the developer.

Final Site Plan Approval, November 2014

Final site plans were approved by the Planning Board in November 11, 2014.  These plans are significantly different than the layout approved by the Village Board of Trustees in 2012 (the "Regulating Plan").  Lawsuits were filed and the entire Planning Board resigned in May 2015 when the judge ruled that he would not dismiss the lawsuit.

Final Site Plan Approval Minutes - November 11, 2014.

Zoning Board Approval Minutes - October 29, 2014 for variances required for the project.

Site Layout Approved by the Trustees - The Regulating Plan

Site Layout Approved by the Planning Board - This is based on preliminary site plans, final site plans had some revisions.  You will notice there is a lot less room for trees because the buildings are larger.

Final Site Plans, Jan 2014 Addendum

Final Site Plan Addendum #3, Jan 2014 -  This is the complete submission to the Board and includes updated drawings and new text that describes changes.  No significant changes have been made to the site layout since their 2013 site plan submission.

Final Site Plans, September 2013

Final Site plans for the 75 Monroe Development were first submitted in September 2013.  These plans follow the same layout as the preliminary site plans but they provide more details.  Some of the drawings are available on the links below:

Sept 2013 Site Plans 1 - Overview of site layout.

Sept 2013 Site Plans 2 - Detailed layout of northern half of site.

Sept 2013 Site Plans 3 - Detailed layout of southern half of site.

Sept 2013 Site Plans 9 - Alterations to Sutherland St. for water main upgrade.  Note: trees will be removed.

Sept 2013 Site Plans 12 - Landscaping plan for northern half of site.

Sept 2013 Site Plans 13 - Landscaping plan for southern half of site.

Preliminary Site Plan Approval

Preliminary Site plans were approved by the Planning Board on July 10, 2013.  The plans differ from what was approved by the Village Board of Trustees (the "Regulating Plan") which started a large dispute between the Boards.  The Planning Board's attorney advised the board that they needed to approve plans that conform with those of the Trustees.  This approval resulted in an appeal and a successful lawsuit by the Developer to block the appeal.

Preliminary Site Plan Approval Minutes and Findings - July 10, 2013

Partial Transcript - From July 10, 2013 meeting that shows that the planning Board voted against the advice of their attorney.

Preliminary Site Plans, June/July 2013

The developer has submitted preliminary site plans for the 75 Monroe Development in June / July of 2013 that are significantly different than the layout approved by the Village Board of Trustees in 2012.

New Site Layout - The number of apartment buildings is reduced from seven to five.  The restaurant has been moved from the Canal and is now along Monroe Ave. at the left of the image.  There will be a 6 apartments over the restaurant and the remaining 161 apartments are condensed into 5 buildings.  The 5 prominent apartment buildings are each larger as a result.

Some more detailed plans:

Detailed Site Plan 1

Detailed Site Plan 2

Detailed Site Plan 4

Approved regulating Plan 3-8-2012 - This was approved with the Special Use Permit in November of 2012.  The restaurant is along the canal in the bottom center of the image.  There are 7 apartment buildings in addition to the restaurant.

Letter from Developer; DRC Committee memo on new plans - The developer submitted a letter to the trustees requesting they review the new plans.  The DRC committee, consisting of members of all three Village boards, submitted a memo describing changes and some issues that need to be addressed.


Images of Apartment Buildings:
The size of buildings relative to Pittsford Main Street.  Note this is based on drawings submitted in March, 2013 which are different than the current drawings.  The building sizes are similar.
Building 1000
Building 2000
Building 3000
Building 4000
Building 5000

[Link to Full Size Image]

Documents

These documents are in the public record at the Village office.  Meeting minutes are available on the Pittsford Village web site.  There is a tremendous amount of documentation available, we are posting the most important documents as they become available.

Special Use Permit Resolution - This is the final text of the resolution passed by the Trustees.  This is the permit that authorizes 75 Monroe to be used for a 125 seat restaurant and 167 apartments.  It is NOT a building permit and does not authorize construction.  Many more permits are needed before construction can start.  A building permit will not be issued until the site is cleaned and final plans are passed by the Planning Board and the Architectural Review Board.

Environmental Review (SEQR) - This is the official environmental review passed by the Board of Trustees.  It is a long document with lots of useful information.  Part 1 is project description, Part 2 is a form listing the possible environmental concerns, Part 3 is a detailed writeup of findings for each item labeled as a potential environmental concern and starts on page 22.

75 Monroe Traffic Study (2007) - Traffic study to 75 Monroe.  It does list several concerns including:

• Vehicles will have difficulty leaving the site during evening rush hour.

• Vehicles traveling over the Canal bridge at >40mph will have insufficient site distance to stop for traffic exiting 75 Monroe Ave.

• Traffic has remained constant between 2001 and 2010.  [Note: no one believes this, residents believe traffic has increased substantially in this time]

• The future is not so bright.  Construction at 3750 Monroe in the town and 75 Monroe in the Village will put critical intersections "over capacity" with "15-60 minute" delays.

Monroe Ave. Traffic Report (2010) or HERE- Traffic report for Monroe Ave. through both the Town of Pittsford and the Village of Pittsford.  It includes traffic history and projections for the entire length including the conjested region around Wegmans.

Planning Board Report - Report by the Planning Board on community impacts, March 2012.  The report begins on page 4.  The report details their findings including Fire, Police, Schools, Ambulance, Water, Sewer, Gas & Electric Service, Noise, Taxes, etc.  The planning board did not find any negative impact on community services.

R5 Zoning - This is the zoning laws that apply to 75 Monroe.

Architectural Review Board Report - Meeting minutes of the APRB January 2012 when they first voted that the 75 Monroe plans are NOT compatible with the scale and massing of the Village.  This came up again in December, 2014 and they denied it again with more substantial findings: APRB Findings for Denial

SHPO Report - Report from the NY State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).  It does not look like they thoroughly review the project.  Their advise was to plant some trees.

APRB Consultant Report - Report from Crawford & Stearns, April 27, 2011.  This firm specializes in preservation architecture and their report covers the compatibility with the character of Pittsford Village.  They liked the version of plans better than previous plans and they liked the architectural style and orientation of buildings.  Their statements on building size were inconsistent: "the new buildings do not have a residential scale to the buildings" but they "establish compatibility with canal side areas of the Village."  The report focuses on architectural style and skirts the issue of the physical size being appropriate for the Village.  They did make the statement that the concept is "compatible with the historic character of the Village of Pittsford."

Timeline - This is the timeline for the 75 Monroe project.  This comes from the flyer mailed to residents by the Village.

DEC Cleanup Plan - This big document contains the details of the cleanup plan for 75 Monroe.  It covers lots of details even smaller things like cleaning your boots when leaving the site and procedures for cleaning trucks that leave the site before entering public roads.

DEC Addendum to Cleanup plan - An addendum to the cleanup plan that discusses removal of the building.

DEC Draft RIW - This is a document from the DEC about the site cleanup.  It is mostly useful because it has the relevant DEC contacts that are in charge of this project.

Pictures

Many of the images below are very large.  They may display poorly on your web browser.  To see the full size image click on the link and then use the File menu on the page and select Download.

Sketch of buildings 1-6.Overhead view of the entire site.Simulated view from the other side of the canal.Size of 75 Monroe vs Pittsford Main StreetSize of Building 1 vs Pittsford Library.Size of Building 1 vs Schoen Place.Size of Building 1 vs Pittsford Flour Mill.Building 2 sketch.Building 6 Sketch.