Ginny Maier’s home sits on a double lot in Fairport. She and her husband would like to continue living in the village, but they feel somewhat trapped.
“We know we could sell it for a lot of money, but we wouldn’t be able to buy something that was suitable for a retired couple in Fairport,” Maier says. “It’s nearly impossible to find. I mean, it’s nearly impossible to find anything but something that’s sort of equivalent to a starter home. We’re competing with young families for the smaller homes.”
Barry Childs, another Fairport resident, has a different view of housing in the village. He would like Fairport to retain its character where single-family homes dominate the landscape.
“My concern is that having a whole lot more of people living in Fairport will change the character of it,” he says.
Maier and Childs are on opposite sides of the debate that is brewing in Fairport as the village revisits zoning regulations to meet goals outlined in its Comprehensive Plan. The process is still in its early stages; it kicked off in January, and a draft plan for the zoning update has yet to be created.
“There’s no ‘there’ there,” says Fairport Mayor Julie Domaratz. “I’m frustrated that members of this community put rumors out there that have no basis.”
Critics fear a move to diversify housing stock would trigger an influx of new residents. Proponents believe it would offer more options for people considering a move to Fairport, and village residents who would like to age in Fairport in a smaller space.
The impetus behind these possible changes is the village’s 2021 Comprehensive Plan, whose goals include providing diverse housing choices across the affordability spectrum, among them multiple building types with ownership alternatives. It also calls for land being designated for both single-family and multifamily homes.
In addition, the plan states that Fairport’s government should promote the growth of medium-density housing, including townhouses, row houses, and apartment buildings, particularly on and around Main Street and downtown. Finally, the village should consider being more flexible about the locations in which accessory dwelling units can be located. ADUs, which have stirred controversy in New York suburbs, are smaller residences that are attached to a house, or stand separately. Under Fairport’s current zoning regulations, ADUs that are separate from the original homes can only be in a specific district.
“Once you have a comprehensive plan, the role is to ensure that the Comprehensive Plan and the zoning code are documents that live together, make sense,” says Village Planner Jill M. Wiedrick, who is facilitating the Zoning Code Update project. “The current code dates back to 1992, and doesn’t really match up to what we have, or what, I would argue, we even had at the time of its creation.”
An online survey, part of community engagement for the Comprehensive Plan, found that more than 85 percent of respondents currently lived in single-family homes. But when asked about planning for future housing/residential development, a plurality of 50 percent noted that the village should prioritize a “mix of housing types and price points to attract and accommodate individuals and families with a variety of income levels.”
Thirty percent placed “low density residential development of single-family housing” higher, while others (14 percent) would like to see a priority on accessory dwelling units and 6 percent picked the “other” option. (According to U.S. Census data, 65 percent of the village’s housing is single-unit.)
Zoning details
The zoning update project is guided by a working group with representatives from Fairport’s Zoning Board of Appeals and other land use boards, Village Manager Bryan White and other officials, and a representative of the Genesee Transportation Council, which provided $75,000 in federal funds to help finance the project.
Once the Zoning Code Update project is finished, Fairport should have what is called Character-Based Code on its books.
“The reason that we chose that name for this process is because we’re looking to capture the character of the village of Fairport,” Wiedrick says.
CBCs differ from traditional zoning codes in important ways, according to the Zoning Code Update’s website. While the village’s current codes limit how the land in each of its zoning district can be used, CBCs would focus upon the character of each of its various neighborhoods.
That focus would foster a more holistic view of shaping those neighborhoods, and the use of more advanced design standards. Those standards would ensure that the areas are developed in a manner that’s compatible with the village’s historic fabric. CBCs would also offer better mechanisms for handling the effects of development, such as an increase in traffic.
Fairport hired Fisher Associates to execute the update project and create the new zoning codes. The contractor reviewed information on the village, including that which is contained in the Comprehensive Plan. It then assessed Fairport’s current zoning codes, and suggested changes to them. One result is a map that depicts possible changes to Fairport’s current housing regulations.
Under Fairport’s current zoning scheme, six districts are zoned residential. The largest, R-A and R-B, are zoned for single-family residences. Each of the remaining residential districts is also zoned for single-family residences but can be home to other types of dwellings as well.
Depending upon the district, they might also include two-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings that can house three or more separate families, boarding houses and garden apartments and developments. As you go alphabetically from R-A to R-E, each district allows the kinds of residential structures as the ones before it, plus new ones.
Though the R-B district is zoned for single-family homes, 10 percent of the residences in the district are two- and three-family homes that were there before the current zoning regulations took effect, according to Wiedrick.
Fisher Associates’ suggested zoning map, which is available online, differs from Fairport’s in some ways. The sections of the map that are designated as CD2, which correspond to Fairport’s R-B district, are zoned for “a mix of single-family and other housing typologies” that may include two- and three-family structures.
The areas designated as CD3 would allow the presence of townhomes and smaller-scale multifamily structures and be the densest residential areas. The areas designated as CD1 correspond to Fairport’s R-A districts and, Wiedrick says, are also zoned only for single-family residences.
Reasons for change
In addition to creating a diverse housing community, the Comprehensive Plan also suggests adding flexibility into the mix with ADUs, including carriages and garages, which would need to meet standards for design, density, parking, and neighborhood context.
It also encourages the growth of “missing middle housing”—townhouses, row houses, small apartment buildings and the like—on Main Street and in the downtown area.
“Promote a full range of ownership options potentially to include more rental housing. Base housing priorities on changing demographics, including the Millennial and Generation Z markets,” the plan recommends. “Focus on Downtown mixed-use area and transitional areas between the downtown and intact single family neighborhoods.”
Maier, who stresses that single-family housing is not the only way to develop attractive housing, also notes that it doesn’t create an environmentally sustainable future.
“We need to make it so that it’s easy for people to get to transit, that it’s easy for people to get to the shops that they need without using a car, and in a more efficient space,” she says.
Future generations, she adds, will be glad Fairport made such changes.
“Right now, we’re on an unsustainable path,” Maier says. “So, I think that’s probably my primary motivation in thinking about changing things. When people talk about the character, I just think the character that we have now is a character that is leading us down a path of climate chaos. I don’t feel like we have to preserve that particular character; we can still have a nice place to live, but one that is more sustainable and more equitable and more welcoming to a wider variety of people.”
Fairport, like the town of Perinton in which it’s located, has an aging population. (Roughly 5,500 of the town’s nearly 47,000 residents live in the village.) The Comprehensive Plan notes the proportion of people over 65 is just over 21.4 percent, which is higher than the county as a whole (18 percent). The number of people over 65 is expected to increase, eventually accounting for 25 percent to 30 percent of the population.
This trend is occurring nationwide, and communities are looking for ways to be more accessible and livable for an aging population, which means more services, accessible sidewalks, transportation options and different types of housing.
“Love the idea of tiny houses for elders, singles, people who want to pare down from larger single family homes but still live in or close to the village,” commented Nancy Hessler in a public input survey conducted this spring for the zoning update.
“I lived in a cottage cluster for a few years, it was a lovely experience!” wrote Allyson Lubimir.
And then there’s a need for diversity of age and race. David Steitz believes village officials may support the Zoning Code Update project to bring about demographic changes in the village.
“Individuals in office now have run on platforms where they want to create equity and diversity in the village and have attempted to change how we look racially,” he says. “Essentially, our Democratic Party has run on that platform.”
Though Domaratz and all the village’s Trustees are Democrats, she says that none of them ran for office to make Fairport more racially diverse.
“I did not run on a platform of that, nor do I know anyone that I’ve run with who ran on a platform of that,” she says.
Matthew Brown, who spent four years on the Village Board, three of them as deputy mayor, says Fairport’s lack of diversity in its population is evident.
“We have under 1 percent of people of African descent who live in the village of Fairport, as compared to Monroe County, which I believe is 14 percent,” he says. “That’s a pretty big disparity.”
In fact, according to the 2020 US Census, 16.5 percent of Monroe County’s residents identify as Black or African American.
Brown says Fairport’s current zoning regulations, which he believes favor single-family homes, have helped create that situation. An increase in the number or multifamily residences in the village could make it more attractive to members of minority groups and reduce the racial disparity.
“If you are a person of African descent or a minority of any kind, you are more likely to be in a lower socioeconomic status,” Brown says. “I think they would be much more likely to afford an apartment or a fraction of a house, rather than purchasing an entire house.”
He’s willing to accept the additional traffic or other strains on Fairport’s infrastructure that might occur if additional people decide to call the village home.
“Making Fairport a more welcoming place is absolutely worth any cost we have to pay for that,” Brown says.
“We already know (that) there’s a gross inequity between the suburbs and the city, and it seems like it’s somewhat our responsibility to make sure that there is housing for everybody or for a range of people,” Maier says. “I do not believe in the principle that people who have less money are less trustworthy or less good neighbors, necessarily. In fact, I think we want to give people an opportunity to own and build equity and have ownership.”
Lower-priced homes, apartments and townhouses could also bring in younger people to Fairport.
Shevah Faber, a survey respondent, wrote: “More housing is good for our community especially lower priced housing. Before the housing boom my parents moved to Fairport and they would be priced out of the market now. The timing was right for us, want others to have the same opportunities.”
Though Steitz believes that Fairport needs to become more diverse, he thinks the changes in zoning codes that are being considered would not bring that about. Instead, they would benefit developers and Realtors.
“It’s going to be a small handful of the usual individuals who are going to buy the properties, put accessory dwelling units on them, turn them into apartment buildings, and then charge the exorbitant apartment rental rates, rental rates, lease rates,” he says.
Engaging residents
Domaratz, Wiedrick and other village officials have discussed the Zoning Code Update project with Fairport residents at five face-to-face meetings that took place around the village, one virtual online session and at meetings of the Village Board.
The village has also posted flyers on the project around Fairport, mailed postcards about it to residents, held walking tours to solicit feedback, placed an information booth at the Fairport Farmers’ Market, and solicited residents’ opinions in the online survey.
Opponents of the Zoning Code Update aren’t satisfied with village officials’ explanations of the project, and its possible results.
“Most of Fairport is zoned as single-family,” says Fairport homeowner Dewey Jackson. “This plan would remove most single-family zoning, replace it with code that would permit up to three units per parcel.”
Though the plan hasn’t reached a draft stage yet, critics are concerned that the possible changes they’ve heard of would bring new people to Fairport, crowding its roads and streets.
“One of the big problems of Fairport right now is parking,” Jackson says.
Bob Cantwell, who lives in a two-story home on a double lot, ran for mayor in 2022 and for a seat on the Village Board last year. Cantwell says the zoning changes that have been suggested could allow him to turn his detached garage into an ADU and build another duplex on his property.
“We could become a landlord, so to speak, with five units in the village of Fairport,” he says.
Cantwell worries that more multifamily homes would burden the village’s infrastructure.
“There’s additional needs for the infrastructure of the village itself, such as sewer and electric,” he says. “There’s more dogs, there’s more traffic, not only automobile but pedestrian.”
Cantwell also believes that the additional multifamily residences could negatively affect the character and culture of the village, where just over 66 percent of Fairport’s residences are owner-occupied.
“There’s an owner-occupied culture, where people are very much engaged in the neighborhood,” he says.
In addition to being concerned about the Zoning Code Update project’s potential effects, some of its opponents are critical of the way it’s being communicated. Though village officials say they’ve taken pains to inform the public of the project and its progress, Jackson says he had to check Fisher Associates’ map to learn of the zoning changes that the project could produce.
Childs also thinks Fairport officials have not done enough to inform the public about the update project.
“The communication is not good,” he says. “A lot of residents are very suspicious, and skeptical about what the board does and doesn’t want to do because of their lack of communication.”
Steitz, Jackson, Childs and Cantwell have presented their concerns about the Zoning Code Update project to Fairport officials. In addition, Jackson, Childs and other like-minded Fairport residents described their reasons for opposing the project in a letter, and distributed 1,450 copies around the village this summer. Jackson says that most of the people he encountered were unaware of the update, and “expressed sympathy for the cause” of opposing it.
Brown was probably not one of them.
“I think we should be making it a lot easier for people to have ADUs on their property … and also to make it easier for multifamily homes to be developed,” he says.
Fairport officials point out that the Zoning Code Update project is very much in the early stages.
“At this point in time, there is nothing that’s been changed, written or proposed to the board for us to consider,” Domaratz says. “The only place that we’ve been is getting public comments.”
Fisher Associates’ map was created and presented to spur village residents to think about potential changes to the codes.
“When you’re talking to a community, if you don’t give them something to look at and consider, they don’t know what you want them to comment on,” Domaratz says.
She added that Fairport’s Zoning Code Update project has been “as transparent as we can possibly make it,” and that some who view the project with suspicion may just have difficulty accepting change.
“They choose to, one, believe that we’re trying to do something nefarious, which we’re not, and, two, they are stuck about any change in our community being bad,” Domaratz says.
Wiedrick has described the zoning update as a “fluid process.” Though a final draft of the update was initially scheduled to be ready for the Village Board around November, she believes that it won’t be completed by then, and could not say when it will be presented to the board.
The zoning update is likely to continue to fuel discussion and debate among Fairport residents about the village’s character and culture, and its future in a changing environment.
“The message I’ve been trying to say to people is that I can’t promise that you will like these changes,” Maier says. “I can’t promise that you’ll always feel like they’re comfortable, but I think I can promise that, 50 years from now, people will look back and say, ‘Thank you for doing everything you could to reduce your fossil fuel emissions, and this is one of the things that everybody tells us we have to do … change how we spread ourselves across the suburbs.”
Says Childs: “If the village government decides that they want to be magnanimous and open up the village to all sorts of people, that’s fine, but they need to consult with the residents, and us residents need to decide if that’s what we want.”
Mike Costanza is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. Smriti Jacob is Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].
I will leave it with….I AGREE.
Semper Fi.
I did listen to the video, and I do not hear the wounded soldier mention Biden once. Command decisions in a battle/conflict are made by superior officers who would not make a decision. We now have literally hundreds of Generals and Admirals and many more between them responsible for command decisions. Trump bragged about his agreement on video at least twice and that no one could do anything about it. Biden delayed months after Trump’s exit date. The Taliban, which agreed in the agreement with Trump not to let Al Queda in country and stop all attacks on the Afghan government and civilians broke the agreement within 48 hours and Trump did nothing. Yes, I found fault with Biden. The question still remains why our military was not enforcing the agreement under Trump and why were they unprepared after 20 years. Many more soldiers died under Trump than those thirteen and I’m not including the Kurdish soldiers Trump sold out, the ones who lost hundreds doing most of the fighting for us against ISIS. You can find what our military said about that too. I also gave you problems and possible solutions that need to be addressed in my last post on education, but any identification of problems and possible solutions that are not your two talking points do not register. Now that you live in Florida where banning books from our greatest authors now includes college and public libraries, I’m sure the Florida Governor would appreciate your help.
Well Josh, it’s not negativity when one believes the solutions are different than what you advocate for. I have advocated for many solutions, and they have been in print in the D&C and my bi-monthly Labor Column in the RBJ for a generation. Segregation and poverty are the main problems to me. Our educational system is more segregated than before Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Separate is not equal; it was known as Jim Crow. Living wages, health care, and childcare would go a long way, including a horrible absentee problem where older kids miss school when younger children are sick because a parent must show up to work. We are now seeing absentee rates of around 20% in some suburban schools because childcare is unaffordable. Can’t learn if kids are not in school. School vouchers to more exclusive schools are not the answer as many are left out, plus the the majority of that money now goes to white kids, who are not poor, for private schools like Aquinas and McQuaid, a nationwide problem. Many of these schools have higher tuition than our state colleges, which was once illegal for tax dollars to go to religious institutions. In our eighteen school districts in this County, including the successful suburban schools, the teachers are members of the same teacher’s union as city schoolteachers and with the same master’ degrees. The blame the union talking point as a solution makes no sense to me. At times I have found the City School Board problematic, but they are elected with too few people voting. In my view a city school district that is non-union would make little difference or be worse as many teachers and union officials advocate for these kids every day including paying for school supplies.
James, you are the problem, you are the a negative person who exudes negativty to whomever you meet. You will have kids in the RCSD believing it. Keep this in mind, THE DEMOCRATS RULE! What color is the Democratic politician in Fairport? Who elected her? Right, the people who are color blind. The people who saw something in her that they agreed with and then pulled the lever for her. Now, knock on the door of that politician and tell her to get the RCSD fixed. Tell her to take on the nah sayers and give kids an education so that they to can run for office, attain a career, earn a living wage and buy a home wherever they want. Because JAMES, all kids have innate skills and or gifts…ALL. That needs to be discovered in the K-12 journey! And today job one, educating our youth is not getting done, period. I don’t know where you live nor what your career consists of. But I get that feeling that it required a high school diploma. Why don’t you wake up the RCSD, the RCSB and that feckless union president and tell them to teach the way kids learn. That’s the problem. So maybe you ought to take off your sunglasses and get to work. Tell the Democrats that they are responsible for the urban failure. Look in the mirror and visualize the problem, you.
Sorry Josh. You should read all your posts again. Talk about negativity. My prior comments stand. Adam Urbanski and the union do not run the RCSD, do not set the curriculum, and do not hire and fire teachers. Running the district and what is taught, liken running any unionized entity, comes under managements rights. They also do not hire or set the pay for Central Administration and the Superintendent. Even though they are not mandatory subjects of bargaining you will find many things achieved in the union contract that do not increase pay and benefits, but specifically were achieved by the union to help students such as mentors, smaller class sizes, and more school nurses, social workers, and counselors to help students. The union at RCSD also partnered with the Construction Trades via the Robert Brown School to include/expand these trades as well as BOCES to expand vocational training. I also find your sensitivity to mentioning Trump with Afghanistan absurd when Trump negotiated the peace and pullout that had a timetable. Trump did not include the elected heads of the Afghan government in these talks. We also have a disagreement on the facts. Everything I have read in the press has the Military advising Biden, after 18 years of war, many dead, and trillions from taxpayers, that the government and Afghan Army could hold six months, but no less than three months as a worst-case scenario. This is not unusual as the military wants to justify their conduct of the war and give good news for their future promotions. I have heard it my whole life from “the light at the end of the tunnel” in Vietnam, to calling a dictators death squads freedom fighters, to 2003’s “Mission Accomplished in Iraq”. How do you tell a Commander-in-Chief that everything will collapse in days after eighteen years of blood and treasure and you telling every President the military is doing a great job? One can always find someone who claims to be on the other side when it goes down bad. It was a terrorist act that killed those marines (and scores of civilians) and it was terrorists that did 911, not George W. Bush, no matter what shortcomings he had as President. You are the one, no matter the subject, that brings up the RCSD and attacks the union, the union for all schools in Monroe County, and attacks VP Harris. It seems to me historians agree that VPs never had much power in any administration, with the possible exception of Dick Cheney.
Listen to the youtube when the Marine sniper gives his account of the situation. He was there to witness a terrible situation that was created by Joe Biden. He had the bomber in his site for 6 minutes and could not get permission to pull the trigger. That’s politics in the front line. Joe Biden was warned, he was advised and he made the decision. A feckless leader who when the bodies came home had the audacity to look at his watch as, when is this over.
On the education….with no one responsible and no one to blame and no answers and continued failure…..what do we do, how do we solve this solvable delema? How about some advice from the failure by one and all to date? As Frazier would say, I’m listening.
Many issues are not being addressed here. First, there is talk of having a more eco- friendly footprint; conversely a comment that, in part, states “Making Fairport a more welcoming place is absolutely worth any cost we have to pay for that.” Matthew Brown is referencing the complications that come from increased traffic and other infrastructure issues being worth it in the end. How can supporters have it both ways? Eco-friendly and increased traffic are in conflict. As a village resident, the archaic infrastructure has personally been a nightmare for my family. Our property does not even have an adequate sewer hookup; rather the line goes into my neighbor’s yard where it leads to the main hookup. Several clean outs later, this was finally discovered, along with the clay pipes that were installed in 1925. This is still our reality, which I’m sure is the case in many homes. I, too, have a double lot and could easily take advantage of an ADU. What would that do to an already failing sewer system? Another issue is the history Fairport has of allowing, truly, slum lords to monopolize rental properties, particularly on the north side of the village. Not too long ago, the Cannery and properties adjacent were decrepit, unsafe, and uninhabitable in many instances. That was all owned by the same individual at the time. What safeguards would be put in place to prevent that? There are so many issues that must be resolved first. To me, the plan lacks the foresight necessary for a project like this. Do not build or add to what is already not maintained adequately. Improve infrastructure appropriately and timely to meet the needs of the residents who are already here and have been waiting.
Let’s just get it over with. Elect Kamala Harris. You know the last person to leave the room in which the Afghan withdrawal was decided. That killed, killed 13 of our finest. Based on that botched withdrawal I can’t even visualize a KH administration. Should she prevail, you won’t have to worry about slicing and dicing Fairport. It will come from the Federal level. We will level the playing field. Taking more in taxes and delivering those funds to….guess who? Lastly, James, your “white statement” as you referred to having to wear shades is racist, period. It’s that type of attitude that divides. That’s why I live in the south where your attitude is shunned by black and white. Semper Fi.
Yes, mistakes were made leaving Afghanistan and Harris was not the Commander in Chief.
Trump’s contribution was his peace with the Taliban in February 2020 which freed 5,000 Taliban, one of whom is now their President, closing all airports except one, and reducing troops to 2500. That does not absolve Biden of a better exit. VP Harris, a centrist, like every mainstream Democrat since 1968, according to most conservatives would turn America into Russia. Now since they embrace Putin, its Venezuela. I’m happy you found a well-off black person that you like. However, 75% to 80% of blacks in the South do not vote GOP. As for our finest, I represented more Veterans than you ever saw, from WW II Vets to 2017. At one time the USPS had 40% Vets and my union a membership of 340,000. They kept me in elected union office and supported my assignments to National Contract negotiations over a 44-year career. There has been a change in many Vets with the advent of the Rush Limbaugh’s’ and FOX playing on every base. For the uninitiated, this is what I did. I sent Dick Cheney $5 over 25 years ago to get on their mailing lists. I never sent another dime, yet I continue to get regular mailings and several daily emails. The hate never stops. Richard Viguerie and others got rich off this and it has even gotten worse. He loved Senator Joe McCarthy and George Wallace and embraced the language of the Birchers, which continues. Proper conservatives like George Will accused them of getting rich by commercializing discontent. I was in high school when Ronald Reagan was on TV nightly in 1965 stating if Medicare passed, we would wake up in Russia wondering where freedom went. Worker rights and civil rights organizations are commies or communist infiltrated, assertive women are radical feminists and homosexual activists, tax dollars used to teach children cannibalism, wife-swapping, murder of the elderly, and worse. This is actual language in GOP fundraising for decades because stoking hate pries dollars loose. I close with numbers now fact checked, since President Reagan $50 trillion form 90% of Americans has gone to the richest 10%. Since 1989, 51 million jobs have been created, 50 million during Democratic Administrations and 0ne million under the GOP. Always Faithful, the question is to who and what. Semper Fi.
I wish you could say something without the mention of D.T. Not my favorite guy, but biden and the lurking in the background K.H. are 100% to blame for the botched Afghan withdrawal. 13 dead. Biden made that decision on his own, AGAINST the advice of those who know a thing or two about military strategy. The Joint Chiefs were vocally opposed to the withdrawal as demanded by the Commander in Chief. Period. Biden owns it. Ever listen to Tyler Vargas the Marine sniper give his account of that disaster? He lost an arm and leg. Take the time and listen, listen. And Kamala bragged about being the last person in the room and agreed with Biden 100%. Believe it or not, they are proud of their failure. Now we will get a commander in chief (possibly) who knows nothing, zero, nade about the military. Is clueless about anything military. And she will sit at the helm? That is being looked upon by our enemies as hitting the lottery. So, as I thought a union person. How is the RCSD union doing with our kids education? I don’t know if you read the papers, or even care, but there is decades of failure in the system,…DECADES. And the single individual who has made a millionaire of himself is…Adam Urbanski. Yup, what a record, the worst school district in all of NYS. FACT. Those kids don’t stand a chance in getting a self supporting career. And don’t tell me that I lived in Fairport and what did I know. I lived on Minnesota street, went to Edison Technical and Industrial High School. The crown jewel of education in the middle of Rochester. that was systematically destroyed by….Democrats in charge of the education, the majors’ office, the Democrat politicians who could care less about the generational poverty. I could go on, but only allotted so much space. You need to take of those sunglasses and see whose in charge. Semper Fi. Yup Marine Corps. Served with white, black and everything in between. Thee most trusted individuals one can serve with.
Be careful….. the village of Victor was a quaint village in the 1960’s until many of the single family homes on Main Street were converted to rental units. Fairport needs to decide if it wants to look like the village of Victor.
Yes, it would be nice if housing in Fairport was affordable for young folks and seniors. But I don’t think this proposal is on the right track. It embarrasses me when people protest that they “don’t want those people” moving into their community. I think the issue is a preponderance of rentals with landlords who have no skin in the game. When you own something, you generally take pride in its upkeep. That said, could we not take step one and focus on downtown. There I would welcome a bank of row houses that would blend in with the village architecture. Let’s just keep it simple, affordable and comfortable. Take baby steps.
Leave Fairport alone. People move to Fairport because of its small town feeling. We love owner occupied single family homes. We take pride in our homes. Rental properties tend to get run down and ruin property values. Why do we need low income housing? There are plenty of other areas for low income housing. Why does it have to be in our back yards? Do you also want more crime in Fairport? I live in the village and have always felt safe there. What you propose to do will drive out the residents that have made Fairport their home for many years. People want to live in Fairport for the culture and small town feeling. You want to bring in more people of diversity but are not taking into consideration the residents that are already here. You want to take away what we residents value, and have for many years. You’ll be ruining everything that makes Fairport, Fairport! Ruin some other place, NOT Fairport! Is nothing sacred anymore? Did you ever take into consideration that we residents like the way it is NOW!
Ummm … You do realize, don’t you, that this rezoning initiative is led by Fairporters (village officials) who have been elected by a *majority* of other Fairporters to make decisions for the village? If you don’t like how things are being done, have you considered running for office yourself?
Or, better yet, leave for greener pastures.
Let me tell you how it works. If one goes to school, which includes vocational opportunities, you get to live where you want to. I believe that most people in Fairport worked their way up to that home in the village. That opportunity is there for ALL to embrace. This is still (for now) the land of opportunity, but it requires an education. Vocation you say? Yup, know what a good welder makes, or a plumber, HVAC, etc.?Familiar with the education crisis in the RCSD? Check out the graduation rate. Where do you think drop-outs end up? You can read about them in the paper and see them on the news. No one in Fairport had it handed to him-her. Then there is the fact that if you drive 5 minutes down the road you’re in the country, corn fields etc. You can build housing there and it can be connected with transit. A system that runs the route on time, often with dependability. Lastly, the governing, the politician will always have to be monitored. They don’t like to share in their ideas and would rather have you call after the papers have been signed. Then they can respond with, “we worked that out a long time ago, where were you?” Or,….or, you can have people leave the Fairport area. We did and never looked back.
Some people are not aware of redlining by Real Estate firms and Banks, which was made illegal in the late 1960’s. About a decade ago M&T Bank locally plea bargained to such a charge by not admitting guilt but paying a one million dollar fine. Many of these zoning laws seek to do the same thing. We have a Presidental candidate who got caught doing it at least twice in the 1970s’ with apartments for sale and rent. I saw it at that time and later with my Postal Worker Union members as some began to get mortgages in the inner ring suburbs, except Black postal workers making the same salaries. Because someone worked hard to achieve a home in Fairport does not give them the right to deny others from living on property they do not own or set zoning laws that keep others out.
It just goes against my belief in in America that is aspirational in doing better for all Americans.
James, let me tell you the fact, singularly, of the matter. I use to live in Fairport, close to the high school. We moved to the south. I’m sure you think you’re familiar with the “dumb” south. You know where the atmosphere is tonally different. Where the words excuse me, have a blessed day, hi and the like fill my day from ALL individuals. But let’s get to your belief or observation that is so darn negative. I live in a golf community. (don’t play the game but the lawn is taken care of be the club, LOL) Across the street lives an African American family. Great neighbors. You don’t want to express your attitude to them. Know why James? His response to opportunity is, it’s there has been there for me. He will tell you that it takes an education, academic or vocational, to get to where he is today. He will tell you, if you get off your butt and educate yourself you can live where you want. He has proved that, period. He has little use for whining, etc. His son is now in the Air Force and has received an education in HVAC. From his mouth…..opportunity is out there, period. When I get done with my career in the Air Force I can name my price and live where I want. In Rochester, NY the education system is pathetic, period. The RCSD will not allow the military to enter the system. Opportunity DENIED! And if you would like to inject a little of the NYS politics in my assessment, Democrats, the Democratic party rules. Yup, Democrats rule the city and now…Fairport. You made your bed and now you’re complaining about the mattress!! Semper Fi. (I bet I won’t hear from you)
Josh. You get to the core of what is happening in American society. Do we want a meritocracy or do we want Socialism? My observation is that those who who are not afraid to work hard want a meritocracy and those who want to slop from the public trough want Socialism.
With socialism the very few work to support the many. Eventually that balance gets out of sync and you run out of other people’s money to support the masses who simply sit back and hold out their hand. That’s called a “hand out”. Assisting those with a sound education and providing the opportunity to make their own way is called,”a hand up.” When the hand outs outnumber the hand ups, you get Venezuela. You can argue that till the cows come home. History has proven that to be the case. We’re on the cusp of the Venezuela journey, I know, I know, you’re going to do it differently, the right way. Semper Fi.
It is not a bumper sticker of meritocracy or socialism, but a matter of those denied meritocracy by exclusion. There is a demand for affordable housing in Fairport and that demand includes current residents. I welcome Bill Wynne’s comments and his recommendations for the housing plan, a worthwhile read.
The opposite of meritocracy is aristocracy. Andrew Carnegie, once America’s richest person, favored a large estate tax. He had to quit school when young and his father died. He did not believe he could have achieved in Europe what he did in America because we did not have a large aristocracy like Europe that inherited most of the wealth and property. It was okay to take care of one’s family, but he believed great inherited wealth by those that did not earn or create it would deny upward mobility to the talented poor and middle class. We have long been destroying meritocracy by calling estate or inheritance taxes the Death Tax. We now have more people who earned little wealth but have much control of wealth and power because they inherited it, the mediocre descendants. A true democratic meritocracy is not equal outcomes, but equal opportunity. It is not exclusionary where codes keep certain people out.
In response to your last post, you might notice that I agreed with Mr. Wynne commending the town and his input for further study for a comprehensive plan to meet the demand for housing while ensuring the zoning laws do not discriminate. Are you against meeting demand for housing, including by current Fairport residents, that does not discriminate?
Is it surprising to you to study a comprehensive ten-year plan with community input happens when Fairport has a democratic majority? You may notice that my posts have to do with discriminatory redlining and zoning that is part of history, and Fairport’s, and not totally eradicated. Your reliance on education via the military as the main avenue for the working poor and middle class to obtain the education they need is misplaced in my view. Does this mean that those that cannot qualify for the military due to disabilities or religious concerns are out of luck? Yes, education is key for a better life for many, but there are many where education does not come easy who are still honest and work hard.
Advocates for justice generally are not demanding equal outcomes, just equal opportunity. If you are opposed to such a concept, no rationalization will keep me from responding.
The Village of Fairport is to be commended for following through on its citizen based Comprehensive Plan in light of the housing crisis in the overall Greater Rochester community. In that regard, we mirror the entire country. And The Beacon should be recognized as well for highlighting this initiative which transcends the Village of Fairport in its importance and relevance.
However, the resistance of some residents to the Village’s code update as noted in the article is unfortunate. In fact the title of the article re: the word “code” I believe offers another possible interpretation based on comments such as ” having a whole lot more people”; “trigger an influx of new residents”; “they (the Village) want to create equity and diversity in the village and have attempted to change how we look racially”; and lastly, “could negatively affect the character and culture of the village”. These statements could be taken as “NIMBY-like code”; i.e. Not In My Back Yard”. Hopefully these perspectives will be modified as the update process and associated vetting continues.
In September, 2023 I submitted some recommendations to the Perinton Town Supervisor titled ‘Inclusionary Zoning Recommendations for the Town of Perinton: The Challenges and Opportunities’ Even though Supervisor Hanna indicated in December, 2023 that he would setup a meeting to discuss it with me and the Town Planning Director, in May of this year, he informed me that there would not be a meeting. At least two Town Board members are aware of this situation but as of yet there has been no movement that I am aware of. In the meantime, the housing crisis in Perinton, including the Village, persists in the face of its own 2021 Ten-Year Comprehensive Plan where, similar to the Village of Fairport’s Comprehensive Plan, objectives and suggestions are offered to alleviate the problem.
The following is a link to the document including my recommendations:
https://www.wewynneauthor.com/2024/08/22/inclusionary-zoning-recommendations-for-the-town-of-perinton-the-challenges-and-opportunities-september-2023/
My hope is that both the Village’s and the Town’s affordable and inclusionary housing plans and goals are fulfilled by 2031 when new Plans will no doubt be developed. It would be wonderful if the plans at that time build on the foundation of these current plans in terms of actual results.
In my view, white communities Zoning Laws are nothing but the continuation of Jim Crow under the cover of law. Zoning laws dividing land by residential and commercial should be about it. No one wants a factory outside their window. However, Mr. Childs statement that ” If the village government decides they want to be magnanimous and open up the village to all sorts of people, that’s fine, but they need to consult with the residents, and us residents need to decide if that’s what they want”, is really a statement of discrimination cloaked in the language of democracy. Its intent is to keep affordable housing out for those with lower incomes, especially people of color and other minorities such as the disabled. Residents should have no say over property they do not own, and even then, it is against the law to refuse to sell to anyone under the protections of the Civil Rights Act and Housing Discrimination law. Do not allow the housing to be built and it is all legal. These laws are also the key to the ongoing violation of Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, that keeps equal education opportunities segregated. In my view the justifications in this article are shameful and disgusting.
Do you think it’s fair to take away the way we residents like to live in our small community? That is what’s wrong in the world today . What about our rights? Because some of us have a different opinion than you, we are shameful? You have a lot of nerve to push your beliefs on other people that happen to love our little village. We chose to live here for our own reasons. If you want to live in a different culture, you are free to live there, but, don’t take away our way of living . Why would you even bring up Jim Crow? It’s not the way things are. Too many people will ruin Fairport!
Fairport is not a small community anymore and encourages growth, but only by increasing its population by adding those with higher median incomes. I agree with your last sentence, as I would not want to live there. It’s so white I’d have to wear shades.
Fairport is typical of so many suburban communities throughout America–our struggle to increase the supply of housing that is affordable to a broad cross-section of society runs headlong into the desire of longterm residents to maintain the status quo. Great case study of the challenge!
The open border is going to have a significant effect on the housing crunch. But “we” have already decided that the taxpayer should take care of that problem with down payments. So the border is not a problem? I believe the old hotel in Rochester is being remodeled. That’s for the, you know, immigrants. I recall being an immigrant and receiving….zero, nade, nothing. Housing was our problem. That said, we didn’t come here for the free stuff, we came here for the opportunity. We embraced that opportunity and have fully assimilated. (sorry bad word) We have paid it forward and continue to do so on our dime and effort. I believe that immigration was meant to be opportunity based and not handout based.
I happen to agree. Immigrants who came here to work could have background checks from where they came from. It’s done all the time. HB guest worker authorization and taking any job available, including farm labor, could be a condition of remaining until the asylum claim is adjudicated. Volunteering for military service could also be an option, which has always been a path to legal status and often citizenship. Turn down a job and that ends any claim for asylum and results in deportation. Even though immigrants pay many billions more than are used in taxes, this would be a bigger plus for taxpayers. We have problems filling retail jobs, and the immigration problem is hurting farmers need for labor, all while contributing to higher food costs. This would require some action from Congress, but we already do background on immigrants who go to college here or are hired under the HB Guestworker programs.