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The following article ran in the January 24, 2001, issue of the Daily Messenger and is reprinted here with permission.

Drumlins issue unresolved

Victor town officials must decide whether the proposed housing development is similar to the land's intended use.

By KRIS DREESSEN
Messenger Post Staff

VICTOR - A developers controversial plan to build upscale townhomes off Rawson Road is boiling down to a key issue: Is the project compatible with the intended use of the land?

Victor Town Board rezoned the nearly 50 acres of land where The Pioneer Corp. wants to build for apartments in the 1980s, with certain conditions about what rental units could be built. Now, the Victor officials will have to decide whether Pioneer's plans to build 154 rental townhomes fit in before Pioneer can continue.

Planning Board members last night decided to have the Town Board or Zoning Board of Appeals resolve the issue. Town attorney Jeffrey Morris said he will advise on which of the two boards should decide.

Pioneer's proposal will be rejected if the town determines Parkwood at the Drumlins doesn't match the intended use, said Christie Hart, Planning Board chairman.

Other issues need to be resolved regarding the project, Hart said, though he declined to be specific.

"Now we need to move forward and get some of these significant issues resolved," before getting too far 'into the review of Parkwood, Hart said.

More than 60 people from the Drumlins Concerned Citizens resident group and other residents crowded Town Hall for the meeting.

Some people booed and shouted out in apparent frustration when Hart refused to answer a question from the group's attorney that he said concerned those unresolved, significant issues.

Pioneer presented new, revised plans for the complex at the meeting. The Cortland-based developer still wants to build 154 units on nearly 50 acres in the Drumlins subdivision. The complex would be located between two tracts of single-family homes. About 55 privately owned townhomes are also in the subdivision. Plans now call for a total of 20 buildings of brick and siding, including a clubhouse and pool. Additional landscaping, open space and elevations have been added.

Members of Victor's architectural review board said last night that Pioneer's basic building design fits in with what the town's looking for.

"We've worked on this project for a year and a half," and redesigned the project to address environmental and other concerns of the town and residents, said Chris Calabro, who owns Pioneer with Dana Hoffmann.

Drumlins Concerned Citizens' main argument in opposition is that Parkwood's rental units are not saleable townhomes, as was originally planned for the land. The size and number of buildings would not blend in with existing residences, and would significantly change the existing landscape.

"It boils down to where we were before, that no one is against development," said group member Marsha Senges. "People move there (the Drumlins) for a special reason, for a special environment."

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