PUBLIC MEETING for BROOKS LANDING II Review of the Tuesday, March 6, 2012 meeting at St. Monica Church

The March 6, 2012 meeting at St. Monica Church reviewed the latest plans for the Brooks Landing Phase II Public Improvement Project - along South Plymouth Ave., from Brooks Ave. to Elmwood Ave. At this meeting the Brooks Landing Mixed-Use Development Project, an 11-story building with restaurant and 10 stories of student housing was aldo reviewed along with the 1-story credit union building with drive-through accessat the south east corner of Genesee street and South Plymouth Avenue.

I had to leave the meeting a little early, so if I missed something please add it.

I think the changes that concern residents fall into 4 categories:

Change in traffic flow the Brooks Landing project has and will caused.
Parking issues that the highrise student housing will generate.
The aesthetics impact the new buildings and park modifications will cause.
What public uses and accommodations will result from the coming changes.

City planners and contractor representatives presented the latest plans and the public asked questions and provided input.

The latest plans for the traffic flow through the Park and Staybridge Suites parking area were first reviewed. As can be seen in this first image taken from the City website, the Brooks Landing development blocked the original South Plymouth route along the Genesee River south to Elmwood. Plymouth was diverted to the Genesee and Brooks intersection so that traffic could turn onto and off of Genesee for connection to Elmwood via Genesee. An easement through the Staybridge parking lot was obtained to connect Plymouth and Genesee with the remnant of South Plymouth that still went through the Park to satisfy complaints from residents and commuters who used South Plymouth to commute.

South Plymouth is divided as it turns up to the Genesee and Brooks intersection. That prevents southbound traffic on Plymouth from making left tuns into the easement through the parking lot forcing traffic to take Genesee south. Once on Genesee is is difficult to turn left into the Staybridge parking lot to make use of the easement to the remnant of Plymouth going through the park. Most of the traffic going through the easement is northbound because it can take an easy right onto Plymouth from the north exit of the Staybridge parking lot.

The plan at the last review had been to to take out several large trees in the Park on the south side of the Staybridge parking lot to provide a gentle curve and dip down to the old section of Plymouth in the Park. That plan has been changed because of objections of neighbors and authorities who manage the changes to park lands. The plan now is to take a sharp turn and dip down to the old road within the Staybridge property and to make the traffic one way south.

South of the Staybridge property the one way traffic south connects to the two-way section of the old road at a turn around in the middle of the park.

Parking spaces will be provided for Park visitors on both sides of the two-way section of the Park road.

New canal corridor trails will be developed and tree branches and brush removed to provide more scenic views of the river. A new overlook will be developed.

One possible problem that was discussed was that no public restrooms are provided in the Park north of Elmwood. They expect everyone to to trek over to use the restrooms at the swimming pool South of Elmwood.

Going back to the Brooks Landing development, the plan below shows the ground level buildings and the plublic space that will be present between the new resturant and South Plymouth.

Several options for the public area were discussed. Three are shown below.

The third alternative with an amphitheater seating area seams the favored one. There would be a stage section in the circle in the plaza. Again, while public events are planned for this area there will be no restroom facilities provided for the public. The next image show more detail of the plaza, amphitheater and restaurant layout.

The next two elevations show how the student housing tower sits above the restaurant.

While there are questions about the Esthetics of this tower blocking much of the view of the river and U fo R from the Genesee and brooks area the main concern seemed to be relative to student parking spaces provided. The next following parking lot sketch show all the parking that will be present in the area. The new parking spaces that are being developed is along to old canal bed between South Plymouth Avenue and Barton Street. If my memory serves me right, 90 some odd spaces would be available for students in the tower which would house 160 or so students.

There is additional space along the canal bed to develop more spaces. It was mentioned that after work hours, spaces in the existing parking lot behind the commercial and office building on the north-east corner of Genesee and Plymouth will be available for restaurant patrons.

The following images are renderings of what the new Student Housing Tower, Restaurant and Credid Union buildings will look like.

The City of Rochester site also has some info at: http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589950104

In particular these links are interesting there:

The east and west elevations in particular are interesting because they show how this new tower dwarfs the Staybridge Suites.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on March 13, 2012 at 1:53am

John,

Suberb report!

I think whichever option they decide on will be OK, but if they do the amphitheater, there must be public restrooms. It is a great site as I remember a few years ago the RPO mini-version had a concert there which I attended with Bill Nichthauser. It was wonderful, so this is an option that should be seriously considered. But space is going to be considerably cut. Not much room left for people to sit to see a concert, or whatever. And who would sponsor a concert there? The grand stair may be the best idea.

I think the student parking will be addressed by the garage; it should not be a problem. Many students do not bring cars.

In any case, John, thanks for a great job in bringing us this news, for those who could not attend. Very interesting.

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Permalink Reply by John Boutet on March 13, 2012 at 2:35am

What garage are you referring Mark? Do you mean the parking lot?

One issue I forgot to mention about parking on the north side of Plymouth is the risk involved with J-walking across Plymouth without going up to the crosswalk at the corner. It is a about a 75 foot walk up to the crosswalk and back down again from the entrance of the parking lot. Most pedestrians will cut across and with the curve that is a danger.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on March 13, 2012 at 3:34am

I mis-read your message about 90 parking spaces available for students. I thought they were going to have a parking garage underneath. Sorry about that! You said they were on-street.

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Permalink Reply by John Boutet on March 13, 2012 at 3:44am

The parking lot being developed for the students is between Barton Street and Plymouth Avenue as showing in the Parking Lot Sketch.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on March 13, 2012 at 3:51am

If you look at the plans, they say "student housing above parking and restaraunt."

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Permalink Reply by John Boutet on March 13, 2012 at 3:59am

Yes there are 9 parking spaces under the tower as can also be seen in that same Parking Lot Sketch. Most are along the old canal bed though. 86 of them from what the sketch says.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on March 13, 2012 at 4:13am

Good catch. Did not know that.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on March 13, 2012 at 2:52am

Some may disagree, but the economic development this will bring is very good. The aesthetic impact is less important (not really.) Do you see it from your house? And I think the plan is good. There will be development along the river, in any case. This is of huge value to our neighborhood, in my opinion. Hopefully, housing values will go up in the neighborhood. I understand this is a volatile issue, but I think worthwhile. I want this to be a vital, growing, and welcoming neighborhood. This is a big opportunity for us. I also hope in the future the area around the old camps will turn into parks, and the brownfield areas near them will be someday remediated. But for now, let's take what we can get, and welcome this new development.

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Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on March 13, 2012 at 2:05pm

Thanks for the detailed report John!!

Was there any discussion about the intersection of Genesee/Brooks?? Right now, that intersection seems not quite wide enough. Vehicles traveling NORTH bond on Genesee who stop at the light in the LEFT lane (i.e.) to turn left onto Brooks are often very close to getting 'clipped' by vehicles turning Right off of Brooks and/or Left off of Plymouth. My sense is that increased traffic is going to make that even more difficult because the overall intersection already doesn't allow enough space for drivers to make their turns.

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Permalink Reply by John Boutet on March 13, 2012 at 6:43pm

I had to leave a bit early and did not hear all the comments. Hopefully those who stayed to the end can fill us in.

I agree there are problems with the intersection as it stands. Every time I proceed north across the intersection I find myself crowding the oncoming lane on Genesee to avoid parked cars on the east side of Genesee. I think they need to eliminate a few of the on-street parking spaces near the corner.

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Permalink Reply by Joan Roby-Davison on March 14, 2012 at 7:30am

John:

You did a great job capturing all of this. The city will be doing improvements to Genesee Valley Park thanks to a grant secured by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, and the community advisory group will continue to work with a city team on the park improvements.

The Planning Commission approved the text amendment that will allow up to two drive through lanes as accessory to a STAFFED financial institution only. (Please note: this can't be switched to drive through in that area for a fast food restaurant).

Planning commission also approved the revised parking plan, but with some conditions related to the grading and elevation (I don't have the exact language, but the message I got is that it can't be more than two feet above the adjacent lots).

The Zoning Board will be meeting tomorrow on the variances needed. The city website has more information.

One point that still remains a concern is the park road. When South Plymouth was severed by the project, assurances were given to the PLEX neighborhood that two-way access through the park would be retained. The state has reduced that to a one-way, south bound, which assures access into the park from the north. It eliminates the possible use of the park road as a short-cut into the hotel and future restaurant.

While some at the meeting suggested abandoning the road, PLEX residents (with good cause) would have serious objections to the loss of access to the park.

The architect has been making changes to the plan to reflect concerns raised at the September and March meetings, including the windows on the credit union building and finishes on the 11-story building. The architect has also recommended adding bicycle storage on site (next to the boat storage area, below the restaurant) to accommodate student bikes securely. And traffic studies will continue to monitor the intersection of Brooks & Genesee - I agree with some of the comments about the parked cars there on the East Side - I try to park away from the intersection so that I feel safer.

Thanks for taking the notes and adding in all of the photos!