The Canandaigua Zoning Board of Appeals approved two redevelopment proposals Wednesday night, granting parking and setback relief for a mixed-use project on South Main Street and allowing plans for a private event center on Gorham Street to move forward.
Both projects still have additional review ahead. The South Main Street development will return to the Planning Commission for site-plan review, while the proposed event center will require a special use permit before it can operate.
The most detailed discussion centered on 267 South Main St., where 267 South Main Associates LLC is modifying a mixed-use project first approved several years ago on the former gas station property at the corner of South Main and Saltonstall streets.
The developer has since acquired additional property at 19 Saltonstall St., allowing the project site to extend south toward Foster Street and creating another access point.
Those changes increase the amount of on-site parking, but they also required two new variances.
The first allows the parking lot to come within five feet of a neighboring residential district instead of the 10-foot buffer required by city code. The second allows 45 parking spaces where the zoning ordinance would otherwise require 145.
Project representatives told the board the five-foot buffer would include a six-foot board-on-board privacy fence along with landscaping. Curbs would separate the parking area from the buffer and help contain drainage on the site.
Property owner Fred Rinaldi also offered to replace an existing chain-link section of the neighboring property’s fence with matching board-on-board fencing at his expense if the property owner wants it.
The board received written opposition from an adjacent property owner who objected to parking being located within five feet of his property.
Board members nevertheless concluded that the proposed fence and landscaping would provide meaningful separation and noted that the five-foot buffer is similar to what the board previously approved for an earlier version of the development.
The buffer variance was approved unanimously.
Project remains far below required parking count
The larger numerical variance involved parking.
The revised project requires 145 spaces under city zoning calculations but will provide about 45. An earlier version of the project received approval for 25 spaces where 115 were required, meaning the new proposal actually adds significant parking while the required number has also increased because of changes to the planned tenant mix.
Representatives said approximately 87 of the required spaces are associated with restaurant uses and another 58 with office space.
That distinction became important during the board’s discussion because those uses won’t necessarily peak at the same times. Office parking would be heaviest during weekdays, while the project’s fine-dining restaurant is expected to be busiest in the evening.
Other tenants are expected to include breakfast, lunch and specialty retail businesses, further spreading parking demand throughout the day.
Board members also pointed to nearby municipal parking, particularly an underused public lot within walking distance of the site.
The property sits immediately south of Canandaigua’s central business district, where businesses aren’t required to provide their own parking. Board members said the site’s proximity to downtown made the variance less concerning than it might be farther from the commercial core.
They also questioned what the property would look like if 145 parking spaces actually had to be constructed, noting that doing so would require a much smaller building or dramatically more pavement.
The parking variance was also approved unanimously.
The Planning Commission will continue reviewing drainage, landscaping, lighting and other site-plan details. Project representatives said parking-lot lighting near residential properties would be shielded and directed back into the site, with lighting levels reduced after businesses close.
Gorham Street event center gets zoning relief
The board also unanimously approved three variances for a proposed private event center at 250 Gorham St.
Josh and Kari Kuhn are proposing to reuse an existing commercial building on a roughly 0.6-acre parcel located in a residential zoning district.
City code allows a private event center through a special use permit, but the rules were written around a much different type of property.
The ordinance calls for at least 10 acres with 100-foot setbacks, requires the use to appear as a single-family residence and requires parking to be screened from public view.
None of those standards fit the Gorham Street property.
The building has always had a commercial appearance and has previously housed several nonresidential uses, including a gym and wellness-related operations. City staff said multiple use variances have been issued for the property over roughly the past three decades because of its unusual location in a residential district.
The existing approximately 40-space parking lot will remain unchanged, and representatives said there are no plans to convert the property’s large grassy area into additional parking.
A neighboring Gibson Street resident joined the meeting remotely and asked whether the development would expand parking toward nearby homes.
Project representatives said it would not.
City staff stressed that Wednesday’s action only addressed the existing physical conditions of the property. Questions about traffic, hours of operation and how the event center will actually function will be considered by the Planning Commission during the special use permit process.
Board members said the requested variances are mathematically substantial — particularly the difference between 0.6 acres and the 10-acre requirement — but produce little practical physical change because the building and parking lot already exist.
Members also noted that requiring the building to look like a single-family residence would make little sense for a structure that was never designed or used as a home.
The board unanimously approved all three variances.
The project will now move to the Planning Commission, where the Kuhns are expected to provide more detailed information about operations and seek the special use permit required for the event center.
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