An affordable housing proposal cleared a step forward Wednesday when the Canandaigua Planning Commission approved dividing a Saltonstall Street property to create a new building lot facing Foster Street.
The subdivision at 65 Saltonstall Street was the most substantial action during a roughly 21-minute meeting Nov. 4. Commissioners also approved changes to a downtown pottery studio’s rear renovation and signs for three businesses. All five applications passed 6-0.
Habitat plans another Foster Street home
Rich Smith, regional housing counseling manager for Greater Rochester Habitat for Humanity, said the organization intends to build affordable housing on the new lot.
The proposal follows the approach Habitat used at 70 Foster Street, two doors away. Smith told commissioners that project had worked out well and that the organization closed on the house Monday.
City staff said the zoning board had already approved relief for the proposed lot’s slightly undersized dimensions. The Planning Commission’s role Wednesday was to authorize the subdivision.
Commissioners discussed whether to grant final approval before receiving the completed survey map. Staff said the application included a sketch with fairly accurate dimensions and asked whether another appearance would provide much benefit.
Chairman James Hitchcock supported proceeding without bringing the application back for another meeting.
“I don’t see — I think we could probably skip that step and go right to final approval,” Hitchcock said.
No one spoke during the public hearing.
Before approving the subdivision, commissioners classified it as a Type II action under the state environmental review process, requiring no further environmental review.
The approval creates a lot for the proposed home; the application before commissioners was for the subdivision rather than a detailed house design.
Pottery renovation gets revised layout
At Maci Roo Pottery, 97 South Main Street, commissioners approved revisions to a rear renovation authorized in September.
The revised plan places both exterior stairways along the north side of the building, with approximately 24 inches between the stairs and the adjacent building. The arrangement would clear access for deliveries near the pottery business’s kiln room and storage addition.
Patio doors serving apartments on the second and third floors would move closer to the stairs, and a separate rear door would be removed.
A commissioner asked whether changing the doors and windows would eliminate a means of escape from any bedrooms. The owner said another exit route remained through stairs leading toward the front of the building.
The owner also said the previously proposed materials would remain unchanged. Commissioners approved the modifications unanimously.
Sign lighting draws questions
The longest discussion among the sign applications concerned Lilac Optometry at 280 South Main Street.
Applicant Gabrielle Murphy described a double-sided carved sign mounted perpendicular to the road, 10 feet above the sidewalk. Existing garden lighting would be redirected toward it.
- Five takeaways from Canandaigua’s budget workshop: Higher bills, steady fire staffing and costly repairs ahead
- Canandaigua to review Habitat lot split, pottery renovations and business signs
- Canandaigua fire staffing concerns take focus ahead of budget talks
- Canandaigua approves variances for Habitat home lot on Foster Street
Murphy initially said the lighting would operate from dusk to dawn because that was the existing garden-light timer’s schedule. Questions followed about nearby residences and the need for overnight illumination when the practice expected to close by 6 p.m.
Murphy said the sign lighting could be placed on a separate timer if commissioners preferred. The commission approved the application without including a lighting cutoff in its motion.
Murphy said the practice would occupy the main house, fabricate its own lenses and use upstairs meeting rooms.
Commissioners also approved two wall signs at 32 North Main Street.
Retina Associates’ sign will sit above a canopy on the west side of the former gymnasium space near Greig Terrace. Representative Don Lasher said the higher placement would improve visibility from the parking lot and street. The sign will use wall-mounted acrylic letters without lighting behind them.
Refresh Smoothies received approval for a wall sign on the building’s south side near Atwater Place, serving its space in the lower level of the former post office.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.