Residents weighed in on the future of state Route 96 in Perinton as town officials craft a new sub-area plan for the commercial corridor.
The study area encompasses Route 96 between Moseley and Garnsey roads, a corridor dominated by standalone office buildings and office parks. The workshop was a first step in creating a long-term vision for the corridor, said Jenn Townsend, Perinton town supervisor.
Public engagement is key to that process and resident input was submitted in surveys, sticky notes and conversations at an Aug. 10 open house at WillowBrook Office Park. Popular future priorities, by attendee vote, included implementing traffic calming, protecting open space and improving the overall aesthetic of the roughly 1.5-mile stretch.
“We need
to shape how we want our growth to look,” Townsend said. “We want the housing, we want the growth, but we need it to look right, and we need it to be scaled appropriately. The only way to do that is through planning.”
Public comments, written on sticky notes on boards describing the goals of the open house and sub-area plan, called for protecting open space, remodeling vacant office buildings and improving the intersection with Woodcliff Drive.
The sub-area plan isn’t meant to limit development but to clear up uncertainty for developers by defining what projects the community wants. Those definitions matter in what Townsend said was a primary growth area for the town. Building and redevelopment along the state route is a better fit than the town’s farmland or green spaces, she said. Instead, the town wants to direct developers to older office stock with existing parking lots along a main arterial.
“All those spots are ripe for redevelopment and that’s what we really want to focus on,” Townsend said.
Once the town has completed its plan for the corridor, Townsend wants to pitch the state on plans to add traffic calming measures to the state route and bring street trees, sidewalks, bike lanes and other amenities. The amount of traffic coming through the Route 96 corridor is less than goes through the village of Fairport on a daily basis.
“The governor’s asked for more housing but we now need the streets to be designed to have safe housing for people to be able to walk and enjoy that housing,” Townsend said.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Perinton residents shape future of Route 96 corridor | Exclusive
