City Newspaper Archives - 7/2007
DEVELOPMENT: The Highland ruling sets a bad precedent
Published on Jul 10, 2007
I would like to express my disappointment with City Planning Commission members. On June 19, they unanimously approved a parking garage with 340-plus spaces, to be located at 885 South Avenue and to be used exclusively by Highland Hospital employees.
The land on which this garage will be constructed has the most restrictive residential zoning, and with the exception of a church, it is entirely surrounded by residential properties. The Planning Commission ignored the zoning laws and gave permission to the hospital to proceed with the garage, despite enormous opposition from the Landmark Society and the residents of the Ellwanger-Barry and South Wedge neighborhoods.
These were the major reasons the garage was opposed: the undesirable shadow that the massive garage will cast on homes across the street and adjacent to the garage, the proximity of the garage to property lines (as close as 15 feet), the proximity of the garage to a pre-school and School 12 (approximately 1/3 of a mile away), the dramatic increase in traffic to the neighborhood, and the negative change to the character of our neighborhood, which we are so proud of and have worked so hard to improve.
The Planning Commission has set an irreversible precedent with this ruling. I bet if this garage was proposed in the neighborhood of one of the commission members, it wouldn't have gotten approval.
Catherine Blaschek, South Avenue, Rochester
