Cloverwood Senior Living Expansion

About a year and a half ago, I was chatting with an elderly man whom I was sharing a table with at the Village Bakery. Joe and his wife lived in Pittsford almost their whole lives. He owned a business, home, and retail property here. But he’s no longer living in Pittsford. They needed to downsize and had to leave because there are very few low-maintenance, modest-sized homes in town.

Joe still works out at his old Y and stops into the bakery for morning coffee. But we lost Joe and his wife, the history they bring, and the contributions they can still make. Joe is one example of the growing elderly population in our town. How do we keep the Joes of Pittsford here? 

The answer must include multiple strategies -- no one solution will fit for all residents. One of the strategies is to support the kind of independent living options offered by Cloverwood Senior Living and The Highlands. 

Joe was one of the people I thought of when casting my vote at the August 21, 2018, Town Board meeting in support of changing the zoning in the Planned Unit Development at Jefferson Road and Clover Road. The changes that the Town Board unanimously approved will allow Cloverwood Senior Living to expand its independent living housing by adding approximately 115 one- and two-bedroom apartments. 

Here are a few of the considerations that led me to vote in support of this project:

• Pittsford, like the nation, has an aging population. Currently approximately 23% of our residents are 62+ years old and almost 10% are 75+ years. These residents are vital members of our community. As they look to downsize, we must have housing available that meets their needs. The majority of current residents at Cloverwood come from Pittsford and Brighton, indicating that they are meeting needs of our current residents who are downsizing.
• Prior to the vote, Cloverwood sought feedback from neighbors, the Town Board, the Planning Board, and the Design Review & Historic Preservation Board. As a result of the feedback, they made substantive changes to the plans, including decreasing the number of units, setting the building further back from Clover Road, lowering the elevation of the northwest wing, adding landing pads for fire and emergency medical response, and eliminating from the plans a smaller building that would have been next to the historic yellow house that neighbors the property. I appreciated their openness to feedback and willingness to make substantial changes to their plans.
• While traffic at that intersection is an ongoing concern, the commute patterns of a senior living development such as this tend to have little impact on traffic, especially during commute hours. Senior residents tend to drive during off-hours and Cloverwood offers a shuttle service for its residents. With both entrances having traffic signals, the impact of additional residential traffic is minimized.
• Concerns about the massing of the building were thoroughly addressed with a presentation of how the building will appear from nine different angles, in both the summer when there is foliage and in the winter. The photos indicated that the building will not dwarf the parcel or neighboring buildings and, in my assessment, is an aesthetic improvement over the current Barn Bazaar structure.
• The project will solidify the area as a residential gateway to Pittsford, better reflecting the character of the town. 

The changes to the Planned Unit Development zoning are only the beginning of the design process. The project will still have to go through formal Planning Board and Design Review & Historic Preservation Board approval. Those reviews are all open to the public and public comments will be considered as the boards make their approval decisions. 

If you would like to go over the current concept plan, view the presentation that was made to the Town Board, or talk about any aspect of the project, my door is always open. Feel free to contact me at stownsend@townofpittsford.org or (585) 690-9315. I'm happy to get together and talk through the project with you.