Current land use decisions will determine the
Village's future character and quality of life. Evaluation of land
use patterns is essential for planning the future. The following
section examines the existing land use, land use regulations and
future land use projections for the Village of Pittsford.
Source: Village
of Pittsford & peter j. smith & company, inc.
Agricultural
The Village of Pittsford has agricultural land
that comprises 46.2 acres of its land area. The agricultural land
is located in the northeastern section of the Village and occupies
approximately 12.5% of the total acreage. This area, known as
the Pittsford Farms, is the only area within the Village that
is being used for agricultural purposes, and has a significant
impact on the Village's character. The Town of Pittsford has purchased
the development rights to this 200-acre working farm and six other
farms throughout the Town to protect its open space from further
mass development.
Residential
In the Village of Pittsford, a large portion
of the land is designated as residential. A total of 54.6% of
the total land area is being used for residential purposes; most
of these areas consist of one and two family homes with several
multifamily units interspersed in residential neighborhoods. Houses
located around the Central Business District (CBD) and Erie Canal
are typically older homes constructed in the early 19th and 20th
centuries. These older homes contribute to the historic character
of the Village and are a significant asset. Larger homes are scattered
throughout the Village. Although most rental properties are well
maintained a few are neglected and detract from the appearance
and quality of the surrounding area.
Vacant
Vacant land accounts for 5.6% of the designate
land uses in the Village of Pittsford. Most of this vacant land
is located in the northwest corner next to the Department of Public
Works site. Additionally, there are a few smaller parcels dispersed
throughout the Village on Elm Street and between Rand Place and
Eastview Terrace.
Commercial
Commercial structures are concentrated in the
three areas of the Village: the Central Business District (CBD)
centered around the intersection of Monroe Avenue, Main Street
and State Street and along the Canal on Schoen Place and Northfield
Common. Commercial uses account for 11.3% of the current land
uses in the Village.
Many of the buildings located along Schoen Place
originally housed agricultural processing and wholesaling businesses.
Suburbanization changes in agriculture and transportation since
1950 led to the redevelopment of Schoen Place for clothing stores,
coffee houses and other business services.
There are also commercial uses located along
the northern section of State Route 96 (North Main Street). These
consist of a hotel, restaurants and gas station on the west and
a dairy farm on the east. The former Pickle Factory is located
in the northern corner of the Village on Grove Street and has
been renovated as office spaces.
Within the business community, there is a perception
that the current zoning regulations and their interpretation impede
new business development.
Recreation/Entertainment
Recreation and entertainment land uses in the
Village of Pittsford comprise approximately 1.2% of the Village's
land uses. The Port of Pittsford Park, the Canal, little league
fields, St. Louis playground, Spiegel Community Center fields,
Sutherland High School fields, Department of Public Works property
and the Auburn Trail are all classified as recreation and entertainment
uses in the Village.
Community Service
Community services include those public and
semi-public uses within a municipality that provide essential
services to its residents. The Pittsford Sutherland High School,
Department of Public Works and the Spiegel Community Center account
for a large portion of the land used for community service. The
Town Hall and Village Hall both located on Main Street, the library
on State Street, the Pittsford Fire Department Station One on
Monroe Avenue and several churches make up the total 11.9% of
community service land use.
Industrial
There currently are no industrial uses designated
in the Village of Pittsford. A portion of the Monoco Oil complex
was located in the northwest corner of the Village on Monroe Avenue,
however this company closed last year and currently this land
is now vacant and is an important development opportunity for
the Village and Town (Reference 3.1.1).
Public Service
Approximately 3.1% of the current land uses
in the Village are designated as public services. These include
uses such as utilities, railroads and other services that lend
to the quality of life in a community. The railroad right of way
that runs east-west in the northern portion of Pittsford and a
small portion of the utility right of way in the southwest corner
of the Village are the only public service land uses.
Wild/Forest
There are no wild/forest land uses designated within the Village
of Pittsford. Lomb Woods is not specifically classified as an
assessment area as the property is located on school grounds,
and is included in the "Community Service" category.
Figure 7-1
Existing Land Use
Village of Pittsford
There is a perception in the Village of Pittsford
that the zoning ordinances are cumbersome and sometimes not enforced.
This impacts the quality of services and facilities for homeowners,
businesses and other property owners in Pittsford. Using the zoning
ordinances, and perhaps more stringent property maintenance codes,
these issues and other related land use issues could be addressed.
As might be expected, the majority of the Village
is zoned for residential (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4) uses. R-1 is largely
concentrated in the southwestern and northeastern corners while
R-2 is positioned in the southeastern corner and northern portion
of the Village. R-3 is located around Boughton Avenue and R-4
is positioned at North Main Street and the Erie Canal. The residential
zoning districts in Pittsford are designed to protect the single-family
residences and residential character of the Village. To that end,
the Multiple Residence Districts (MR) applies only upon application
for a specific proposal. The Business Districts (B-1, B-2, B-3)
are primarily clustered around the Erie Canal that runs through
the Village with the Canal Waterfront Business District (B-4)
located at Schoen Place and the Special Historic Business District
(B-1A) concentrated at the intersection of Monroe Avenue (State
Rte. 31) and Main Street (State Rte. 96). The Light Industrial
(M-1) and Special Mixed Use Districts (M-2) are located in the
northeastern corner of the Village.
Residential Districts
The principal uses outlined in the Zoning Ordinance
for Residential Districts are one-family detached dwellings and
buildings or premises used for noncommercial horticultural or
gardening purposes. R-4 also includes offices for administrative,
professional or executive uses.
All of the Residential Districts contain special
exception uses; these include educational or religious buildings,
public or parochial schools, libraries and philanthropic institutions,
essential services buildings and structures for public services
excluding storage yards, warehouses or garages. In addition to
the aforementioned special exception uses, R-2, R-3 and R-4 include
administrative municipal buildings, hospitals and conversion of
existing single units into two units.
Multiple Residence Districts apply only upon
application for a specific proposal in compliance with the normal
rezoning procedures. Uses permitted include apartment houses,
multiple dwellings, dwelling groups, condominiums and cooperatives
along with accessory uses for exclusive use of the residents of
the development. Once site plan approval has been granted, customary
home occupations, single-family dwellings and open recreation
uses such as parks, playgrounds, swimming and tennis clubs for
the exclusive use of the development, are uses that would be allowed.
Business Districts
Within the Business District some of the primary
uses for B-1 are defined as one-family detached dwellings, buildings
or premises used for noncommercial horticulture or gardening purposes,
antique stores, appliance stores, bakeries, banks, drugstores,
department stores, dry cleaning and laundry-collection stations,
gasoline filling stations, hardware stores, supermarkets and accessory
uses. Uses permitted in the B-2 District are those described in
B-1 as well as dry-cleaning plants, newspaper publishing plants,
animal hospitals and public eating and drinking establishments.
Use regulations for B-3 Districts contain buildings to be used
for business and professional offices, research offices and laboratories,
transformer stations and similar uses approved by the Planning
Board.
Some of the uses prohibited under B-1 regulations
are dry-cleaning plants, bowling alleys, public eating and drinking
establishments, open stands or markets, public garages, drive-in
and carry-out food and beverage businesses, amusement centers
and junkyards. Prohibited uses for the B-2 District consist of
drive-in and carry-out food and beverage businesses, bottling
plants, used car lots, junkyards and businesses deemed objectionable
by way of odor, dust, smoke and noise. For businesses located
in the B-3 District prohibited uses are those that produce odor,
dust, smoke or noise, outside storage of material and laboratories
employed in the area of explosives.
Canal Waterfront Business District
The B-4 District is intended to recognize the
distinctive historic character of the Schoen Place/Canal Waterfront
District. The objective of this District is to:
- Preserve and employ adaptive reuse
of the District's historic structures
- Preserve the canal waterfront and
adjacent natural areas for recreational use
The uses permitted in the B-4 District are one
family detached dwellings and multiple dwellings or apartments,
animal hospitals, agriculture or agriculture related uses, antique
stores, appliance stores, auto accessories, radio and television,
artists' studios, art stores, restaurants, banks, beauty shops
drugstores, supermarkets, flour mills, farm markets and fitness
facilities.
Certain uses are not permitted in the B-4 District,
in addition, uses that produce odor, dust, smoke or noise, gasoline
filling stations and dispensing filling stations are not allowed.
Historic Business District
The purpose of establishing the Historic Business
District is to retain and enhance the historic retail business
center located at the four corners of South Main Street/State
Street and Monroe Avenue. Goals of the District include:
- Maintain and enhance the designated
area as a place for retail business and services
- Foster civic pride and afford economic
advantages by preserving and utilizing the existing historic
buildings
- Work with businesses, civic groups and involved
organizations to address the potential problems of the district
such as parking and traffic
The uses of the Historic Business District (B-1A)
are all those allowed in B-1 excluding gasoline filling stations.
Prohibited uses are all those allowed in B-1 and its accessory
uses. Single-family dwelling units, offices, businesses and public
uses are limited to full story floors above the ground floor.
Light Industrial District
Uses permitted in the M-1 District are all those
allowed to B-2 excluding public eating and drinking establishments
and those included in B-3 along with cold storage locker plants,
builders' supply, flour and grain mills, assembly of surgical
supplies and manufacture of toys, household utensils, jewelry,
office supplies or machines and accessory uses.
Certain uses are not permitted in the M-1District
such as carpet cleaning, bowling alleys and pool halls, open stands,
servicing of motor vehicles, open storage of motor fuel or oil,
junkyards and used car lots.
Mixed Use District
The M-2 District is intended to acknowledge
the historic value of the Erie Canal by enhancing the scenic beauty
of lands bordering the Erie Canal and to minimize the effects
of increasing traffic in the Village.
The described uses for the M-2 District are
businesses and professional offices (except for dental or medical),
trade, professional or other schools conducted solely within a
building, the manufacture of products inside a fully enclosed
structure, educational, scientific and industrial research and
residential multifamily housing in accordance with the Multiple
Residential District.
Specific accessory uses that may be allowed
include personal services (i.e. barbershop, beauty shop, shoe
repair, dry cleaning pickup, tailoring and film pickup), drugstore,
newsstand, card shop, walk in bank, standard restaurant and child-care
centers.
Activities carried out in the M-2 District may
not cause a nuisance in terms of odor, dust, smoke and noise,
all activities must be carried out in an enclosed structure and
basements are to be used solely for storage and employee lounges.
Recommendations from the Comprehensive Planning
Committee suggest that the Mixed Use District includes vacant
land that could be rezoned Residential to create a new residential
community. The northwest portion of the Village could be used
for residential development provided the scale and character of
the housing fits in with the existing characteristics of the Village
of Pittsford. In addition, the charrette and Committee suggest
that the existing zoning should be updated to create a more streamlined
process and make the process easier for board members and the
public to use.
Figure
7-2 Current Zoning Districts
Village of Pittsford
Copyright
©2006, Village of Pittsford