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They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. But that parking lot could be turned back into a paradise, of sorts, following Tuesday’s unanimous vote by Rochester City Council in favor of rezoning parts of Eastman Business Park.
A proposal by Mayor Lovely Warren brought to City Council in June to rezone EBP Planned Development District #12 into an area that would facilitate the development of a range of mixed residential, nonresidential and recreation uses for the 170-acre site. The proposal passed with an 8-0 vote.
Large portions of the former Kodak Park have remained unused or underused for some time. In her letter to City Council, Warren noted that in 2010, EBP Planned Development District was created to provide flexible regulations that would promote “high employment and economic development and capitalize on extensive on-site utilities and infrastructure.”
Since that time, EBP has filled several sites, primarily with manufacturing facilities.
“Eastman Business Park is transforming (into) an urban-style, mixed-use innovation district, complete with manufacturing, retail, office and residential space,” Warren wrote in her letter. “Already a hub for high-tech industries, the district is becoming an entertainment destination for visitors as a result of continuing investment in the Kodak Center.”
As development continues, she wrote, it is expected more residents will move into the area, “creating a vibrant, thriving and revitalized community.”
The EBP proposal calls for new development that will “frame and enhance” public and private streets and open spaces in the area, including heavily traveled West Ridge Road and Lake Avenue. The goal, according to the proposal, is to transform the streets from “high volume, high speed” roads to balanced spaces that include pedestrian, bicycle and transit amenities.
The proposal suggests a 30 mile per hour speed limit in the area.
Eastman Avenue and new, internal streets east of Lake Avenue will be pedestrian-oriented and include decorative street lighting, trees and other elements to create “a public realm welcoming and comfortable to all users.”
Permitted uses of subarea 1 include animal hospitals and daycare, amusement centers, bars and restaurants, adult daycare, hotels, health clubs, museums, light industrial facilities, corporate offices and others.
Subarea 2 includes much of the same but adds single-family and two-family attached homes, as well as multi-family dwellings. All new buildings in both subareas will require a 100-foot distance from a residential district.
A handful of EBP neighbors expressed concerns with the rezoning, in particular, the light industrial portion of the proposal that would replace parking lots. In a letter from the Maplewood Neighborhood Association, President Wayne Williams Jr. wrote that the group did not support the light industrial plan, stating that the neighborhood “has never held industrial properties, and current homeowners bought their properties believing that industrial activity would be solely on the west side of Lake Avenue—across a ‘moat-like’ multi-lane highway.”
During a June 10 City Planning Commission meeting, EBP Vice President of Development Tim Palmer noted his participation in garnering feedback from residents near the proposed development, stating most residents were pleased with the proposal.
“They liked the ideas,” Palmer said during the meeting, “and wanted to see it move from just acres and acres of parking lot, which is what it is today, to something that’s more attractive and useful for everyone down the road.”
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Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer