State of the Town - Community Vitality

Published: 4/22/2005

In the final installment of my series on the State of the Town, I will discuss community vitality. The dictionary defines vitality as "the capacity to live, grow or develop." A further meaning of vitality is "physical or intellectual vigor, energy."

As it pertains to the Pittsford community, vitality affects people in two ways. Vitality relates to the planned and natural environment and how it retains residents and attracts new individuals and families. Vitality also relates to the ability of residents to feel they "belong" and are a part of the community.

The Town of Pittsford is fortunate to have many attributes that set the stage for our being a quality community. Nature has blessed us with an attractive environ that includes mature trees, rolling hills, working farms and beautiful vistas. In addition, we benefit daily from early planned progress that includes the Erie Canal, the village, two colleges, numerous golf courses and two County parks.

Pittsford has long been an appealing bedroom community capable of attracting the executives from Rochester's major corporations. Today we remain a community whose largest land use is residential. Our second biggest land use is agriculture, followed by open space. Less than two percent of our total land area is committed to commercial, office or industrial use.

The last update of the Community's Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1995, resulted in two important initiatives that have been and will be instrumental in our community's future. One of these initiatives was the Greenprint that sought to protect our most important natural resources from development pressures. As a result of that plan, we were able to preserve more than 1,100 acres of land by purchasing the development rights (PDR) to seven farms. Additionally, we will end up protecting an additional 1,200 acres of ecological, scenic and historical land resources. To this day, The Greenprint is recognized as a bold and daring plan that serves as a model for communities across the United States.

The second initiative focused on economic development. Believing that the community preferred to promote economic development through existing rather than additional non-residential entities, our attention and our policies were directed to improving established commercial areas. Monroe Avenue is a good example of that. In 1995, Pittsford Plaza was half empty and there was a mix of uses along Monroe Avenue including old warehouses. A dramatic turn-around began with the opening of Barnes and Noble, Cornell Jewelers and the new Wegmans that have helped transform and revitalize this corridor into one of the top shopping areas in the county.

Additionally, the town has been able to attract quality projects such as The Highlands and Cloverwood. These developments fit our residential character and allow our seniors to remain in the community, and out-of-town parents of residents to relocate nearer to family. These developments are also beneficial economically because they demand very few services from the town or the school district.

The planning and improvement of our Town services also plays an important role in community vitality. In the 1980's, the Town decided to keep our center of government, Town Hall, in our village. This was an important decision made to assure the future and vitality of our village center.

Recently, the Town Board and I reaffirmed this commitment by keeping the Library in the center of our community, a decision that further enhances the village as a destination point. When completed, the new Library will serve as an important community gathering spot that will attract hundreds of thousands of people a year. To accommodate increasing need for parking in this area, the municipal lots that exist behind the Library and adjacent properties have been expanded to support the new town facility as well as all the businesses along Main and State streets.

To promote residents' ability to feel a part of the community, the Town Board and I have over the years steadily increased our list of events. We have taken advantage of national events such as the Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, US Amateur tournaments, to market our community and enhance pride in where we live. We have been able to utilize the Buffalo Bills summer camp as a positive family activity that attracts thousands of people to Pittsford each summer.

Our community event calendar now stretches through 11 months of the year. We begin with a Father Daughter Dance in February, followed by our Memorial Day Parade, recognized as one of the best in Monroe County, and two street dances in June and September each year. Due to the overwhelming popularity of our Summer Concert Series in the Port of Pittsford Park, we have doubled our schedule to include weekly performances from June 17 to August 12. Our Family Halloween Fest in October, now in its 4th year, remains a huge hit with the community. All of these events are designed to give you a reason to come out with family, friends and neighbors, to be together and recognize what a great community we live in.

I hope this State of the Town series has been helpful to you in understanding the breadth of services we provide. Our promise is to be ever mindful of delivering services in the way you expect from us. We are committed to the concept of continuous improvement in the way we operate. To help us meet this goal, we always appreciate your comments and your input on the services we deliver.

Other Supervisor Columns are available here.