Beware; unwanted modifications are altering our beautiful, safe, and historic village. On April 6, 2023, the Village of Brockport Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) granted an area variance for a business at 180 South Avenue to grind and dye wood products to produce mulch outside, rather than inside a building. This is a blatant disregard for the concerns of the approximately 70 residents in attendance who disagreed with the change to the village landscape and zoning. Furthermore, the ZBA determined an environmental impact study was not needed to support their decision. Our Village officials were not receptive to the voices of their constituents. If the ZBA had looked into the mulching and screening components, they would have found well-documented safety and health hazards associated with wood dust, fungal spores, molds, bacteria and fire risk due to spontaneous combustion and more. These are serious problems because the dump is adjacent to residential areas in the Village of Brockport and the Town of Sweden.
Citizens left the ZBA meeting shocked, and a grassroots group started a GoFundMe campaign to oppose the decision. Many people have contributed to this movement and a lawsuit (Article 78 proceeding) was filed with the New York State Supreme Court on July 26, 2023. This should not be a confrontational situation. The ZBA and the Village Board should want what is best for Brockport and its residents. Those citizens voicing serious concerns are Village and Town taxpayers concerned about their property values and maintaining peaceful neighborhoods. What voices should the Mayor, Village Board, and ZBA be listening to and affected by?
What harm is being unleashed on this community by a hastily made ZBA decision? Every day, villagers walk and run past the growing health hazard and visual eyesore of numerous piles of cut trees, mulch, dirt, and mounds of broken concrete and asphalt. The ZBA issued several conditions of their approval, including: no more than eight piles, hours of operation limited to Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., among others. These conditions are repeatedly violated, and stipulations haven’t been enforced by Code Enforcement. Residents also routinely hear dump trucks clanging and heavy equipment on Village streets at 7 a.m. weekdays and on Saturdays.
Lastly, can you imagine Spencerport, Fairport, or Pittsford proudly allowing a dumpsite situated by one of their main entrances to their Village? Do we want another Kleen Brite situation all over again? The Village Board should ask themselves a simple question – how is Brockport better with an ever expanding dump within the Village limits? Updates and contributions are available at https://www.
gofundme.com/f/duch9-save-brockport
Joanne Bocach
on behalf of Save Brockport
Brockport mayor responds about 180 South Ave.
I was invited by Westside News to respond to the letter by Joanne Bocach posted in this weekend’s paper regarding 180 South Avenue’s recycling repository (not a “dump”). Normally I would not do so, for the following reasons. The Zoning Board of Appeals, whose variance has been questioned, functions independently of the legislative body and any legislative oversight. Thus, the Village Board has no final say over variances and the issuance of special permits, nor any authority to overturn them. Zoning Board of Appeals decisions are appropriately reviewed by the courts through an article 78 proceeding which three citizens have filed and which is pending in Monroe County’s Supreme Court.
It is important to understand that the area from 180 South Avenue to Owens Road has been zoned light industrial for decades and that zoning has not and will not change in the foreseeable future. The ZBA variance decision in question was in regard to processing wood for mulch and mulch piles. The other work being done on the property and the piles of other materials are not part of the decision and are permitted under the current zoning.
Finally, I will add that Code Enforcement Officer Chad Fabry has investigated every complaint about this property and found each without merit or premise.
Mayor Margay Blackman
Village of Brockport
