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Board: Dollar store poor fit

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Although their opinion is not binding, Rochester Preservation Board members are unanimously opposed to replacing a historic former church at 660 West Main Street with a Dollar General. | Board members offered remarks on the proposal at a meeting last week, but did not take a vote. Their comments will be taken into consideration when the Zoning Board decides the church's fate on November 29. | Owner Marvin Maye wants to tear down the vacant, 19th-century church and an adjoining house to build the Dollar General and two additional commercial spaces. The church is in the Neighbors United neighborhood in southwest Rochester, bordering the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood and Bulls Head. | Some neighbors and neighborhood groups say Maye's proposal doesn't fit with the revitalization happening in that area. They want to find a new use for the church, such as for an indoor mall or west-side performance space. | Preservation Board members said last week that the scale and form of the church fit the character of the neighborhood, according to a city spokesperson, but Maye's proposal does not.