News Blog
Irondequoit Dems lay out Medley plan
There's no way around it, Medley Centre will be an issue in the Irondequoit town elections.
And this morning, the Democratic candidates for supervisor and Town Board held a press conference to lay out their plan for dealing with the dead mall. During a separate interview, Adam Bello, who's challenging incumbentRepublican Mary Joyce D'Aurizio for the supervisor seat, explained the plan. First and foremost, the Dems are calling for the termination of the mall's tax incentive agreement. Bello says Medley's developer, Scott Congel, hasn't met investment milestones laid out in his payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.
That's not something that the town can do on its own; the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency has to make the call whether to initiate termination proceedings. But Bello says Democrats want the town to advocate for the termination.
"It's clearly an issue that's on people's minds," Bello said.
The Dems also want Congel to demolish three vacant buildings on East Ridge Road, which he was supposed to do a few years ago, Bello said. The Dems also want the town to be aggressive about enforcing codes if the developer doesn't clean up graffiti on the property, keep the grass cut, and light the parking lot.
And the Dems propose an economic development task force made up of local business leaders, experts in public finance and commercial development, and residents. The task force's first charge would be to develop recommendations about what to do with the mall. But the task force would also help make sure that the town is taking a holistic approach to all economic development projects, from I-Square to redeveloping East RIdge Road, Bello said.
And this morning, the Democratic candidates for supervisor and Town Board held a press conference to lay out their plan for dealing with the dead mall. During a separate interview, Adam Bello, who's challenging incumbentRepublican Mary Joyce D'Aurizio for the supervisor seat, explained the plan. First and foremost, the Dems are calling for the termination of the mall's tax incentive agreement. Bello says Medley's developer, Scott Congel, hasn't met investment milestones laid out in his payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.
That's not something that the town can do on its own; the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency has to make the call whether to initiate termination proceedings. But Bello says Democrats want the town to advocate for the termination.
"It's clearly an issue that's on people's minds," Bello said.
The Dems also want Congel to demolish three vacant buildings on East Ridge Road, which he was supposed to do a few years ago, Bello said. The Dems also want the town to be aggressive about enforcing codes if the developer doesn't clean up graffiti on the property, keep the grass cut, and light the parking lot.
And the Dems propose an economic development task force made up of local business leaders, experts in public finance and commercial development, and residents. The task force's first charge would be to develop recommendations about what to do with the mall. But the task force would also help make sure that the town is taking a holistic approach to all economic development projects, from I-Square to redeveloping East RIdge Road, Bello said.
