A lawsuit to disrupt the planned modernization of senior apartments inside Cobbs Hill Park has been dismissed.
State Supreme Court Judge William Taylor threw out the lawsuit last Thursday. The suit was filed by organizations that include Coalition to Save Cobbs Hill. They hoped to stop affordable housing builder Rochester Management from beginning a $27.5 million plan to replace 60 units of senior citizen housing with 104 units. Rochester’s city council and planning commission approved the development last year.
Andrew Seager is part of the Coalition to Save Cobbs Hill. He claims that construction in the park would ruin sightlines, kill trees, and uproot low-income residents. Seager said they’re looking at all their options. The groups’ lawyer, Alan Knauf told CITY Newspaperthat an appeal is likely.
“We certainly intend to hang around. We intend to argue for policies and practices that address the housing needs for all members of the community, in particular, those with low incomes,” said Seager. “It’s going to diminish the stock of housing for Rochester seniors with extremely low and very low incomes. People talk about affordable housing. We’re talking about people who really can’t afford housing rates.”
A statement from Rochester Management CEO Peggy Hill says the current apartments are out of date and need to be modernized:
Rochester Management is eager to move forward with the modernization of Cobbs Hill Village, which it began planning for in 2014. The new Cobbs Hill Village will be an asset to the Rochester community, increasing the number of affordable units for years to come and providing the senior citizens living there with vastly improved accessibility, a better sense of community, and modernized, high-quality homes in which to age in place.
Following the New York State Supreme Court’s dismissal of the two lawsuits related to the project, Rochester Management is another step closer to bringing high-quality, affordable housing to more seniors in Rochester. The nonprofit is grateful for the support the project has received from the dedicated volunteer members of its Board and its committed employees, the City of Rochester, fellow nonprofit organizations serving Rochester, many of the current residents of Cobbs Hill Village, and others.
