This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published June 23, 2014 and can be found here.
You've read about it. You've heard plenty of commentary about it. And if you're like me, you still have plenty of questions about the Port of Rochester development. This past weekend Greg Weykamp, owner of Edgewater Resources, LLC spent an hour with me on site to answer my questions on everything from the design of the marina & proposed development, accessibility, marketability, and parking/traffic concerns.
In this six-part video series, Weykamp addresses many of the concerns expressed by Charlotte neighbors over the past few months. No doubt there will still be more questions as the project enters the design phase. But his willingness to spend time with me (and my two kids who are dancing around in the background) showed me that this may not be the monster some people have made him out to be
. But you can watch for yourself, and please let me know what you think...
The Marina
The City of Rochester is already in the middle of digging out the new marina, though I'll be damned if I knew the lay of the land before this interview. 64 transient boat slips will be included, and the Genesee Riverway Trail will be extended all the way around the marina.
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Design & Character
Weykamp explains how public input is helping to guide the design of the development. He also pointed out to me that the City of Rochester's form-based code
dictates much of what his architects can and cannot do. So, for instance, keeping with the character of the surrounding architecture is not only something he wants to do, it's something he is REQUIRED to do. Try to ignore the people asking for directions to McDonald's at the 4:10 mark - and with so many great locally owned restaurants right here in Charlotte; tut tut.
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Traffic & Parking
On everyone's mind these days is traffic and especially parking. Of the 100 or so spaces that have been removed, Weykamp says many of those will be, or already have been, relocated. New digital signs will be installed to direct drivers to available parking sites. And plenty of parking will be built on site for those who use the new development. But beside the point... Do we want more asphalt? Or more foot traffic?
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Market Feasibility
Are we going to be left with a big empty building?
* * *
Change is Scary
Edgewater has been involved in several developments around the Great Lakes. Weykamp is originally from Saint Joseph, MI
on the shore of Lake Michigan where he draws some insightful parallels to Charlotte.
* * *
A Second Opinion
Toward the end of our discussion a friendly Charlotte resident approached us and joined the conversation. I asked her what she thought of all the scary changes...
* * *
Unfortunately for Jane, those people with open minds who may be in favor of this development are being overwhelmingly drowned out by others. They attend each and every Charlotte community meeting and speak very loudly. If you have been silent thus far, you might consider attending the next meeting
, or contact the board at [email protected] or 865-6101.
And if you have additional questions not covered in these videos or on the City's project page and FAQs
, please drop a comment below. Weykamp left me his card, and I'm pretty sure we could get an answer. * * *
UPDATE: City decides not to wait for developer; pulls the plug on Edgewater plan. Read more at RBJ .
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