Petition Ended: Board received our petition but elected to adopt the zoning law discussed below on the evening of November 13, 2023. Many thanks to those who participated in this effort.

Four years ago, the Ontario NY Town Board was poised to approve a 120-unit townhouse project in the area between Furnace Rd., Kenyon Rd. and Stonehedge Dr. Were it not for 117 citizens who signed a petition and attended a Board meeting in May 2019, residents of those streets would have hundreds of new nearby neighbors. The Board was also planning to change zoning rules for the entire SR district (Suburban/Residential) to allow this scenario to be repeated many times over throughout the town.

Residents who came to the meeting said they wanted a more rural atmosphere in the SR district than townhouse projects would provide. Other concerns mentioned included traffic, aesthetics, crime and negative effect on home values. Residents said we have urban-type districts in town where townhouses have been permitted for years and new projects could be located there.

Fast forward to 2023, and the Board is on the verge of reincarnating the same zoning change they cancelled in 2019 when citizens objected. Townhouse projects like the one proposed in 2019 will again be on tap for the SR district if the Board goes through with pending zoning changes called Local Law No. 5, which it can do at any time.

Local Law No. 5 (which is a revision of the entire section of town code dealing with zoning and land use) does some other things that residents preferring a more rural feel may consider counter-productive. Such as shrinking lot sizes (by 29% in some cases), reducing lot width requirements, and paring back setback requirements. The SR district includes most of the area between Knickerbocker and Furnace (north of the railroad), Walworth Rd., Paddy Lane, Route 350, Slocum, Southbrook, Hollybush, Tamarack and Bear Harbor among other locations.

Join fellow residents in urging Town Board members to abandon or reject Local Law No. 5, by signing the petition at website ipetitions.com. To make sure your signature counts, please provide your full name, email and physical address.