Conesus Proposes Warping Code to Allow Oversized Inn

CONESUS – Neighbors to the court-halted Conesus Inn rebuild are again offended by the Town’s handling of the situation.

According to a press release sent by Trish Bruckel, the Town of Conesus has planned a public hearing for June 6 at 7 p.m. to hear public comment on a change to the zoning law that neighbors interpret as ‘amending the definition of a ‘Legacy Business’ to a ‘business that existed before Zoning was adopted in the Town,’ and extending the period of discontinuance of a nonconforming use from one year to five years.’

“These proposed changes to the Town’s code are clearly designed solely to attempt to permit the illegal and unsightly Myers Inn at the site of
the former Conesus Inn,” said Bruckel. The Town has been presented with over 800 signatures gathered last summer in opposition to the project as it currently stands.
These amendments are tremendously misguided and are obvious attempts to rewrite the law to try to attempt to permit the currently illegal Myers Inn.  They would allow a use that has been zoned out and closed up for up to five years to ignore the current zoning law.”

Conesus Town Supervisor Brenda Donahue could not be reached for comment.

“The existing law has been in their town code for less than two years. The existing law was studied for at least five years prior to enactment and the existing applicable provisions were reviewed in detail,” said Bruckel.
“Now, apparently, the existing provisions are not adequate according to the Town Board and need to be changed. Interestingly, the only property that could be immediately impacted is the Myers property.”

In court proceedings initiated by neighbors Robert Siracusa, Sally Hirth, and Tom and Trish Bruckel, Justice John Ark ruled that Carl Meyers Enterprises Inc. was not working on the project approved by the Town of Conesus Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals. The project could go back to the appropriate boards for approval.

“The officials at the Town of Conesus will certainly not acknowledge that this proposed change is related to the Myers Inn,” said Bruckel. “This is a backdoor attempt by the Town to sanction the illegal building as constructed. Neither the Town, nor the Developer has made any attempt to date to conform the building to anything close to the original plan. The neighbors and the individuals who signed the petition have only asked from the beginning that the Developer build what was promised, what was
approved by the Zoning and Planning Boards of the Town and the Livingston County Planning Board.