DEVELOPMENT: In Chili, a struggle for identity

By Christine Carrie Fien (News Editor) On Mar. 26th, 2008

It says something about a town's perception of itself when it puts a Suburban Propane facility mere feet from a busy railroad crossing - and the ambulance headquarters right across the street. Chili residents will defend their town against all comers, but they're also the first to grumble about the town's presumed status as the pizza-parlor capital of the west side, or as the permanent lesser half of the compound noun - Gates-Chili.

Old-timers still remember and invoke the monthly burlesques that were the town board meetings of yore, lasting until the wee hours of the morning and earning Chili an occasional mention in the national media, as well as the unenviable designation "Clown Town." It's a historical descriptor similar to "-gate," always available for a quickie marriage to the day's scandal.

But these days, Chili is a town better defined by potential. Lots of land, steady growth, and an increasing perception of Chili as a gateway to the county's budding west side, have developers courting Chili like never before. The biggest - and most controversial - proposal would mean moving several town services away from Chili Center to make room for a large commercial development.

"It's a sector of Monroe County where there's growth," says Don Robinson, vice president of Benderson Development, the company behind the as-yet-unspecified plan. "Retailers that are there, like Wegmans, and the fact that Target is coming, that suggests that there's some retail opportunities that haven't been satisfied yet."

Is it all happening too fast? And what, exactly, do Chili residents want? The future has landed on Chili's doorstep, bearing promises of tax revenue and harsh florescent lighting. And the decisions made over the next few years will likely define the Home of Little Guy Soccer for decades to come.

Chili is almost two towns, with Black Creek as the Mason-Dixon Line. North of the creek is a classic suburban community with commercial development primarily centered around the town's core. The area south of Black Creek is strikingly rural, however: marked by large lots, a rolling landscape, and the occasional horse trotting in a fenced-in field. Easy to miss while heading south on Union Street is the old Fellows Cemetery, headstones rich with Chili's history: Pixley, Stottle, and Widener, among them.

Lack of sewers and public water have kept the south largely pristine, and many would like to keep it that way. Look no farther than the ruckus that ensued when the county considered putting a Thruway exit in South Chili several years ago.

"It's gorgeous out there," says Chili Supervisor David Dunning. "That's one of the areas that I think I'd like to see stay the way it is. It takes you out of the center of Chili and puts you in the country. It's a great section of town."

The Census Bureau put the town's population at 28,343 in 2006, up from 27,638 in 2000 and 25,178 in 1990. Much of that growth, officials say, is in young families. Chili's Building Department issued 108 building permits for construction of single-family homes in 2006 - that's fourth in the county, behind Henrietta, Webster, and Greece.

"There's an awful lot of young professional people moving into town," says lifelong resident and citizen-activist Dorothy Borgus. "I think they are seeing Chili for the first time as a place where you can buy a lot and a home and still be 10 minutes from the city line."

It is this population trend, Borgus says, that has developers salivating.

"All they see are the number of building permits, and to them that implies business," she says. "It's a hot spot. They think this is the place to make their next million."

There's a Target store planned for the Wegmans plaza at the corner of Chili Avenue and Paul Road. A motel chain has made its first tentative outreach to the town. Chili has given the green light to two Walgreens stores: one right on the Chili Avenue-Paul Road intersection in Chili Center and the other in North Chili, at the corner of Union Street and Buffalo Road.

Neither Walgreens made it through unscathed, however.

Plans for the Chili-Paul Walgreens were modified to make the store a better visual fit in what is still a largely residential area, although many people have a hard time accepting the idea of a Walgreens store at what is probably the highest-profile intersection in town. Not to mention that there will likely be - when Target opens - three other pharmacies within spitting distance of the new Walgreens.

"Look at pizza places in Chili. Do we need as many pizza places?" Dunning says, by way of example. "The real answer is, no, we don't. But they're zoned for it. You have to question someone's business sense at that point, but it's allowed. They've got to know what they're doing."

The North Chili Walgreens was fought in court because the original plan meant tearing down the Stagecoach Inn: a brick, Federal-style building dating back to the early 19th century. According to court papers, the inn was the first educational institution for the Free Methodist Church of North America. BT Roberts, a founder of the church as well as of Roberts Wesleyan College, reportedly held the college's first classes at the Stagecoach.

"We feel the building is a very important part of Chili history," says Priscilla Beeman, one of three Chili residents who sued to save the inn. "I think it's very important to keep consistency in our town. That's one reason why we saved the Stagecoach Inn. If that building wasn't there on that corner, you could be in any town in any state in the country, and you wouldn't know where you are."

An agreement was reached in January 2007 that permits the building of Walgreens behind the inn, which will be renovated.

It is intergenerational day at the Chili Senior Center. Senior citizens and children pitch blue and red plastic horseshoes around bright yellow pins. It's a cooperative activity at first, but eventually the children take over - gleefully hurling horseshoes while seniors laugh and cheer. The senior center - in the town's old library - is luxurious compared to many others around the county, and the seniors here are protective.

"I want our senior center to stay right where it is," says Ida Civitello. "It's such a beautiful senior center. Why tear it down? It's more money wasted."

Benderson wants to relocate the center and everything else on the so-called east campus at 3235 Chili Avenue - the courts, parks and recreation, dog control, the Highway Department, and Memorial Park - for a large commercial development. Town officials caution that they are not anywhere near making a decision on the proposal and that the public would have to vote on it, anyway.

"We had one option given to us. Whether or not it's doable, I don't know at this point," Councilmember Ginny Ignatowski says. "Certainly, we have some definite needs in our town. I don't think anybody can deny the fact that our Highway Department is antiquated beyond belief. You can't even fit your trucks in there. And the combination of trucks going through parkland is just a lovely thing."

Dunning, and just about everyone else, agrees that the Highway Department needs to move. But he's not sold on the Benderson deal, either.

"I think the facility that we have over there could be better if Benderson didn't pan out for us," he says. "I think moving the Highway Department is key, and then perhaps expanding on the senior center."

There's a reason why these services are located in the center of town, many say. Take the Chili Fire Department. Benderson initially wanted to relocate the Chili Avenue fire station, too, but the department resisted. The then-fire chief said having a station at the center of everything ensures that residents get the best response in emergencies.

"That's where that fire department belongs, in the middle of town," Borgus says. "And recreation - people don't want to run to the edges of town to do their business. Look at Greece. Sure, they've got a beautiful town hall, they've got a beautiful library. And it's way out of the way. It is totally unhandy."

Voted into office largely due to public opposition to a now-withdrawn shopping-center proposal for Paul Road, Dunning - one of the leaders of the opposition - says he knows it's a pivotal time for Chili, and he's trying to get a feel for where the public wants to go.

"Is the attraction to Chili that it still has its rural characteristics and light development? Or is it the promise of, ‘Chili could be a growing community and we want to be a part of that?'" Dunning says. "We need to find that answer. I've got to tell you, I've got about a 50-50 balance of people saying, ‘We need more development. We need more stores. We need more amenities here.' And the other people, ‘You need to leave Chili alone.'"

For his part, Dunning would like to see, somewhere, a development similar to Canal Ponds in Greece - a walkable area with stores and amenities like a pond and a gazebo for concerts and other activities. That could satisfy those who lament Chili's lack of a "Main Street"- the market café of the Chili-Paul Wegmans essentially functions as a de facto central gathering place.

For those who want more out of Chili, the big items on the wish list seem to be better restaurants, more shopping, and a recreation facility.

"If we need anything, we always need to go to Greece or Henrietta," says a Chili woman who did not want to be identified. "And if we want anything to eat, you need to go to Greece or Henrietta if you don't want pizza or McDonald's - which our children shouldn't be eating anyway."

Chili resident Jan Filsinger would like a recreation center with a gym and indoor pool. She'd also like an upper-scale family restaurant.

"We don't seem like we have a very big choice of restaurants here," she says.

A community center is part of the Benderson deal.

Others residents, like Lynne Smith, appreciate Chili's open spaces and are worried about developers infringing on that natural beauty.

"I'm not missing any shopping," she says. "They should create more open space. We like to go to Black Creek. It's still pretty quiet there and we like to hike and look for animals."

Open space is something of a mystery in Chili. No one seems to know how much land is left for development. The town itself is about 40 square miles and there are, according to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, approximately 3,900 acres of state-regulated wetlands.

The reason no one can account for the undeveloped land, Borgus says, is because the town's open-space index has not been updated since 1973. That document - remarkable if only to see the amount of farmland the town had back then - is an extensive identification and description of the town's undeveloped land, including priorities for preservation.

"I have been after them, I'll bet you, at least for 15 years to update the open-space index," Borgus says. "We are, like, 30 years behind in tracking how much land we have. That's why David Dunning can't give you a number. I can't give you a number. The truth of the matter is, nobody knows what's available anymore in Chili."

She's right about that. A remapping of the town currently underway will reveal how much land Chili has left under the different zoning designations, but will not yield total acreage, says Building Department Manager Christopher Karelus.

Like Borgus, Ignatowski says the town needs an updated open-space inventory. Ignatowski is liaison to the Conservation Board and says the board is trying to push ahead with an inventory now that Dunning is supervisor. The idea, for whatever reason, didn't gain any traction with the previous administration, Ignatowski says.

"It's fine and dandy to identify your land and all that, but then you need to have something in place that would prioritize: you really want to have this preserved over here..." she says. "That's something that I have been advocating for a long time."

Dunning says he's working to gain a better understanding of the town's green space and how best to preserve it "before we get into this huge development phase of Chili."

The building proposals are coming fast and furious, and Borgus is worried. The town needs time to catch its breath, she says. Her main concern, she says, is that these proposals will be evaluated individually, without taking into consideration how potential projects interrelate and the effect on the town as a whole. She's pushing a one-year moratorium on commercial development.

"I keep telling them, ‘Act in haste, repent at leisure.' There's no going back once you've gotten some of these things in place," Borgus says. "The problem is, we've got too many things in the hopper. There are so many things in flux that nobody knows what they're really dealing with. There's too much going on at once."

The town also needs to take a firmer hand with developers, Borgus says, and make sure a project's size and design suit the town and not exclusively the applicant.

"Over and over you hear these people coming into the planning board, ‘This is what Walgreens wants. This is the Walgreens way,'" she says. "We've got to set the bar high enough so that when we're done, when people look back, they won't say, ‘What were those people thinking about in 2008?'"

Chili officials say they are doing that. The Walgreens going on the Chili Avenue-Paul Road intersection, they say, is an example of the town taking charge. A number of conditions were imposed on the application before it was approved late last year.

"We negotiated changes to the architecture of the building and how it's positioned on the site," says Planning Board Chair Jim Martin. "Like any major corporation, they wanted to come in and build a kind of standard store. We felt that, due to the location, something like that wasn't appropriate."

Among the changes: the store will now have an archway over the entrance, columns underneath the overhang, and a dormer on the roof.

Another example: the town sent Target back for a more complete traffic study when the one they provided didn't take into account, among other things, the large congregation of The Father's House church on Paul Road.

The town also plans to create an architectural committee to make sure projects fit visually into their surroundings.

Ignatowski says officials are "keenly aware" of all the different building proposals and how they may or may not fit together. The town is working on a strategy, she says, but she doesn't elaborate.

"I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but we're really thinking about this," she says. "It's not something that we're just ignoring and sticking our heads in the sand, thinking everything's going to work out OK. It's something that we are aggressively addressing."

The limited amount of available General Business zoning - districts for larger concentrations of retail and service operations, like shopping centers - gives the town some control, Dunning says. There are about 100 acres of General Business zoning left, mostly around Chili Center and the Buffalo Road-Union Street area of North Chili.

"It's likely that future development in the town will require rezoning," Dunning says. "That allows the town some leverage to work with developers to kind of get what we want. Not completely dictate, but control some of the development that will happen. We can say, ‘No, we're not going to rezone. We're not even going to hear it.' We have that option."

The town will also begin updating its master plan - its blueprint for growth and preservation - in the next four to six months, Dunning says - another opportunity to make sure the town grows in a coordinated, responsible way.

All pretense of orderly play now abandoned, the seniors retire from the horseshoe match and return to their seats to socialize, snack, and to mostly ignore the large-print word puzzles on the tables in front of them. The children - prompted by their parents - pinball around the room, visiting.

It'd be easy to look at these distinct groups - separated by so many years - and assume you know them and what they want for Chili. It'd be a foolish thing to do. There are seniors who support development and young moms and dads who'd prefer it if Chili never changed one bit.

"I love this town," says Cindy Kirby, a former Chili resident and young mother who's looking to move back to town. "It has nice parks, I like the openness of the country. To me, it's just perfect. Too many things coming in, it gets overbuilt. Those who put us down, they never lived here and they don't understand. It's down home. It's friendly. I just loved it."

Borgus, too, loves Chili, she says, and that's why she's fighting hard to make sure the legacy it purchases over the next few years is a good one.

"I wouldn't have been as active for many, many years as I have been and run for office three times unless I cared very deeply for the town I live in," she says. "You'll never get anything fixed if you're quiet about the things that are wrong. Never. We're bombarded with so many ideas and concepts that hinge on other things that are concepts or have gotten approval and aren't finished, it's like a kid in a toy box with too many toys."

Though a consensus about Chili's future has not yet coalesced, everyone recognizes the next few years as a pivotal, potentially transformative time.

"I really think that we are very much at a turning point in the town," Ignatowski says. "The decisions that we make now are really, I feel, going to have ramifications for generations to come. We're going to be defining our town."

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