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Confusion regarding notice for a public input meeting prompted the city council to continue a hearing on adopting the Imagine Slatterly vision plan into the city’s comprehensive land use plan until fall by a 6-0 vote.

This vision plan is a long-range development plan that puts forward a guideline that addresses land use and neighborhood mobility.

In 2008 the Rochester Area Foundation received $1.6 million from the city to alleviate the effects of disproportionately high rates of foreclosures in Rochester’s core neighborhoods. The foundation’s First Homes project began rehabbing and reselling distressed homes that had been a blight in the neighborhood. Imagine Kutzky’s vision plan was adopted by the city in 2004, and the foundation began working with residents of other core neighborhoods, including Slatterly Park, through a similar process of identifying aspects of their neighborhood that could be improved upon and making design support from staff with architectural expertise available in order to render plans to do so.

Wayne Flock, president of Slatterly Park Neighbors, stated that the process has been transparent, and that neighbors had been notified through a postcard mailed out to each home in Slatterly Park, in addition to newspaper advertising, emails, and the association’s web site. He addressed the long-term nature of the plan, and clarified that each individual project would be addressed separately at some point in the future.

“Either we take advantage of the growth of downtown and become a part of that or we let hodgepodge development happen and take the result of what happens to us,” said Flock. “What would our neighborhood look like if we had a plan 25 years ago? A lot of it would look much different.”

Timothy Macken and Loring Stead spoke in support of the vision plan.

Three neighborhood residents stated that they did not receive notice for the final public input meeting held in September of 2011, and took issue with components of the comprehensive neighborhood vision plan.

Doris Amundson, who has lived on 6th Street southeast for 43 years, was opposed to a motor vehicle bridge connecting the street with Broadway. She preferred a bridge that would accommodate only bicycles and pedestrians. Amundson stated that she did not receive notice of the September meeting.

Neighborhood resident Dana Inman also stated that he did not receive notice and objected to the plan.

“I’m going to have a drag strip through there (a block from his home) and I’m not happy with that. I don’t belong to the neighborhood association and I didn’t know anything about this. I’m not in favor of any of this,” he said.

Council member Ed Hruska clarified that adopting the vision plan did not mean adopting any individual components that it contains.

“There could be a lot cleared up, a lot of misconceptions a lot of concerns,” said council member Mark Bilderback, who lives in the Slatterly Park neighborhood, regarding his support for another neighborhood meeting. “Our neighborhood has come a long way but I think it’s important that we do have clear communication.”

“We want to be sure that the disagreements are based on facts,” said council member Bruce Snyder. “Nothing’s going to change in the next six months anyway.”

“Nothing really good happens without a vision,” council member Michael Wojcik said, expressing his support for neighborhood visioning efforts.

Wojcik recounted Flock’s efforts about a decade ago to form the Rochester Downtown Alliance and Thursdays on First. “There wasn’t much happening the first few years, it wasn’t well attended and it didn’t go anywhere. But there was a vision there and I think the results are pretty well in on that one.

“When I see plans like this, I’m reminded that it’s a lot easier to tear something down than to build something up,” he said.

Imagine Slatterly will hold another public input meeting on a date to be announced in early fall.