46 acres of vacant land in Medina eyed for housing on West Oak Orchard Street

Photo by Tom Rivers: J. Lincoln Swedrock, an engineer and vice president with BME Associates in Fairport, presents a request for the Medina Village Board to consider rezoning 46 acres on West Oak Orchard Street from light industrial to residential-3.

MEDINA – The Medina Village Board has been asked to consider changing the zoning for 46 vacant acres from light industrial to residential-3 to allow for new housing.

Sieck Wholesale Florist owns the land off West Oak Orchard Street near the Medina school campus. Ed Michel of Sieck Wholesale wants to keep the other 8.8 acres of the property as light industrial. That land is next to the railroad and includes a cell tower, an old boiler and another older building. Michel acknowledged those older buildings are in rough shape and will either be cleaned up or demolished. (Housing is not allowed in a light industrial district.)

Michel spoke at Monday’s Village Board meeting along with J. Lincoln Swedrock, an engineer and vice president with BME Associates in Fairport. Michel would like to develop the vacant land into housing, perhaps townhouses, multi-family housing and single-family residences.

He first needs to see if the village will change the zoning of the property. If that happens, he will work on determining what the market would support for new housing.

Village Board members voted to refer the matter to the Village Planning Board for its input. Mayor Marguerite Sherman said there aren’t enough housing options in the village.

The spot on West Oak Orchard Street may be appealing with the close proximity to Medina schools and access to village water and sewer.

The village doesn’t allow a cul-de-sac so an access road would need to extend through the property to Salt Works Road.

Swedrock said the meeting on Monday with the Village Board is just the first step in the process. He and Michel will need to connect with Shelby town officials about the access road if the project advances.

“Housing is a big push right now in New York State,” Sherman said at the meeting. “We need housing in the village, we really do.”

If the board wants to rezone the property, there will be a public hearing. There also will be opportunities for public input on the housing proposed if Michel decides to pursue the project if the rezoning is approved.

“Nothing is planned right now,” Swedrock said about the housing development. “It would be a diversity of housing options. But right now, it’s just do we want to look into this?”