ALBION – DePaul Properties today secured local approvals for a proposed 40-unit housing project on Liberty Street.

The Village of Albion Planning Board approved the site plan, and the Zoning Board of Appeals approved three variances for the project.

With the local approvals in place, DePaul said it will work to secure final state financing for the project. Construction of the project, including demolition of three vacant houses, is expected to start in October 2019.

DePaul wants to have 36 one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units. The one bedroom units can have up to two people and the four-bedroom apartments have room for up to four people.

DePaul will have staff on site to oversee the apartment complex, and also to take residents to appointments with a DePaul van.

“This is to build community housing for people for people who don’t have it right now,” said Gillian J. Conde, vice president for DePaul.

During public hearings by the Zoning Board and Planning Board, residents asked who the project is targeting for tenants.

DePaul is designing the project to support people with disabilities, including senior citizens and veterans. The organization will do extensive background checks for credit, criminal and sex offender history and evictions.

“This is not housing to rehabilitate offenders,” Conde said.

She was asked if the project would hurt local landlords. Conde said she didn’t think it would impact landlords who provide quality housing.

She expects many of the tenants are currently “doubled up” living with friends or family.

DePaul had renderings of how the building would look in Albion, including new sidewalks by the property on Liberty and Beaver streets.

Ron Vendetti, the village’s code enforcement officer, said the project will likely force landlords to improve many of the other apartments in the community.

“If you provide a better product, you’ll get the better people,” Vendetti said, responding to a question.

He said the new apartments would be a significant improvement to the neighborhood on Liberty and Beaver streets. Two of the houses being demolished have been vacant for several years and are covered with brush and vegetation. Another house was recently vacant following the deaths of the long-time residents of the house.

Betty Sue Miller, director of Hoag Library, said she hears from many lower income patrons at the library that many of the apartments in the community are infested with bed bugs and are not appealing.

“I don’t want to see local landlords who do a great job get hurt,” she said about the project. “But there are bad landlords. Some people are living in squalor because that’s all they can afford.”

DePaul will offer the one-bedroom apartments for $675 a month, including utilities, while two-bedroom units are $775 monthly.

Tenants on Section 8 will be eligible to apply for an apartment at DePaul, but Conde said the project isn’t focused on Section 8. She expects veterans, senior citizens and some people needed mental Health and other services to be tenants.

DePaul is proposing to demolish three unoccupied houses on Liberty Street, between the railroad tracks and Beaver Street.

The meeting room at Village Hall was packed for the presentation about the project.

DePaul needs variances for the project. It is proposing 50 parking spaces, when the village code requires 80 (two parking spots for each unit). DePaul is seeking a 5-foot rear setback when the village code requires 25 feet. DePaul also wants a fence to be 8 feet high for a sound wall on the south side of the property, instead of the 7 feet required by the village code. The vinyl fences won’t be white, DePaul officials said.

DePaul anticipates the 50 spaces will be adequate based on the demand at its other apartment buildings because many of the tenants do not have cars.

With the rear setback, DePaul will plant a row of evergreen trees for additional screening. DePaul also wants the taller sound wall to mitigate noise from the neighboring rail line.

The ZBA, led by chairman Richard Tibbits, approved the variances while the Planning Board, led by chairman Matthew Hand, approved the site plan.

The village needs to work out a PILOT with DePaul for how much it will pay the local governments in revenue. Those agreements are typically for at least 10 years.

Linda Smith, a local resident, said the village should have worked out the PILOT before approving the project. Smith owns several apartments in the village.

She didn’t like that her state tax dollars were being used to fund a new project that may result in increased vacancies in her apartments.

“It will be tough to compete against an entity with your tax dollars when they’re not adding to the tax dollars here,” she said.

DePaul officials assured her they would provide local governments with annual payments, and those payments might top the property taxes the site would generate without a PILOT.

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ALBION – The Chevrolet Buick GMC dealership in Albion has new owners who will add inventory and staff to the Route 98 location.

George Bidleman, one of the partners at Orleans Ford, has purchased the former Don Davis Chevrolet Buick GMC dealership. Bidleman is co-owner of the Albion dealership along with Sam LaNasa, who works as general manager for Bidleman at Orleans Ford.

“We’re looking to increase our presence in the Orleans County market,” Bidleman said.

The dealership will be known as Bidleman Chevrolet Buick GMC.

Bidleman started as general manager at Orleans Ford in 1987, when he was 27. He became president and partner in the business in 2002. Orleans Ford has grown to an inventory of 500 vehicles and a staff of 55 that sell about 200 vehicles a month.

LaNasa has 35 years in the auto business in the Buffalo market. He has worked closely with Bidleman the past two years and is impressed with how Bidleman operates, the way he treats customers and employees.

The Albion location was built in 1967 and opened as Nesbitt Motors. LaNasa and Bidleman said the building and site will be upgraded. The existing six employees in sales, service and the office will stay and more employees will be added.

LaNasa expects up to 20 employees there in the next few months and the inventory to increase from 80 vehicles to about 300.

The 22 acres at the site, 4048 Oak Orchard Rd., is one of the appeals. That gives Bidleman and LaNasa plenty of room to display vehicles. In Medina, they use the former Ames parking lot of Maple Ridge Road as an overflow lot.

LaNasa also said three brands “have a great new lineup of cars” with sedans, SUVs, pickups and other vehicles.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman: On Monday the deal closed for George Bidleman and Sam LaNasa to acquire the Albion dealership. Pictured, from left, include Jillian Stadwick, Chevrolet rep; George Bidleman, owner; Sam LaNasa, owner; Carl Eldridge, GM Financial rep; and David Jetty, zone business manager.

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The sandstone pavers are pictured with a dusting of snow. The street has been hard on the village’s plowing equipment.

ALBION – The Village Board is discussing removing Medina sandstone pavers from Beaver Alley because the stone blocks have been hard on plowing equipment.

The village also has to contend with weeds that sprout up between the blocks. Pesticides are typically sprayed to battle the weeds.

The street was paved until 2003. When the Pike Company in Rochester, a contractor for the state Department of Transportation, tore up routes 31 and 98 in Albion about 15 years ago, there were sandstone pavers under the roads.

Ed Salvatore was the Albion mayor at the time and he negotiated having the Pike Company put 5,500 of the pavers in Beaver Alley.

Salvatore at the time said the pavers, made of Medina sandstone, provided a sharp contrast between the new style of road construction on Main Street with the style from a century earlier. He also wanted to preserve some local sandstone history and add another element to historic downtown.

Before asphalt and concrete, many of the streets were made of cut Medina sandstone blocks. Salvatore wanted Beaver Alley, a short one-lane street, to resemble a street from the late 1800s.

There have been complaints the street is bumpy and hard to drive on. The DPW says the pavers also damage snow plows.

If the sandstone blocks were removed, the village would repave the alley.

The Village Board discussed removing the pavers this past Wednesday and has tabled the issue until its next meeting at 6 p.m. on June 25.

The alley has been a popular spot for senior pictures and other portraits. Rhonda and Mark Parker, former Albion residents, used the street in a scene for their film, “Message in a Bottle.” They are shown shooting a scene in June 2015. Rhonda Parker, front left, and her husband Mark, kneeling with camera, have named their film business, Beaver Alley Studios.

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