A green SUV is on its side in the front yard of a residence at 7862 Byron Road, Stafford.
Nobody is in or around the vehicle, according to a deputy who was on scene soon after the accident was reported.
The vehicle is registered to a 26-year-old Batavia resident.
Stafford fire responding.
The Stafford Zoning Board of Appeals decision that denied James Pontillo a variance for a fence behind the former Odd Fellows Hall, was reversed in state Supreme Court on Friday.
The Hon. Mark J. Grisanti said the ZBA’s September decision was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Grisanti’s decision followed an hour-long hearing at the Genesee County Courthouse.
Pontillo’s attorney, Peter J. Sorgi, said he was gratified by the judge’s decision.
“But I’m incredibly frustrated that it has taken this much time and money,” Sorgi said. “The money he spent on this should have been put into that building.
“The town would have a really nice building instead of paying lawyers and doing all this nonsense,” he added.
The ruling apparently ends a two-year tussle over the fence.
Pontillo bought the historic building at 6177 Main Road in 2010. In 2013, he built a wood fence along the west property line behind the building.
The town issued a stop-work order, and the matter ended up in court. A town judge ordered the fence removed, and that decision was upheld on appeal by Superior Court Judge Robert C. Noonan.
Pontillo’s request for an area variance was denied by the town ZBA on Sept. 15.
On Friday, Grisanti said the ZBA considered the harm the fence would cause. But there is no evidence the board weighed that harm against the benefits to Pontillo, he said.
“(The decision) seems to be a violation, in a sense of their own procedure,” Grisanti said.
The town could appeal the decision. Sorgi said an appeal would cost “a minimum of $10,000” and take a year to reach a courtroom.
“If they want to throw more money away on this, they have that right,” Sorgi said.
Town Attorney Kevin Earl said he would not recommend an appeal.
“I believe this will end it,” Earl said. “It’s up to the judge to make a determination. He made it, and we have to live with it.”
Pontillo was joined in court by about a half-dozen friends and supporters. The group gathered afterward at Coffee Culture.
Pontillo wasn’t in a celebratory mood.
“In a way, they won,” he said.
The legal case has prevented him from finishing work on the fence, a job that will now not resume until the spring.
Also postponed, was work on the building’s exterior, lot paving and roof replacement.
“Because of this delay I really had no desire to do anything more with the building until I saw that I could prevail and move forward with the process,” Pontillo said.
Still, he said, he feels no regret about buying the building.
“I still believe there’s potential there,” Pontillo said. “And I still believe I get good support from the community.”
Paul M. Gelardo, 30, of Valley View Lane, Batavia, is charged with: three counts of third-degree burglary, which are Class D felonies; one count of second-degree criminal mischief, also a Class D felony; and one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, a Class E felony. His arrest concludes several investigations in the Town of Stafford. It is alleged that between April and September of 2014 that Gelardo unlawfully entered three separate buildings and removed items from them and also damagedf equipment at a stone quarry when he was allegedly removing wire from it, according to a Sheriff's Office press release from Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster. Gelardo was identified as a suspect when DNA found at one of the burlgaries allegedly matched his. None of the missing items have been recovered. Gelardo was put in jail in lieu of $10,000 bail and is set to reappear in Stafford Town Court at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10.
Lena Marie Evans, 28, of Vine Street, Batavia, is charged with making graffiti and third-degree criminal trespass. Today (Nov. 19), following the investigation of a graffiti and trespassing complaint near Route 98 in the Town of Batavia on CSX Railroad property, Evans was arrested on these charges. She allegedly went on railroad property without permission at 8 p.m. on July 15 and painted graffiti on a building. She was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled for Town of Batavia Court at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10. The case was investigated by Sheriff's Deputy Saile.
John Wesley Johnson, 59, of Pearl Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny, aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, and operating with a suspended registration. Johnson was arrested on Nov. 11 for allegedly stealing about $66 worth of merchandise from Walmart before leaving the story. He was stopped by Batavia Police Sgt. Dan Coffey and then arrested and jailed in lieu of $250 bail. The case was investigated by Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Parker assisted by Sgt. Coffey.
Paul A. Russo, 40, of Frewsburg, was arrested by state Troopers on Nov. 17 and charged with petit larceny. An arrest warrant was issued after he allegedly swapped his used sneakers for a pair of Nike Flex valued at $70 from Kohl’s Department Store on Oct. 23. No further information was released.
A car vs. pole accident with air-bag deployment and possible injuries is reported by a passerby at 8122 Byron Road. Stafford Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 7:41 p.m.: The male driver is being transported to UMMC for injuries sustained after his vehicle struck the pole while going "approximately 50 miles an hour."
Flames are reportedly coming from inside a house at 6524 Main Road, Stafford. The location is east of Roanoke Road. Stafford Fire Department is responding along with mutual aid from Le Roy and Pavilion.
UPDATE 6:36 p.m.: Command reports the fire is out. The house has been cleared. Now working to ventilate the structure.
Going back to Joseph Ellicott, you would be hard pressed to find anybody has had more of a local impact over a sustained period of time than Catherine Roth.
And she's leaving us.
At age 95, Roth is moving from The Manor House in Batavia to an assisted-living facility near Albany, where she will be closer to her son and grandchildren.
"She really, physically worked hard with the organizations she was involved in," said Lucine Kauffman, a former Town of Elba supervisor and currently president of the Landmark Society of Genesee County, which Roth helped found. "Some people just want to throw money around, but she actually got her hands dirty. She worked hard and she was passionate. She was definitely one of my mentors and one of the first friends I made when I moved here."
We will need to write out a long list with numerous bullet points to list out all Roth did in her some 70 years of living in Genesee County, but let's do it anyway:
Roth was honored -- one of several such gatherings planned around the county before she departs for Albany on Nov. 17 -- yesterday in the Stafford Town Court by the Stafford Historical Society.
She said she was embarrassed by the attention. She never volunteered for anything to get attention, she said. She volunteered because she could.
"I'm embarrassed to say, but I didn't have to work," Roth said. "My husband (Dr. Lawrence Roth) was an obstetrician-gynecologist and I just never had to work, which is very different from what women have to do now."
Roth was born and raised in Long Island and she and her sisters graduated from William Smith College, which they attended on a scholarship. Each of the young ladies met their future husbands while in college, and all three young men were graduates of Hobart College.
Dr. Roth was a decendent of a family, the Tyler family, that settled in Stafford in 1810. The Tyler's roots in the colonies go back to the early 17th Century (one branch of the Tylers, not the branch that came to Le Roy) produced Ernest Hemingway.
When Dr. Roth returned to Batavia to begin his medical career, he brought his bride with him and she got involved early in the life of the community.
She adopted it as her own and cherished the things that made it unique, which made her a staunch opponent of urban renewal, a turn of events in the city's history that she's still bitter about.
"They really ruined Batavia, as far as I'm concerned," she said yesterday.
Her activism in fighting urban renewal paved the way for the creation of the Landmark Society and launched her local political career, prompting her to run for City Council.
"I was the biggest vote-getter," she said.
Her time on council is among her proudest achievements, as well as teaching developmentally disabled children how to swim, saving the Batavia Cemetery and building the arboretum in honor of her departed son.
Laurie Oltramari, currently director of the Batavia Improvement District, and a former president of the Landmark Society, said at yesterday's gathering that Roth gave her confidence to be a leader, even if that meant ruffling feathers along the way.
"Sometimes I was dubbed 'Little Catherine' because I don't like to take no for an answer and I'm not afraid to burn bridges and lose friendships when it means doing the right thing," Oltramari said. "That's really a hard thing to do, but when you have somebody like Catherine saying it's 'OK, you'll be OK,' it really is a life lesson."
Roth's example -- she's thought of by many as somebody who demonstrated equal rights for women long before equal rights for women really became a movement -- has inspired many women, including Rev. Roula Alkhouri, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Batavia.
"I always felt affirmed because you always told me the truth," Rev. Alkhouri told Roth during Wednesday's gathering. "You would share your opinion, but it was never in the spirit of you don't know what you're doing because you're young. It was in the sense that I felt affirmed as a woman being in ministry and welcomed."
"I felt really affirmed," she added, "and I realized that when I met her sisters. They came up one time and they said 'You know what, we haven't heard anything bad about you.' "
Kauffman said she always found Roth kind and kindhearted, and a lot of people did, but she was also always strong willed and had deeply held beliefs. That sometimes rubbed some men the wrong way.
"A lot of men thought she was a loudmouthed broad and a pushy broad and I've always wondered, as a woman myself, if she was a man, would they say 'He's pushy,' or 'He's a loudmouth'? No, they would just say 'He's a leader and he had a vision.' "
Roth said there was no grand vision to her service. She just did it.
"I didn't want to be bored with life," she said.
Steve Foster got into the handcrafted gift business when he started making metal sculptures at Adams Welding and Fabrication, and today he expanded the gift business into a space open to other crafters. On the Adams Welding property, 5782 Main Road, Stafford, Foster opened a gift shop filled with crafts of his own creation along with other artisans who have brought items by for him to sell.
A 54-year-old Batavia resident is facing an attempted assault on a police officer charge after allegedly trying to drive his vehicle away from a traffic stop while an officer's arm was inside the vehicle.
David J. Martin, of Elm Street, allegedly led law enforcement on a pursuit into Stafford, where he was stopped with the aid of spike strips.
Following arraignment on several charges, including DWI, Martin was jailed without bail.
The incident began with a traffic stop after a Le Roy PD officer observed a vehicle in the village without license plates. Martin was identified as the operator. The officer observed that it appeared Martin had been involved in some sort of altercation. During the investigation, officers came to believe Martin had been driving drunk. Martin was instructed to step out of the vehicle, which, at that point, had its engine shut off. Martin allegedly started the engine and while patrols attempted to prevent Martin from putting the vehicle in drive, Martin allegedly started driving away while an officer's arm was still in the vehicle. Martin allegedly continued on the roadway and patrols tried to get him to stop.
Charges against Martin include: attempted assault on a police officer, a Class D felony; DWI, second offense, a Class E felony; aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree, a Class E felony; unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the third degree, a Class A misdemeanor; resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor; obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor; two counts of reckless driving, a misdemeanor; no distinctive plate, a violation; driver’s view obstructed, a violation; unsafe start, a violation; two counts of improper or unsafe turn/turn without signal, a violation failure to keep right, a violation; and refusal to take a breath test, a violation. Along with these charges, the Genesee County Sherriff’s Office has also charged Martin with: fleeing a police officer in motor vehicle in the third degree; speed over state limit/55 mph, a violation; and speed in zone, a violation.
Martin is scheduled to reappear in Town of Le Roy Court at 1 p.m., Nov. 19.
A car vs. pedestrian accident was reported about 10 minutes ago in Stafford. Mercy medic #3 is dispatched in non-emergency mode along with the Stafford fire. The location is Ellicott Street Road and South Lake Road.
Press release:
The American Red Cross encourages eligible donors to give blood to help ensure a sufficient blood supply throughout the holiday season.
A seasonal decline in donations often occurs from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day when donors get busy with family gatherings and travel. However, patients don’t get a holiday vacation from needing lifesaving transfusions. In fact, every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood.
Lorie Alwes remembers her father being called often to give blood – even on holidays. He had type O negative blood, the universal blood type.
“One time it was in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and off he went without hesitation,” she recalls. “He explained to us kids that his blood was used in emergency situations and could possibly save another life.”
Years later, Alwes learned that she also has type O negative blood. She has since donated whenever needed and has encouraged her 17-year-old son to carry on the lifesaving family tradition that was so important to his grandfather.
Donors with all blood types are needed, and especially those with types O negative, B negative, A negative and AB. All those who come to donate Nov. 25-29 will get a Red Cross mixing spoon and celebrity chef recipe set, while supplies last.
To make an appointment to donate blood, people can download the Red Cross Blood Donor App from app stores, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
In Genesee County, there are four upcoming blood donation opportunities:
Alexander
Monday, Nov. 23 from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., Alexander United Methodist Church, 10540 Main St.
Batavia
Friday, Nov. 20 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Social Services Building, 5130 E. Main Street Road
Saturday, Nov. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Batavia City Mall, 106 Main St.
Stafford
Saturday, Nov. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Stafford Fire Department, 6153 Main Road, Route 5
How to Donate Blood
Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
Blood donors can now save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, prior to arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site.
About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
A two-car accident with minor injuries is reported at Main and Fargo roads, Stafford. A female has some glass stuck in her hand and another person is complaining of neck pain. Mercy medic #1 is on scene and Stafford Fire Department is responding. The accident is blocking traffic.
Patricia Jean Kendall-Cargill, 50, of Swamp Road, Bergen, is charged with two counts of criminal contempt, 2nd. Kendall-Cargill allegedly violated an order of protection out of Family Court on two occasions.
Heidi Marie Keller, 37, of Gillette Road, Rochester, is charged with petit larceny. Keller allegedly stole $35.70 worth of makeup from Walmart.
Kyle Kenneth Eldridge, 39, of Tracy Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation and failure to dim headlines. Eldridge was stopped at 3:34 a.m. Sunday on Route 33, Stafford, by Deputy Christopher Parker.
Press release:
After 36 successful years in business, Bob and Noreen Moore, owners of the Red Osier Landmark Restaurant in Stafford, N.Y., will retire and are seeking a buyer for the restaurant. The Moores are looking to sell their business to an experienced restaurant operator who will uphold their hard-earned reputation and continue employment for their qualified and dedicated staff. During the transition, The Red Osier Landmark Restaurant will remain open and will continue the wonderful quality service the restaurant is known for.
The Moores purchased the Red Osier Landmark Restaurant in 1979 in an effort to refocus their priorities and start a family business. Their sons, Robert and Michael, were 13 and 3 years-old, respectively.
“We moved from a four-bedroom home with an in-ground pool in Greece to a two-room apartment over the restaurant in the country,” Bob Moore said. “We opened the Red Osier Landmark Restaurant and served 18 dinners the first Sunday we were in business. Today, we see 1,500 dinners through the kitchen doors each week, Tuesday through Sunday and one ton of beef each week.”
The Red Osier Landmark Restaurant quickly became famous for prime rib dinners, hand-carved tableside, and served to any temperature of the customer’s choice. The restaurant is also known for its Caesar salad, lobster/crab bisque, and banana foster flambé, each presented and prepared tableside. Today, it is the only restaurant in the Greater Rochester Area to offer this dining experience.
The Moore brothers became engrained in the family business early on, with Michael bussing tables by age 10 and serving as general manager as an adult. The eldest, Robert, also immersed himself in the business and successfully owns and operates Red Osier kiosks and concession stands as well as Red Osier Ridge Road Catering.
Red Osier kiosks and concession stands including The Greater Rochester International Airport, Total Sports Experience, Frontier Field and Red Osier Ridge Road Catering are not for sale and will continue their operations.
For years the Red Osier Landmark Restaurant has hosted a popular annual “Christmas in November” promotion, selling gift certificates as “buy $50 and get $20.” In light of the transition, the Moores will temporarily suspend the promotion this year as well as the sale of all gift certificates.
The Moores' retirement and the sale of the business is bittersweet for a family who has spent nearly four decades serving the Greater Rochester area, but according to Bob Moore, it is time.
“We are incredibly grateful to our employees, many of whom we consider our extended family, our loyal customers and the community for their support, friendship and patronage over the years,” he said. “But after 36 years in business and 52 years of a happy marriage, it is time for Noreen and me to enjoy our retirement with our family.”
The Moores look forward to another busy fall season ahead. With the exception of gift certificate sales, the Moores' intend to continue with business as usual until an experienced restaurant operator expresses interest in buying the business.
The price of the business is not being made public. Those interested in pursuing details about the sale of the restaurant, please contact Mike Kelly at Transworld Business Advisors, 716-201-0552.
Stafford Fire Department is called "to assist law enforcement with a grass fire" at 8620 Sanders Road.
The location is Scofield Transfer & Recycling.
Reader submitted photo.
A car has reportedly struck a tree along Sweetland Road, between Transit and Roanoke roads.
Unknown injuries.
The vehicle may be smoking.
Stafford fire and Mercy EMS responding.
Photos from a drive down Route 237 through Stafford and Byron while I was out trying to chase down a story (which hasn't, yet, turned into a story, but at least I came away with a couple of pictures).
The difference between the six-foot limit on a fence in the Town of Stafford and the actual height -- whatever it is -- of the fence James Pontillo built on his property is enough to reduce the sunlight falling on the neighboring building, according to Stafford's Zoning Board of Appeals.
That's based on science, said Chairwoman Crista Boldt.
Sort of.
"If we had a scientist come in and measure the amount of daylight that's given to that property next door it would make a difference, just like people in Wyoming when they measured when they put wind towers in Warsaw and they studied how the flicker effect would affect the house, because of the rotation of the Earth and the sun orbiting the Earth it would affect it," Boldt said, "the amount of light."
The reduction of light -- however much that might scientifically be -- would create an "undesirable change," according to ZBA board members.
For that, and other reasons we'll get to, the ZBA voted unanimously to deny Pontillo an area variance for his fence.
An area variance is a tool in New York code enforcement guidelines that gives local officials the ability to allow property owners to make physical changes to structures and property that might otherwise be prohibited by law.
There are five criteria zoning boards use when deciding whether to grant an area variance.
They are:
Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance.
In this case, the ZBA found the extra foot, two feet or three feet -- depending on who is doing the measuring and where -- would mean less light would reach the neighboring property.
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method, feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance.
Yes, the board found Pontillo could build a six-foot-high fence. That would block people in cars and most people standing from seeing over the fence. As for Pontillo's stated goal of building a deck on the back of his building, which is part of the historic Four Corners District, well, Pontillo hasn't even applied for a permit for it, so Boldt indicated she wasn't interested in considering it as a criterion on this point.
Whether the requested area variance is substantial.
As a matter of measurement then -- depending, again, on who is doing the measuring and where -- the extra height, as a matter of percentages, is from 15 to 30 feet higher than the six-foot fence Pontillo could build without a variance.
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district.
James Balonek piped up on this one and said yes, because of the sunlight and the airflow.
The reason for denial Boldt wrote down on the ZBA's form was because granting a variance could impact future decisions of the board and reduce the ability of the code enforcement officer to enforce the law.
Whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the board of appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.
Boldt read the objection and immediately said it was because Pontillo built the fence. Then she wanted to know from the code enforcement officers when they issued a stop-work order to Pontillo. That led to a discussion with Pontillo and his attorney about the timeline of events.
According to attorney Peter J. Sorgi, Pontillo sought a variance for a fence, was denied, decided to build a different fence and was told by town officials that a fence of six feet or less didn't require approval or permits, so that's what Pontillo set out to build. When the fence, which is in plain view of Town Hall, was nearly complete, Pontillo received a stop-work order and immediately complied.
That's a set of facts nobody in the room explicitly disputed.
Boldt wrote on the ZBA form that the difficulty was self-created.
When Boldt first started going through the criteria, Balonek raised the first objection and said the requested variance would create an undesirable change because it goes against code.
Sorgi pointed out, "that's why you have variances." By that definition, he said, no variance would ever be granted.
Boldt told Sorgi, "We've been trained that it's extremely hard to get a variance."
Taken this morning from Assemblyman R. Stephen Hawley Drive, just off the Genesee Community College campus.
The Town of Stafford Zoning Board of Appeals meets tonight to discuss the fence James Pontillo erected on his property.
The board's regularly scheduled meetings are for the third Monday of the month. This month, that should have been Sept. 21, but we've been informed the meeting has been moved to 7 o'clock tonight.
Related: after last night's Stafford Town Board meeting, the board passed a resolution authorizing town attorney Kevin Earl to take all steps necessary to enforce code compliance issues against James Pontillo. The resolution retroactively approves any actions taken by Earl.
A decades-long practice of spreading septic waste on farm fields in Stafford, which drew criticism from a local environmentalist earlier this year, will continue for at least another year with the approval Monday of a permit by the town board.
A.D. Call applied for a renewal of the permit for spreading of septic waste -- human waste -- on two fields north and south of Route 5.
In April, Attica resident John Volpe raised the issue with the Town of Stafford Board, claiming that the Calls were bringing in waste from surrounding communities and dumping amounts in excess of the permit's permitted limits.
Gerald Call said his farm has stayed within limits set by the town – 25,000 gallons per acre per year.
Only one resident raised any objections at Monday's meetings.
She raised concerns that the state Department of Environmental Conservation doesn't have the manpower to monitor the spreading of human waste and that if the Town of Stafford permits it, it becomes the responsibility of the town to inspect the practice. Supervisor Robert Clement said he's spoke with the DEC and the agency has been clear with him that it's not the town's responsibility.
"Like I said, I have timely, up-to-date e-mails from the DEC and I would be happy to share them with you," Clement said.
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