Background Info
Approximately 220 acres of pristine open space in the heart of Penfield are at risk of being converted from a beautiful golf course into a sprawling housing development -- perhaps with as many as 290 houses! We don't believe this is the highest and best use of this irreplaceable green space. Once it's gone, it's gone forever!
Help us stop residential development of Shadow Pines and explore options for our community to protect this land for future generations.
Help us stop residential development of Shadow Pines and explore options for our community to protect this land for future generations.
A Quick Synopsis of the Issue
Shadow Pines Golf Course was put up for sale in 2016 and a large developer had plans to build more than 250 houses. A group of concerned citizens created Save Shadow Pines group to save this land as open space and many people joined. After overwhelming public support for open space at a hearing last year, the Town of Penfield implemented a moratorium on development of the land and created a Moratorium Committee to investigate options for the community. The Moratorium Committee recommended that the town purchase the land and issued a report that was strongly in favor of preserving the land as open space.
After conducting its "due diligence" in respect to the purchase and future land use for Shadow Pines, the Penfield Town Board extended the moratorium a second year "because all the ideas on the table require formal steps that will exceed the remaining time of the original moratorium period." Supervisor LaFountain said that at the end of this process, the town’s actions would be determined by the will of Penfield residents through public referendum.
The Save Shadow Pines group is concerned that in spite of the Moratorium Committee's favored recommendation to preserve all of Shadow Pines as open space, the Town has indicated it may still consider development of Shadow Pines as a large retirement community.
While this would have a smaller footprint than the original housing project proposed, it would still remove a significant portion of the last remaining open space in the heart of Penfield. This development would also add traffic to our already overburdened thoroughfares, especially Browncroft/Atlantic Boulevard and Penfield Road, which are about to get additional traffic from the new residential development currently under construction at the corner of Atlantic and Five Mile Line Drive.
Another reason for preserving this land is that there is a quarry across the street from Shadow Pines that will eventually close. The owner's reclamation plan says that when it ceases operations the quarry will quickly fill with water to become a 150 acre lake. The Town should think ahead and have a long term vision for Shadow Pines that incorporates the tremendous recreational and limited "smart-development" opportunities this lake will mean for Penfield. To provide maximum utility and value of the land bordering the lake may require future re-routing of Whalen Road. Shortsighted development of Shadow Pines land now would prevent that option and jeopardize many other options for recreation and smart waterfront development in Penfield's future.
After conducting its "due diligence" in respect to the purchase and future land use for Shadow Pines, the Penfield Town Board extended the moratorium a second year "because all the ideas on the table require formal steps that will exceed the remaining time of the original moratorium period." Supervisor LaFountain said that at the end of this process, the town’s actions would be determined by the will of Penfield residents through public referendum.
The Save Shadow Pines group is concerned that in spite of the Moratorium Committee's favored recommendation to preserve all of Shadow Pines as open space, the Town has indicated it may still consider development of Shadow Pines as a large retirement community.
While this would have a smaller footprint than the original housing project proposed, it would still remove a significant portion of the last remaining open space in the heart of Penfield. This development would also add traffic to our already overburdened thoroughfares, especially Browncroft/Atlantic Boulevard and Penfield Road, which are about to get additional traffic from the new residential development currently under construction at the corner of Atlantic and Five Mile Line Drive.
Another reason for preserving this land is that there is a quarry across the street from Shadow Pines that will eventually close. The owner's reclamation plan says that when it ceases operations the quarry will quickly fill with water to become a 150 acre lake. The Town should think ahead and have a long term vision for Shadow Pines that incorporates the tremendous recreational and limited "smart-development" opportunities this lake will mean for Penfield. To provide maximum utility and value of the land bordering the lake may require future re-routing of Whalen Road. Shortsighted development of Shadow Pines land now would prevent that option and jeopardize many other options for recreation and smart waterfront development in Penfield's future.