The American Autobahn

Interstate highways are wonderful inventions. There is nothing like them when you need to take a 900 mile round trip in two days, as I did this week to take my son E.T. to college orientation in Springfield, Ohio.

The road from here to Springfield uses six Interstates, I-390, 90, 271, 71, 270 and finally I-70. If you travel exclusively by Interstate you could probably make the 450 mile trip in seven hours, but of course you would risk losing your mind to white line fever.

The highlight of my return trip was getting lost trying to find my way back to I-270 after dinner in Dublin, Ohio and traveling on state highwas for about 50 miles. What a relief to motor through beautiful countryside and small villages at a more leisurely pace.

Of course, most Americans don’t have much leisure time and that is why we have Interstates, although they were originally built for military purposes after Eisenhower saw how effective Hitler’s Autobahn was in moving men and material.

The dark side of Interstates is the ugly commercial zones that tend to spring up like mushroom around major exits. Since the business plan here is to attract the dazed motorist’s attention while they are hurtling along at 70 miles an hour, it is necessary to have very large and very tall signs.

At some interchanges I passed there were dozens of large signs hoisted up to a hundred feet in the air. Unfortunately this is the mindset that many developers seem to carry forward, even when they are not near an interstate highway.

Recently the developers of a proposed Applebees restaurant in Geneseo told the Town Planning Board that they would need to have seven signs including one on a 30 foot pylon by Rt. 20A or they might not be able to build here. That’s funny because the Applebees we ate at in Dublin, Ohio had just one sign in the front and no signs by the road and yet they didn’t seem to be lacking for business.

Just down the road in Dublin is a Lowes like none I have ever seen before. It is totally constructed of brick and has none of the garish blue roofs and large signs that Newman insists is necessary to do business here.

Informed sources, say that former Planning Board Chairman John Zmich will show photos of that Lowes and others he has seen in his travels at the next meeting of the Planning Board on July 9. That should make for an interesting show!

Note: A lively debate has sprung up in the comments on my report on the proposed shadow developments near the Super Wal-Mart. This may be why this site has set record traffic number for the last three days (and four of the last five).

Changes

After 12 years, today will be the last official day of business for Clarion Publications at 38 Main Street. We will be closed next week while we move down the street to our new location ‘Around Back’ at the Scoville Building (94 Main Street).

With the new location will come a new name for the business: Genesee Graphics. We will continue to do the same things we have been doing: printing services, copy center, graphic and web design, but we will do it from a much smaller space.

After closing the newspaper in March and downsizing the staff, it became obvious that we didn’t need all the extra space. The new quarters are less than 1/2 the size, and more importantly, 1/4 of the rent!

We will officially re-open on Thursday July 12 for the Summer Festival, but you can probably find us down there anytime after July 9. Just wander down School Street and turn right. The new location is also accessible by entering the Scoville Building on Main Street and going down one flight of stairs. (Or take the elevator!)

The new location is very visible from the college, and closer to the burgeoning retail center of Main Street, with Swain Sports having moved directly above us earlier this month.

The new name is a little more descriptive of what we actually do. I found that, despite our efforts to advertise otherwise, many people assumed that when we closed the newspaper we closed the whole business. Hopefully, this will prove otherwise.
The new name will also distinguish the graphic business from the publishing activities which we will continue to carry on under the clarioncall.com banner. Web publishing does not really need a physical address to operate from. For example, I am posting this item from Ohio where I am traveling for my son’s college orientation today .

They say a change will do you good. Now if we could just get a change in our town leadership! In order to accomplish that I will be back late tonight and banging on doors in the morning.

In the shadows

Last night I attended the Village Planning Board meeting. The main item was a proposal to build yet another strip mall in the shadow of the Super Wal-Mart. This is the third or fourth such proposal in the last year, I’ve lost track.

An engineer from APD was dispatched to test the waters with a proposal for a 10,400 square foot building that is intended to house 6 or 7 small retail business. The location is the one acre lot that Wal-Mart had originally planned to put a gas station on.

In case you are not familar, the lot is tucked up against the hill leading up to Volunter Road on the east (or right) side of the Wal-Mart parking lot. In fact, the proposed building is tucked so closely into the hill that the developer is requesting a 15 foot reduction in the rear setback requirement from 25 feet to 10 feet.

The board was less than enthusiastic about that, but noted it was up to the Zoning Board of Appeals to make that call. They suggested that, if that was a dealbreaker, the developer should go to the ZBA first before wasting any time dealing with other concerns rasied by the planning board.

Among those other concerns was a complete lack of sidewalks to make the development pedestrian-friendly. Engineers and developers seem to assume that everyone will be driving to their new strip malls. That may not be such a good assumption if the price of gas continues to rise!

It was also clear that the board in general was less than enthusiastic about this proliferation of new strip malls (the Spectrum Group recently proposed a 35,000 square foot one on the other side of the Super Wal-Mart), but that their hands are tied by the existing C-2 zoning.

About the only thing they can do is enforce the existing codes as strictly as possible and try to make the building a little less unsightly. I am confident that the board will try to do this, but not because anyone is paying much attention. I was the only civilian at the meeting, as I am at many local meetings. The people who serve on these boards labor in the shadows.

Note: This is the first Village Planning Board meeting I have attended since Matt Griffo assumed the chair. Since I criticized his comments at the Master Plan hearing sharply in a previous post, I would like to say that I thought he did a nice job handling this matter.

Decision Day

The Geneseo Republican Committee has set the date for this year’s caucus for Saturday, August 4th. The time will be 9:30 A.M., earlier than normal, because as Chairman Paul Schmied explained to me, “It looks like it could be a long day.”

The location of the caucus has not yet been set, but the committee is hoping to get the meeting rooms of either the Methodist Church or St. Mary’s Parish Center. The thought is that the usual caucus location at the Geneseo Municipal Building may not be big enough.

All of these preparations are proceeding on the theory that there will be at least one contested nomination, either for Supervisor, and possibly also for the two town board seats that are up this year. Currently there are three declared Republican candidates for Supervisor, and only one for town board, incumbent David Dwyer, but that could certainly change.

Typically, if there is a contest, the caucus votes to keep the polls open for a couple of hours so that everyone in town has an opportunity to come in and vote. This is not guaranteed, however. The caucus may decide to settle the matter with only those in the room voting, so it is important to be there just in case.

The Democrats have not yet set their caucus date, but it is expected they may wait until after the Republicans set their ticket. The other town board seat that is coming up is held by Democrat ‘Hop’ Manapol and I think they also know that Supervisor guy.

All of this means that as we celebrate our Independence this coming week, we will also be tolling the bell for the final month of the race around the town seeking support. Gentlemen, (and gentlewomen) start your engines!

Be Strong for Geneseo!

Do you like the slogan above? It’s a variation of one suggested by former County Clerk Margaret McCaughey today. Margaret said that I needed a good slogan for my campaign, so I’m opening it up to my blog readers to suggest one.

21 years ago when I ran my first campaign, a Republican primary for State Assembly, I used my last name for the slogan, “Have a Strong voice in Albany.” Since that campaign didn’t turn out so well, I have avoided using my last name as a pun in subsequent campaigns, but maybe it’s time to reconsider.

The closest I’ve come to a slogan in this current campaign is the statement, “The vision and experience to lead Geneseo,” in my campaign flyer. No puns there!

If you have a better idea, please post it on this blog by hitting the comment button or send it directly to me by e-mail! If you don’t have an idea, perhaps you can suggest what the prize should be for the winning slogan.

I’m thinking of a $25 gift certificate to the Clarion Copy Center and a front row seat at my inauguration– and of course, instant fame by being mentioned on the Happy Trails blog!