Town halts local community center's plans to rebuild

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) -  The Rotterdam Community Center is back to the drawing board after plans to transform the facility ended after a town board vote. The community center had plans to expand the building into a three-story structure; however, a resolution passed by the board in May halted that project.

The community center staff wants to upgrade the building to allow for more space to hold their activities. They envision the center as a hub within Rotterdam where festivals can be held and their food pantry can be grown.

Rotterdam Community Center Board Member Rachel DeTeso-Mathis, said the center is operating in an old church and is due for a new parking lot, kitchen, and lobby space.

"We rent out our space for events, and it would be great to have an updated kitchen," DeTeso- Mathis said. "We offer movie nights once a month; we offer game nights; it would be wonderful to be able to update our performance house space for that."

The Community Center staff tells me they were in communication with the town board back in April about plans to, not only upgrade but expand the center into a three-story building. The artistic renditions include commercial space on the bottom portion of the building, which the center claims, was suggested to them by the town. The renditions also included affordable housing on the top floor.

However, just two months later and without warning, the community center leaders say they were blindsided after the town passed a resolution that restricts three-story high buildings from existing in the Rotterdam Junction, Hamburg Street, Guilderland Avenue, and Five Corners.

The proposed community center is in one of those areas and is currently unable to move forward with its expansion plan, even after working with a developer, due to the town's restrictions on building height. The community center Food Pantry Administrative Coordinator, Chris DeTeso said the center thought they were set to move forward with the project, but then the town passed the resolution.

"We thought we were negotiating in good faith and we had some good conversations early on," DeTeso said. "We thought things were going well."

Peter Comenzo, the Senior Planner for the Town of Rotterdam, gave a statement to NEWS10 regarding the decision of the town board which states that the board and planning commission were concerned about larger buildings impacting neighborhoods.

“The size and scale of any proposed development needs to be in harmony with the surrounding properties," Comenzo wrote.

Comenzo also gave NEWS10 a statement from Town Supervisor Mollie Collins, which was made during the June 12 town board meeting where the Main Street/Neighborhood Overlay District was discussed.

"The Town of Rotterdam has grown in the past 10 years and we realized that some of our codes have not addressed the changes,” the statement read.

Comenzo also adds that, "The concept plans were never finalized, an application was never submitted."

According to Comenzo, "The intent of the Neighborhood Center Overlay District is to encourage mixed use development in Rotterdam with retail spaces on the first floor and second story apartments.  The creation of this overlay district in 2017 was not to encourage large multi family buildings."

The Community Center staff tells me the developer will not support a plan that doesn’t include a three-story building, and they are currently looking at other options, including repairing the current structure.

"We really are relying on this point on community support because we're going to remain open, our programs are vibrant we hope to grow in many ways, and we are really relying on the hope of the help support the community," DeTeso-Mathis said.

The community center is looking for donations, following their halted expansion plans. They are currently taking donations through GoFundMe and their website.