State OKs $1.2 million grant for Keuka Gardens

PENN YAN - New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) announced last week that the Arc of Yates application of $1.2 million for the Keuka Gardens Project in Penn Yan has been approved. The project was one of dozens state wide competing for a total of seven million dollars available in state aid.

Keuka Gardens is a proposed 42-unit apartment project in Penn Yan currently going through the Village Planning Board approval process. The project was discussed at a workshop with the planning board Dec. 5. About 15 neighborhood residents attended the meeting to hear about revisions to the site plan which will be presented to the Yates County Planning BoardDec. 22 and then returned to the Village Planning Board in January.

At earlier meetings, residents had raised concerns about a proposed pathway from the site on Brown Street Extension to South Avenue, storm water runo", privacy and safety in relation to the position of the building and parking lot on an elevation above their properties. The developer has relocated the sidewalk from the site to an area nearer to State Route 14A. The proposed sidewalk is being discussed with State Department of Transportation officials.

The developer, Home Leasing, LLC, is also planning to add a fence between the back of the property and a wooded gully behind Sunset Avenue properties.

The OPWDD grant will support the designation of 11 of the units for use by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Home Leasing, based in Rochester, builds and operating residential complexes in the Finger Lakes region.

"Our waiting list for individuals who need housing is currently over 20 names long and are current residents in our community," says Daniele Lyman, President and CEO of the Arc of Yates. "Although this certainly won't fulfill all of our housing needs in this community, it will go a long way in providing safe, affordable, quality residential options for individuals who are able to live more independently in the community."

The Arc of Yates currently oversees six residential programs in Yates County, with options ranging from full-time care to supported independent living. The 11 units reserved for individuals with developmental disabilities at Keuka Gardens would be 1-bedroom apartments and would be approximately 670 square feet in size.

"While these 11 units are certainly a positive development for the individuals, we support at the Arc of Yates, the creation of safe, affordable housing in Penn Yan is a benefit to the entire community," Lyman adds. "I hope that the community will support this project that will have a positive financial and social impact on Yates County. This award is a tremendous achievement for our community given the competition for these dollars across the state."

If the remaining funding is approved, the construction could begin in October 2017.