A Letter to the Board on the Abode Furniture Decision — and Trustee Cove's Response

Dear Mayor, Trustees, and other elected Officials: I am writing to express my serious disappointment with the recent denial of our application to add approximately 2,000 square feet to the Abode Furniture store. This was a straightforward proposal that would have allowed an established, successful Village business to expand its product lines, grow its operations, and continue investing in Pittsford. Instead, the application was turned away — and with it, an opportunity that the Village should have welcomed. I have been an owner and operator of commercial property in Pittsford for many years. In that time, I have watched the [zoning and building code](/incentive-zoning-pittsford-village) review process grow increasingly difficult to navigate. The layers of restriction, overlapping review requirements, and procedural friction inherited from prior administrations have created an environment that is, plainly, not friendly to the businesses that make up the Village's tax base and commercial identity. Applicants are regularly asked to clear hurdles that have little to do with preserving Pittsford's character and everything to do with bureaucratic inertia. What was particularly troubling about the Abode decision was not simply the outcome, but the process. There was visible confusion among board members about the application itself, inconsistent interpretation of the applicable code, and a clear lack of coordination between the parties responsible for reviewing and deciding these matters. Equally troubling is what sits underneath that dysfunction: it has become increasingly apparent that individual board and committee members are pursuing personal agendas rather than working collectively toward what is best for the Village. Decisions are colored by personal preferences, pet issues, and private grievances instead of consistent principles applied evenly to every applicant. Governance requires people who can set aside their own priorities long enough to do the job they were elected or appointed to do. That is not what has been on display. Business owners and property owners cannot invest, plan, or grow under conditions where the rules shift depending on who is in the room that evening and what axe they happen to be grinding. That is not governance — it is an obstacle course. I want to state something that should not need stating: the Village of Pittsford does not exist without its businesses. The storefronts on [Main Street](/pittsford-village-empty-storefronts), the restaurants, the service providers, the professional offices, the retailers like Abode — these are what make Pittsford a village rather than a subdivision. They generate the [tax revenue](/pcsd-budget-vote-may-19-what-pittsford-voters-need-to-know) that funds Village services. They draw the residents and visitors who sustain the community. They employ local people. A [Village board](/events/village-board-of-trustees-meeting-april-28) that treats [business applications](/pittsford-pzba-meeting-april-16-2026-full-agenda-legal-notice-and-application-ma) as nuisances to be managed, rather than investments to be encouraged, is working against the very thing that gives the Village's identity. Abode Furniture is exactly the kind of tenant and business the Village should be bending over backward to retain and grow. Denying a reasonable expansion request sends a message — to Abode, to me, and to every other business owner watching — that investing in the Village is not worth the trouble. I would ask the Board to do the following: 1. Reconsider the Abode application with a clear, consistent reading of the code and a coordinated review process. 2. Undertake a serious review of the Village's building and zoning code with the specific goal of identifying the accumulated red tape that is actively discouraging business investment. 3. Establish a more disciplined review process — one in which board members come prepared, apply the code consistently, and leave personal agendas at the door so that decisions are made on the merits. I am available to meet and discuss any of this in person. I would welcome that conversation. What I am not willing to do is quietly accept a process that is failing the businesses and property owners of this Village. Sincerely, Charlie Fox Real Estate Broker