Case: Vacant Properties on Crosman Terrace
In August, 2024 Several neighbors along Crosman Terrace invited UMNA to see four properties that have become vacant on the street and discuss ideas for addressing property code compliance concerns.
314 Crosman Terrace
320 Crosman Terrace
324 Crosman Terrace
330 Crosman Terrace
250 Crosman Terrace (Not adjacent to the other four but controlled by same owner and located in the same block as the others. Added to the list recently.)
All five properties are owned by the same entity: "South Wedge Properties, LLC". A cursory inspection from the public sidewalk reveals numerous code violations in plain view.
This page is organized like a blog with the most recent stories at the top. Scroll down for past stories and background information.
Update on December 5, 2025 - Consent agreement immenint
Crosman Terrace neighbors, Valerie McPherson and Judy Peer, along with UMNA president, Rome Celli, returned to the Monroe County Hall of Justice and City Housing Court presided over by Judge Van White today to observe the next step in the City of Rochester's code violations case against South Wedge Holdings, LLC.
Despite the passage of two weeks since the last court appearance the parties still had not come to terms on a final agreement to deal with the myriad violations identified by the City of Rochester Code Enforcement team found on properties owned by South Wedge Holdings, LLC (SWH, LLC). The parties and their lawyers once again huddled for more than 45 minutes the outside the courtroom while other cases were heard. These circumstances were observed by neighbors from a distance as we were not included in any of the discussions between the parties.
Eventually, the parties concluded their negotiations and entered the courtroom. The case was called not long after. When asked by Judge White City of Rochester council, Michael Furlano outlined terms of the tentative agreement in open court but did not provide a signed agreement at that time. Judge White confirmed the outline with the property owner's attorney, Mr. Harvey Bunis, and asked for the written agreement, signed by the parties to be delivered to the court in short order.
Until the final "consent agreement" (i.e., an agreement between the parties enforceable by the court) is provided to the court the full contents will not be known for certain by neighbors or the public. However, Valerie took some notes in court that give us an idea of what's included:
SWH, LLC agrees to complete the City of Rochester vacant building registry for all vacant properties owned by SWH, LLC within 14 days;
SWH, LLC agrees to secure all vacant properties;
SWH, LLC agrees to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy for each of the following properties within 45 days: 105-13 Pinnacle Rd (Upper Monroe), 7 Roosevelt St (Upper Monroe), 17 Peck St and 45-47 Werner Pk (Upper Monroe);
SWH, LLC agrees to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy for each of the following properties one at a time on a monthly basis beginning on March 1, 2026: 250, 320, 324, 330 Crosman Terrance.
SWH, LLC agrees to interior an exterior inspections of any/all properties listed above by the City of Rochester with 48 hours advance notice; and
SWH, LLC agrees to obtain all necessary permits before performing work that requires permits.
250, 320, 324, 330 crosman terrance
Update on November 20, 2025
Upper Monroe neighbors (Valery McPherson, Dale O’Dell, Fatima Razic, Judy Peer, Chris Stevens and Rome Celli) attended a notable Rochester City Housing Court hearing presided over by Judge Van White last week. The proceeding was held on the first floor of the Monroe County Hall of Justice building on Exchange Street in downtown Rochester.
The volunteer neighbor-group organized by UMNA gathered in Courtroom #3 that day to witness a case initiated by the City of Rochester against the owner of five vacant homes on Crosman Terrace, South Wedge Holdings, LLC. While short term property vacancy is not necessarily a code violation, these particular properties have numerous documented code violations related to the condition of the properties that have gone unaddressed. In addition, most of the properties have been vacant for an extended period of time. Neighbors have been advocating for stringent action for as long as the code violations have been apparent. Only recently has the City stepped up their code enforcement game on these properties.
Midway through the court proceedings, while other Housing Court cases were being heard, attorneys representing the City of Rochester and the property owner stepped outside the courtroom with City Code Enforcement officials to hammer out an agreement that the parties and the court could accept and that would hold the property owner accountable.
It so happened that Mark Muoio, another Upper Monroe neighbor and an attorney with deep experience in Housing Court matters, was present in the courtroom for professional reasons. He informally helped the assembled Upper Monroe neighbor-group understand the process and its implications.
While the parties came to an agreement in principle that afternoon a formal agreement won’t be presented to the court until early in December. UMNA & neighbors expect to learn the contents of that agreement beforehand. The group plans to follow progress until all code violations are resolved and the properties are either reoccupied or otherwise sold.
Next court date: Friday, December 5th at 2:00 PM at the Monroe County Hall of Justice. This hearing is free and open to the public. Upper Monroe neighbors interested in this topic are encouraged to attend.
Update on October, 23, 2025
On Wednesday, October 22nd at 10:00 AM a delegation from Upper Monroe led by Fatima Razic and Valerie McPherson that included Shae Hanford Rome Celli and John Capp met with the City of Rochester's Southeast Quadrant Neighborhood Service Center (SE NSC) administrator, John McMahon, in a conference room at the SE NSC offices to get an update on the status of these properties and talk about next steps.
John shared the official list of unresolved code violations for all of the vacant properties on Crosman Terrace. (See below.) Due to the long list of the violations and the accumulated fines he said the situation came to attention of the City of Rochester's law department and that a court case had been scheduled. The matter will be heard by a City Court Judge in Rochester Housing Court on November 20, 2025. If the court rules in the City's favor and the owner does not comply, the owner could face a contempt of court charge.
UMNA is now exploring what role, if any, community input might play in a Housing Court proceeding. If there is an opportunity to submit an impacts statement, UMNA will do so. In any event, one or more community representatives would be present at the hearing on November 20th.
In addition, the group discussed a recent unsettling trespassing incident at one of the vacant properties and the potential safety hazards associated with those properties.
Questions related to the soon-to-be-reviewed-and-approved new city zoning code (commonly known as the Zoning Alignment Project or ZAP) were not addressed at this meeting. The SE NSC is not a party to the development zoning codes.
Update on October, 15, 2025
On Monday, October 13th David Walsh, Fatima Razic, Oliver Pickford, Judy Peer, Kathryn O'Dell, Valerie McPherson, Shae Hanford and Rome Celli met to review the current status of vacant homes on Crosman Terrace; learn about how anticipated changes to Rochester's Zoning Code (colloquially known as "ZAP") might affect those properties and plan our next steps. The formal discussion lasted for one hour (after which Fatima provided a delicious and abundant array of nibbles). What follows is a summary report:
Updates
Not much, if any, improvement to the exteriors have been made by the owner since the meeting with City representatives at Valerie's house in March;
We believe all of the vacant houses have been officially registered with the city as "vacant";
Trespassers were chased out of at least one of the vacant house by police. Since then some access points vulnerable to break-ins have been boarded up;
The City of Rochester has not fulfilled a promise to share an accounting of City enforcement actions; and
City representatives have verbally indicated enforcement has been taking place "behind the scenes" including involvement by the office of the Deputy Mayor.
The proposed new zoning code is expected to be reviewed by Rochester City Council later this fall (not before election day). Public hearings will be held. Council may make modifications before voting up/down sometime before the year's end;
Among other things, ZAP is informed by the City's long term plan (Vision 2034) and significant trends apparent today and anticipated over the foreseeable future such as climate change/migration, increased housing needs, an anticipated shift away from cars by younger residents. In short and with respect to vacant houses on Crosman, ZAP encourages EASIER development (FEWER rules for developers to follow), MORE density and requires LESS off-street parking.
While the new zoning district in the area where the vacant houses are located will be similar to what it is today it won't be the same and it will encourage development in a way that it has not been encouraged for the past 20+ years making the chances of redevelopment of the vacant house more likely. Some redevelopment outcomes may be desirable and some may be undesirable. As a result, neighbors will need to monitor the situation closely and be willing to actively engage at every stage.
Immediate Next Steps
First, and foremost, it is very, VERY important for neighbors to dig in on ZAP right away! Neighbors - WE/YOU - will probably need to advocate for changes to ZAP in the near future. Numbers matter. This sort of thing cannot be delegated or put off.
Second, Fatima will lead a group of neighbors in a follow-up meeting with John McMahon at his office on Wednesday, October 22 at 10 AM. Valery and Rome have both agreed to go with Fatima. YOU are welcome to join in. If you are interested, please reply to this message.
Thanks to everyone who took time to talk about this stubborn, frustrating situation. The topic isn't in any way "sexy". On it's own a discussion about zoning can be downright boring BUT when it's applied to a situation like this one, it's stimulating and interesting. We had a productive conversation with lots of great input from everyone. Enormous thanks to our host for providing a congenial location to meet and filling our bellies (well, at least mine) to capacity after the discussion! The host's warmth, generosity and leadership are greatly appreciated.
Update on March 28, 2025
Attendees from the UM area included Chris Stevens, Fatima Razic, Judy Peer, Valerie McPherson, Jason McCaffery, Dale O'Dell, Mary Charipar and Rome Celli.
Neighbors met in the living room of a private home in Upper Monroe near the site of four long-vacant homes on Crosman Terrace to discuss options & ideas for improving the situation with John McMahon, Chief Administration of the City of Rochester Southeast Neighborhood Service Center (SE-NSC), and his deputy, Manuel Ortolaza. McMahon started with a detailed update on the status of these properties and outlined a new, more aggressive plan of action including escalating fines for code violations. He pledged to develop and share a dedicated spreadsheet with neighbors that will serve to inform our community as the new plan takes affect.
UMNA rep, Rome Celli, shared research on the properties obtained from the City of Rochester website. In some cases the research showed outstanding violations have been recorded by the City code enforcement department.
Neighbors peppered the city representatives with questions once the update was completed. There were a number of well founded concerns expressed and discussed in some detail. Attendees shared ideas that extended beyond what the SE-NSC is working on. Those ideas ranged in type from "carrot" to "stick" including: more research with departments at City Hall; engaging the Mayor's office for support and looking for other opportunities to influence a positive outcome from a variety of angles. After the City reps left neighbors dedicated about 30 minutes to discuss tactics and plans going forward.
Action Steps - Fall, 2025
Update on November 14, 2024
The following is an excerpt from an email sent to the president of UMNA, Rome Celli, from the City of Rochester's Southeast Neighborhood Service Center Administrator, John McMahon.
"I checked out the 4 properties on Crosman Terrace and it was pretty alarming. These are now super high priority to me as they are perfect examples of what neighborhood preservation needs to address.
"I have talked to the Inspector, Anita and to Anne Wallace, Manager of Code Enforcement as well as Mike Furlano in the Law Department. I wanted Law to seek an abandonment action where the city takes the houses but they are not candidates due to the fact that they are being kept secure by the owner. If they come to a point where the city has to secure them, we might be able to go the abandonment route.
"For now, the plan is to step up code enforcement and fines to a point where repairing and occupying (or selling) the properties is the only option that makes financial sense.
"Three out of the four have been cited for failure to register with the vacant building registry and the fourth one will be. There was no open case for 320 but there is now and violations will be added this week. Thanks to Ms. McPherson for leading the effort and please share my contact information with her."
Update on September 11, 2024
314 Crosman - The property was officially marked as VACANT by the City in April of this year. However, the owner has not yet registered the property as vacant and, therefore, has not paid the fee associated with keeping a property vacant. (The owner must register a vacant property voluntarily. The fee is $100/year if there is an intent to re-rent in the near term or $500/year if the owner does not intend to re-rent anytime in the foreseeable future. Failure to register voluntarily results in a penalty on top of the annual fee.) Notices calling for action by the owner went out by email and by US mail. The C of O is current and in force until the fall of 2026. This does not absolve the owner of responsibility to address new issues/violations. Numerous violations have been cited. No workplan has been established. If the owner files a workplan, the clock stops on fines but another clock starts on the workplan. Failure to adhere to the workplan results in fines.
320 Crosman - The property had NOT YET been marked as VACANT. Our calls have resulted in a work order to send out the code inspector and establish its status as a vacant property. This triggers an immediate exterior inspection to cite violations. (Apparently, such inspections took place at 314, 324, 330 hence the violations noted on those properties.) An interior inspection may result as well - depending on the owner's (lack of) responsiveness. Like 314, the C of O is current and in force until the fall of 2026 and, again, this fact does not absolve the owner of responsibility to address new issues/violations. No current violations because there hasn't yet been an inspection related to the property's current status (vacant).
324 Crosman - Similar status as 314 CROSMAN except this property was marked VACANT in May of this year.
330 Crosman - Similar status as 314 CROSMAN except this property was marked VACANT but the notes from this conversation weren't clear on the date.
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