The organizer of the Gates Italian Festival is not only trying to settle a disagreement over next year’s festival, he’s also seeking the town’s approval for a “Little Italy” neighborhood.
Silvano Orsi of the Little Italy Neighborhood Association told the board at Tuesday night’s meeting that they want to redevelop the Lyell Avenue – Spencerport Road corridor into a district of Italian specialty shops and restaurants. Orsi says they’ve applied for state funding through the Upstate Development Initiative to help make it happen. He also turned in a petition with some 600 signatures of support.
The group wanted August 11th and 12th in Memorial Park, but Gates officials say those dates have already been given away to other events…and Little Italy needs to pick either alternate dates or another park.