HENRIETTA, N.Y. — Planned Parenthood will not be able to open a new facility in Henrietta.
Henrietta Town Board members rejected a proposal late Wednesday night for the agency to open a facility on Jefferson Road, near RIT. The town said the vote was solely for a zoning permit. Three members of the board were against it and two were for it.
Supporters and opponents of the plan rallied outside the town hall before and during Wednesday's meeting.
Henrietta’s town supervisor was one of the two who voted in favor of the permit. He said the law should also lead your conscience.
“Our decision is, is it allowed there under the rules?” Steve Schultz said. “Does it meet the criteria by which we should approve or deny that special use permit? So again, the law, the way it is set up, is not to pick what’s best, but what is allowed. One of the things we have taken an oath to do is apply the law fairly.”
Schultz said the main issue was whether a medical facility was appropriate for a retail plaza.
If a judge finds the decision was improper, the vote can be overturned. Planned Parenthood also has the option to take the town to court.
Planned Parenthood’s president and CEO called the vote results "deeply disappointing."
"We will continue to provide the expert care and resources our patients have come to rely on out of our Brighton Health Center, and will be expanding services in Brighton/Henrietta. All people — no matter where they live — deserve the right to control their own body and future," a statement from Planned Parenthood read.
Planned Parenthood received approval last year to build a new facility in Brighton. That project was shelved. The agency still rents space in Brighton to provide pregnancy services.