Aurora residents generally look at recent changes in the village's business landscape in one of two ways: The community is either being transformed into a charming tourist destination or it is being seized by an overzealous college.

This tension will likely be on display this week, when the Aurora Community Preservation Panel decides Wednesday on an application from Wells College to destroy Lake House Apartments. The village planning board will vote on the issue the following week.

The possible demolition of the apartment house has elicited some strong reactions in the village and tapped into a larger concern about affordable housing in Aurora, as well as who has control of buildings that many villagers feel are an inherent part of the village's identity.

Lake House Apartments is a modest four-unit complex overlooking Cayuga Lake. Webb House, which is now sitting on blocks waiting to be moved onto the site, is a large, single-family mansion built in the 1900s. It was scheduled to be demolished by the Holland family, before the Aurora Foundation - a collaboration between Wells College and its multimillionaire alumna Pleasant Rowland - stepped in at the last moment and purchased it for the college.

At a public meeting in July, attended by more than 50 people, "public comment was 10 to 1 against the demolition," Karen Hindenlang said.

At the meeting, Hindenlang argued that the demolition of the apartment building would hurt Aurora's economy and environment. She elaborated on several points the CPP is required to consider before granting a Certificate of Appropriateness for Demolition, including the present condition of the structure, which Hindenlang does not believe warrants demolition.

Hindenlang pointed out that the building contributes to the village's National Register Historic District. "It's an integral member of the district, one of the few surviving outbuildings of our great lakeside village mansions," she said.

She also pointed out that the CPP's rules require the panel to take into consideration "the relationship of the affected parcel to its surrounding parcels." If Lake House Apartments are demolished, and Webb House is moved, Hindenlang said, it "will create a massive architectural wall from Morgan House to the Presbyterian Church.

This will destroy a significant portion of the public's lake view from Main Street, and completely ruining the visual setting of the village's historic gem, the Masonic Lodge."

Hindenlang and other residents also said the apartment house provides needed affordable housing.

The CPP originally was supposed to make its decision in August, but was asked to delay its decision until September, said Avery Ayers, the panel's chairman.

The panel did so as a courtesy, he said.

Katy Waller, the executive director of The Aurora Foundation, said she asked for the extension because of her vacation schedule, not because of the controversy surrounding the demolition of Lake House apartments.

"Ultimately, it's the college's decision. They own it," Waller said.

With classes resuming, Diane Hutchinson, the college's vice president and treasurer, has been kept busy. She could not say what the college would do if it could not tear down the apartment building.

"I haven't had time to discuss with Katy and the president what we would do if (the application) isn't approved. We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Ayers said he did not feel comfortable talking about the panel's decision "because it's an ongoing case." Although the panel is not under obligation to let the public speak at its Wednesday meeting, "we try to accommodate people if they have anything to say," Ayers said.

Deborah Brooks, another vocal opponent of the current plans to demolish the Lake House Apartments, might be one of those people. She ran her business, Debbie's Corner Gift Shop, out of the Heary Building for almost 20 years, until the building was purchased by the Aurora Foundation in the name of Wells College about two and a half years ago. Business owners were asked to relocate while renovations were done, Brooks said.

They were told they would eventually have their spaces back, but the promise never materialized, she said. Brooks has been running her business out of boxes in her home ever since. A couple of her former colleagues are in a similar position, while others relocated or found jobs elsewhere.

Brooks' experience has made her feel disenfranchised in a village that she saw as a cohesive community but that is now divided over its future development. She laments the fact that Wells College now owns the business district properties.

The partnership between Aurora Foundation and Wells College "is changing the whole scope of the use of the businesses and properties out here," Brooks said.

"I'm totally against it," Brooks said of the plans to demolish the apartment. "It's affordable housing and that's something that's rare here."

There's a shortage of privately-owned homes that have apartments, Brooks said. The college is the biggest landlord in town, mainly due to The Aurora Foundation purchasing a lot of property for them.

"We have a need here," she said.

How that need should be met and who should meet it is part of the ongoing debate in Aurora.

"Our obligation isn't to provide housing for the entire community," Hutchinson said.

Instead, the college works to make sure that visiting professors and other members of the college community are taken care of.

"Providing affordable housing is not our role in the community," she said. "Our role is an educational one."

Staff writer Mary Bulkot can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235 or mary.bulkot@lee.net