Whitehaven residents lose round 1 in rezoning battle

by Karen Keefe
Grand Island Dispatch, September 8, 2006

Whitehaven Road residents who have spoken out against a rezoning for a contractors’ yard near their homes lost a battle in Town Hall on Tuesday. But Town Supervisor Peter McMahon said he doesn’t believe the residents have lost the war.

The Town Board approved rezoning 2569 Whitehaven Road from M-1 (light industrial and research) to M-2 (industrial) to permit Jerod and Jim Battaglia to operate a contractors’ yard for their landscaping business on property they lease from Beryl Calabro. The next step in the issue is a site plan review by the Planning Board.

The neighbors of the prospective business object to the potential impact on their quality of life, and have been fighting the change for much of the summer. In the past, they have expressed concerns about the likelihood of increased traffic, noise, disruption of wildlife and the unsightly storage of vehicles and equipment. The bottom line: They dread the realities of a commercial concern closing in on the place they call home and they object to what they call “spot rezoning” as a violation of the town’s own Master Plan.

Passes by Super Majority

On Tuesday, no one took the microphone to speak for or against the rezoning during the Town Board meeting. Previously, enough residents had signed a petition that a “super majority” was needed to pass the rezoning. The needed votes were there: The tally was 4-1 in favor, with Councilwoman Susan Argy voting “no.”

Argy said she went to the site after the Aug. 7 public hearing on the rezoning to see for herself what residents were talking about. “I had a couple of concerns. I just didn’t feel comfortable with it,” Argy said Wednesday. “In listening to the residents, I think they had valid concerns.”

But McMahon said Wednesday that in the list of concerns residents had given the Town Board, “the vast majority of them were not SEQR environmental issues,” upon which the rezoning approval was based, but more to do with how the business would blend in with the character of their neighborhood. He said if residents are worried about, for example, piles of mulch or dirt that would be visible on the site, they could suggest “screening,” such as a row of evergreens, on the property. He said drainage concerns would also come up in the Planning Board review.

Site Plan Review Next

“As soon as we get the site plan, they can come in and take a look at it and formulate any suggestions they have,” McMahon said. “I think the property owner would be wise to do what he can to design the site to reduce or eliminate any concerns that neighbors have.”

Argy said, “I am hoping they stay involved and watch the site plan come through.”

In a workshop session before the 8 p.m. regular meeting, Town Board members went through the points of a State Environmental Quality Review assessment form and voted to issue a “negative declaration.” In essence, they agreed that rezoning would carry no negative impacts regarding criteria such as traffic, the character of the neighborhood and the environment. They determined that the change from M-1 to M-2 was a minor one.

Whitehaven Road resident Dan Sheff disagreed. He was among about a dozen from his group who lined up outside the workshop during an executive session that followed the vote, and discussed, none too happily, the SEQR process that had just been completed. Claudia Preve was one of them. “They were talking so fast, we didn’t even know what they were saying,” Preve remarked later. “We knew from the beginning that this was somewhat of a done deal.”

Sheff said there are currently at least three groups of residents fighting zoning changes that would, in their view, change the character of Island neighborhoods for the worse. He said the fear they share is that such rezoning will foster the proliferation of business districts outside what is outlined in the town’s Master Plan and its Zoning Code.

Woods Creek Subdivision

In other business on Tuesday:

•The Town Board held a public hearing on preliminary plat approval (revised) for phase I of the Woods Creek subdivision. Speaking in favor of approval were Marla D. Brown, attorney for Parkland Development, and Pete Johnson, a civil engineer for the project. The development would consist of 24 single-family lots on 17 acres.

Brown said the property is zoned R-1D, and no change in zoning is being requested. She said all the lots conform to current codes.

Dorothy Westhafer was one of three people speaking in opposition. Although Westhafer is chair of the town’s Commission for Conservation of the Environment, she was speaking as a private citizen on Tuesday.

‘Unresolved Issues’

“There seem to be several unresolved issues regarding the Woods Creek subdivision,” Westhafer said. “While only Phase I is up for preliminary approval tonight, this proposal to build 24 lots off Stony Point was originally in phase IV. Approving it as phase I at this point makes for a piecemeal approach and doesn’t allow for best overall planning of the parcel.”

There are 2.5 acres of wetlands in the parcel. Westhafer said housing should be planned to make it compatible with surrounding or adjacent wetlands. She suggested buffer plantings and control of invasive vegetation such as purple loosetrife.

Stony Point Road resident Greg Chamberlain said he has the house closest to Woods Creek. “I’m the one who gets the runoff. … When the creek comes up, I can fish off my driveway.” He said he has seen water “run out of that field live a river in some storms.” Chamberlain asked the Town Board, “have all these things been addressed?”

McMahon assured Chamberlain that the amount of water that leaves the site after development has to be the same as before development. He said a detention pond might have to be built to achieve that.

•The board authorized qualified and trained members of the Grand Island Police Department to serve eviction notices. The provision is to make the notices more timely, considering a county backlog. A fee of $119 per person served would apply.

•The board also set a public hearing on an application for a Restore NY grant for restoring the Dunlop Building. If awarded, the grant would fund asbestos abatement, building-related rehabilitation and related infrastructure improvements, including sewer. The work would be funded by the grant and the property owners.

•The board accepted with regret the resignation of Douglas Scheid from the Planning Board. Scheid, an architect, had served as the board’s chairman. In his letter to the Town Board, Scheid said after reading the town’s Code of Ethics, and conferring with his attorney, “It is not possible for me to continue as a volunteer member of any board in the town of Grand Island, as I would seem to violate several provisions of this section of law.” He added: “It has been my pleasure to serve the town over the years in an unbiased manner.”

McMahon said the town’s new ethics code is more restrictive than even the state’s code, and could mean that a number of attorneys and professional people who currently serve on advisory boards may no longer meet the provisions the town has written. “We’re going to take a look if it makes sense to change it,” McMahon said of the language in the law. “It’s new, and this is really the first question that comes up.”