Hearing set on former Shawnee Landing property

by Susan Mikula Campbell

Some residents remain skeptical about plans for the former Shawnee Landing property off Shawnee Road in Wheatfield.

A public hearing on rezoning for the property is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, prior to the Town Board's regular meeting. The rezoning would permit building of 13 single-family homes on Captain's Way and two commercial properties along Shawnee Road.

Wheatfield Supervisor Bob Cliffe also was scheduled to meet Wednesday evening with neighbors of the property.

The property is owned by the Church at Shawnee Landing, which purchased property in Wheatfield several years ago to build a new church. First, they built a low-income housing project on a parcel of land along Shawnee Road.

The church recently decided to forego its goal of a new church in Wheatfield in favor of staying in North Tonawanda, and decided to sell the land.

"I will be meeting with some of the neighbors prior to the 12th to hear what they have to say, and to give them any information I have regarding the new project," Cliffe said.

Partners in the proposed Captain's Way subdivision project are David Burke of Burke Homes LLC, a residential home builder in Hamburg, and David Pawlik of CSS Construction, a developer, contractor and construction firm in Buffalo.

They emphasized that their only connection to the church is that they have a contract to buy the property.

"We're not affiliated with the church whatsoever. Once we move forward with this, the sole owners will be David and myself," Pawlik said.

He added that their plans for the property have been the same since they were first submitted to the town's Planning Board.

"We're excited about the Wheatfield area and think this will be a quality development that the town and certainly the neighborhood will be proud of," Burke said.

Plans are for 13 single-family homes, ranging between 1,600 and 2,200 square feet on Captain's Way. They will be custom-built to the client's specifications and will be priced in the $185,000 to $230,000 range, the partners said.

There would be two, one-story commercial parcels on Shawnee Road, one about 9,000 square feet and the other about 11,000 square feet. They probably would be divided into a series of smaller offices, possible some type of medical support offices, such as x-ray and laboratory services. Retail space also is an option being considered Pawlik said.

"We feel there's a very strong market in that immediate area," he said.

The partners are requesting the rezoning so plans can be finalized and construction could begin this fall, weather permitting.

Town Attorney Robert O'Toole said the rezoning request involves changing the property along Shawnee from its current R-3 (residential zoning) to C-1 (commercial). The property along Captain's Way would be rezoned from R-3, which allows multi-family housing, to R-1, which only allows single-family residences.

"That's exactly what people in adjoining subdivisions wanted all along," O'Toole said.