Town of Wheatfield considering proactive steps to help protect homes

By Benjamin Joe

Proposed Town of Wheatfield town code amendments involving stormwater are being considered by the board and are likely to be voted on in February.

Wheatfield Supervisor Don MacSwan said the new code will give developers of new subdivisions different regulations to follow when constructing housing, including rules for the retention of stormwater.

“Over the last few years, we’ve had severe storms,” he said. “Instead of having a 100-year storm, we’ve had some of them up to the equivalent of a 500-year storm or 750-year storm. … What we have noticed is that, in severe storms, the retention areas have filled up immediately.”

MacSwan said Wheatfield is “flat as a pancake” and there is very little soil on top of clay, which does not provide the needed retention of water. That leads to the potential flooding of the town during storms with increased rainfall.

MacSwan also noted that requirements for lot sizes of homes would also affect new subdivision developers when building housing in the town.

According to the new code, in R-2, or two-family dwelling zones, the lot size will increase from a width of 80 feet to 100 feet, which could help prevent flooding during the severe weather.

“Take a look at the areas of smaller lots. The denser lots with denser driveways. The new amendments increase the zone of absorption. This way you don’t have the density of pavement,” MacSwan explained.

The issue has been in discussion for a year, stretching back to a meeting of Niagara County supervisors at the Town of Wheatfield Town Hall in early 2024.

MacSwan said representatives from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers, were also in attendance.

“I think everybody agreed,” he said. “Grand Island had some severe issues with real flooding, where Wheatfield has been very fortunate. We have had flooding, but never to the point where it’s affected homes. … We never had that, but we’re trying to be a little more progressive and not let this happen here.”

MacSwan did say there had been one home that was flooded by severe storms, but that was due to a mechanical failure of a sump pump line.

“What was happening was all that water was just circulating back into the basement,” he said.

The first step for the amendments is for the Town Board to vote on whether or not any adverse environmental impacts will result in adopting the new code. A declaration of such, either way, will be made at the Town Board meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.

MacSwan said he believed a Town Board vote making the proposed amendments official will occur after a declaration of no negative effects to the environment is made at that same meeting.

“In a nutshell, It’s basically revising our stormwater and retention and detention tactics in the Town of Wheatfield so any new subdivision will have certain requirements it will have to make,” MacSwan said.