Youngstown paving project to be discussed; Lewiston to hear about apartment complex project

By Terry Duffy

Editor-in-Chief

With meeting cancellations in Youngstown and an abrupt Town Board session in Lewiston, one would think that not too much is occurring in northern Niagara – save for this Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Youngstown.

Well, not exactly. True, the Village of Youngstown trustees canceled their January work session and February board meeting due to light workloads. The village trustees will meet Thursday, March 13, at the Red Brick Village Center with a number of items on the agenda.

Some newsmakers to watch out for:

•The village announced it would adopt the Town of Porter’s fee schedule for building permits, with board approval Thursday. The move follows recent village actions where Town Building Inspector/Code Enforcement officer Pete Jeffery assumed zoning/code enforcement responsibilities for the village following the retirement of John Stevens last year.

•Village Mayor Rob Reisman announced this week the New York State Department of Transportation would hold an information session from 5-7 p.m. (informal presentation at 6 p.m.), Thursday, March 20, to discuss its upcoming paving rehabilitation project for Route 93 – Lockport Street, titled “Full Depth Reconstruction and Paving on NY Route 93, Lockport Street.” DOT reps are expected to discuss proposed improvements and traffic impacts.

According to the DOT project description: “The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is proposing a roadway reconstruction from NY 18F to Elm Street and a road diet for the existing 4-lane section between Elm Street and just east of the Niagara Scenic Parkway interchange. Included with the reconstruction is new curb, closed drainage, and replacement of curb ramps to ADA compliance. Proposed work zone traffic control consists of reducing traffic to a single lane of traffic controlled by flaggers. This project will improve the rideability of the pavement, drainage of the roadway, pedestrian and bicyclist mobility, and signage and striping.”

The session will take place at the Youngstown Volunteer Fire Co., 625 Third St., and is open to the public.

Town of Lewiston

In Lewiston, the Town Board held a very brief work session Monday. Meeting highlights included an announcement by Melinda Olick for a St. Patrick’s Day party at 11 a.m. March 17 at the Lewiston Senior Center; board approval for the town’s Water Pollution Control Center to place older vehicles, as excess enroute to auction; and plans for the Sanborn Antique Show and Sale. Presented by the Sanborn Area Historical Society, the event will take place 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 15 and 16 at the Sanborn Farm Museum, 2660 Sanders Settlement Road. For more information, call 716-957-4851 or 716-731-5982.

•In other Lewiston news of interest, the Town of Lewiston Planning Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at Town Hall. Among the agenda items will be continuation of an informational meeting/revised site plan to discuss the “5/4 Development Corp Presidents Park Apartment Complex Washington Drive.”

According to December 2024 minutes gleaned from the town Planning Board session, architect Joseph Giusiana, president of 5-4 Development Corp, appeared before the board to present revised plans for a project that had been approved earlier by the Town Board.

The meeting minutes reveal Giusiana saying, “I’m here representing a project that has been previously approved (by) the Planning Board and Town Board for a 168-unit apartment complex (consisting) of seven buildings, community center and some basketball courts, tennis courts and so on. Since then, we have been in front of the Town Board and requested bonus density. The town has actually granted bonus density to us, which allows us to add another 23 units to our site, bringing it to total number of units on the site to 210 units. Still the same seven buildings, same layout, if you will, of the infrastructure road way and so on. We have increased the parking to be compliant with the number of units on that site. … We’re probably going to be developing about 11 acres in total of the project of the 23-acres site.”

While the Town Board has yet to take any action on the project, the Planning Board met in February where it heard from a number of neighboring interests, including the Three F Conservation Society, located on Swann Road. The March Panning Board session is open to the public and comments on the 5/5 project will again be accepted.