Erie County rejects Town of Grand Island warehouse law

Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Erie County has come out against Grand Island’s proposed zoning changes dealing with the allowable size of warehouses and distributions centers in M-1 and M-2 districts.

But, unlike residents who say the proposed zoning restrictions don’t go far enough, the county says the town has gone too far.

In doing so, Grand Island risks losing out on attracting and keeping businesses that bring jobs and tax revenue, the county said.

The Town Board, in its second submission for county review, said it intends to restrict warehouse sizes to a total gross floor area of 75,000 square feet or less on a given lot.

The county says: “While it is slightly more permissive than the previous version, it would still hinder the town and county’s ability to attract and retain businesses and would potentially prohibit the largest existing firms from expanding, impacting hundreds of jobs and the town and county’s tax base.”

Town Supervisor Peter Marston has said the Town Board is satisfied with its Local Law No. 6, but suggested that the town reach out to the county, nonetheless. At the close of a public hearing on the law on Monday night, the board voted to meet and try to find common ground with the county’s Department of Environment and Planning.

In a letter dated March 7, the county department said its recommendation of disapproval requires the town not to act contrary to the disapproval “except by vote of a majority plus one of all members thereof.”

The county also said the town “should consider approaches and incentives which would allow each appropriately-sized warehousing and distribution facilities to be evaluated on its own merits,” rather than setting a blanket size restriction.

The warehouse issue has been a hot one since 2020. That’s when Amazon walked away from its proposal to build a 3.8-million-square-foot warehouse on Grand Island, amid resident criticism over potential traffic jams, environmental impact and perceived threats to the Island’s quality of life.

Once Acquest Development of Amherst proposed a 1.1-million-square-foot facility at the same site, 2780 Long Road, the issue heated up again.

At Town Board meetings, residents have pushed back against mega-warehouses in general and that one in particular. The town has walked a tightrope since 2023, trying to set restrictions that are fair to both developers and residents.

Typical larger warehouse and distribution centers being built in the region are in the range of 150,000 square feet and greater, according to the latest response from the county.

To build such a facility under that size “may not be economically feasible, given the costs of design, permitting and construction,” the county planning department wrote in a letter to Marston.

Prohibiting such facilities throughout the town would have “the net effect of impeding the economic development and supply chain resiliency of the county and wider region,” the county said.

Cathy Rayhill reacted to the process by which the proposed zoning law changes have been formulated.

“I am perplexed as to the convoluted approach the Town Board has taken to amending this law,” she said. “Size is impact, regardless of the type of building that is proposed. A simpler approach would be to amend the law to limit the total gross square footage of all buildings on a business campus, similar to the B-3 district, which limits the size of buildings to 5,000 square feet. As we have already seen with the businesses on Staley Road, the impact of these massive facilities has a negative impact on surrounding communities and the health and safety of our residents.”

She added, “Be that as it may, I hope this board will make good on the recent commitments made during your recent election campaigns and vote for some version of this amendment to the law with a super majority vote, which would effectively negate the disapproval by Erie County Planning.”

Marston made a motion to refer the matter back to the Town Board, and then have the board authorize him to set up a meeting with County Planning “so that we can jointly discuss this together.”

The board approved the motion.