Grand Island Town Board: No action yet on Golfview

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

An alternate plan that Town Supervisor Peter Marston proposed to developers two weeks ago was the topic of a discussion about the Golfview project during Monday’s Town Board workshop before the regular meeting.

While the project generated an informative workshop discussion, ultimately no action was taken by the Town Board later in the regular meeting.

Golfview project attorney Sean Hopkins talked about the alternate plan during the workshop.

The Golfview proposed housing development for a site at Whitehaven and East River roads has taken some criticism from neighboring residents worried about population density.

The goal has been to rezone it to the satisfaction of the developers, the residents and the Town Board.

 “The question came up is whether we could match the dimensions of the homes next to Timberlink to the existing homes that are adjacent. So, what we did under this plan is we increased the width to 100 feet – I believe it was previously 80 feet – and because now these will be much larger homes with different expectations, we no longer have the 80-foot buffer area here,” Hopkins said, while pointing on a map of the proposed development.

He said the lots are 100 feet by 200 feet, “then all the outside ring lots have a minimum width of 80 feet, and then we obviously have some smaller interior lots.”

“What we also did under this plan, based on the input received, we clustered the town homes more together, in some instances using 45 feet,” he said. “One big benefit of that, it does provide substantially more green space all the way around, separating the single-family homes from the town homes.”

“Because we lost four lots … and I think everyone agreed we should stick to the density, we did add one additional town home there.”

Summing up, Hopkins said, “So we lost four lots, added a town home. We’re still at the exact density that you’ve reviewed again and again, in terms of 288 total units.”

Hopkins then turned to a second map and a second alternate plan with some variations from the first.

He said, “This is the plan we presented last time (two weeks ago) with one important modification. … Keep in mind we have the 80-foot green space buffer on the back of those 200-foot lots, which would be a berm and landscaping. And then under this plan, no increase in the terms of the density; but again, by using the 45-foot town home separation, in some instance, we’re able to make that same increase in terms of the green space” for separation from the town homes.

Hopkins added that no decisions were being made Monday night: “Our goal tonight is to leave with a consensus in terms of which plan do we advance.”

Marston said of the first plan that Hopkins described, “This all makes sense from a planning perspective.”

He pointed up that the plan has transitions – a road that would buffer the areas so that residential and commercial uses would not be butting against each other.

“It’s setting it up as it should be for the future,” Marston said.

The 65-acre site has 51 acres zoned as R-2 residential and 14 remaining acres are zoned B-1, business.

Nearby residents have been leery of any rezoning that would rely on a Planned Development District (PDD). They expressed fears that, even though the current developers have pledged to achieve an acceptably low population density, a subsequent owner could possibly interpret any PDD as a license to do whatever they want with the site.

Plans are to put in a mix of single-family homes, town homes, mixed-use buildings and apartments clustered around a courtyard.

Hopkins has previously said that the last issue to be resolved in the current application is whether to down-zone the 14-acre portion of the site to R2 or PDD.

Later, at the Town Board’s regular meeting, resident Hank Cushing of Timberlink Drive said, “I’m a little concerned with the workshop tonight. It seems to me that our PDD plan says PDD will be offered when it gives a benefit to the residents of the town, not to the landowner. All the things that went on tonight seem to be beneficial to the landowner.

“One of the things the board refuses to do is point up the parameters that exist in our master plans and codes that might reduce the density of that area. Instead, which we’ve heard week after week (from the Town Board) is, ‘We don’t tell the guys how to build it. That’s not our job.’ However, that seems to be what the supervisor has done, is give them a plan that they think will go through now.

“So, we’re right back to square one. I think everything’s at a point where it’s probably got to go back to all those boards, I hope, because it is a new plan.”