Bee Editorial
Rensch Road decision made in haste
With Monday, prior to the Town Board meeting, being the deadline for submissions for the April 19 Planning Board meeting, there was no reason the Town Board needed to act so hastily on the rezonings of 14 Rensch Road parcels.

The item should have remained tabled until the legalities were reviewed - as suggested by council members Deborah Bruch Bucki and Bill Kindel.

While the Town Board is becoming infamous for its "illegal" actions, this one took the cake. It went so far as a council member stating that no one would sue the Town Board because those affected were in favor of the vote.

It's not often that you see Town Attorney Tom Jones reach the level of frustration that he did Monday as the Town Board ignored the master plan and moved forward with the rezoning.

The Planning Board making a statement that it recommended the rezoning and views it as consistent with the master plan is not enough. In this case the Planning Board is only an advisory board. Just because it recommended the rezoning doesn't mean it was right or ready for approval on Monday.

Why waste time during a work session discussing a procedure for amendments to the master plan if four hours later you are just going to move ahead instead?

The majority of the Town Board didn't stop to think and made a bad decision, one that is going to open a can of worms for developers to choose any land they want - no matter what the master plan says. We'd like to see them talk their way out of the next proposal that is inconsistent with the master plan.

On an even larger scale, the rezoning flies in the face of efforts by the University at Buffalo to work in harmony with the town when it comes to development around the Amherst Campus. UB officials have publicly expressed their interest in working together on changes to the neighborhood surrounding the Amherst Campus, the South Campus and downtown Buffalo.

University leaders are concerned about the effects of a second, massive off-campus housing project and its intrusion on an existing neighborhood. Monday's action by the Town Board seems to have short-circuited any chances to come up with a plan upon which both sides could agree.

Potential legal action aside, this hasty action casts a dark cloud over future cooperative efforts between the bulging little community within Amherst - the university - and the Town Board. We hope that there will still be room for dialogue and compromise if and when the Rensch Road project is built.