Planning Board rejects Fieldstone Estates
Case in litigation
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

It came down to the wire, but at a special 8 a.m. meeting on Friday, the Amherst Planning Board denied CF&L Development's request to build a 24-lot subdivision on Hopkins Road.

Planning Director Rick Gillert said a special meeting had to be called because the 62-day deadline would expire prior to the next Planning Board meeting on May 17. Had the board not taken action, the request would have been approved by default.

Since the plan for Fieldstone Estates had been submitted, the zoning code in relation to cul-de-sac length had been changed twice, Gillert said.

The Amherst Town Board changed the rule for dead-end roads and cul-de-sacs, limiting their length to 800 feet. Gillert said the first time it was changed a clause left part of the code to the Planning Board's discretion.

A second revision by the Town Board made it a hard and fast rule that dead-ends and cul-de-sacs cannot be longer than 800-feet.

"This plan showed a cul-de-sac of 933 feet, and it can't be any longer than 800 feet," Gillert said. "The Planning Board had no discretion on this."

The developer was proposing Fieldstone Estates for 1827 Hopkins Road, portions of 1871 Hopkins and 1620 Dodge Road.

Sean Hopkins, of Hopkins, Garas & Sorgi, PLLC, representing the project, said the developer filed a lawsuit against the town.

"My client is challenging the law adopted by the Town Board in January 2007 that took away the Planning Board's power to approve the length," Hopkins said.

He added the preliminary site plan had been approved in November 2006 with the 933-foot length in the plan.

He said the town is claiming that because the final plot approval had not been made the change was possible.

According to Hopkins, only during the preliminary step is the length of the cul-de-sac approved.

The case is scheduled to be in State Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 23.

e-mail: jfinch@beenews.com