Planning Board in favor of Maple Road project
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

The Amherst Planning Board has recommended the rezoning of a section of Maple Road which is earmarked for a multi-use development, but Board Member Debra Norton said the site is not designed for such a project.

"Saying this will not change the comprehensive plan is ridiculous," she said about the 4-1 vote taken at the June 28 meeting.

Calling the proposal an abomination, Norton said for years the board had attempted to protect Maple Road, but the multi-use development would bring excessive traffic.

"We can't have every traffic artery in Amherst becoming a commercial strip," she said. "We won't be able to get from point A to point B," she said. Norton noted that several residents spoke on Thursday against the proposal.

With the adoption of the comprehensive plan by the Town Board in January, rezonings must now go through a process to determine if the rezoning maintains the goal of the plan.

Norton said in her opinion the project would not. The properties are at 218 and 330 Maple Road. A 28-acre portion zoned Community Facilities CF is being sought to be rezoned to General Business GB. The other parcel, 5.2 acres, is CF and Residential-R3, and the request is for Multi-Family Residential District MFR-6.

"It would be a giant retail center, thousands of square feet of retail space. It's not mixed use - call it what it is, a giant retail center," Norton said.

Benderson Development has proposed a mixed-use development of retail, restaurant, office, hotel and residential projects. The site was home to the Buffalo Gun Club and is one mile west of North Forest Road.

The Maple Road public hearing was one of two that lasted almost six hours during the Planning Board meeting.

The second involved the Rensch Road project. Planning Director Rick Gillert said with two members absent, the remaining board members voted down a request to recommend rezoning 13 parcels on Rensch Road. Thus, the request will return to the Town Board without a Planning Board recommendation.

"It's very uncommon to have no recommendation," Gillert said.

GMH Communities is seeking the rezoning to build an off-campus student housing complex at the site. The project had been approved once, but was stalled when the University at Buffalo filed a suit against the town, claiming the rezoning was illegal.

The suit was then dropped and the town restarted the process, following a guideline for amending the comprehensive plan.

The next step for both projects is to schedule public hearings during a Town Board meeting. They have not been set at this time.

(Editor's note: Requests for comment from a Planning Board member who voted in favor of Maple Road were not returned prior to press time.)