CLARENCE
Hearing on Wegmans plan is all talk
There was no resolution Wednesday in the battle between proponents and opponents of a plan to amend Clarence’s master plan to accommodate a proposed 140,000-square-foot Wegmans supermarket on Transit Road.
Instead, the Clarence Town Board unanimously agreed to delay action on the amendment and refer the matter back to the Planning Board for further discussion, with a recommendation that the Planning Board then refer it to the town Environmental Review Committee to consider.
The Town Board’s decision capped a public hearing that lasted more than two hours as wary residents who live near the site, on Transit between Roll and Clarence Center roads, and proponents of the proposed Wegmans project were allowed to make their respective cases.
Though Supervisor Scott Bylewski advised the nearly 400 people attending Wednesday’s hearing that the meeting was intended to determine whether the master plan should be amended to accommodate changing the zoning of the parcel from it’s current major arterial zoning to commercial status, the proposed Wegmans project stole the focus of the hearing.
Most of the 20-acre parcel is already zoned appropriately for “major arterial,” for commercial use.
However, seven acres abutting homes in the town’s Rolling Meadows and Highland Farms subdivisions would need to be rezoned.
Residents, like Margaret Kleinmann of Kippen Drive, said that would pose a huge disruption to the quality of life in their neighborhoods.
“We have purchased or built our homes with the knowledge that the land was already zoned as residential, and we want all of the [Town] Board members . . . to see that the vast majority [of residents are] against any change,” Kleinmann said.
However, other residents, such as Michael Holley of Michael Douglas Drive, argued that “down-zoning,” as the Planning Board has recommended, would stifle opportunities for economic development.
Sean Hopkins, a lawyer for the developer, Bella Vista, pleaded with the Town Board to delay making a decision on the master plan amendment so the developers could have time to address residents’ concerns.
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