Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Rezoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board recommends rezoning, site plan approval for Empire 1 Federal Credit Union campus at 2345 William Street
Summary
The Cheektowaga Planning Board voted to recommend rezoning two parcels at 2345 William Street from residential to commercial and to support site-plan approval for an approximately 4,000-square-foot administrative building for Empire 1 Federal Credit Union, subject to environmental review and final town-board approval.
The Cheektowaga Planning Board voted to recommend rezoning two parcels at 2345 William Street from residential to commercial and recommended approval of a development/site plan for an approximately 4,000-square-foot administrative building for Empire 1 Federal Credit Union.
The recommendation, made at the planning board meeting, is contingent on review and approval by the town board and the town’s Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). Sean Hopkins, representing the applicant Empire 1 Federal Credit Union, said the application was filed “last week” and described the proposal as an administrative building that would consolidate the credit union’s operations onto a single campus.
Hopkins said the proposal combines two parcels — one residential and one commercial — and would rezone the parcels to allow the administrative building. He described the building as “slightly less than 4,000 square feet,” single story with a residential-style roof, and said the plan shows 14 additional parking spaces. Hopkins said the design includes “deliberately proposed fencing and high impact landscaping” along the side abutting the nearby residence.
Hopkins also told the board that the project team had submitted a photometric (lighting) plan showing there would be “no lighting spillover at all” onto adjoining properties. He said final engineered plans would be prepared by Jason Utzig of CNS Engineers as the process moves forward.
Board members asked about distances between the proposed building and the neighboring home; Hopkins said the plan shows about 207 feet to the property line and roughly 57 feet to the house. The applicant said the side of the adjacent property would include a garage, the smaller side of the building, and enhanced landscaping and screening.
Dan Young, town planner, told the board that a prior town resolution from 2022 or 2023 had authorized a change to the zoning map but that the map itself had not yet been updated. Hopkins said the project will go before the EAC later this month and undergo a coordinated environmental review pursuant to SEQRA (the State Environmental Quality Review Act).
After discussion the planning board made and seconded a motion to recommend rezoning and development-plan approval, with the explicit understanding that any recommendation is subject to EAC review and final action by the town board. The board chair called for the vote; members answered “Aye” and the motion passed.
The recommendation does not itself change zoning; it forwards the application and the board’s positive recommendation to the town board and EAC for their review and final decisions.
