Planning board tables site-plan review for 555 Ludwig after drainage, permit questions

The Town of Cheektowaga Planning Board on an evening meeting tabled action on a proposed building addition and new parking at 555 Ludwig after the applicant asked for more time to produce fully engineered plans addressing drainage and potential unpermitted work.

Applicant Anthony Pandolfo, project engineer with Carbonneau Wood Design, told the board he and his team had just taken over the project and requested the item be tabled until they could prepare detailed plans. "We would ask this to be tabled until we get the proper plans put together and have a better idea of the direction we're going," Pandolfo said.

Pandolfo said the project scope — a building addition along Ludwig and additional parking out front — will not change, but the site has outstanding drainage concerns and a ditch along the western property line where stormwater is likely to discharge. He said he had spoken with Drew Lloyd in the town engineering department and with the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC), and that fully engineered plans are needed to determine whether state or county agencies must be involved.

Board members noted previous questions about drainage and parking and that some paving may have been done without permits. The applicant acknowledged the possibility that existing parking along a side property line could require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) because it is a pre-existing nonconformity.

A motion to table the application passed by voice vote with no roll-call tally recorded.

The board did not set a new return date; the applicant said they plan to pursue any necessary variances and present engineered plans at a future meeting.