Grand Island conservation board discusses M1 zoning reform, moratorium and county objections

Grand Island conservation board members spent a large portion of their meeting updating one another on a proposed M1 zoning amendment, the expired building-size moratorium and disagreements with Erie County over proposed limits on distribution facilities.

The discussion focused on whether the town should extend a moratorium while the town’s zoning reform committee completes work and whether changes to the draft M1 amendment — including a proposed prohibition on distribution facilities such as a large Amazon-style fulfillment center — would withstand likely legal scrutiny, speakers said.

The zoning matter drew sustained commentary because Erie County returned the town’s referral with objections, and one town official said the county’s principal complaint was that limitations on building size and on distribution facilities could hurt countywide commerce. Town officials noted that the town can approve changes over the county’s objection but would need a supermajority vote of its five-member board to do so.

Speakers repeatedly said the moratorium has expired and that they would not consider extending it without evidence that the zoning reform committee was making progress toward a concrete recommendation. One participant described removing the proposed restriction on distribution facilities from the draft the county reviewed as a “nonstarter” for them, arguing the restriction was intended to prevent an intensive distribution use and its community impacts. Another participant warned that making no substantive changes to a draft that had been the subject of a county referral — then imposing a moratorium and passing the same law later — could leave the town poorly positioned to defend the change in litigation.

Board members also said the zoning reform committee’s pace has frustrated some officials; the committee’s work is meant to review townwide zoning classifications, but speakers said the committee has not yet produced the near-term recommendations some members want. A speaker noted that the committee’s chair also led the long-range planning committee and had previously drafted a letter supporting the project that the proposed M1 changes could affect, raising questions about conflicts of interest.

No formal motion to extend the moratorium was made or recorded during the session. Members said they expect the zoning reform committee to produce a deliverable before the board will consider a moratorium extension or other board-level action.

The conservation board did not take a formal vote on zoning changes during the meeting.