EAC recommends conditional negative declaration for 7 Brew drive‑through at Tops Plaza amid queuing concerns

The Cheektowaga Environmental Advisory Committee on Oct. 29 recommended a negative declaration for the proposed 7 Brew drive‑through at 3825 Union, amending the recommendation to be pending the outcome of the town board public hearing.

The recommendation follows presentation of a queuing analysis the project team submitted to the committee and county agencies. Anthony Pinedoff, the project engineer, told members the analysis, based on the ITE trip generation manual and empirical studies, identified “the maximum amount of vehicles in the queue was 14 vehicles. The layout we have, we can queue 19 vehicles.” He and others said the site plan can therefore accommodate projected peak‑hour stacking on site and that staff on site could direct traffic as a mitigation measure.

That assessment was reinforced by written comments the project received from Erie County Department of Public Works, Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, and the New York State Department of Transportation, each of which indicated no concern on the traffic or safety items the agencies reviewed. Pinedoff said the project team also relied on observations from existing 7 Brew sites and added operational mitigations such as directing vehicles to adjacent parking if a queue ever developed.

Some committee members pressed for additional safeguards. An EAC member noted the town code allows the traffic safety committee to recommend a traffic impact study (TIS), and asked whether the project still might require a TIS prior to permitting. The project team and counsel responded that the traffic safety committee did not recommend further study and that, per the DEC EAF guidance, a full TIS is typically recommended only for projects expected to generate 100 or more new trips. The committee ultimately amended a motion for a negative declaration to read that the recommendation was pending the results of the public hearings and any substantive public comments.

The motion, as amended, passed. The committee instructed the applicant and town staff to forward any substantive public hearing comments — especially those related to traffic or safety — back to the EAC for further consideration before final permitting and any required TIS determinations.

The project team present included Anthony Pinedoff (project engineer) and attorneys and property representatives who said they had coordinated with Tops Plaza ownership and that adjacent parking areas could be used in an extreme event.

The town board will hold public hearings on the special use permit and zoning amendment at its next scheduled meeting; the EAC asked that any significant public comments be returned to the committee before final approvals.