Business District

[Caz5]

THE CITY HIRED ARCHITECTS TO "DESIGN AND SET STANDARDS FOR THE BUSINESS DISTRICT" - HOW MUCH WERE THEY PAID? WHAT WERE THEIR FINDINGS? WERE ANY OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS ACCEPTED?


City Council Meeting Minutes
March 20, 2006

I ask the Council to accept the design and standards for Lackawanna Business District presented to us by Hamilton, Houston & Lownie Architects.

RONALD SPADONE, COUNCIL PRESIDENT

[mnb811]

Umm....What buisness district they all left.

[Caz5]

Good question...WHAT BUSINESS DISTRICT?

Let's see, folks, we have a big giant FOR SALE sign on the corner of South Park & Ridge Road where a thriving Daisies Cafe used to be. We have a liquor store, a pawn shop, a bar. We have several businesses FOR RENT. There is a post office with a teeny, tiny, congested parking lot. There is one corner parking lot used by Victoria Square, Subway, M&T and by people going to the Basilica.

[mnb811]

A lot of vacancies on Abbott Road to. It must be that high buisness tax rate don't you think?

[Caz5]

According to the City Council Meeting Minutes in 2006, a resolution (#13, 2006) was passed with regards to LACKAWANNA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2020 in which points found in the plan included:

IMPROVE THE APPEARANCE AND CIRCULATION OF THE LACKAWANNA BUSINESS DISTRICT and INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TREES PARTICULARLY ON OR NEAR SOUTH PARK AND RIDGE ROADS. Oh, and to improve pedestrian and CYCLING TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

We have a "cycling transportation system"??? Not included in the design of the new bridge!

[mnb811]

2006 was an election year go figure..........

[youcangohome]

2006 was an election year go figure..........

2007 was election year, moron. Limit your stupidity to Boston

[WNYresident]

What are some addresses of the buildings? We can google view it to sort of see what your all referring to.

[mnb811]

2007 was election year, moron. Limit your stupidity to Boston

Yep just before the election they do this stuff and then do not act on it just to make you think they are doing something moron....shows how far up their ass you are.

[Caz5]

City Council Meeting
December 21, 2009

Resolution #36, 2009 (Blueprint for Change Grant):

WHEREAS the OLV Renaissance Plan addresses the City of Lackawanna's
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2020

...to develop retail activities in the central business district that will appeal to visitors of the Botanical Gardens and Basilica and increase their stay

...will create 235 permanent jobs and over 400 construction-related jobs due to the 28.1 million dollar renovation budget and will CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE LACKAWANNA ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

...fully endorses the creation of 60 new jobs to the City of Lackawanna's central business district to be located at the OLV campus


(o.k., WHAT central business district??? Creation of 60 new jobs? Creation of 235 permanent jobs? Over 400 construction-related jobs? Appeal to visitors of the Botanical Gardens and Basilica? ATTRACT ALL THESE PEOPLE TO WHAT????????)

[mnb811]

Wow. So they vote on all this stuff then don't follow thru or come up with funding for it? Wouldn't the money they used on that subdivision be better put to use on this project? Don't you figure if you improve buisnesses and city image then maybe then you could sell subdivision lots because people would actually see changes happening?

[sunflower]

I worked at Baker Victory Services and know for a fact that OLV had a very nice cafeteria opened up in that complex...guess where the OLV staff and construction workers went for lunch most days??? NOT into the Lackawanna Business District!!!

[Caz5]

I realize that the hotel is not in the business district, however, in a Business First article written on Oct. 31, 2005, reads:

"while other brand-name hotels surround Lackawanna, none lies within the city's borders...

"The hotel would serve an eclectic list of clients ranging from corporate travelers who have business in the South Buffalo-Lackawanna axis to those bound for Ralph Wilson Stadium for a Buffalo Bills game to boaters using one of the slips along the nearby shores of Lake Erie...

"With the OLV Basilica and the Botanical Gardens right here, maybe a hotel is warranted there."

LACKAWANNA HAS A HOTEL. WHERE, EXACTLY, ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO EAT AND SHOP WHILE VISITING THE BASILICA, BOTANICAL GARDENS...?

[Caz5]

City Council Meeting
December 20, 2010

Ralph Dailey, Property Manager, addressed the Council stating that it has taken TWO YEARS for him to get permission to rennovate property within the business district. He said he has addressed the City Planning Board and the Zoning Board. He stated that the property owner has not paid taxes on that property because he was "uncertain of the future" with respect to his ability to rehab the property. The property owner felt that the "extensive investment already undertaken to remedy the exterior of the building could not continue WITHOUT THE CITY'S COOPERATION.

The City has an opportunity to "encourage a local property owner to INVEST FURTHER in the city by renovating a property that would bring LONG TERM BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY, including additional residents, taxes, and economic growth.

(Not sure of the outcome, the correspondence was received and filed) but the point is...a property owner who wanted to improve his property has had to fight with the city for TWO YEARS and now the property is in foreclosure????

[Caz5]

On the Lackawanna Empire Zone and Renewal Community website, there is a lot of bragging about what Lackawanna has to offer...all the sites and programs and services SURROUNDING THE CITY OF LACKAWANNA.

There is mention of the Botanical Gardens, the Naval Docking Yard, a beach, two shopping malls, many movie theaters, Shea's, Studio Arena, waterfront restaurants, the Bills, the Bisons, the Sabres, HSBC Arena, the County fairgrounds and the Buffalo Zoo.

The website says:
So join high technology companies such as Now-Tech, Safety Scan, Staroba Plastics and Metals, CanFibre Group Accu-Sort, Lakeshore Metals, Buffalo Polymer Processors, Root Specialty Products and Buffalo Brake Beam in Lackawanna's Empire Zone and maximize profits while minimizing and reducing initial overhead startup costs. Get an immediate return on your investment by taking advantage and enjoying the value of big city benefits in a small city atmosphere delivered to your business by the Lackawanna Empire Zone.

AND WHAT IS LACKAWANNA OFFERING???????