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Thread: Common Council approves 23-story waterfront tower

  1. #1
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Common Council approves 23-story waterfront tower

    Common Council approves 23-story waterfront tower

    Buffalo lawmakers gave the green light Tuesday to a 23-story apartment tower on prime waterfront land.

    By a vote of 6-3, the Common Council approved the proposed Queen City Landing. Council members David A. Franczyk, David A. Rivera and Joseph Golombek Jr. cast dissenting votes.

    The project was approved by the Buffalo Planning Board by a 5-1 vote earlier this month. But because the property is located in the Buffalo Coastal Special Review District, a restricted-use permit is required from the Buffalo Common Council.

    The completed project would bring more than 200 residents to a 20-acre peninsula, and even more visitors to its restaurants, docks and walking trails.

    “I’m excited by it,” said developer Gerald Buchheit, the Orchard Park businessman who proposed the Apartments @ Queen City Landing project. “We’re encouraged to be able to open it to the public and enjoy the waterfront.”
    http://www.buffalonews.com/city-regi...ime=1466539007



    Council members David A. Franczyk, David A. Rivera and Joseph Golombek Jr. cast dissenting votes.
    Opponents of Buchheit’s endeavor cited the height as well as historic preservation, wildlife endangerment, environmental, traffic, noise and other concerns in trying to block the project from being approved. They have also insisted that such a large building doesn’t belong there because it doesn’t fit with the community’s goals for the Outer Harbor. And they’ve warned that the actions by the Planning Board and now the Common Council could reshape the waterfront and set a new precedent that could allow private development to take away public access to the lake.


    Sunday I'm pretty sure I saw the building that will be torn down. I think this is a good project. Long as it adds to the tax rolls.

    How can someone complain about height when you have the grain mills which I think are taller. I think the grain mills have to go. Maybe keep one to may a few people happy but I think they are in the way now. It's not like they are historic buildings.

    Buffalo Grain Towers


    I'm still puzzled why the skyway needs to come down. I saw traffic all around the outer harbor. What do people think the skyway is blocking?

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Lawsuit challenges Freezer Queen project

    BUFFALO, NY-- A small group of Buffalo residents have filed a petition to challenge the Queen City Landing Project.

    The $40 million dollar project to build a tower on Buffalo's waterfront was given the final green light earlier this month by city officials. Plans call for transforming former Freezer Queen building into a 23-story tower, with up to 200 apartments on the shore of Lake Erie.

    The petitioners say in their lawsuit, the City of Buffalo Planning Board and Common Council, "engaged in a concerted effort to fast-track the approval process for a 23-story, 370,000-square-foot mixed-use development project proposed for construction on the City of Buffalo’s Outer Harbor, attempting to circumvent laws and policies meant to ensure thoughtful and appropriate planning decisions and preserve our environment."
    http://www.wgrz.com/money/business/l...ject/259456158


    They range from the migratory path of birds on the lakeshore to potential storm water runoff from the site and proper controls to prevent potential discharges into the lake.
    Why are they not worried about the migratory path of birds with the grain mills?

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    WNY, they used the migratory bird argument to help defeat the various designs for the Peace Bridge. Given what we've discovered recently about the "objectivity" of judges we should not be surprised that idiots on the bench buy this crappola. I can only assume that the birds are smarter than the people so concerned about them. Otherwise, every day the ground would be littered with dead birds which it isn't.

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Grump I hate to say this... The ground along the beaches littered with dead birds. I know it's not about the high buildings along the water front.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Why are they not worried about the migratory path of birds with the grain mills?
    I'm not taking sides on this, but to answer your question, the grain mills aren't 23 stories tall and most of them aren't right on the outer harbor shoreline. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about bird migration or what makes it an issue... but apparently it is. I've also heard that the plans for the new tower and garage don't meet established regulations for setbacks from the water to allow for public access. Seems like these guys aren't big on following rules, and the city went along with that. Leaves them wide open for lawsuits. They should have just done the required studies instead of cutting corners.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Grump I hate to say this... The ground along the beaches littered with dead birds. I know it's not about the high buildings along the water front.
    If there are no high buildings there then the building height argument is bull****. Is the ground littered with dead birds around Empty Tower, the M&T building, the Rand Building, around towers supporting utility lines, around the dorms at UB Main St campus which is the highest point in the City, around the VA hospital? Of course not. This is crap, pure and simple. And is the ground really "littered" with dead birds? For one thing, where I live and work there's not very much litter! Clearly if there are that many dead birds on the ground and there are no tall buildings it's not tall buildings killing them. Are they "migratory" birds as defined by law or are they just dead birds...gulls and so on? Does anyone know what a "migratory" bird is? Other than during nesting season it's been my understanding that all birds come and go as they please. It's not like they live in subdivisions. Or as even cooler, in an apartment or condo in an urban area in a converted factory or warehouse loaded with asbestos.
    Last edited by grump; July 7th, 2016 at 07:52 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Grump I hate to say this... The ground along the beaches littered with dead birds. I know it's not about the high buildings along the water front.
    WNY, I just saw your post on another thread that there were 7 or 8 dead birds. Is that the time the ground was "littered"? I also read that DEC said the birds were dying from a natural phenomenon. Hell, maybe they were east side birds and got caught in a fly by. Or maybe we should ban buildings until they can prove they don't cause natural phenomena...but wait...if they did then the phenomena wouldn't be natural. So that couldn't be the cause either. The people who propose this crap are idiots pure and simple. Any judge who takes this crap seriously should be subject to the loss of pension. This crap would be gone overnight!
    Last edited by grump; July 8th, 2016 at 08:31 PM.

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Yes... I was surprised because they were all rather close to each other. It wasn't like a bird every 100 feet or so. They were every 10 to 15 feet

    People were in the water within a few feet of the birds. I just thought it wasn't healthy.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Yes... I was surprised because they were all rather close to each other. It wasn't like a bird every 100 feet or so. They were every 10 to 15 feet

    People were in the water within a few feet of the birds. I just thought it wasn't healthy.
    Don't worry; the birds were already dead so they were past hurting. I doubt the people being in the water hurt those birds. What if they died of old age!

  10. #10
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Grump.... a little over medicated today

    I was referring to the disease that could be spread to people not the birds.

    The birds were already checked out.

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