The undersigned interested parties and community of Grand Island, NY oppose the approval of a zoning request by TC Buffalo Development Associates, LLC to modify the existing M-1 zone located at 2780 Long Road from M-1 (Light Industrial) to PDD (Planned Development District). TC Buffalo has outlined the details of a proposed warehouse (presumably run by Amazon) at the aforementioned site which would not comply with the current zone designation as laid out in the Town’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan and recently approved by the Town Council. Zoning modification is required by TC Buffalo Development Associates in order to bypass many of the existing M-1 restrictions and proceed with the project.

WE URGE THE TOWN BOARD TO DO A COMPREHENSIVE COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS BEFORE PROCEEDING TO A VOTE ON THE ZONING CHANGE.

Buried in the 2000+ pages of documentation on the Town's website, TC Buffalo confirms that they will be requesting tax relief and that the project is "not feasible" without this. Based on similar projects across the country, they will most likely be asking for 10-20 years of tax relief/PILOT (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) for this project. This would result in minimal, if any, tax benefit for the Town of Grand Island while we bear the additional costs of maintaining infrastructure and services required in the interim.

THE PROJECT CANNOT PROCEED WITHOUT THIS ZONE MODIFICATION AND THE GRAND ISLAND TOWN COUNCIL SHOULD DENY THE ZONING CHANGE.

The footprint of the proposed warehouse is 823,523 square feet (equivalent to 54 football fields) and 87 feet high, equivalent to 9 stories. This would make Grand Island dominated by one of the largest warehouses in the world — not just in the United States, but the world.

Besides its disruptive size and the fact that the project fails to comply with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan (and has requested multiple variances), there are far too many unanswered questions about this project.

TC Buffalo’s claim that a warehouse of this size (over 3.8 million square feet, employing up to 1,800 people) would have a minimal impact on noise pollution, air pollution and our natural environment, including natural habitat and wetlandsis simply not true based on multiple studies conducted on much smaller Amazon warehouses.

TC Buffalo’s traffic studies fail to make mention of the small panel trucks like those Amazon uses to deliver from warehouses to homes and businesses (“the last mile”). In addition, TC Buffalo claims that the warehouse, with 69 bays, would only add an additional 2-3% to our existing peak traffic volumes and minimal wear and tear on our roadways and bridges. This is not true. A recent count of Amazon trucks leaving a facility in Los Angeles that is one-third the size of the warehouse proposed for Grand Island came to 1,100 trucks per hour.

WE URGE THE TOWN BOARD TO IDENTIFY THE TENANT BEFORE ANY VOTE TAKES PLACE ON THE ZONING CHANGE.

TC Buffalo has failed to name its tenant. We strongly suspect it is Amazon (considering that they are already advertising for positions and the facility already appears on Google maps). We believe TC Buffalo is hiding that fact because of Amazon’s many predatory practices and history of misleading the public about the negative impact of their warehouses on the surrounding communities.

This proposed project is too big, too secretive and would be far too disruptive and permanently damaging to the quality of life we have now on Grand Island. There would be no turning back.

WE URGE THE TOWN BOARD TO DELAY ANY VOTE ON THIS ZONING REQUEST UNTIL CITIZENS WHO CANNOT PARTICIPATE VIRTUALLY CAN PARTICIPATE AND VOICE THEIR INPUT SAFELY IN-PERSON.

The pandemic has made it very difficult for effective communication to take place across our community. Many of our elderly residents do not have access to technology and have been unable to voice their opinions. This vote should not take place until adequate input has been received from all sectors of our community. No one should be left out.

Join us in opposing it by signing this petition.

Signed,

Coalition for Responsible Economic Development for Grand Island (CRED4GI)