Island Dispatch, 1998-02-13

              Island DISPATCH "As the voice of Grand Island" m February 13, 1998 24 Pages 650 ___ Monday Nile Madness LARGE CHEESE PIZZA 4-95 ______D Official Newspaper for the Town of Grand Island & the Grand Island School District (716) 773-7676 Vol. 54' No. 43 Hoyt asks Pataki to settle Grand Island land claim by Rick Forgione Assembly member Sam Hoyt hopes that "a period of great uncertainty" will soon be over for Grand Island residents. During a press conference last Saturday at City Hall, Hoyt announced that he has sent a letter to Governor George Pataki insisting that he settle the Grand Island land claim as part of any casino deal or any sales tax deal with the Seneca Nation of Indians. "If the Governor plans on allowing the Senecas to open a casino in Niagara Falls, or anywhere else, then I insist that a part of that arrangement is the settling of this land claim," said Hoyt. "The Governor has apparently said that if a casino is open by the Senecas, New York must reap some of the benefits. The most important of these benefits should be the dismissal of the Seneca's spurious land claim against Grand Island." In 1993, the Seneca Nation of Indians filed suit against the State of New York and Erie County for property rights to all of the islands in the Niagara River including Grand Island. Their claim was based on several transactions made in the eighteenth century between the Seneca Nation of Indians, New York State and Congress. The Senecas claim that because the federal government did not officially ratify a land transfer from the Seneca Nation to New York State the transfer was invalid. However, attorneys for New York State and for the County argue that the Senecas did not have possession of the land they gave, and therefore, BOULEVARD TURNOVER - A car turned over into a ditch on Grand Island Boulevard in front of TCBY's on Wednesday trying to avoid an accident The driver received bruises to her knees. Car turns over on GI Boulevard by Christopher Caile On Wednesday just before noon a Chevrolet driven by Colleen Perkovich of Bedell Road going north on Grand Island Boulevard overturned in a ditch in front of TCBY's. According to one observer the car was trying to avoid collision with a red pickup truck which had turned into TCBY's from the other lane. Perkovich hit the brakes and swerved onto the right shoulder. The car continued down into the ditch. Sheriff Deputy Terry Guenot who investigated the incident said it was classified as a one car accident since no collision was made with a second vehicle. Witness accounts also differed. The driver of the pickup truck said that Perkovich had swerved into the ditch before he had made his turn. Guenot said that neither account of the accident could be substantiated by other witnesses. Responding to the accident were the Sheriffs Department and Grand Island fire fighters. Turnout low at hearing for the revised Southpointe project by Christopher Caile The public hearing in Town Hall Monday night on the revised Southpointe project lasted less than an hour. The second floor Court Room was half full as only eight people spoke on the project, three for it and five against. The hearing was a dim shadow of two more heated and lengthy public hearings held in late February and March of last year on another expanded commercial version of the project which was subsequenUy rejected by the town. At those hearings opinion ran two to one against the projecL Former Councilman Gail Lazenby said he was surprised at the low turnout. "I expected several hours. To be honest, I think what we are hearing is that the community is not sure. There are positives and negatives to this projecL " The public hearing was held to consider three matters simultaneously: A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) on the revised project; Rezoning of 283.9 acres of land located between Love, Baseline, Staley roads and South Parkway to Planned Unit Development (PUD), and creation of a new sewer district No. 7. The district would connect the project site north of the Empire Pipeline easement to the existing town sewer system. Construction costs for the new sewer district would be paid by Southpointe. At the beginning of the hearing Jack Hill, project manager for the Southpointe Adult Life-style Community, introduced the revised plan. Set up on stands in the front of the Court Room were drawings of the previous plan as well as the alternative now under consideration. Hill said he wanted to show the differences. He noted the new plan significantly decreased the impact on the community. Commercial space would be reduced from 255,000 square feet to approximately 80,000 located along the main access road which would serve the community. Hill noted this included an 80,000 square foot community center that had to be zoned commercial but would not be used for commercial purposes. The original 640 units had also been reduced to 580 which significantly reduces the population from 1200 to 1000 people, Hill said. Buildout, it was noted, would also be spread out over a ten year period. Wetlands and open space had roughly been doubled in area from 90 to 180 acres and enhanced by joining them together. These would comprise over 64 percent of the project's area. A map of the project REVISED SOUTHPOINTE PROJECT EXPLAINED - Jack Hill, project manager for the revised Southpointe Adult Life-Style Community proposed for the southern end of Grand Island, explains the differences between the new proposal and the original project at a public hearing Tuesday night at the town hall. SOUTHPOINTE WETLANDS AND OPEN SPACE ADDITIONS HIGHLIGHTED - Vertical lines were used on this Southpointe plan to highlight additions in wetlands and open space that would be doubled to 180 acres. continued on page 5 continued on page 18 £§)rand island SATURDAY PAGE 5