Island Dispatch, 1998-03-20

              Island Dispatch mmj "As thevofce of Grand Island" L» m_ a Monday Nite Madness LARGE CHEESE PIZZA 4.95 J___ +T.X Official Newspaper for the Town of Grand Island & the Grand Island School District March 20, 1998 650 20 Pages Vol. 54 • No. 48 (716) 773-7676 American Pharmaceutics gets town land purchase okay Will buy one of Fujisawa's businesses By Christopher Caile American Pharmaceutical Partners was given the go ahead Monday night by the Grand Island town board to purchase property on Staley Road allowing the purchase of Fuijsawa's buildings and associated business at that location. The board approved the exception of APP from the subdivision regulations. This would allow them to purchase a 17 acre parcel from the 41 1/2 acres owned by Fujisawa on the north side of Staley Road and 23 acres from a 71 acre parcel of land owned by Life Technologies on the south side of Staley Road. Fujisawa has been negotiating with APP to sell their injectable products business at the Staley Road location. The sale would include buildings related to Fujisawa's injectable products line of business. This includes injectable sodium chloride and water as well as other products that are sterile. Employees, other than management would remain largely the same. In a related move Fujisawa is building a new administration building at their site. They have also applied to the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA) for a loan of $32.4 million to hopefully expand their pharmaceutical production business in a new direction to produce a capsulated form of its transplant drug Prograph currently manufactured by the company in Ireland. ECIDA funding and/or tax breaks would help attract the capsule plant operations to Grand Island since a major consideration is the cost of the plant and equipment The ECIDA provides low cost bond funding as well as tax breaks to stimulate industrial development within the county. If loans are approved new Fujisawa construction would include manufacturing facilities, a warehouse, water treatment plant and site work in addition to the administration building whose construction is already in progress. BR RR - Last Saturday's blast of arctic air and snow was a far cry from the mild winter we've been having. Only this Canadian goose seemed to be enjoying the solitude of the Niagara River at the Buffalo Launch Club. This weekend marks the first official day of Spring. Videos are in The Chamber of Commerce announced late on Thursday that the Grand Island promotional videos are now in. The six minute tapes are designed to showcase the Island and allow for businesses to add their own messages. They're available for $5 each plus tax. Out of the 100 ordered, 33 are sold. Call 773-3651. Benefit planned for Ron Capitano by Rick Forgione On Saturday, Mar. 28 a special benefit will be held in honor of Ron Capitano, a Grand Island resident who remains hospitalized in Toronto, due to a tragic accident last month. The event,"A Night in New Orleans," will be held at River Oaks, Grand Island from 7 p.m. to close and will include live music from "Jambalaya New Orleans Jazz Band." In addition there will also be an open bar from 7 to 9 p.m. with drink specials all night, a New Orleans style buffet, 50/50 splits and raffles. One such raffle is sponsored by the Grand Island Snowmobile Club. Tickets for the raffle are $10 and Ist Prize will be $500, to be awarded during the event. The cost to attend the event is $20 if you purchase your ticket in advance and $25 if you purchase at the door the night of the event. All proceeds will go to the "Ron Capitano Family Fund" and help out with medical costs. Friends putting thge fund raiser together said that flyers for the event have been circulating for about 2 weeks. They also said that response has been pretty good but they could use a lot more. Along with the benefit, other fund-raisers have been started to Misinterpreting Master Plan could lead to major lawsuit, Lexo warns by Christopher Caile At Monday night's Grand Island town board meeting businessman John Lexo criticized the Planning Board's March 9 vote against the Southpointe project Planning Board Chairman Tom Nowak's interpretation that Southpointe did not match the town's Master Plan was incorrect, Lexo stated. Lexo then noted how the project's design of condensing development in one area to maximize green space actually followed the Master Plan concept Lexo urged the town board to weigh very carefully their upcoming decision on the project and warned of the possible dire legal consequences if the project was denied. Citing pages 51 and S3 of the Master Plan — officially known as the 1994 Grand Island Comprehensive Plan ~ Lexo said it "calls for cluster development and PUD (Planned Unit Development). This type of project is Southpointe. PUD projects are also described in town zoning. The Master Plan calls for 35 percent green space and Southpointe is giving 65 percent." "Many times I have heard Mr. Nowak argue that density is figured on overall land size, not net land size...and if Mr. Nowak were consistent with his arguments Southpointe would fall within the density limits. You can't have it both ways, Mr. Nowak." Later Lexo noted that the very essence of the new Master Plan was to create new forms of development on the Island and to get away from the tracts — development that sliced land into individual strips that created the very urban sprawl that the Plan was designed to combat. "That's what Southpointe gives us: a concentrated development in PUD with corresponding preservation of green space. Remember the Master Plan contains multiple goals. While conservation of green space was one goal so was business development. Southpointe meets both." Before Lexo started to speak at the beginning of the meeting Supervisor Peter McMahon suggested to Lexo that he might speak at a later town board meeting when the project was under consideration. But Lexo responded that they should hear him now while they were considering the project. During his short speech several Council members took notes. Referring to Nowak, Lexo said "First he says that it (Southpointe) should be denied because it takes away from the commercial space being planned for the town center. Yet two days later at a Long Range Planning Committee meeting Nowak removed a major portion of the town center commercial land from the Town Center Plan and replaced it with single family housing." Lexo told the town board that when Southpointe first came to town none of them were in office but that Southpointe was welcomed by the town board and Erie County Economic Development Agency. "They had a ribbon cutting and a ceremonial ground breaking. Engineering gave them permission to bring utilities across the Tnruway to their property. Over the years indications were also made that if they waited until after the elections (on Grand Island in 1994, 1997 as well as earlier) things would be more favorable for them. The years of delay, the innuendos, the lack of action by the various boards all will be considered by a court of law as will the recent approval of Fujisawa's rezoning," he said. Lexo noted the $1.5 million lawsuit for River Oaks cost residents 70 cents per thousand on taxes. "What will a 5, 10 or 20 million dollar lawsuit cost us," he asked. Lexo then gave Supervisor Peter McMahon a report of the results of National studies that indicated that the fastest growing need in housing is senior housing which the Southpointe project would offer. "Seniors do not want to leave their families and friends, yet they can't keep a full-sized house." "You have the opportunity to keep Grand Island from yet another lawsuit while complying with the Master Plan and in doing so increase the tax base and stabilize continued on page 3 continued on page 4