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Church building project halted

Shawnee Landing group seeks another = location

By Thomas J. Prohaska

NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER

Updated: January 04, 2010, 6:45 am / =
Published: January 04, 2010, = 12:30 am

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WHEATFIELD =97 A proposed church that was to have been the=20 centerpiece of a once-controversial development project apparently will = never be=20 built.

The Rev. Jerry McGlone, pastor of Church at Shawnee Landing, said = last week=20 that the project off Shawnee Road is being dropped, and his congregation = is=20 looking elsewhere.

=93We have something planned, but we=92re not ready to make any = public=20 announcements,=94 McGlone told The Buffalo News. =93We hope to remain in = North=20 Tonawanda.=94

His congregation was formerly known as Payne Avenue Christian Church, = but it=20 sold its North Tonawanda building when the move to Wheatfield was = planned four=20 years ago.

Church moderator Vic Baker said that although the church=92s official = name now=20 is Church at Shawnee Landing, it has been holding services in a Masonic = lodge on=20 Ruie Road in North Tonawanda.

Baker said the last straw was a Nov. 4 Wheatfield Planning Board = meeting, at=20 which the church presented a scaled-down version of its construction = plan,=20 reduced for financial reasons.

The Planning Board ruled the congregation would have to go through = the site=20 plan review process from the beginning, something church members viewed = as=20 overly onerous.

=93We made a recent decision that we could no longer afford to build = in=20 Wheatfield because of the stringent restrictions the Planning Board put = on us,=94=20 Baker said.

With investor Paul Granville and Belmont Shelter Corp. as partners, = the=20 church constructed 64 units of affordable housing on its 19-acre site. = Opened in=20 2007, the housing is rented in full, Baker said.

At the time, neighbors complained that the project would endanger = their=20 safety and property values.

=93These are for the working poor. This is not subsidized housing,=94 = Baker said.=20 =93In spite of all the uproar from the neighbors who thought we were = bringing a=20 slum to their backyard, it=92s considered one of the finest communities = of its=20 type.=94

Baker said the revised proposal was to delete a day care center that = was=20 supposed to have been connected to the new church, which would have cut = the cost=20 of a $2 million project roughly in half.

Town Engineer Timothy Walck said he thought the day care center was = to have=20 been a future phase of construction. Planning Board minutes indicate the = redesign was another reason for the board to consider that a new site = plan was=20 needed.

=93We=92re very sad,=94 McGlone said.

Planning Board Chairman Richard Muscatello said, =93The Planning = Board only=20 enforces what=92s already in writing. We don=92t make up rules.=94

Walck, of Amherst=92s Wendel Duchscherer firm, said he didn=92t think = it would=20 have been =93a long, drawn-out process.=94

Walck said there were issues regarding drainage and green space, = especially=20 since there was a request from Heritage Christian Services of East = Rochester to=20 buy some land from the church on the other side of Captain=92s Way.

He also said the Monroe County organization wants to erect a=20 3,600-square-foot group home for disabled people, a request still = pending before=20 the Planning Board.

Other issues on the church project itself included retention basins = for=20 runoff, sidewalks, parking and the phases of construction, Walck said. =

Baker said the church already had spent more than $500,000 = constructing a=20 road, water lines and lighting, all of which now belong to the town. =

=93We haven=92t had the best experience with some of the Wheatfield = politicians,=94=20 said McGlone.

Asked to name names, the pastor replied, =93The town attorney has = always been=20 helpful to us, as have been the building inspector, the Building = Inspection=20 Department and the town engineer.=94

Conspicuously missing from that list of helpful people were the = town=92s=20 elected officials.

=93It wasn=92t our intention to drive anybody out,=94 said = Muscatello, who is=20 appointed by the Town Board.

Former Supervisor Timothy

E. Demler, whose term expired Thursday, said he heard second- hand = =93that they=20 were waiting until I was out of office to move forward with an = alternative plan,=20 whatever that is.=94

News Niagara Reporter Denise Jewell Gee contributed to this = report.

tprohaska@buffnews.com

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The Buffalo News : City & Region

Church building project halted

Shawnee Landing group seeks another = location

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