GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. — Monday night, as the Grand Island Town Board officials were getting briefed on the massive proposed "e-commerce" facility on Long Road, the town put the complete plans for the project on its website.
There are three volumes of information available on what is still just labeled as "Project Olive." Attorneys who are representing TC Buffalo Development would not disclose who the future tenant will be. However, it is widely believed to be an Amazon distribution center.
"Well, we all have a pretty good idea who it is" said Town Supervisor John Whitney.
TC Buffalo Development attorneys shared details about the proposal with the Grand Island Town Board. The meeting was standing room only, the public was welcome to attend but could not comment.
The development would be on a 145 acre site on Long Road near Interstate 190. It would be a five-story, 3.8 million square foot building. The proposal says it would bring 1,000 jobs and 300 construction jobs.
Whitney told the attorneys the town would like to see those construction jobs go to local workers.
"This is the largest development project that's been proposed in Grand Island in the history of Grand Island" said Whitney.
The entrance to the facility would be along Long Road. The facility would have 1,855 parking spaces and two guard houses for security.
"I am always happy to see something come into this area because it could benefit us as a whole and in particular Grand Island" said City of Tonawanda resident Andres Hurta.
However, when it came time for the board to ask questions, the main concern was traffic. According to the proposal, 484 more cars would be added to rush hour traffic between 5:30 p.m to 6:30 p.m.
"Our bigger concern here is the fact that we're an island, the fact that we have two ways off and two ways on" said Town Board Member Tom Digati.
Betty Lou Tranter attended Mondays meeting because she has owned her home for nearly 50 years and she lives next door to where this development would be built. She has concerns about declining property values and noise pollution.
"Traffic, the infrastructure of Long and Bedell road do not accommodate the traffic that they are proposing" she said."It's a beautiful little community there that would be destroyed by this."
If you want to know more about the proposal, attorneys representing TC Development will go before the Grand Island Town Planning Board next Monday.
A public hearing will also be held on April 8 at Grand Island High School at 7 p.m.