The Buffalo Planning Board on Monday accepted the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Study for the $150 million Gates Circle project. Next, the public will get its chance to comment on the project.
TM Montante showed its plans the project for the nearly seven-acre site once occupied by Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, now a pile of debris. The project plan calls for extending Lancaster Avenue from Delaware to Linwood.
"Residents are concerned because, while this is not a zoning change, it's the groundwork for the Common Council approving the zoning change," said James Smith, a resident of Lancaster Avenue.
"And, we object, powerfully, to changing zoning on 6.7 acres in essentially the middle of a residential neighborhood."
Smith admits it's not a completely residential neighborhood but says the hospital was residential. The Planning Board has overall site plan authority and review power as each of the planned eight-buildings comes in for approval. That starts with Canterbury Woods' plan for senior housing which is already before the board.
