Williamsville is getting a new mayor in the new year. He says he plans to stay the course, but also has some new ideas.
Current Mayor Brian Kulpa has to resign because he has been elected Amherst Supervisor. Monday night, Kulpa said he will probably resign December 28.
His post will be filled by Deputy Mayor Dan DeLano, who is all ready to go. DeLano said he is planning to follow the paths forged by Kulpa's 10 years in the top position and make some changes.
"We're going to chip away at a few of the areas when it comes to traffic flow and as simple as stop sign layout,"
DeLano said. "We have an area between Mill and Evans and from Main north to the village line wherever that may be because it's kind of zig-zaggy and take a hard look at that."
DeLano said residents are also annoyed at some of the high-rise structures that have erupted, both within Williamsville and in the immediate area.
"Right now, it's 50 feet or four stories, essentially, in a nutshell. We'd like to reduce that," he said. "There's a couple of buildings that have gone up - although they are great - in the middle of the core of the village may not look all that pleasing, especially if they are standing out like a sore thumb."
DeLano said he wants to discourage knocking down existing housing and replacing it with housing that is not as good looking.
With the national trend toward shifting shopping malls to lifestyle housing, he says a goal is more mixed use housing, commercial space on sidewalk level and housing upstairs. The new mayor says that can be a good return for tax dollars while also making more efficient use of land.
